Topic: Wii may without notifying you...

[Hypershell]

You know that Wii firmware version 3.4 that came out three days ago?  Notice the privacy policy update?

UPDATES AND UPGRADES

We may without notifying you, download updates, patches, upgrades and similar software to your Wii Console and may disable unauthorized or illegal software placed on your Wii Console to ensure that your Wii Console is operating properly and efficiently, comply with applicable laws, assist law enforcement, protect us and our customers, or prevent the use and distribution of software obtained through improper channels

http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/wii/en_na/privacyPolicy.jsp

I won't kid myself.  There is a LOT of piracy out there, especially among WAD installers, and Nintendo is well within their rights to combat it.

But I feel that a line has been crossed.  When you buy a console, it is yours, and any law-abiding activity your partake in, whether authorized by them or not, is none of the manufacturer's damn business.  Nothing, whatsoever, should ever be distributed to the end user without their consent.  Using Ocarina to play as Giga Bowser and running the upcoming Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom on an American console does not justify this kind of big-brother attitude.

The only alternative is to either go deeper into hacks to your Wii console to bypass the update restrictions among the network, or to simply cease to connect your Wii to Nintendo's network at all (you can just cease updating, but doubtless certain aspects of the network will eventually require updates, as has happened before with the Shop Channel).  The first is probably a terms of service violation, and the second means you and Nintendo lost each other's business.  Apparently this didn't cross anyone's minds at Big N headquarters.

The more they tighten their grip, the less likely hackers-with-morals will be willing to continue to jump through hoops for them.  I have the good sense not to steal their games just because they're making it a pain in the ass, but my updates stop here.  And if Nintendo decides in response that they no longer want my money and close off the Shop Channel again, so be it, I'll find other games to play.  I refuse to be a guinea pig in their crusade against "unauthorized" activity.



If anyone's wondering, the 3.4 update still doesn't touch the Homebrew Channel if it's already been installed (though it blocks the Twilight Hack, so you can't install it for the first time), however it allegedly will remove other custom channels, including DVDx.

[Satoryu]

well, you have to agree to the new terms of service before they can nazi your system. but it is a really assey, nazi move regardless.

i already have what i want on my system. if it ends up that i absolutely have to update, and a fix doesn't come around (which there will of course be a fix), so be it.

[Protoman Blues]

To quote Tycho from Penny Arcade...

I don't know why people ever, ever try to stop nerds from doing things. It's really the most incredible waste of time.

[HyperSonicEXE]

I'm sure this update will be worked around, eventually.

[Nexus]

Nintendo has failed hard. Let the Marios in Nazi uniforms come, i'll be waiting...

.. Not that I have anything on my Wii, anywho. I never got Nintendo Points to buy stuff and haven't bothered to try hacking it or anything.  

[Satoryu]

I'm sure this update will be worked around, eventually.

i'll give them a week.

[CephiYumi]

and to quote myself:

ah well, it happens.  I'm sorry for the people that this effects negatively but I don't really blame nintendo.  Though them doing things to my wii without me knowing is kinda scary o.o;

[Akamaru]

...

I just did the update. 

[Jericho]

and to quote myself:
-quote-

Quoted for truth.

[Gaia]

...

I just did the update. 

This makes me glad I have my spanish Wii and I don't update my system. 

[Jericho]

Well, as I already posted in the other thread, I updated, but to me it's not that big a deal. People will probably find some really inventive ways around it all and if not, then hey, I have other games to look out for. (Although TatsuCap would/will be missed. )

[Solar]

I had already made a topic for this, but I guess this section is more correct.

I won't kid myself.  There is a LOT of piracy out there, especially among WAD installers, and Nintendo is well within their rights to combat it.

Well, I wouldn't use it if didn't cost [tornado fang]ing double what I paid for my Wii to get it repaired >_>

To quote Tycho from Penny Arcade...

Perfect quote

[Hypershell]

Very true on the Penny Arcade quote.  And don't worry, I'm not going to heckle you over extenuating circumstances.

Nothing is unhackable, and I'm sure work-arounds and new methods will come.  Perhaps in shamefully quick times as has happened before.  What bothers me is the whole auto-update-required crap.  Ordinarily, you get a notice as to a firmware update, and you have the chance to stop and research it.  Now they're trying to eliminate that.  Anything can be hacked, but you potentially now have to put up with hickups in functionality from each future update.

And to further the point automatic updates in general are a poor practice for any educated user on any platform, PC, game system, whatever.  It has nothing to do with unauthorized use, many times there are legitimate reasons for maintaining an older version, or waiting out a buggy update until fixes are devised.  This is true of everything from compatibility issues with Windows and drivers, to disabling features on music converters and image editors, to the removal of MP3 support from Nintendo's Photo Channel, to unexpected bugs in pretty much anything, to personal preferences in layout changes.  You never, never should be required to modify any existing hardware/software setup of yours whatsoever without first being informed as to what it will do.  Period.

[Sky Child]

I don't have anything to worry about.

[Nekomata]

Wii belongs to my step-dad, he probably doesn't care about hacking it.. >>;

[Akamaru]

This makes me glad I have my spanish Wii and I don't update my system. 

I am sure the upd-- Nevermind. 

[Flame]

Silly Nintendo, Big brothering is for the Government!
Marios in Nazi uniforms?... I actually have an easy time picturing that... is that a bad thing?

[Akamaru]

No. Instead of the M sign on Mario's hat, think of the Nazi sign.

[Hypershell]

One more chance for homebrew for any who updated their firmware (Akamaru, etc.).  Nintendo's fix was sloppy, and ye olde Twilight Hack has been updated with a 3.4-specific version.  Note that 3.4 still finds and deletes the Twilight Hack every time you boot the system menu, so if you use it, you must install the Homebrew Channel immediately without restarting your system.

Of course, 3.4 (and 3.3b, for that matter) block the new installation of pretty much anything but HBC (HBC's newer install methods have not been distributed among the community, so all other stuff relies on bugs that were since fixed).  So if you intended to install anything else onto your system (cIOS, DVDx), you're out of luck.  But if you're only interested in homebrew off the SD card, this will get you going.

If you're hell-bent on regaining the ability to install other stuff, there are work-arounds.  Going hand-in-hand with this, it IS possible to downgrade your Wii firmware, but the methods for doing so are far from perfect.  No method that I have seen will remove new files that were added to the Wii firmware (such as IOS51 and the new Wii Shop Channel), it merely overrides existing files with older ones.  You can manually remove the new files with certain apps (risky if you don't know what you're doing), but I've yet to see an archive of the old Wii Shop Channel, so there is no way to make this "untraceable".



A little extra tidbit on Big N's privacy policy revision:  You are permitted to reject the privacy policy in the Wii system settings, doing so disables Wii Connect 24 and channels which require it, such as Shop Channel and Nintendo Channel.  The console itself and games using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection still function normally.



Oh yeah, and SNES9X GX was updated and now plays ActRaiser 2 properly.  Guess where my B-Day Classic Controller is going to be getting its rounds?

[Sky Child]

Way to necro. :/

LOCKED