Homebrew program enables region-free, Freeloader-free gaming
by JC Fletcher 
{ Apr 15th 2008 at 5:00PM }
Why "sort of?" Well, obviously, you have to be able to run Wii homebrew to operate this, and there are still some challenges in that area. Like the ten-minute limit on the recent "Homebrew Channel." And the Twilight Princess requirement. In other words, you still need a disc -- but not the Freeloader disc. And we think that homebrewers are going to do a better job of staying ahead of Nintendo's patching than Datel will.
[Via DCEmu]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Brian @ Apr 15th 2008 5:06PM
This hasn't been confirmed to work 100%. And it hasn't got a ten-minute limit.
I couldn't get brawl to work with this.
Brian @ Apr 15th 2008 5:08PM
Wiifanboy: Don't automatically think stuff like this works 100%, homebrew for the wii is still in the early days.
RupeeClock @ Apr 15th 2008 5:29PM
That's still pretty damn nice you know, it removes the process of having to put a damn 2nd disk in all the time!
...Datel can piss off anyway, they wait for breakthroughs in the hacking scene, like Pandora's battery, Slot-1 Flash carts, and then just profit from it, makes me sick.
They didn't even WORK towards making the freeloader, I guarantee it, they just took the opportunity when the hacking scene found the exploits in the wii themselves!
Brian @ Apr 15th 2008 5:38PM
not really, you have to put twlight princess in first to boot up the .elf
RupeeClock @ Apr 15th 2008 5:41PM
Ah, I wasn't thinking straight.
For some reason, I was thinking of this as a region-free channel.
Brian @ Apr 15th 2008 5:42PM
the freeloader process is much quicker.
Freeloader: insert disc, wait 3 seconds for it to operate, eject disc, insert required game, away you go.
Homebrew program: Insert twilight princess, wait for it to full load (to the title screen), load up save, wait for .elf to load, eject discm insert required game, away you go.
So i think you can know piss off :P
Brian @ Apr 15th 2008 5:42PM
Just joking about that last part on my last comment ;)
KirbyMeister @ Apr 15th 2008 5:54PM
The Freeloader will stop working on the next Wii Menu update that uses IOS37. The Wii has an internal firmware chip codenamed by the hackers "Starlet" which runs firmware called IOS... the Wii caches all the versions of IOS for backwards-compatibility purposes, and each piece of software runs on it's own IOS. Hence, when Wii Menu is upgraded to IOS37, it will no longer accept Trucha-signed content (Freeloader, Homebrew Channel) and *MIGHT* brick if the homebrew channel is installed.
This does not affect Twilight Hack, which may be used to facilitate a downgrade or patch of the IOS firmware.
Brian @ Apr 16th 2008 7:32AM
@KirbyMeister :
Datel has said they will replace the non-working discs with new ones.
Nils @ Apr 15th 2008 5:49PM
install yourself the homebrew channel, that requires zelda, but only once. Place this elf as the main one and you basically have your freeloader channel. Wanna play an import? Boot the channel and insert the disc, thats it. Yes, there still is a 10 minute limit, but what do you expect from an early raw alpha.
forShame @ Apr 16th 2008 4:11AM
Why would a "Nintendo Fanboy" site promote products that:
- Nintendo feels work against its economic interests
- Are thinly-veiled attempts to enable GAME PIRACY
?
Hardcore import fans buy import consoles. Pirates are the primary audience for this.
JC Fletcher @ Apr 16th 2008 10:33AM
-Because I want to play Japanese games, and so do other people. I don't care if piracy is down the line. I'm not Nintendo.
Matt @ Apr 16th 2008 11:08AM
Not true. I bought my Wii when I lived in the US. Now I live in the UK, but no local games (either bought or rented) will play in my Wii. The only way for me to play new games is to buy them online from a US retailer, have them shipped to a friend in the states (since Amazon, etc won't ship games directly to the UK), and have him re-ship them to me.
Region coding DRM doesn't affect the pirates at all-- they can afford to buy one from each region (before they duplicate). This just hurts the little guy like me.
Alex @ Apr 16th 2008 2:02PM
It's not a "Nintendo fanboy" site, as you call it. It's a Wii fanboy site. The difference being that the site is not acting as a cheerleader for Nintendo and its shareholders, but rather as a outlet to discuss all things Wii-related.
Besides, I fail to see how enabling multi-region gaming on the console (the purpose of this program and the freeloader) conflicts with Nintendo's financial interests when, either way, the user is still BUYING the game whether it's intended to run on a Japanese, American or European console. If you have any intention of playing pirated games, you don't need this program.
Jamar @ Apr 17th 2008 10:57AM
You've got to be kidding me. I shouldn't have to buy a second console to play games I own and i don't know why anyone with an ounce of sense would support such a view. If that makes me a pirate then I'll be one, loud and proud.
evan @ Apr 16th 2008 11:36PM
Matt is right, region coding does not affect pirates. Modded wii's are available legally in australia because our laws state that you should be able to import and run software of your choice. But really they are used by people to play pirated software.
I don't want my wii modded, but i would like to play the US release of No More Heroes, thanks to the absurd censorship debacle. Should I buy a new wii for that? Or just be a man and suck it up?
I'd rather go for the option that lets me play the game i want on an unmodded console, without having to shell out extra for a US console that may only see 1 or 2 games getting played on it.
Region encoding is, frankly, antiquated.
Nam-Eeeh-Won @ Apr 17th 2008 12:56AM
If a later version of the program can run Gamecube imports, I'd be all over that. I've got a handful of them and have to break out the Gamecube every time I want to play.