Wii ISO Loader demonstrated on video running "backup" copy of Zelda
By Thomas Ricker 
posted September 15th 2008 6:40AM
posted September 15th 2008 6:40AM
Is this the day, is this the hack that frees the Wii console to finally run your legal (or, eh hem, otherwise obtained) "backup" games? As the story goes, Waninkoko, the latest name to emerge from the hacking underground, has developed a "work in progress" v0.1 Wii backup ISO loader for the Wii Homebrew Channel that will run backed-up game ISOs converted with a "special program" -- no modchip required. If true then the whole thing smacks of the original Xbox font exploit that turned that console into a hackers playground and noisy, all-media playing powerhouse. In support of the claim, TehSkeen has posted a video demonstrating the loading and execution of a backup Zelda game. If Waninkoko can deliver this to the masses, then the demand for a proper Wii storage solution is about to grow exponentially.
[Thanks, Joseph B.]
[Thanks, Joseph B.]
Read -- Video
Read -- Exploit described
Seriously, one thing is for Waninkoko to put together four existing hacks and make a crappy game copy loader (no, it won't be fully compatible and there is a hardware limit to half reading speed - long loading times) and quite another is to get his stuff advertised on engadget of all places. Via tehskeen no less. Remember last time they got posted here? That's right - when he claimed that a little dongle that I humbly made to try to help people fix bricked Wiis (which is boring by engadget's standards) was somehow everything from a custom firmware, a pandora battery, a game copy loader, and who knows what. He still claims that I'm lying and trying to keep it under wraps for some deep dark secret reason.
Now engadget is basically promoting game piracy. I mean, seriously - you haven't even fallen into the "backup game" trap. The "(or, eh hem, otherwise obtained)" speaks mountains about what the author of this newspost was thinking - and we all know that is EXACTLY what 9 in 10 future users of this application are thinking. Since when did it become okay to promote game piracy (oh, sorry, I meant "game backups") using "politically correct" language?
Waninkoko didn't even do this for himself, at least not entirely. He used to claim that he wasn't interested in writing this. The reason he changed his mind is because he used to work for a certain modchip team, for a short while. They're shady, and haven't been paying him (not the first time they do this - I've known others who have had problems with them), so now he decided to stick it to them by writing this and trying to cut their sales. Almost a noble cause, except we did warn him about these idiots and he chose to ignore us.
Now Nintendo is going to come down even harder on wii homebrew. They already proved that they are unable to distinguish between the piracy scene and the homebrew scene, by trying half-heartedly to block our existing homebrew hacks. Best guess now is that they'll actually start cracking down, by properly fixing all existing published bugs, including one that will be fixed in future consoles sold. Once they do that, we will lose a very important ability on those newer consoles - with current consoles, we can hack the software to enable almost entirely risk-free recovery if you screw them up. We're working on it. Once they fix this one bug, this will not be possible on newer consoles. Ever (it's pretty fundamental). And since this bug is all related with the ability to run homebrew too, they're going to do this ASAP now. In fact, we'll still be able to run homebrew (their system is way too insecure for that), which means all of the pirates will get what they want, as usual - but those of us who will want to safely screw around with our consoles will be screwed with new Wiis.
First it was VC piracy, now it will be game piracy. First they fixed trucha and tried to block the Twilight Hack, now who knows what. Last time we said "thanks, waninkoko". I really would prefer not to have to do this again.
Nonsense, it's completely legit for Engadget to report on this as it is a technological advancement. The author, and this website took no stance that piracy was either good or bad, but merely reported the facts on this development. Now, if running backups is a crime, we'd better arrest all those old grandmothers that display pictures in their homes that were scanned from photos.
Let's even go there and say that this is complete piracy and a crime, does this mean the newspapers and news programs should no longer report theft and robbery? Your entire argument against this post is ridiculous and goes so far as to make the assumption that Nintendo can't distinguish between legitimate software development and piracy, which is an unfounded claim.
It's not very legit when the author of the post is basically saying "now you can pirate games without a modchip *hint hint* *nudge nudge*" between the lines.
Backups are a great excuse, but we all know - and the author of the post made it very, VERY clear - that backups are the universal Internet codeword for "piracy, oh yeah, and the 5% of people who actually use legit backups".
Amen. I'm still stuck on the PC myself, but then I've been there for 20 years. We've seen the ultimate damage piracy can evoke on a market. While the PC may still be the most customizable game experience out there, the console is catching up and the security of those consoles will be harder and harder to circumvent through open source due to the minority gamer "Hacker". Soon Open Source will be gone and all of us will be wishing for its return. Why? Because some of those in our own community couldn't keep it zipped in, they just had to try their hand at notoriety.
