Mod-proof Wii systems to be released in Japan
by John Bardinelli 
{ May 25th 2007 at 6:02PM }
According to a retailer in Japan, one of Nintendo's changes is to snip some of the pins from the surface-mounted IC on the motherboard, a drastic but simple solution to make current modchips useless. No word on whether these mod-proof Wii systems will be making their way to the U.S. or Europe, but you can bet it will be only a matter of time.
[Via Engadget]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
BPM @ May 25th 2007 6:07PM
"...changes is to ship some of the pins..."
should ne "snip" there. :P
Anyways... I'm okay with this.
But, I wish Nintendo would release a firmware update that would render region codes useless... You know, like PS3... >_>
Yeah, high hopes, I know...
Vince @ May 25th 2007 6:08PM
There's no such thing as "mod proof".
Koopaknight29 @ May 25th 2007 6:10PM
Somehow, I doubt this will be any more successful than the multitude of firmware updates that SONY sends out every month.
If modders want to mod their consoles, by God they'll find a way (sadly enough).
BPM @ May 25th 2007 6:13PM
@Vince,
True enough. I knew I forgot to say something...
"Build a better mod block, they'll find a better modder."
Thierry @ May 25th 2007 6:27PM
Maybe that's why the Wii is in so low supply, they were probably working on this counter mod hardware.
Mats @ May 25th 2007 6:29PM
The harder you try to prevent the current mod chips, the better the next batch will be.
They can currently only play burnt disks and skip regions. With this one, I am sure they will dig deeper and manage to configure the Wii channels sytem, rig up free VC titles and god knows what else. The harder they fight the more resistance they will get.
heyo007 @ May 25th 2007 6:33PM
#2
That's just what I was thinking, Vince.
Poisoned Al @ May 25th 2007 6:54PM
If you have the balls to crack the case open, I don't think this would stop you. I'd have the soldering iron warming up as I snip some paper-clips to size.
LordMinogue @ May 25th 2007 6:56PM
Sheesh, put a photosensitive thermite grenade in the thing and be done with it.
nick @ May 25th 2007 6:58PM
BPM, thanks for the clarification. Makes more sense when it's snipped
I read that line over and over again thinking to myself, "What does that mean to ship some of the pins?"
norp @ May 25th 2007 8:25PM
@8 for future reference a paperclip is actually huge in comparison to what will be left exposed when ou cut the pins off an IC. Not to mention it is nickel plated... solder doesn't stick to them.
Once you cut the pin off an IC it is almost impossible to solder to the remains, trust me i have tried many many times.
Dansk @ May 25th 2007 8:41PM
My friend's Wii plays burnt GC and Wii games.
Grog @ May 25th 2007 8:46PM
Small changes over time (to keep modding from becoming too popular) are common practice. I'm glad they do that since some of these mods, rather than just being "fun" to play import games and such, work to turn it into a pirated-game-playing-machines - which means less revenue for Nintendo and 3rd parties and thus poorer support for people who care to play legally.
Johan Krüger-Haglert @ May 25th 2007 10:16PM
13: Thought of course your point is only valid if they would have bought the games instead of pirating if there where no alternative, if they wouldn't but they still bought a wii and some controllers Nintendo still makes MORE money of the pirates than non-buyers.
laesperanzapaz @ May 25th 2007 11:59PM
firmware updates are a pain in the shithole. the psp wont let you play game X without first updating the fucking firmware.....which takes a few minutes....and fucking drains the batteries.
altho, i wish nintendo only prevented the real harmful mods ....and let the others , like using with music equipment in that vid we saw a while back, flourish.
that'd be nice
Dave @ May 26th 2007 1:34AM
I'm not entirely sure why Nintendo should care about modders if the modders can't even find the damn systems. Do they think all of the elite few who are priviledged enough to own one will happen to hack into it?
Colpix @ May 26th 2007 2:44AM
This maneuver would only affect the Wiikey chip.
