From what I understand when this was posted on Neogaf a few days ago this ruling isn't like it is stated in the article. All the judge ruled is that it won't ban flashcard because it adds functionality.

homebrew is not legal. Any device or mechanism that bypasses DRM is illegal in the US. Maybe it is legal in other countries, but in the US you can't.

whats a homebrew?

gimp the product where you have to buy the original from the store to get a unique DLC code that without it you can't beat the game. It'll kill second hand sales, and piracy all at the same time. Oh, and throw on internet verification every time you start up the game. Nintendo could start their own ISP so they can make even more money while they are at it.

God he's such a moron.

That's stupid. I had a homebrew for my DS and I could honestly say that I used it to download a lot of games before it broke on me. Now I buy all my games (mostly because of my steady income).

People who say they that Nintendo won't lose money from this are insane. Microsoft sells not the hardware but the operating system. Windows is what lets you run software on the hardware. The hardware is created by a bunch of different people.

Nintendo releases the hardware and operating system. Why shouldn't they be able to lock developers out of their own hardware. It belongs to them. Like the others are saying it destroys the licensing fees all game system's have including the iphone's apps which I'm pretty sure has licensing fee's as well. I'm sure apple would be pretty pissed if they got this ruling.

Great, soon we will probably see Nintendo getting sued because of homebrewers Wii's getting bricked by the latest Wii update.

I love homebrew on the Wii, but I also see the backside of it. Being able to make your Wii region-free is good, being able to download VC games for free is not. Homebrew aslo involves some sort of hacking and of course Nintendo doesn't like it when people hack their product...

Homebrew is legal as are flash carts. And most of the world lives outside the US.

Source: http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/gadgets_and_gaming/article4484224.ece

While most may not live in the US, Euphoria lives in the US, so that's great that you are providing proof for the UK. Homebrew would be legal in the US if it didn't also circumvent the DRM mechanism put in place.

You know what baffles me?

All these people complain about their games being pirated, played off of a Wii HDD and/or copied disc via use of a softmod or modchip, yet the creators of Sam and Max Season 1 found a way for their game to not run at all if streamed via HDD/USB and launched through a copied disc.

In the case of Monster Hunter 3, while there is ways to possibly get it to work, you also run the risk of bricking your Wii just by running a pirated version on your console, although I am not sure if I am OK with this one.

Anyways, if TellTale games could figure out a way, Nintendo sure as hell could too.

I know there are a couple more games just like Sam and Max on the Wii as well that have this kind of protection, so maybe Nintendo should go talk to these people.