Chris | July 15, 2008
The first pictures of Wii Speak have appeared!
The images confirm that the mic will connect to the Wii via a USB cable, as well as showing a cable that will probably be a similar length to the one on the sensor bar. When seen on top of the sensor bar, the mic looks tiny and relatively inconspicuous. Click-in for the images! Read more »
Lukatoll | June 20, 2008
Last week, Nintendo attempted to kill all of our homebrewing fun with a small update. If you haven’t heard yet, the latest update lets us move a Mii from the Mii Plaza to the Mii Parade directly while killing the Twilight Princess hack at the same time! Awesome! [sarcasm]
Well, the homebrewers didn’t waste too much time getting their precious hack back. Apparently, the guys over at Hackmii found out that the new code was, “targeted at the one Twilight Princess bug that enables homebrew loading.” Then they found bugs in that.
So now, they have made some code that I guess, lets the Twilight Hack load once more. I’m not so much of a Hardcore technical guy so i’m not sure what all that coding stuff means, but if you are into that matter, check out the in-depth analysis: Here. Also, keep checking back to My Wii News, we’ll keep you updated.
Mike Suszek | June 9, 2008
Martin Lihs at Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany is using the Wii remote to do something, interesting, for his final-thesis work in Media Art and Design. Lihs, along with Frank Matuse, developed the first prototype of a Wii remote-turned spray paint can in 2007.
A rough translation of the development site WiiSpray explains the concept of the wiimote/spray can device, allowing you to “Imagine a virtual wall. Using your browser you select the background of your choice and start spraying with your digital spray can.”
Anyone interesting in graffiti tags can be excited about this project. The site urges users to “go for it! Everything is legal! Nothing will be destroyed or damaged.” Though a vast majority of the information on the project will remain unpublished until the final presentation, the foundation of the project is revealed (again, in a rough translation):
“The basic idea was to build a computer hardware interface which is similar to an existing analog tool. A new interface will force new experiences. Forget about keyboard and mouse: with WiiSpray we created a new human computing interface (HCI). The use of WiiSpray is similar to using a real spray can – without the color and the toxic smells…You don´t need to learn this device - just start spraying intuitively. The best part is, after finishing your grafitti you can upload it to our website and look at it at any time, from everywhere.”
WiiSpray utilizes Flash, a WiiFlashServer, and the technology provided by Nintendo in the Wii Remote.
Lihs plans on building a new spray can with additional functions and advanced software. Some of these added functions he hopes to include are different spray caps, colors, collaborative spraying options, and even the possibility of spraying online with a friend. Online spraying would connect artists together with, what else, video chat capabilities.
Seeing what he has accomplished now, there’s little reason to doubt these ideas. The only person that could top this is Johnny Lee himself. Here’s to hoping a developer picks up on this and collaborates with Lihs, and maybe we can see a Wii Ware application!
Ilchymis | May 10, 2008
For those in the know, Xbox Media Center (XBMC) is one of the greatest homebrew applications ever created. It perfectly streams movies, videos, pictures and more from your computer or the Xbox’s internal harddrive onto your TV, turning last-generations behemoth into a wonderfully powerful media center experience. Unfortunately, running XBMC takes two things that you probably don’t have: an old Xbox lying around, and the correct tools to do dastardly deeds to the consoles innards to either soft mod (through applications) or hard mod (through actual computer chips) the Xbox in question. Sure, you could just run out and plunk down $300-400 for one of those other consoles that have limited playback support, but what’s the fun in that?
Wii owners handy with their Twilight Princess discs, rejoice! Wii Miidia is here to save the day! With a core program that clevery “borrows” from XBMC, WiiMiidia 0.1 will let you play back most any common movie or music format on your TV in no time. While it’s certainly a work in progress (and has quite a few bugs to be worked out as time goes on), creator dCiSo deserves a big pat on the back for doing what Nintendidn’t. Why Nintendo couldn’t allow for simple movie playback from SD card is beyond me, but luckily those of us with a little patience and computer know-how can be watching Sanford and Son on our Wii in no time. And how!
Click on the image of WiiMiidia in action to find out more details.
Ilchymis | April 16, 2008
The Twilight Princess hack continues to bring us wonderful homebrew opportunities on an almost daily basis, with one of the most impressive uses so far being released yesterday over at TehSkeen. As bilingual and enthusiastic gamers worldwide have noticed, the Wii implores an annoying little thing that the Nintendo DS and GBA did not - regional lockouts. This archaic convention has long meant that games purchased in Europe or Japan won’t be playable in America, and vice versa. Transnational gamers have been forced to use products like Datel’s FreeLoader to bypass these regional lockouts and legally play copies of official games that haven’t come out in the player’s territory. With yesterday’s announcement of a single file that can be transferred to a SD memory card and loaded via the oft-reported Twilight Princess hack, players with the required materials now have a free solution to get their international game on.
Obviously this his huge news for the homebrew community, as the ability to get more original titles and play archival copies of games via a boot file can’t be too far off. Homebrewers have already successfully dumped the first virtual console game, as well as ported various emulators that will only improve with time. Even Tetris has found its way over to the system via the “soft mod,” making many curious homebrewers excited for the future.
For those a little worried about using their copy of Twilight Princess for ill, take a peek at this simple video walkthrough that tells you where to put files and how to work the necssary SD card. I’m assuming you can pop in the aforementioned “FreeLoader file” instead of the Tetris one in order to play your import games, but I can’t affirm 100% without a copy of Twilight Princess myself to test it out. Maybe sometime next week?
Either way, it’s the beginning of an exciting era for Wii Homebrew. We’ll keep you updated as we find out more here at My Wii News. Now to decide if I’m patient enough to wait another week and a half for Mario Kart Wii to come to the US…
