Soft-Modding the Wii: "Why?"

Well, where to start...

I guess the best thing to start with is the Question- "Why?", a question that can be answered differently by almost anyone soft-modding a console, Wii or otherwise. We all have our own reasons for modding. Whether you are interested in open source software, homebrew games, PC or gaming emulation, making disc backups and playing from them, or just because you want to see how much how can get out of your console that you didn't know you could before.

For me, I have always been interested in the emulation of gaming, vintage PCs and Operating Systems, and just about anything else you can emulate. As I would put it, the never ending search for the one "does everything" box that I can plug in just about anywhere. I personally think hardware and software emulation alike is an important part of technology today that is often misunderstood. That as it may be, it is still very important. It's a lot of different things for a lot of different people, so once again we could stay on this topic forever. So for me, it's about compatibility. Keeping all my media compatible with my hardware as it and it's technology changes over time, with out the need for keeping a museum's worth of old consoles, PC's, ect, all laying around in a heaping mess so I can enjoy an night off with my games of yesteryear. And then spend a whole day cleaning it up and putting it all back away.

Until one day.. I like many of my fellow peers, I realized it doesn't have to be that way. All these old cartridges, disks, CD's, memory cards, operating systems, consoles, old PC's and all the cables and plugs (you know you have been there) - all this can exist "virtually" ( I don't like using that term, but you get the point) on a single machine! A machine that is small and portable, so I can even take it on the go, and plug in anywhere there is a TV. And for me, the Wii may not be a perfect "solves-all" system, but it's pretty darn close at the moment. It already has a great variety of reliable free software and alternatives, and they have a constantly growing community and a mostly constant stream of updates and support by it's users, gamers and hackers alike. No Modchips or soldering necessary, just patience, a PC, an extra SD Card, and some researching a few "how-to's". Easy enough for even beginners with a fair to moderate PC skills.

This was the driving force to me to make the decision to attempt to mod my Wii, and actually going through with it. Chances are if you own a Wii, you are already interested in gaming. Want to bring those old gaming glory days back to life on your Wii, and even make it capable of a lot more than Nintendo wants you to know it is capable of? Then get to it!


(Note: If you're interested in the subject, and want a good source for info on Wii Modding and Homebrew to dive into, check out www.wiibrew.org)