Wii software update – what did it do?
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 at 11:50am by David
You may have noticed your Wii glowing this morning (or last night). Turns out there is a new Wii software update, specifically regarding the Wii Shop Channel. From what the message said, the update corrects an issue that would allow some illicit game saves to run. Not sure if that is an anti-piracy attempt or something.
I ran the update this morning and my system shows firmware number 3.3U, not sure what it was before I started the update, though. Notice any changes on your Wii?
October 23rd, 2008 at 12:06 pm
On Thursday, 10/23 starting at 7 AM, the Shopping Channel is undergoing maintenance longer than scheduled, and is currently not in service. We apologize for any inconvenience due to this maintenance. With this maintenance, the following changes will be made.
– Wii Points will soon be called Nintendo Points, and all references as such will be updated. All other functionality with Nintendo Points will remain the same.
– The controller usage explanation screen will be updated.
– The controller usage explanation screen will be separated from the purchase screen. Along with this, the user will be prompted to confirm that they have any necessary accessories before being able to press the Purchase button.
– The design of the icons displayed will be updated.
October 23rd, 2008 at 12:09 pm
@Kannon:
Where did you find this info?
The Wii Shop Channel was down for maintenance last night (Wednesday), and was up today.
October 23rd, 2008 at 12:29 pm
While game saves don’t really have anything to do with the Shop Channel, the description you give sounds like another attempt at preventing the Twilight Princess hack that allows you to boot homebrew software. The hack is accomplished by starting Twilight Princess and then loading a specially-crafted save game file.
http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Twilight_Hack
October 23rd, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Yeah, they do all that… Couldn’t they release a patch to fiz the TP bug? That’s why I still haven’t finished Zelda, because I can’t find it in me to start all over again after saving in that damn bugged room!
October 23rd, 2008 at 3:32 pm
On the Shop Channel when you go to buy a game, on the main screen before you press “Download” there is a small icon you can now click on that will show you what controllers are compatible with that game. Not much of a change, but it seems that maybe they have had complaints from less savvy customers who are afraid to hit the “Download” option before knowing what controllers they need; even though it was previously shown on its own screen before you actually agree to the download. Some people might not have known that.
Was anyone else secretly hoping that this update would include direct to SD card download? I knew it was impossible, but I still cried a little inside when it wasn’t there.
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Also… the loading was slightly faster I thought.
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:34 pm
I should try copying something from Wii system memory to the SD card and see if speeds improve.
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Funny, the day before the update I sent my Wii an e-mail, following the posting about the “7 things you didn’t know about the Wii”, so my Wii was glowing already and I was not aware of an update!
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:57 pm
after the upgrade i downloaded world of goo and saw a progress animation that i hadnt seen before: mario and luigi swimming. not sure if it was new but ive seen repeats of other screens and had never seen that one.
October 23rd, 2008 at 5:06 pm
I hope Nintendo starts sending us updates when we’re AWAKE. That blue light kept me up for an hour before I finally checked it (the Wii is in my room).
October 23rd, 2008 at 6:26 pm
it was on gonintendo from a press release. should i cited.
October 24th, 2008 at 4:00 am
The Mario swimming animation isn’t new, I’ve seen it twice before. I once read an interview with the developers of the shop channel (it could have been one of those lengthy interviews at nintendo.com, but I don’t remember exactly anymore), where they said, the put this animation in as a sort of easter egg, being extremely rare (my guess would be one in hundred). The others are Mario, Super Mario and Fire Mario (where you can shoot fireballs by pressing A).
On the update: The folks at Wiibrew put out a preliminary list, on what the new update does in affecting homebrew (basically, you can’t install anything new to your Wii’s NAND after updating, but everything already installed will still work. The Twilight Hack as such isn’t affected, as the Wii Menu is still 3.3 and hasn’t been altered with the new update, and Team Twiizers circumvented Nintendo’s attempt to block it already when the first 3.3 update came out). Just get the newest Twilight Hack.
Read further at http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Wii_System_Updates
October 24th, 2008 at 10:09 am
@Lite: lol, I know what you mean.
October 24th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
I have a feeling the Nintendo Point change isn’t all about names — The shop channel probably had to be updated to accept all the new point cards Nintendo is putting out for the DSi shop channel.
October 25th, 2008 at 4:19 am
The main purpose of the update, it turns out, is under the hood. It finally fixes the “fakesigning” bug that allows the Homebrew Channel to be installed, or the hidden DVDX channel that allows some homebrew software to use the disk slot.
In other words, Nintendo pulled the same kind of stunt Sony used to pull so frequently with the PSP, delivering simple features solely as a way to get people to install updates whose real purpose is to close avenues to running homebrew.
(And the plain fact is, the Homebrew Channel is about the most exciting thing on the Wii at the moment, other than a few WiiWare games and De Blob.)
October 26th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
So this update supposedley changes Wii Points to Nintendo Points? My Wii still says Wii Points, and all points I had left were still there. I ran an extra test to be sure. I don’t want to use Homebrew anyway, so screw that.
… Maybe this update was Japan only? I don’t see any changes in my Wii software. Anyone see anything different??