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Play DVDs in your Wii and MiniDVDs in your Wee
Homebrew hackers Team Symbiote have reportedly enabled DVD playback on Wii consoles, a feature that many have been waiting for Nintendo to officially support since the system's release. We can't really recommend using the DVD player, as you'll need to have a modchip installed, voiding your warranty. If that doesn't sound like a big deal to you, consider this: Modchip manufacturer Wiinja has warned its customers that using the application could "cause the [Wii's] lens to deteriorate quickly over time."Playing MiniDVDs in your Wee, however, should be perfectly safe. Mick L. spotted this piece of electronics and its knock-off logo at a store in Japan earlier today. We wonder if it can stand upright?Read - Wii Media Player DVD Edition (MFE)Read - Weeeeeee!!!
Wii update provides minor menu changes, could brick modded consoles
It's that time again folks -- the moment when you're rushing out of the house, but you make the oh-so-wise decision to head in even later rather than leaving that glowing Wii unattended. Today, Wii owners in Europe, Japan, and the US can download a shiny new firmware update, which institutes a new digital clock on the main menu, a few "aesthetic changes to the Wii Shop," an updated Forecast Channel window, a "Today's Accomplishments" note on the message board, and a made over Wii Shop that "changes the way Virtual Console games are ordered." Also of note, some users are reporting that a message appears before updating that states: "If your Wii console has an unauthorized technical modification, this upgrade could cause interoperability of your console." Of course, this shouldn't come as a surprise considering the Big N's crackdown on modders, but in our single attempt of updating a Wii not left on standby, the aforementioned statement did not appear. So go on, head on down and get to updatin' (if you're not chipped, that is), and do let us know how your experience goes.[Via The Wolf Web]UPDATE: We've seen numerous reports of the new firmware not bricking modded Wii consoles, and that includes machines using Cyclowiz and WiiKey. If you're courageous enough, give it a go yourself and let us know how it turns out in comments.
Mod chip raid victim details the experience
While US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement are remaining tight-lipped about what exactly they have seized thus far, a certain modder has come forward to depict his story and explain the experience of getting raided by the fuzz. After agents woke up his grandmother and perused her domicile with a warrant in hand, they confiscated a number of consoles and spare parts around the house before heading out to find the man behind FallsInc. Once locating him at his girlfriend's dwelling, they persuaded him to hand over everything even remotely related to modding, and he was left with "nothing of worth" outside of a computer monitor and his vehicle. Unsurprisingly, the culprit (or victim, depending on perspective) feels that his "life was taken away by a ludicrous interpretation of the DCMA" as the "little guy" was taken down while mass piraters remain at large. To read his whole account, be sure and tag the read link.
Nintendo teams up with customs to crack down on Wii modders
Hide away that soldering iron, Nintendo is on to you crazy kids. The company has issued a press release "in support of" recent raids by US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents, which executed 32 search warrants in 16 states to weed out those responsible for the distribution of "illegal modification chips." Apparently this is the largest enforcement action taken against video game piracy, and Nintendo has been working hand in hand with the Department of Homeland Security to pull it off. Since April, Nintendo claims to have seized more than 91,000 counterfeit (er, "backup") Wii discs globally. Of course, the whole issue of whether mod chips, when used harmlessly to enable homebrew and backups, should be illegal in the first place is still a sticky issue (the DMCA seems to frown on the idea), but it looks like if you are indeed trading in the illicit stuff, Nintendo and the fuzz are hoping to track you down for a little chat.Update: Looks like Wii modders aren't the only ones on the run. No console is safe!
ICE seizes modchips in 16 states
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement mobilized today against a major threat: modchips. In "the largest national enforcement action of its kind targeting this type of illegal activity", they executed 32 search warrants of suspected modchip distributors. Nintendo put out a press release, which can be found after the break, in support of the government's actions in support of their massive business. "Nintendo and its developers and publishers lost an estimated $762 million in sales in 2006 due to piracy of its products," said Jodi Daugherty, Nintendo of America's senior director of anti-piracy, presumably counting every known piece of pirated software as a lost full-price sale.The government (and Nintendo) may see console modding as a black-and-white piracy issue, but it isn't at all. Modchips are primarily designed to enable the use of games imported from other regions, the locking of which on consoles is also used to lock out illegal copies. Turn off region lock, and you cut the audience for mod chips significantly. But even beyond opening up other regions, modchips enable users to extend the utility of their consoles in interesting ways. For an example of modchips being used for awesome, we point at the Xbox Media Center, which allows audio and video media of pretty much any format to be played on a $150 Xbox.
