At this point, the Wii U just can’t catch a break. Sales projections have been missed by significant margins since its launch in late 2012, and recently, it was announced that Nintendo would be skipping out on its yearly E3 press conference in favor of smaller, less risky Nintendo Directs. So, as you’ve probably guessed, we’re not here to deliver any good news. According to the Wii modding website WiiKey, the Wii U has been cracked.
So, what does that really mean for Nintendo going forward? The owners of the website had this to say after delivering the news today.
“Yes, it’s real – we have now completely reversed the Wii U drive authentification, disk encryption, file system, and everything else needed for this next generation K3y. Stay tuned for updates!”
Back in 2007, the original Wiikey 1 launched as one of the most popular mod chips for Nintendo’s motion-controlled hardware meant to circumvent security protocols. It was compatible with all Wii consoles and stood as the first chip to be fully updatable by DVD. Many updates have come since that time, but this is the first device built for the Wii U.
However, a few members of the NeoGaf community have helped to explain what they expect the product will actually be capable of accomplishing when it launches. User KojiKnight claims that it will allow 1:1 backups (no hacked/cheated games), but doesn’t see it being able to enable homebrew, help hackers break the Wii U's game or system encryptions, or allow cheaters to hack online games.
Many questions remain. Will the mod survive an official system update? Can a modded system run back-up games? We’ll just have to “stay tuned” for now before any more solid information is unearthed.
