If there one thing in the nature of computers since the dawn, it is that there has always been a desire among geeks to hack. Whether to modify the system for their own personal use or simply to earn computer kudos, they will do it. Rather than stop them, manufacturers are now letting them do it, even on a game console.
I know the Wii gets a lot of bashing from me, but it does actually have something that I actually envy and wished it was on the Xbox 360. Hombrew. This nifty little channel allows you to modify the Wii and add your own applications. It is not hard either as instructions are readily available online and all you need is an SD card and a program called Twilight Princess. Basically you load applications from the card slot.
Some of the applications available include DVD playback (which the Wii doesn't do), emulators games, file system browsers and even a utility to play games from different regions! It must be noted that Nintendo do not officially support anything on Hombrew, so if you botch it up, they are not going to help you. But at least they have supplied with the "screwdriver" if you want to have a go.
The trouble with Microsoft, is that they believe EVERYONE is evil. They wouldn't sleep if they had put in a screwdriver for you to use on their Xbox 360. They think all of us will take a hammer and a blow torch to it. Sure there are evil geeks, but the majority I think would develop useful applications for us to use. Like how about letting us chat to our friends on our friends list using a bluetooth mobile or play discs from different regions.
Even Apple iPhone lets you develop applications. Will it ever happen with Microsoft? Never. Not in a million years. They trust no one, especially if you studied computer science. That's how they got Vista to work.
2 comments:
My wii has been hacked for a couple of weeks now. even though i can play whatever game i want, i still dont play it.
It's hard work to play the Wii
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