Wii Scene Watch

BootMii to transform Wiis of warezors into an Atari 2600 emulator

2009-04-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

The latest copy of BootMii, grabbed off the private git, contains code that checks for DI-patched IOSes (these enable the launchers). If any are found, it installs 'atarisodom.wad' which replaces the system menu and (if present) preloader and then turns the Wii into an Atari 2600 emulator.

More details to follow soon.

Who is Waninkoko?

2009-04-12T08:10:00.000-07:00

Now a short teaser on an upcoming focus piece on a notorious member of the Wii Homebrew scene (albeit a more backalley section of it).

Records show that the person widely known as Waninkoko was an employee of Nintendo of Europe from September of 2004 to January of 2006. Sources tell me that Waninkoko was part of the System Menu UI concept and research team. He was terminated for violating his non-disclosure agreement. Colleagues tell me that he was a very quiet employee and always kept to himself. A former supervisor tells me that he was very productive and never missed a day of work while he was employed there.

More details to follow in the full piece that will be published in approximately three weeks time.

Details about the comex exploit

2009-04-12T00:58:00.000-07:00

I have just received an attachment via email showing some IRC logs of #wiidev EFNET. To summarize:

1. comex will NOT be releasing the system menu exploit. He instead intends to find a Super Smash Bros: Brawl exploit.

2. The exploit will have code in it that will detect disc launchers and will brick the Wii with an ominous "erasing" message if any are found. It will also uninstall CIOS249 and CIOS222, which are used by said launchers.

3. This is related to the TrustDev alliance.

Project: TrustDev

2009-04-11T05:21:00.000-07:00

It appears that the Wii Homebrew Scene is planning to go on the offensive against pirates with Project TrustDev. I have received startling details from insiders in Team Twiizers, maintainers of the Wiibrew wiki, and several in-the-know people on EFNET.

In short, Project TrustDev will eventually make it so that only homebrew applications with a special encrypted header will be usable from other homebrew applications, including the upcoming Homebrew Channel 2.0. This will lock out frowned upon homebrew such as the various disc launchers circulating about. It will also refuse to work properly on Wiis that contain pirated WiiWare, Virtual Console games, and "Custom" IOSes that have been patched for piracy purposes.

Getting your software approved by Project TrustDev will apparently be free of charge. The requirement is that you provide your source code, of course, and then a panel reviews the code to ensure it meets various decorum requirements. It is then assigned a special encrypted header that will allow it to be executed from TrustDev homebrew.

Already there are over a dozen homebrew developers that have signed on to Project TrustDev. I have spoken to three others so far who are undecided but leaning towards signing on.

System Menu 4.1 Beta

2009-04-11T04:48:00.000-07:00

A Nintendo of America engineer posted a comment and asked not to be identified. He gave the following details:

EDIT: I have received a cease and desist from lawyers representing Nintendo and have been asked to remove the contents of the comment. Sorry. - The Insider.

These groundbreaking details are shocking to say the least. Thank you for your bravery, engineer.

The beginning of the end of the Wii Scene

2009-04-10T16:41:00.000-07:00

I have decided to open up a public blog due to the recent developments of the Wii homebrew scene.

I have just been informed by several people including one Team Twiizers member that in addition to
Marcan, Bushing is leaving the scene. I have been told that BootMii has been cancelled. Here are some excerpts from the IRC conversation with nicknames edited:

[04:22] basically, the priv twiizer chan erupted into a pot of rage and it ended with the source code to bootmii being deleted
[04:24] So they really took offense to Brakken's posting on Teh Skeen?
[04:26] well its not just about that but yeah thats the match that lit the firecracker stack basically
[04:27] someone (i dont really wanna say who) said they are sick of coding just so leeches can take take take their hard work

This marks the beginning of the end of what was a great thing, the Wii Homebrew scene. I will post more later as I interview more of my sources.