Nintendo reportedly making Wiis in Japan unmoddable
Wii modders have already hit (and overcome) a few snags as a result of changes Nintendo has made to the console, but it doesn't look like the company is ready to give up the fight just yet, now reportedly introducing (as rumored) another round of revisions to stop folks from messing with the Wii's innards. According to at least one retailer in Japan, Nintendo has taken the somewhat drastic step of actually snipping some of the pins from the surface-mounted IC on the Wii's motherboard, making the current crop of modchips virtually useless. Currently, the changes only seem to apply to NTSC-J model Wiis sold in Japan, with no word of any NTSC-U model Wiis suffering the same fate -- although we wouldn't bet on them being immune for long. Of course, all this is of little concern for anyone planning on playing by Nintendo's rules, but the rest of ya may want to grab a moddable Wii while the going's still good -- or at least wait for the inevitable workaround to this latest impediment.
Pirates rule the Philippine seas
After a tour of the country last year, Indian President Abdul Kalam described the Philippines as a "smiling republic." Wherever he went, Kalam was met with smiling faces. Well, you'd be grinning too if you saw how cheap their games are. Thanks to the black market, popular Nintendo Wii titles are priced as low as $5 in some shops. Piracy has become so widespread in the Southeast Asian country, even Sony admits that most of its Playstation software sold in the Philippines are bootlegged copies.Filipino site GameOPS found that many stores also offer modchip installations. For about $51, you can have your system hacked to play these counterfeit games at the local mall or market. Furthermore, some shops advertise console bundles, selling imported and modded US Wiis with five copied games of your choice for around $450. Similar deals for chipped Xbox 360 systems with 10 pirated titles are actually cheaper at $388.With such a high level of piracy already in place, Nintendo will have a lot to work against when -- or if -- it decides to finally launch the Wii in the Philippines.
Solderless Wii modchips on the way?
If you've been curious about fixing your Wii to dabble with homebrew or play titles from other regions, but don't trust your abilities enough to mess with the console's innards, there might be a solution in the works for you. WiiNewz forum member Takrin recently posted photos of his hardware project in progress, a prototype modchip that requires no soldering to install. With nothing to attach the modchip to though, how does it stay in place? Takrin suggests "double sided tape on one side" and "foam which presses it to your drive on the other." That doesn't sound like a very stable setup, but we hope to see this development spawn more sophisticated and accessible mods in the future. To be honest, if a monkey can't install it, we probably wouldn't be able to either. [Via MaxConsole]
Nintendo of Europe reminds all that mod chips and Wii don't mix
In a friendly reminder of how to steer clear of prison, Nintendo issued a warning to everyone in the UK, via it's Nintendo of Europe website, concerning their latest console and illegal mod chips. Apparently, they aren't suited for one another and unless you're the kind of person who enjoys living in small spaces, along with a regimented day, then you might want to avoid that option. We'd have to agree with just about the whole warning; the Wii console is already plagued with too much piracy as it is, at home and abroad.
Wii piracy in China is serious business
And we're not being sarcastic at all. Apparently, when the Wii was introduced into the market in Shanghai, it retailed for a price of 3,000 Yuan, which comes to about $388 USD (we could be wrong, apparently there are different types of Yuan over there). Shortly after that, the consoles started showing up with modchips built into them and Japanese consoles imported into the region dropped their price to 2,100 Yuan, which is about $271 USD. Even worse, pirated games could be found VERY cheap over there, only costing 10 Yuan, or little over $1 USD.The price for a console over there has shot back up to 3,000 Yuan again, which is likely due to the demand for the system being skyrocketed by the cheap solutions the piracy scene offers over there. This, of course, will definitely attract Nintendo's attention, hopefully causing the company to take action. But really, what action can they take?See also: Wii circuitry changed to thwart modchips?