Open Source is Good Stuff and invites competition in the market, Piracy will build walls around all of us just like a prison. If we of the community patronize the works of the notorious, we deserve to rot in our cells. Piracy will Rue the fun we have with the talents we see in the Open Source Community.
Think about it before you Burn It.
I got excited about this for a minute because I thought it was an HDLoader for Wii, but it is just a Backup loader, which is cool, but not as cool as an HDLoader would be. ISO Loader is a confusing name because it implies that you are loading ISO files, which is not the case.
I wouldn't of even considered running Wii backups in the past but since there are only "maybe" 3 or 4 games worth purchasing I say bring on the piracy!! The only thing I've used my Wii for in the last 6 months is as a paper-weight.
I was actually pretty stoked to hear that it will be possible to finally load backups of your Wii discs without the use of a modchip (being someone who is anal about disc scratches). However, this does open the door up to those who would want to burn games that they do not currently own and play them.. but then again, can't you already do this with a modchip installed? If so, I assume that it is already happening. In which case what's the difference here? Someone who already has a modchip installed either did it themselves or were too scared to screw with their system and paid someone else to do it.. either way the individual probably is tech savvy enough to be aware that such a thing is possible, and go about whichever route is necessary to get that done if they see it as something they need done to their Wii.. So really I think what I'm saying is, does this soft mod make pirating MORE accessible than it already is? I'm not sure. you tell me what you think. I don't know if it's all that different though. Other than price. One route, you have to buy an SD card to run the HBC (which involves going through the process of installing it). The other you have to buy a modchip and either install it yourself or get someone else to. Another thing that I think is essential when speaking about such a topic is, how much of a threat is this to Ninty in the end? (any one read how much each Ninty employee is worth in regards to current profit margins? Not to say they won't crack down on it) Especially when the Wii is being marketed toward the "casual gamer". I'm not too sure most "casual gamers" would even be capable of installing HBC / the apps (ie. ISO loader) and backing up games properly to play them..
All I can say is, I'm definitely not against it (backing up MY OWN games and being able to play them on my Wii). I'm actually pretty impressed by it. As are many other people that I have spoken with about the issue. I just hope that the homebrew community doesn't suffer from it in the end. There is so much creativity and innovation that is emerging through the community that it would be a shame to see it suffer due to such a thing. But then again, only time will tell how this all ends up..
As I already own any worthwhile games for the Wii(Zelda, Galaxy, Brawl...) this would be useful for backing them up. I mean wtf am I gonna do...go through all this trouble to pirate animal crossing and wii sports resort later down the line? Screw that!
@marcan
the "modchip team" is the infectus team?
ATTENTION !!!
Wii ISO Loader Discontinued !!!!
http://tehparadox.com/forum/f76/wii-iso-loader-leaked-discontinued-154659/
honestly, im a modder. i buy games i like, and i download games that i have no intention of ever buying. the slightly more moral people use chips either for entirely backup use or like me
but i dont really like this. im sure it will adversely effect the homebrew community, and i dont know anyone who is against homebrew. if it werent for things like this, the .wad installer, and gecko, i dont think nintendo would even really care
i think that they are taking a step more towards my less legit crowd though
like how they took out trucha/scrubbed disks and the twilight hack at the same time. modders could not run backups or chip update from disks, nor install the homebrew channel to boot them from gecko. if it werent for whoever fixed the twilight hack, my chip would be completely useless now. they didnt take steps though to actually detect and delete the homebrew channel, which surprised me. it would have been much more efficient to resolve this problem on three fronts at once, even if it meant waiting a little longer to release the update
also, i do not think that pirating effects the price of games in a negative way. im surprised randy was the first to mention elasticity. if something is not a necessary product, and the demand goes down, so will the price. higher prices would increase the amount of modders (or i guess in this case naughty homebrewers) and the process would go on until only the as-of-yet unmodded ps3 is left in the marketplace
not enough people know about things like this to effect the price anyway, regardless of how it would. nintendo still makes money from the consoles sold to these people, many of which only buy the wii because it can be modded. and with the wii selling to many more non-tech savvy people than any other console, nintendo does not need to worry. i read somewhere that they estimate that by next year the wii will be the highest selling console in history, or maybe it was the top selling nintendo console. but even if the latter the case, after how long its been out, its well on its way to the former...
im not trying to justify pirating though. pirating is stealing, bottom line. people who use excuses like "theyll make enough money without me" or "i wouldnt have bought it anyway" are just trying to comfort themselves and feel like good people. including me (paragraph 1). my rant was not an attempt to justify it, i was merely talking about the economic effects of piracy, and about how this is almost sure to bring the full wrath of nintendo onto homebrew kids, though im sure skilled hackers will always get around any security thrown at them
well, this will sound a bit weird but, wouldnt be a better way, making a Wii emulator, for the Wii?