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Disadvantages of modding a console (Wii)

D

Datrio

Member
Harro, GAF.

I want to jump on the Nintendo bandwagon, and searching for a console. While browsing Allegro (the Polish equivalent of eBay) I found a nice deal with Wii, two Wiimotes/Nunchucks, WiiFit, and some other accessories for around 75% of the normal price, but the console is modded.

So here's where I ask you, should I buy it, or search for a non-modded one? I modded my first PlayStation, and after a few years the laser just died, could anything bad happen with the Wii? And is there a chance Nintendo might do something (limit the console's functionality, etc.) with an update?
 
Z

Zapages

Member
Datrio said:
Harro, GAF.

I want to jump on the Nintendo bandwagon, and searching for a console. While browsing Allegro (the Polish equivalent of eBay) I found a nice deal with Wii, two Wiimotes/Nunchucks, WiiFit, and some other accessories for around 75% of the normal price, but the console is modded.

So here's where I ask you, should I buy it, or search for a non-modded one? I modded my first PlayStation, and after a few years the laser just died, could anything bad happen with the Wii? And is there a chance Nintendo might do something (limit the console's functionality, etc.) with an update?
Click to expand...


Just buy legit non-modded console... As you never know on ebay/equivalents of something being broken/wrong with the console.
 
D

Drkirby

Corporate Apologist
The modding makes the Nintendo "If you ask nicely enough we will fix it for free" warranty null and void.
 
P

pakkit

Banned
Don't do it Datrio, you might de-evolve as a gamer. We can't have a gaming brigade full of chimps.

Get one modded and one non-modded. Everybody wins!
 
N

Nicktals

Banned
Did they mod it with a chip? Or just a soft mod?

Either way you'll have to be careful as far as updates go. Add to this that many updates are packaged in with new games and it may be a headache.

It's also possible there's already something wrong with it, stability wise. I haven't heard of laser issues being more prevalent with modded consoles, but that doesn't mean it's not true...I just haven't heard that.

I would play it safe and pay the extra 25% to not have to deal with the hassle, and to be guaranteed of it's quality, and most importantly, have a Nintendo warranty (which is awesome)
 
B

bdouble

Member
So its hard modded? Yeah no point in doing it. You can get a legit Wii and get homebrew and region free with a softmod. Not worth it.
 
N

Nicktals

Banned
Oh, and the reason I asked if it was hard modded or soft modded, is I'm pretty sure (someone will correct if I'm wrong I'm sure) that you can pretty much completely undo a softmod (deleting/uninstalling all homebrew and the channel, getting the firmware back to normal...etc)
 
R

Ramenman

Member
Given the actual state of Wii non-modded homebrew, the question might as well be "Advantages of modding a console?".
Iirc you can do pretty much everything you do with a modded console with a non-modded console.

Also it fucks up your warranty, while the homebrew channel / twilight hack don't.
 
V

VOOK

We don't know why he keeps buying PAL, either.
While I got my Wii modded to play Imports I wouldn't do it any more, there is no need when you can just HBC it.
 
S

SilverLunar

Member
My Wii is hard moded, It goes online and the updates don't affect it.
it doesn't play all pirated games though. (hey I buy my games legally so don't give me dirty looks)
 
W

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
SilverLunar said:
My Wii is hard moded, It goes online and the updates don't affect it.
it doesn't play all pirated games though. (hey I buy my games legally so don't give me dirty looks)
Click to expand...

But you just admitted you have pirated games. You fucked up.
 
F

Firestorm

Member
Ramenman said:
Given the actual state of Wii non-modded homebrew, the question might as well be "Advantages of modding a console?".
Iirc you can do pretty much everything you do with a modded console with a non-modded console.

Also it fucks up your warranty, while the homebrew channel / twilight hack don't.
Click to expand...
You can't save replays longer than 3 minutes in Brawl without a modded (soft or hard) Wii.
 
jts

jts

...hate me...
I have my Wii hard and soft modded and I deeply regret it. Now I have a useless homebrew channel and I can't go to the Wii Shop.
 
A

_Angelus_

Banned
kpop100 said:
Did you get it from your cousin in the Dominican?
Click to expand...

Probably just naive and got it from the same cousin.
AHUAHUAHUAHUAHUA
mlb_ap_arod1_300.jpg
 
R

RiverBed

Banned
The negative effects of modding a console:

- no online
- voids warranty
- will effect lens over time (around a year or so)

To fix the last part, you may need a cheap re-calibration of the lens or a more expensive replacement.

