It seems that the first commerically available mod chip is being released on 1st February. Called the ‘Wiinja’, this chip once installed allows you to play ‘Backed Up’ games on your Wii console.
The features this chip includes, according to the site selling them are:
- First Wii Modchip
- Run your own region (PAL/NTSC) Wii backups directly
- Run your own region (PAL/NTSC) GC Backups directly
- 5 Cables to solder
- Easy Installation
- Modchip not upgradable
I don’t know what to make of things like mod chips. I mean, from one side of the coin, they are a great idea as they allow you to play all the games you can get hold of for a fraction of the price it would cost you to buy it from the shops. These chips also allow people to run homebrew code on the console, meaning that small time developers can write and edit Wii programs without need of the standard Wii developer kit.
But on the other side of the coin (and the one I side with), piracy is killing all kinds of media industries, especially gaming. If developers don’t make enough money from selling games, then they will most likely not both releasing as many games as they normally would, leading to less support for the console.
I guess we’ll have to see what happens, as the Wii has already got a huge homebrew following thanks to it’s amazing controller.
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Omar Hameed says:
Good point but, I think if they really were a problem, games companies would do more about them.
For example, Microsoft had a problem with people modding the original xbox for advanced media functions such as movie and mp3 playback, as well as being able to run homebrew code. So they included an advanced media section into their 360, as well as the new XNA games development tool which allows you to run your own code on their console.
If Nintendo felt that modchips were really digging into sales of their software I’m sure they would try to reduce reasons to resort to these measures. If games consoles were region free, less people would go and mod their consoles because they could easily import the game they wanted to play.
Modding consoles is hard to do and is obviously not something the majority of gamers will be bothered with but for those wanting to take up coding for themselves and play games outside of their region, its the only way.
I have a feeling over 80% of console modders do so for homebrew and the chance to play games not released in their region - not for piracy.