New Wii motherboard & (some) modchips don't solder (like before)
DigiTimes has a provocative explanation for reports of a new Wii motherboard in production. "Nintendo has altered the circuit layout of its Wii games console in order to block the increasing use of modification chips," reports Digi. If that were true, then why, as Wii Fanboy notes, does the updated circuitry only affect quicksolder modchips, like WiiKey? We emphasize "affect" because WiiKey most certainly is not blocked by the new board. According to a MaxConsole forum post (#6), solder point 3 is no longer on the PCB, so WiiKey must now by connected via the 5th leg of the IC chip -- got it?If Nintendo revised its motherboard to thwart modders, the engineers failed miserably. Our guess? The minor nuisance that the new hardware poses to modchip users is just a coinkydink.
Wii circuitry changed to thwart modchips?
Reports are coming in from Taiwan and Germany that Nintendo has updated the Wii's motherboard with its latest shipments of the console. According to MaxConsole, one of the solder points has been removed from the altered board, shutting out quicksolder modification chips like WiiKey. Other similar tools that don't use the missing solder point should not be affected. DigiTimes suggests that these changes to the circuit layout were made with the sole intent of preventing piracy by blocking these warranty-voiding installations. If that's the case however, why did Nintendo only take steps to block just the WiiKey, a modchip that was released only several weeks ago?There were similar concerns in the past about Mario Kart DS updating the Nintendo DS' firmware as an anti-piracy measure, but it was quickly discovered that the handheld was only saving its WiFi settings. It seems far more likely that Nintendo has had the Wii's revised motherboard planned for months, and that locking out any modification methods was an unintended result.
WiiXT, the newest Wii modchip claims to enable DVD playback
Watch out Wiinja, Cyclowiz, and WiiKey, the creators of the WiiXT have dubbed it the "Ultimate Wii Modchip", and with all the features it purports to have, they may well be right. That is, if it's real. In addition to Wii and GameCube homebrew and backups, apparently the WiiXT also promises region-free DVD playback (wait, huh?), Virtual Console support, stealth operation, recovery mode, and uses 128MB ROM flash memory, 512MB flash storage (presumably for games), and an external USB dongle for enabling and disabling the chip, upgrading, and reflashing. Although there's no proof that this thing exists (or that the Wii can read and play back DVDs, as WiiXT claims), apparently it'll run about $65 should it ever hit the streets. This could be one to keep an eye out for should it emerge from vapor.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Canada accused of safeguarding pirates, ESA & friends seek blacklisting
The IIPA, a coalition of US media groups that includes the Entertainment Software Association, is urging the Bush administration to blacklist Canada for its failure to protect intellectual property rights. The IIPA alleges that Canada has not delivered on its promise to modernize the country's copyright laws, in turn, fueling a hotbed of piracy.Canada was placed on the US's low-priority watch list three years ago, but the IIPA believes it's time to elevate the bordering nation to the "priority watch list," joining notorious pirate havens like Belize, China, Indonesia, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and Venezuela. Canada has supposedly emerged as a leading exporter of console mod chips, led by organized-crime rings like the Hells Angels in Quebec and the Big Circle Boys in Ontario and British Columbia."Canada remains far behind virtually all of its peers in the industrialized world with respect to its efforts to bring its copyright laws up to date with the realities of the global digital networked environment," claimed the IIPA in its submission to the US trade czar.See also: Mod chips soon in vogue Down Under
Crisis averted: CycloWiz now works with all Wii chipsets
We were a little afeared for the burgeoning Wii modchip community with the revelation that the current crop of Wii modchips wouldn't work on the newer Wii systems running the D2B Panasonic chipset, but have no fear, TeamCyclops has already cleared that hurdle with a new version of its CycloWiz chip. So if you've been holding off on purchasing a modchip to make certain sure it could run on your shiny new Wii, it looks like you're in the clear. Now if it could only handle Wii imports...[Via DCEmu]
Wii modchips hit a snag, won't work with some recent Wiis