It depends on what you see more important.
 
W

Wolves Evolve

Member
SilverLunar said:
I only have one. The others didn't work.
So I stopped getting them.
Click to expand...

I hope you don't get banned, but this place is very restrictive with any talk of piracy. I would clarify here that you don't actually own a pirated game, at all. Outright lying, as so many do here, will appease the cheering monkeys. By that, I don't mean the mods, but the mean-spirited dongles who make up of the bulk of the piracy discussions.
 
K

kamorra

Fuck Cancer
RiverBed said:
The negative effects of modding a console:

- no online
- voids warranty
- will effect lens over time (around a year or so)

To fix the last part, you may need a cheap re-calibration of the lens or a more expensive replacement.

It depends on what you see more important.
Click to expand...

1+3 is not true. People are able to play pirated Wii and 360 games online. You also don't need some kind of re-calibration just better media.

But to answer the original question, no I don't think that it's worth. Homebrew apps can be pretty cool but not for piracy. I think pirating is more about collecting and not about playing. A pirated game could never have the same value for me then a legit copy. I rather buy two games + a bunch of PSN/Arcade games a month and play them to the fullest.
 
D

Datrio

Member
RiverBed said:
- no online
- voids warranty
- will effect lens over time (around a year or so)
Click to expand...
I care about everything, so it looks like I'll skip that seller. I think I'll just skip WiiFit for now and buy a new console.

Thanks for the replies everyone!
 
H

hirokazu

Member
My Wii is modded, and I get DREs from time to time even though I pretty much only put in legit games (both local and imported), but that's about it. Mostly from Smash Bros., which could be because of it's dual-layer shenanigans, but I did get one from Wii Fit once as well. I got no such DREs before modding, but I dunno if it's related or what.

Depending on the modchip, some imports don't work with a modchip anyway - my Tatsunoko vs. Capcom doesn't work with the modchip, but does work with HBC + GeckoOS, so that's not very useful.

For the time being though, there is really no need to hardware mod your system unless you're a filthy pirate. Or if they've managed to boot "backups" without hardware mods, there's no reason even if you are a filthy pirate. I got mine before all the crazy homebrew escapades came about so I could import Smash Bros.
 
R

RiverBed

Banned
you can get limited online. I wanted the answers to be short and straight. Even though you can get online with a mod, it will be for a very limited time till the next security scan from the console company detects you either have a mod or a pirated game before kicking you out and deleting your account permanently. You can try again with a different mod and a new account. Some can stay online for a week or so, others only for a day or so. To me, that isn't worth the trouble at all.

Just like with PSP; if you want to mod your system, be prepared to play it off-line only.

PS. I don't know about pirated PC games going online, but I guess it will be the same as in giving you a short amount of time till you are banned. There are much more variety on PC than on consoles, but I really don't know anything about PC gaming, sorry.
I did hear that you can play MMOs for free on private servers with game rules being wack, though.
 
F

felipeko

Member
I have 3 friends with modded Wii (i don't have Wii yet), and im from Brazil (what would explain the high rate of piracy).

On the sample i have:
1- doubled channels, don't work ok (even original games have some glitches)
2- works great for everything, even online games (pirated or not), but got that problem of graphic card burning (getting black pixels) from near launch consoles and will probably die sooner or latter
3- the mod is a pirated one, so the mod and the wii can't be updated, and he is trapped in pre-Mario Galaxy games, will probably change the chip one day...

you can get limited online. I wanted the answers to be short and straight. Even though you can get online with a mod, it will be for a very limited time till the next security scan from the console company detects you either have a mod or a pirated game before kicking you out and deleting your account permanently. You can try again with a different mod and a new account. Some can stay online for a week or so, others only for a day or so. To me, that isn't worth the trouble at all.
Click to expand...
I don't think this happen on Wii.
 
B

badrockjones

Member
I echo the "why mod?" sentiment. Outside of piracy, I don't see the point. That's not to say there is no point, only to say I'm not sure what that point is.

If someone would care to educate me about the benefit(s) if any exist...?
 
R

RiverBed

Banned
levious said:
I think he's referring to modded 360's online.
Click to expand...
That's the general rule of modded consoles and online play. If they can completely bypass it and play online infinitely on Wii, then that is news to me. You could then scrap that point.

