Nintendo Strikes Back Against Homebrew, Piracy

Nintendo is fighting back against Wii piracy and the homebrew scene with the latest Wii Menu update, which renders the Twilight Hack inoperable.

First seen in February, the Twilight Hack was considered a vital component of Wii homebrew efforts, letting users run unofficial code on unmodded Wii systems. It also led to a rapid growth in piracy, however, as users quickly figured out how to use the software to install Virtual Console titles without paying for them. A “Homebrew Channel” was also launched by the team behind the hack.

Nintendo apparently didn’t care for those efforts, as the latest update to the Wii software, which takes the Wii Menu to version 3.3, kills the Twilight Hack, according to a report at Wiifanboy.com. Freeloader software which enables Wii owners to play imported games on their systems, has also been shut down, but the Homebrew Channel is reported to still be available to users who had installed it prior to applying the update.

On the upside, the addition of a new icon to the Wii Menu now lets users move a Mii directly from the Mii Plaza into Mii Parade, simply by dragging and dropping. Members of the homebrew community are reportedly less than thrilled.