Jan 29

Wasabi DX modchip lets you hack the ‘unhackable’ Wii, dream the impossible dream

Posted in: hack, homebrew, mod, Today's Chili, wii

Well, it wouldn’t be Thursday without another way to, er, “upgrade” your Wii. In this case, we’re proud to present to you the Wasabi DX. Like many a drivechip, this one promises to hack the “unhackable” Wii, sporting plug and play installation on your console’s (DMS, D2A, D2B, D2C, D2C2, D2E, epoxy D2E, or D2nothing / D3) drive. The firmware is stored in flash and can be upgraded from DVD, or downgraded (if you ever need to do that) from a backup on the chip itself. Like Wasabi’s previous offering, drive read speeds are limited to 3x, which might effect some games, but you were probably expecting that anyways. Pretty exciting, huh? No word on pricing or availability yet, but the company says to expect all that “soonish.”

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Wasabi DX modchip lets you hack the ‘unhackable’ Wii, dream the impossible dream originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 26

WiiKey’s new DriveKey frees ‘unhackable’ Wiis with zero fuss

Posted in: hack, homebrew, mod, Today's Chili, wii

At this point, we’re sorta surprised you can’t just look askance at a Wii and set it to running homebrew with your penetrating gaze alone — it seems like everything else has been accomplished in the hacking, modding and general humiliation of Nintendo’s little console. Brought to us by the WiiKey folks, DriveKey is a wire-free, solder-free, brain-free method for hacking any Wii on the market, especially those pesky new ones with “epoxy” drives or the dreaded hack-proof “D3” drives. DriveKey acts as a simple passthrough for the DVD connector cable, tweaking certain functions to allow for a bit more freedom in your Wii experience. Unfortunately, DriveKey limits the DVD drive to 2x read speeds, which might make certain games unplayable, and it also can’t be flash upgraded, unlike the WiiKey before it, to add more functionality or fend off a theoretical hack-buster update from Nintendo — though this hasn’t proved much of a problem for similar hacks. The chips go for around $70. Install videos after the break.

[Thanks, Gob]

Continue reading WiiKey’s new DriveKey frees ‘unhackable’ Wiis with zero fuss

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WiiKey’s new DriveKey frees ‘unhackable’ Wiis with zero fuss originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 05

PSP-3000 finally screams ‘Hello World,’ homebrew to assuredly follow

Posted in: Hacks, homebrew, psp, sony, Today's Chili

The notoriously-difficult PSP-3000 model (also known as PSP Brite) has finally been hacked, this time without the need for a downgrader tool. MaTiAz’s “The Sparta!!!” exploit was allegedly discovered after overwriting the player’s name in a GripShift save file with “this is spartaaaaa…” — with 57 a’s tacked onto the end — and is now available for download along with a new SDK. It’s said to work with PSP firmware versions 1.52 through the current 5.02. The Hello World proof of concept video is after the break. Welcome to the homebrew community, Brite: we’ve been expecting you.

[Via DCEmu]

Continue reading PSP-3000 finally screams ‘Hello World,’ homebrew to assuredly follow

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PSP-3000 finally screams ‘Hello World,’ homebrew to assuredly follow originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 02

Game Boy Pocket fitted with backlit screen, one man’s life now complete

Posted in: hack, homebrew, mod, nintendo, Today's Chili

You know what they say — if you can’t buy it, mod it. Michael “Bibin” Moffitt’s backlighting job on this Game Boy Pocket is a case in point. Unwilling to shell out the dough for a Game Boy Light on eBay (but more than willing to destroy two old LCDs in pursuit of his mad dream), this guy removed the reflective layer and adhesive behind the handheld’s display (“almost as hard as reasoning with a rabid PlayStation 3 fan,” he writes) and built a backlight out of an LED, some perspex, and a diffusive layer. That’s it — now our man is playing Donkey Kong, in the dark, in all its monochromatic glory, and with no noticeable change in battery life. Hit the read link for plenty of naked GBP pics.

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Game Boy Pocket fitted with backlit screen, one man’s life now complete originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 30

DIY home automation system brings back the lost art of flashlight control

Posted in: diy, homebrew, Today's Chili

ZigBee and other home automation technologies may be all well and good if you want to keep things practical and whatnot, but if you’re the more adventuresome type, you may want to take after Instructables member leevonk, who’s pieced together this slightly unwieldy contraption. At the heart of the system is a webcam, a flashlight, and some photoresistors that detect changes in brightness on the screen they’re so elegantly affixed to. To change that brightness, you simply shine the flashlight at the area the webcam is pointed to, which relays the image back to the aforementioned PC via Yahoo Messenger which, in turn, activates a series of motors that can be used to perform a variety of tasks. Practical? Not exactly. But it is inexpensive, and it sure is more fun than a couple of mouse clicks. Head on past the break to check it out in action.

[Via Hacked Gadgets]

Continue reading DIY home automation system brings back the lost art of flashlight control

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DIY home automation system brings back the lost art of flashlight control originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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