Nintendo Wii Update 3.4 Deletes Homebrew Mods

Nintendo have released another Wii update, version 3.4, installing which gives the software permission to "check for and automatically remove" any "unauthorized modifications to save files".  That means that any users of the homebrew channel will see their tweaked game save files – for titles such as Twilight Princess – deleted. 

Nintendo is justifying the move by claiming that such modifications "may impair gameplay or the Wii console".  In the process any modified or customized software, together with non-official channels, are wiped.  According to initial reports, it looks as though the 3.4 update itself changes very little apart from the ToS tweak and introducing this new search-and-destroy tool.

The advice to anybody using a modified Wii is to hold off on updating the console until the homebrew community has had a chance to circumnavigate the new "protection".  Nintendo's explanation seems more than a little ridiculous: it's not as though anybody would "accidentally" install, say, the homebrew channel and then blame the manufacturer should something "mysteriously" go awry later.  They'd do better to work with the third-party developers to address some of the gaps in the Wii that cause people to turn to these hacks.

[via Kotaku]