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JoyTech Announces New, Gun-Shaped Hunk-O-Plastic for Wii
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Accessories, Internet, Mods/Hacks, Wii,
We’ve been hearing quite a few rumors about the imminent release of the zapper-style Wiimote attachment as shown off by Nintendo at what is now known as The Last E3. So we’ll understand if this picture of a new hunk o’ plastic by Joytech doesn’t have you jumping up and down with excitement.
There are some design flaws with this thing that should be noted too… for one, note the ugly wire sticking out the bottom of the nunchuk, and for two, it looks like you’ll be stuck playing games that use the Nunchuk’s Z-buttons as their firing button. Let’s see… what game uses that again? Oh yeah, that’s right, none of them. That’s why there’s a convenient, B-button triggery-thing at the bottom of the Wiimote itself.
No price or release date has been listed yet for the Wii Sharpshooter, but with the true Wii Zapper attachment rumored to release shortly and for only about $19.99, we’re hoping that the Sharpshooter makes it out quickly and in the price range of “cheap”.
Read More 
| Joytech via GoNintendo.com
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Let the Xbox 360 Pre-Orders Begin!
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Accessories, Hot Deals, Internet, Mods/Hacks, Release Dates, Xbox 360,
Well THAT didn’t take long. Just days ago , we reported on M$‘s new SKU, the Xbox 360, which will feature a slick black exterior, 120GB HDD, and HDMI ports. And now, 6 days later, Circuit City is ready to take your money. We won’t be seeing the 360 elite in consumers’ hands for at least the next 4 weeks, but already you can head over to Circuit City’s store and hand over $479.99 to guarantee yourself one of the updated boxes.
So what do you say, gamers? For the 360 owners out there, is it worth the upgrade? Or will you just be picking up a 120 GB drive seperately? And for all of you out there that haven’t already decided to get a 360, does this change your mind at all? Personally, I’m not looking forward to this bundle so much as I am the emminent price drop that we’ll probably see in the “Premium” bundle.
Read More | CircuitCity.com
Nintendo Alters Wii To Block Modchips
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Mods/Hacks, Nintendo, Wii,
Reports in Taiwan indicate that Nintendo may be altering the circuit board layout of the Wii to make mod chips more difficult to install. According to Digitimes, however, new modchips to deal with the changed layout may be less than a month away. While these changes probably won’t be difficult to work around, other mod chip installers believe that there are more complex methods available to Nintendo to block modifications for a longer period of time.
Read More | Digitimes
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Yet Another Wiimote mod: The Glowing Nunchuk
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Mods/Hacks, Screenshots, Wii,
First there was the the totally sweet glowing A Button, then there was the the multi-color glowing A Button mod. And now, we bring you the glowing Nunchuk mod.
How much longer can it be until some enterprising hacker unveils the multi-color glowing A Button AND Nunchuk mod which will no doubt drain the poor batteries in seconds? I’ll lay money on about 3 weeks…
Read More | WiiCade Forums
Xbox 360 Security Hole Revealed, Already Patched
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Mods/Hacks, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
The Bugtraq mailing list recently published the details of an unsigned code execution security hole on the Xbox 360. The timeline of the security hole would seem to make this vulnerability the same one demonstrated at last year’s 23C3 Hacker Congress, as seen in this excerpt:
Timeline:
Oct 31, 2006 - release of 4532 kernel, which is the first version
containing the bug
Nov 16, 2006 - proof of concept completed; unsigned code running in
hypervisor context
Nov 30, 2006 - release of 4548 kernel, bug still not fixed
Dec 15, 2006 - first attempt to contact vendor to report bug
Dec 30, 2006 - public demonstration
Jan 03, 2007 - vendor contact established, full details disclosed
Jan 09, 2007 - vendor releases patch
Feb 28, 2007 - full public release
The public demonstration date is key; that would be the same date of the anonymous Xbox 360 hacker video release. Further, the overview of the vulnerability claims:
We have discovered a vulnerability in the Xbox 360 hypervisor that allows
privilege escalation into hypervisor mode. Together with a method to
inject data into non-privileged memory areas, this vulnerability allows
an attacker with physical access to an Xbox 360 to run arbitrary code
such as alternative operating systems with full privileges and full
hardware access.
