Hacking Wireless Gamepad Video Capture - Is it realistically feasable?

[Jademalo]

I know there's been that video floating around forever that the Dolphin team released where they emulated the gamepad on Linux, but that's not what I'm asking.

I'm curious if it's feasible for there to be some way to capture the video feed wirelessly. I can't claim to know anything about this, but from the bit of reading I've done it seems like it uses some slightly modified WiFi signal.
Because of this, is it feasible for this signal to be either hijacked or routed through a PC to capture the video feed, while still leaving the image/controls on the WiiUGP?

I know there's the company who sell the gamepad capture device, but being in the UK with import VAT etc it would be horrifically expensive to get ahold of a pre modded one, and it doesnt seem possible to buy a gamepad by itsself to have modified.

I haven't seen any mention of anyone trying this since 2013, so I was curious if there had been any progress anywhere or if it had been discovered to be flat out impossible. It's strange to me that there's been so little chatter, especially considering how big the rise in people wanting to capture and record their game footage has been in recent years.


Failing that, has anyone done any research into the mysterious bottom port on the WiiUGP, and is there any chance of getting a video out from there? I'm curious since I've read that that's how Nintendo themselves apparently do it.

Thanks!

 

[NWPlayer123]

I've looked at several functions that might be able to do it, but it'd require USB to be fast enough, so I've been waiting to finish that.

 

[Jademalo]

I've looked at several functions that might be able to do it, but it'd require USB to be fast enough, so I've been waiting to finish that.

Ooh! Require USB in what way?

 

[NWPlayer123]

So we can store the frame data more quickly. 854x480x4x60 bytes is a lot of data to store in one second.

 

[Mr. Mysterio]

I think the internal eMMC or NAND world be even faster than USB. Since the Wii U has GIGABYTES of internal memory, it might be easier to save the frames to the internal memory, then transfer them out through the slow internet after recording. It might even be fast enough to record audio too! What do you think NWPlayer123?

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I think the internal eMMC or NAND world be even faster than USB. Since the Wii U has GIGABYTES of internal memory, it might be easier to save the frames to the internal memory, then transfer them out through the slow internet after recording. It might even be fast enough to record audio too! What do you think NWPlayer123?

NAND is slow. It would be about 70MB/s to save all the data with no compression and most flash memory is not capable of those speeds.
We could use some basic compression to reduce the size but it would not reduce the size enough in places with a lot of movement or high detail.
More advanced compression on the Wii U side would help as far as the NAND is concerned but would slow down everything else since it would use CPU (or GPU) power.
The best bet I think is to sniff the traffic from a capable device (that's fast enough) like a computer.

 

[Mr. Mysterio]

NAND is slow. It would be about 70MB/s to save all the data and most flash memory is not capable of those speeds.
Compression on the Wii U side would help as far as the NAND is concerned but would slow down everything else since it would use CPU power.

I assumed that the internal memory worked like an internal SSD for a PC. My internal SSD usually writes at about 250 MB/s.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I just assumed that the internal memory worked like an internal SSD for a PC. My internal SSD usually writes at about 250 MB/s.

There's a big difference between eMMC and a SSD. SSDs are optimized for speed and they have multiple flash chips on board. The Wii U only has one (for Wii U mode, there's another for vWii)
An eMMC chip is more like a SD card in terms of speed.

 

[WiiCube_2013]

I'd like this to someday become a reality because I don't have any capture device for my gaming.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I'd like this to someday become a reality because I don't have any capture device for my gaming.

The important stuff is often shown exclusively on the TV screen anyways. If you have a capture device, you can record almost anything Wii U or any other home console, easier and cheaper than for example capturing the 3DS screens.
But I agree. I'm more interested in the reverse though (sending data from PC to gamepad), Moonlight works with my Android phone to stream games from my PC but it lacks proper controls. I'd love a version of Moonlight that supports the Wii U gamepad

 

[thorasgar]

Just to point out gamepads are available on eBay, but the prices are nuts.

 

[Woody8275]

Wonder if its possible to capture the video signal from the gamepad by using a wifi receiver since it receives its video with wifi or will it not be possible yet since its encrypted and no-one know a way around it yet

 

[YugamiSekai]

I know there's been that video floating around forever that the Dolphin team released where they emulated the gamepad on Linux, but that's not what I'm asking.

I'm curious if it's feasible for there to be some way to capture the video feed wirelessly. I can't claim to know anything about this, but from the bit of reading I've done it seems like it uses some slightly modified WiFi signal.
Because of this, is it feasible for this signal to be either hijacked or routed through a PC to capture the video feed, while still leaving the image/controls on the WiiUGP?

I know there's the company who sell the gamepad capture device, but being in the UK with import VAT etc it would be horrifically expensive to get ahold of a pre modded one, and it doesnt seem possible to buy a gamepad by itsself to have modified.

I haven't seen any mention of anyone trying this since 2013, so I was curious if there had been any progress anywhere or if it had been discovered to be flat out impossible. It's strange to me that there's been so little chatter, especially considering how big the rise in people wanting to capture and record their game footage has been in recent years.


Failing that, has anyone done any research into the mysterious bottom port on the WiiUGP, and is there any chance of getting a video out from there? I'm curious since I've read that that's how Nintendo themselves apparently do it.

Thanks!

The hacking team is making an app like this that runs off usb and using the IOSU exploit (which is almost here).

EDIT: NWP said USB to PC, but I thought it was going to save to SD or USB flash drive.

 

[Deleted-19228]

There is already a gamepad capture device...Has been for years now.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

There is already a gamepad capture device...Has been for years now.

Could you link us to one that isn't difficult to install and costs less than $500?

 

[endoverend]

It's been reverse engineered by people already. https://docs.google.com/presentatio...dh9deiE/preview?pli=1&slide=id.g25fb718a1_220

But with IOSU access we should easily be able to capture the signal and export it out to USB, as NWP was talking about earlier. So yeah, it's certainly feasible and in fact likely.

 

[Deleted-19228]

Could you link us to one that isn't difficult to install and costs less than $500?

Less than $500?

http://www.3dsvideocapture.com/product/48

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Less than $500?

http://www.3dsvideocapture.com/product/48

Huh, I'm actually really impressed that you can buy a Gamepad capture device + assembly fee for cheaper than the 3DS version, but I'd still rather not pay basically the same price as the Wii U just for a gamepad video feed

 

[Deleted-19228]

It's the same as the 3DS...

 

[TotalInsanity4]

It's the same as the 3DS...

Really? I seem to recall kits with a premodded 3DS going for over $700... Did the kits get cheaper with time?