I am curious hough; can you really play online infinitely with a modded Wii? Maybe they just scan their servers less frequently than other console makers?


badrockjones said:
I echo the "why mod?" sentiment. Outside of piracy, I don't see the point. That's not to say there is no point, only to say I'm not sure what that point is.

If someone would care to educate me about the benefit(s) if any exist...?
Click to expand...

Modding your console is to enable it to do extra functions. those could be legal or illegal depending on the country you are in and how you use these added functions.

A really great example is how you could mod the original Xbox to make it into a multimedia center with full installations of games and movies on the HDD. Also, look at all the extra functions PSP gets by modding. Of course, you can use that illegally as well. It is up to you.
 
N

Nicktals

Banned
badrockjones said:
I echo the "why mod?" sentiment. Outside of piracy, I don't see the point. That's not to say there is no point, only to say I'm not sure what that point is.

If someone would care to educate me about the benefit(s) if any exist...?
Click to expand...

My cheap DVD player died, so I soft-modded mine so that I could play DVDs on it. Also to check out other homebrew stuff, although really I don't think there's a whole lot there (haven't checked in a while, so there might be some cool stuff now).

I think a big reason many people do it is because you can make it region free, I believe.
 
S

shuri

Banned
RiverBed said:
you can get limited online. I wanted the answers to be short and straight. Even though you can get online with a mod, it will be for a very limited time till the next security scan from the console company detects you either have a mod or a pirated game before kicking you out and deleting your account permanently. You can try again with a different mod and a new account. Some can stay online for a week or so, others only for a day or so. To me, that isn't worth the trouble at all.

Just like with PSP; if you want to mod your system, be prepared to play it off-line only.

PS. I don't know about pirated PC games going online, but I guess it will be the same as in giving you a short amount of time till you are banned. There are much more variety on PC than on consoles, but I really don't know anything about PC gaming, sorry.
I did hear that you can play MMOs for free on private servers with game rules being wack, though.
Click to expand...
Ignore this man, he has completly no idea what he's talking about.
 
Y

ymmv

Banned
kamorra said:
1+3 is not true. People are able to play pirated Wii and 360 games online. You also don't need some kind of re-calibration just better media.
.
Click to expand...

A soft-modded PS2 with HD Loader is awesome though: you can run all your games off the HD and it's region free, too. Added bonus: you'll save wear and tear on your PS2's laser. Same goes for a PSP with custom firmware, because you can put multiple games on a memory stick so you can enjoy both convenience and better performance because you won't have to use the UMD drive anymore.
 
A

AzerPhire

Member
I have had a modded Wii for 2 years now and have never had issues with the laser nor do I have any double channels. Just be cautious when new updates are released and you will be fine.

If you don't have any plans to pirate anything than you are better off buying a new console. I would never buy a console new or used unless it came with some sort of guarantee which these ones off eBay most likely don't.

I have yet to try going online with the system to play games but I can do everything else online like vote, surf or view Miis without any problems.
 
L

levious

That throwing stick stunt of yours has boomeranged on us.
RiverBed said:
That's the general rule of modded consoles and online play. If they can completely bypass it and play online infinitely on Wii, then that is news to me. You could then scrap that point.
Click to expand...


my modded ps2 never had an issue playing online, the DNAS authentication would only check the disc being played.

My modded Wii has no problems going online either, nor does it have problems with firmware updates. I modded it originally for imports, but have not really used it so I didn't bother keeping the mod's firmware updated, so I do not know if that's an issue for some.
 
R

RiverBed

Banned
Ah, so if you have a modded system and an original game, you can play online without a problem. But you can't go online with a pirated game. Perhaps that is how it is.

Speaking of which, can you go online with a non-UMD PSP game on CFW?
 
Z

ZealousD

Makes world leading predictions like "The sun will rise tomorrow"
SilverLunar said:
I don't understand.
Click to expand...

The mods are ninjas.

You admitted to piracy, so they're going to flip out and kick you in the face.
 
D

Dat_Drink_Ik_Op

Member
RiverBed said:
Ah, so if you have a modded system and an original game, you can play online without a problem. But you can't go online with a pirated game. Perhaps that is how it is.
Click to expand...

You can go online with a pirated game on the wii, they dont have any online checks (think you are confusing yourself with the 360 situation).
 
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