According to the release, Microsoft has patched the vulnerability as of January 9th, but then Sony thought they had patched the Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories security hole as well. The existence of such a vulnerability indicates that the security of the Xbox 360 isn’t as bulletproof as Microsoft intended, and it would seem a mere matter of time before another exploitable hole is found to enable homebrew development on the system.
Read More | SecurityFocus via Xbox Scene
Internal Wavebird Mod For Wii
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Mods/Hacks, Nintendo, Wii,
One of the mods for the Gamecube has resurfaced for the Wii. Gamers were originally able to internalize the receiver for the Wavebird controller on their Gamecubes to get the dongle out of site. With the sleek lines of the Wii, the wireless receiver can be even more of an eyesore. Now, the classic mod has been updated to work with the Wii, thanks to foobar2k at the MaxConsole forums. The mod does require the disassembly of the Wavebird receiver and some soldering, and of course will void your Wii warrantee; in fact, foobar2k managed to break the DVD drive cable on the Wii while trying this mod. Still, those with a little soldering skill and a lot of caution can internalize the wireless receiver while keeping the ability to use the first wired port as well.
Read More | MaxConsole Forums
Wii Modchips Materialize
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Mods/Hacks, Nintendo, Wii,
A couple of modchips for the Nintendo Wii have surfaced on the web lately; the first would be the Wiinja chip, a bare chip mod. The second is a little more interesting, promising more in its featureset. Maxconsole reports that the CycloWiz mod solution for the Wii may be arriving as early as this week. The developers at Teamcyclops promise support for Wii backups, Gamecube Backups, and Gamecube homebrew games in an easy to install quicksolder package. The chip itself doesn’t seem to have a method to update it, and it doesn’t currently support Wii import gaming. Overall, though, the chip is an interesting start if hack does what it promises.
Read More | Maxconsole
It looks like someone has found yet another use for Nintendo’s Wiimote: controlling an industrial robot. A couple of engineers at USMechatronics put together a software control program that let them control a Kuka KR16 industrial robot. Unfortunately, time limitations didn’t let them implement a real-time control scheme, but what they came up with is still pretty cool. Using existing PC driver software for the Wiimote and some custom VB.Net code, USM built a simple pattern recognition engine that would let the robot play back pre-recorded movements based on their similarity to the motions that the user would attempt with the Wiimote. The video shows off some of the results, some with a tennis racket mounted, and others with a sword. Handing a weapon to an industrial robot might just be how the robot revolution begins, but given the fact that other projects at the company include robotic sentry guns, it would appear that the company has ample methods to defend itself.
Read More | USMechatronics
Xbox 360 Controller Tilt Mod
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Mods/Hacks, Xbox 360,
Enterprising gamer Adam Thole hacked together a tilt sensor for the Xbox 360 controller. The modification essentially replaces the functionality of one of the analog sticks on the Xbox 360; this allows existing games to use the tilt functionality. Thole has also published a video of the controller in use. The functionality doesn’t look bad, and might give an idea of how such control might be integrated into games.
Read More | Adam Thole
Guitar Hero PC Clone Works With Wiimote?
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Internet, Mods/Hacks, Music, Party Games, PC, Rumors, Trailers, Wii,
As the only next-gen console that isn’t getting some Guitar Hero, it’s good to see the user community hacking away at the possibility of playing Hero-like games with the Wiimote. “Tiger” over at the RhythmGamer has posted some videos of himself playing Frets on Fire (a freeware Guitar Hero clone for the PC) using a combination of the GlovePIE Wiimote drivers and some scripts he wrote specifically for the program.
We’re not going to vouch for the authenticity of this necessarily, but these videos look pretty good. Put the Wiimote in a shell that would make it easier to reach the 1 and 2 buttons, and you may have a fully functional solution. Is anyone from Harmonix or RedOctane out there watching this?
Rest of the videos included after the jump…
Click to continue reading Guitar Hero PC Clone Works With Wiimote?
Read More | Rhythmgamer.com
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