Nintendo adds Update 3.3 to repaired Wiis, internet not happy

by Chris Greenhough { Jun 18th 2008 at 11:45AM }

Usually, the news that Nintendo updated the firmware on your Wii while it's away for repair would hardly count as news at all. Since yesterday, however, when everybody caught wind of how the latest Wii Menu Update knocked the Twilight Hack and Freeloader on the head, Nintendo's meddling hasn't been as appreciated.

A group of disgruntled Wii owners whose consoles have been repaired and updated with new firmware congregated on the forums of GBAtemp.net, in a thread titled "CURSE u NINTENDO!," to howl about Nintendo's repair team and their habit of adding unwanted updates. While we can only sympathize with them, we should probably let this serve as a warning to others: if you are a homebrewer or importer with a Wii that's conked out, you might want to think twice about sending your machine to Nintendo.

[Via Go Nintendo]

Tags: firmware, freeloader, pal, repair, systemupdate, twilight-hack, update, wii-menu-update

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Sonic_13 @ Jun 18th 2008 12:31PM

Everyone's going to have to update eventually, especially if they want new games as many game discs, especially major titles, contain the firmware updates and require you to update before you can play.

Plus I would have to guess that most of these people already had the homebrew channel installed, so I'm not sure what they are complaining about (all I've heard is that it doesn't affect you once you already have it installed). So can't they continue to homebrew as they please?

Phoenixfury @ Jun 18th 2008 1:02PM

Sonic, Nintendo could still kill the hombrew channel at anytime with an update. People are moaning and groaning because with the Twilight Princess hack patched, there's no getting the Hombrew channel back if they patch that too.

However I'm wondering why people are moaning and groaning for a much different reason. If you hacked your Wii, why on earth would you install the latest update anyway? To me this is like hacking your Wii as your personal life support system, then Nintendo gives you a hammer to beat yourself to death with it. Come on, I give the Wii hacking community more credit than that! I mean they can't possibly be that dum to think that Nintendo wouldn't try to patch an an exploit that allows the Wii to be hacked. That's just ludicrous!

Sonic_13 @ Jun 18th 2008 3:57PM

"However I'm wondering why people are moaning and groaning for a much different reason. If you hacked your Wii, why on earth would you install the latest update anyway?"

It's because they didn't install the update - Nintendo did it for them. But really, if they already installed the homebrew channel, there is no reason for them to be complaining anyway since it doesn't affect them at all.

Ghen @ Jun 18th 2008 8:53PM

As an aside: My modchip allows me to fake the system into thinking I updated it when new games come out with built-in updates so I'm safe there... And my machine is out of warranty so I'll just do all the repairs myself too or buy a new one if its really broke.

worm @ Jun 18th 2008 12:51PM

This is really a lot like getting mad at the government when you are sitting in jail because you robbed a bank. It's just not fair, is it.

N-D @ Jun 18th 2008 1:24PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blame_the_victim

Garst @ Jun 18th 2008 4:35PM

It's more like getting arrested after trying to get warrenty repair done on a car you stole.

@N-D
"Blame the victim?" You can't be considered a victim if the problem was self inflicted.

Patrick @ Jun 18th 2008 1:05PM

At least they are not doing as evil as apple and M$.

HAcked iPhones get bricked and out of warranty with official updates.

Hacked Xbox360 get banned for life from XBox Live.

ryan @ Jun 18th 2008 1:09PM

a hacked 360 on xbox live will just result on the 360 being banned,,, a person who has a banned 360 can still access live if he is to use a unhacked 360

ryan @ Jun 18th 2008 1:09PM

guys why would it surprise you... besides you were doing something you were not supposed to be able to do in the first place... all three companies do not like people hacking their systems... and will do anythin in their power to prevent any future hacks

Badaro @ Jun 18th 2008 1:47PM

Doesn't really matter since they already have a workaround for the current "Twilight Hack" block.

Relay @ Jun 18th 2008 4:01PM

Exactly. Isn't that the job of hackers, anyway? When a system is patched to fix previous exploits, don't hackers just come up with new was to exploit the system. This is why you constantly have to keep your virus software updated.

Just because Nintendo released an update to squash the current homebrew hack, that doesn't mean this is the end of Wii homebrew. The homebrew community will just come up with a new way to hack the Wii.

This kind of thing happens all the time. Anybody who is whining about the update ruining their hacked Wii is stupid because that's one of the risks involved in hacking. Anybody who is worrying that this is the end of homebrew on the Wii is very short-sighted.

Jeff @ Jun 18th 2008 4:21PM

Lol wiifanboy didnt catch wind of the new hack found.