This 1st generation of Wii modchips was humming along so smoothly, but it looks like a recent Nintendo manufacturing modification has rained on their parade for the time being. While the chips do work fine in early Wiis, and that DVD upgradability should keep 'em humming for some time to come, the Wiinja, CycloWiz and WiiKey chips all fail to work with Wiis running the D2B Panasonic chipset, which shows up in certain Wiis, mostly ones purchased in late January / early February. The only way to check for the chipset is to pry open the Wii and look for yourself, and the incompatibility means that even the DVD upgradability won't allow current modchips to run on these systems. Both the CycloWiz and Wiinja teams have confirmed the problem, and are already working on new versions to get around the Panasonic chipset, but you might want to make sure your Wii is compatible before you blow your cash on a non-working modchip.[Thanks, waruwaru]
TeamCyclops announces DVD upgradability for CycloWiz modchip
Oh snap, now it's really on. Those WiiKey kids were so proud of themselves, with that DVD upgradability of theirs, but TeamCyclops just threw down with the announcement of the same functionality in its CycloWiz. Add that to the fact that the CycloWiz is already shipping (a couple more days left for WiiKey) and we can see potential Wii modders being plenty conflicted. At the moment, WiiKey is still the only chip with support for Wii imports of any sort, but we're figuring TeamCyclops isn't too far behind on that front. And Wiinja? Well, it remains to be seen if they have anything else up their sleeves, but at the moment it looks like they've got a lot of ground to cover.[Thanks, Matt A]
WiiKey upgradeable modchip offers more for modders
The Wii modchips are really coming on fast, with Wiinja and CycloWiz already drawing their own shares of fanboys and detractors, but the latest chip on the scene, "WiiKey," from the same kids responsible for the XenoGC modchip for GameCube, looks to be the best yet -- at least on paper. First off, the chip is upgradeable via DVD, meaning new functionality can be added, and future Wii software updates can't easily disable it for good. The even better news is that the chip supports NTSC Wii game imports from different regions, a first for a Wii modchip, and one of the most useful features to actual users. Of course, functions like compatibility with backups, mult-disc games and audio-fix GC titles are all included. No specific word about homebrew of the Wii or GC variety -- perhaps that's just a given -- but the creators stress that "More features are being worked on, and will either be included in the upcoming release or in a future upgrade that will follow the release shortly." Unfortunately, at the moment there's no actual picture of the chip, so the CycloWiz still has the upper hand on the "actually exists front." Supposedly shipping should begin February 7th, so we'll plan on checking in around then to see if this thing actually works as advertised.
Wii "CycloWiz" modchip reviewed
With Wii modchips busting onto the scene all over, well, at least two of them now, it's about time we got an idea of how well these things actually work. MaxConsole just took the CycloWiz for a spin -- the second modchip to be announced, but supposedly the first one to be hitting the market -- and they seem to dig what they see. For starters, the installation is a snap, with "quick-solder" holes to make it a bit harder for you to screw things up, and an LED indicator to let you know if you do. As for compatibility, everything works as advertised, with Wii and GameCube backups working just like original discs, and GameCube hombrew working just fine as well. The big drawback is a lack of import support, which was done to make sure the Wii can't detect the modchip. This is solved on the GameCube side of things by GCOS, an open source hombrew OS for the GameCube that allows you to toggle your region, but sadly there's no hope yet for Wii games, since Wii homebrew is not supported. The upshot is that Nintendo has little chance of a software update that can disable this mod, but it also sort of defeats one of the main purposes of a modchip in the first place. There are also graphics problems with some PAL games right now, but future GCOS updates should resolve those. Otherwise, there's plenty to love, including full support of "audio-streaming" GameCube games, and multi-disc titles. The chips should hit resellers on Friday.[Via Digg]
Teamcyclops busts out Wii modchip nmero dos
If that whole "no comprender" thing with the Wiinja modchip was getting you down, have no fear: Teamcyclops is on the scene, and they're doing up a Wii modchip of their own for the Engrish speakers among us. Apparently the chip will start shipping next week, and will come as a "Quicksolder" mod for easy DIY modding. Features include the ability to play Wii and GameCube backups, GameCube homebrew and imports, built-in audio-fix for compatibility with certain GameCube games, DVD-R and DVD+R support, and optional chip disable wire, "stealth" even when the chip is enabled, and a multi-purpose LED. No word on price, and it's hard to believe this things before we've really seen 'em in action, but we'll give them the benefit of the doubt for the moment.[Thanks, Ryan]