Burnt Meatloaf @ May 26th 2007 3:59AM
@9: What? Now that's a completely unacceptable solution, for one simple reason: that would cost money.
t_m @ May 26th 2007 7:38AM
I've modded consoles before, but i've NEVER modded a console to get pirated games. I've modded consoles to play MORE games, and do things that have no impact on the profits of the developers. Things that they could easily have let me do myself.
Of course.. once you are forced to mod the console just so that you can play a game in your own language.. you also gain the unasked-for ability to play pirated games. And the resentment that you had to go to all that effort, and spend all that money, just to do something so basic.
So you might be tempted to think that it'd be ok to download "just a few games" to get back the money that you WOULD HAVE SPENT ON GAMES, but were forced to spend on a mod chip.
then, you might be tempted to download "just a few more".
Thus the slippery slope might begin.. when all you realy wanted to do was play MP3s on your Xbox, or a game in english on your local (japanese) wii...
Tathar @ May 26th 2007 1:10PM
I don't know why Nintendo doesn't just embrace the modders instead of trying to block them. At least they're one better than the RIAA with the Virtual Console, but it'd be nice to at least be able to run homebrew without the hassle.
As a shareholder (yes, Nintendo has stock, NTDOY, NTDOF, *and* JP:7974) of Nintendo, it makes me feel that my money isn't being invested as well as it could be when Nintendo's developing mod blocks instead of more useful things such as new Wii Channels and a way to let others create their own channels or homebrew without the hassle of modding their Wii.
Nik @ May 27th 2007 1:44PM
Much like the first shipments of the PS3 and 1.5 PSPs this is going to make all the first round of Wiis much more valuable. Thanks Nintendo!
Aberu @ May 26th 2007 3:18PM
One extra procedure added to manufacturing them, that's all they need...
Aberu @ May 26th 2007 3:24PM
@14 You can't logically say two people that buy a Wii, one person modding and pirating games, and the other who doesn't, would give equal revenue to Nintendo and third-party developers. The person who doesn't pirate gives more money all the time. If piracy wasn't a problem and actually gave them more money, like your fucking idiotic theory to justify your own actions tells you, then they wouldnt' fight it. In Ragnarok Online, they did little to stop bots, because bots had to be paying customers and almost everyone did it, hence they would lose all their customers. Didn't matter if it was right or wrong that bots existed in the game it gave them revenue. Nintendo loses revenue on this kinda stuff, and that's obvious any company does when things get STOLEN from them, so they are doing something about it.
Aberu @ May 26th 2007 3:27PM
@20 The main reason, in all time of consoles so far, people do mod chips to consoles/handhelds/etc... is for the sole purpose of playing "backup" games AKA stealing. I highly doubt even 20% actually use it to play backups of games they bought, or just use the extra features built in. They buy it so they don't have to buy anymore games, and want to steal. Maybe that's why Nintendo and no other company has "embrace(d)" the modders. They are thieves and facilitators of thievery. It's like wondering why the FBI doesn't embrace smoke shops or something.
Jinx @ May 27th 2007 9:46AM
I'm surprised that Joystiq put this up without the proper rumor-checking. Before this whole debacle, they found that all the new Wiis in Japan had a particular solder point removed, rendering the WiiKey (the most popular chip) useless. Knowing that about the new boards, along with taking a good discerning look at the picture (it's obvious that solder has been applied to points that should be factory-clean, flux smears etc) you can safely say that this claim can't be fully substantiated.
Nintendo might be sending refurbished Wiis back like this but there's no proof of this happening at the manufacturing plants.
Nevyn @ Jul 2nd 2007 6:43AM
as a expat in japan who own a "US" WII... Fuck region encoding....
it's bull shit i pay for a system and now i cant use it...
and dont even think about trying to buy a Wii in japan...
the clerks at any store just laugh when you ask for one
so because of modding they would make money in my instance
BECAUSE then i could buy games and play them... not just expensive coasters
So i say yay modding :p
Toddler @ Jul 9th 2007 3:45AM
WiiKey users simply bypass this new PCB by using a grinder to shave away enough of the chip to expose the three leads. Better mousetraps = smarter mice!