Mr Khan @ Jun 18th 2008 4:28PM

I'm not surprised, and like Sonic_13 said, you'll all have to deal with it anyway if you want to, you know, keep buying Wii games

Orion @ Jun 18th 2008 10:20PM

I like how a bunch of people are mad at us, people who use Freeloaders, because we are somehow doing something illegal. I don't care about homebrew people, but what about Freeloader users like me? I bought all my software legally, and my money went to Nintendo and the developers of those games I bought. It's my system. As long as I'm not stealing software, I don't understand why I can't play what I want to play on my Wii. I didn't put any illegal mod chip in there. It's just a damn disk. I'm sorry Nintendo, I love you guys to death, but it's stuff like this that makes me long for Sega again. Ahhh my modded Saturn, I love you so...

Author X @ Jun 18th 2008 11:02PM

Angry? Who's angry? They're just saying you shouldn't act so surprised.

Personally, I had Freeloader just to play Naruto on the GC, and when it didn't work on the Wii, my friend even bought the new version that did. When they updated and broke the new disc, I just decided not to bother, since I knew well they could break it again - not even on purpose, necessarily, but patching all the holes they can find to stop hackers/backups. I realized that with a console that can be updated regularly, they can keep breaking unlicensed stuff, and it was too much trouble for me to get an updatable modchip or never update again.

Like others have said many times before... what did you expect?

orion @ Jun 18th 2008 11:21PM

what did I expect? I expected more from nintendo than this. Sorry.

I've been a customer since the original NES and Gameboy and while they are the kindest of the three giants out there, region crud has always been one thing I haven't liked about Nintendo's reign. Seriously, I'm not stealing software. Nintendo and Bandai got my money.. I should in turn be able to play my game. Sony can do it, why can't they? Seriously.. what do they have to lose? They know some games have no change overseas, but it doesn't mean games like that should never be able to be played by gamers who like those genres.

And i guess the "unpatchable" statement by Freeloader gave me a false sense of security. >_>

Patius @ Jun 19th 2008 1:20AM

LOL.

Play with fire, you'll get burned.

But really, the region lock thing is gay.

I don't import, but it must be annoying to not be able to play them.

If only we could hack BIOS like they did in the old days. . .

Fiefdom @ Jun 19th 2008 2:10AM

At least those who use free loaders or any sort of homebrew experiments can get their consoles repaired. I have an imported Japanese Wii so I just have to hope that nothing goes wrong with it; this is not entirely ideal, especially considering that my Japanese Wii has a small problem with the disc drive. I don't have to worry about updates and I can access the Japanese Virtual Console, but I knew there was that security trade off in regard to repairs when I made the decision to import the system.

I very much hope that Nintendo pulls away from region protection in the next generation. I can comprehend the argument that distributors in other countries may suffer from reduced sales if games can be more easily imported, but I very much doubt that the impact is, in practice, markedly noticeable. I wonder what the percentage of players who import games is compared to the percentage who don't know that Nintendo is a Japanese company. The PlayStation 3, and all handhelds which have had any sizable market share, have been region free and I'm not aware of any imbalance in sales despite the prevalence of English in certain European countries (like the Scandinavian countries, and the United Kingdom)....

It's not surprising that Nintendo would patch the exploits described in the article above, but it is surprising that Nintendo would still consider region protection important enough to institute it to the degree that they have in the first place. It's pathetic that Korean Wiis can only play Korean games when the small market of those who would be interested in console gaming want the diversity of titles available in Japan. This region lock is ironically a potential detriment to marketing the Wii in Korea. It's almost a joke to restrict the array of available titles in a country where English and Japanese are two of the most common second languages considering the... inelegant... history of Japanese companies trying to break into the Korean market.

It's unfortunate that multilinguals (and diehard fans) have to choose between (possibly) legally unsound alternatives to play particular games. I can import books and PC games without a problem, why should I (or anyone else, obviously) have to tolerate such restrictions put in place by a manufacturer on a legally purchased game console? Making a console region free won't noticeably affect the market (aside from the StarCraft Mecca where Nintendo should be doing anything it can to encourage sales of the Wii system itself, like maybe allowing foreign games to be played on it).

I sympathize with those who can't play particular titles because Nintendo decided to update their consoles for them (while I simultaneously breathe a sigh of relief that I decided to import the console). As evidenced by the rest of this post, I clearly think it's stupid for Nintendo to continue implementing, and enforcing, region protection. I'm really glad that Sony pretty virtually discarded the idea this time around because there is no way in hell that I would have bought two PS3s.

I've avoided directly discussing homebrew and hacking because I have no experience with those concerns, I cannot offer an informed opinion and I won't pretend I can.