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Region Free Wiiware Games Using Homebrew?

later

Member
Ok,

Since Europe isn't getting World of Goo and I don't want to wait six months for a retail release + pay $50 for 1 extra chapter, I'm hoping homebrew will be the answer.

EDIT: IT WORKS! PLAYING WORLD OF GOO ON MY EURO WII! INSTRUCTIONS HERE: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=13205475&postcount=9

I've heard that this can be accomplished by using AnyRegion Changer to change your Region to the US and then access the US shop to download the game.

Then afterwards, you can use starfall to make the channel region free so you don't have to change the region every time you want to play the game.

I haven't tried this so would like to hear from other people first if it is safe to do. Anyone brave enough has done this?

Edit: Some responses outside neogaf:

Downloading is the easy part and should work without a hitch. Running is the hard part. You'll need firmware 3.2 (but since you're using AnyReiogn Changer you have that). Get channels to be region free (either using starfall for a pernament patch or Menu loader for a temporary solution*). Hope that works.

If it doesn't there are two options:
-Make the Wii a US Wii using AnyRegion changer
-Dump the internal memory hack the app then reinstal it

I downloaded the Fujifilm channel. Without starfall it appears on the Wii menu but running it comes up with "this channel cannot be used".

I then patched for region free channles using Starfall (or you could just run the menuloader app). The channel booted.

Now had it been Star Soldier R (don't ask why you'ld want a Japanese or American Star Soldier R) the game won't work for some reason (Hudson games, Family Table Tennis and a few Japan only games only work on the regions they should).

As for games from multiple regions. As far as I know when you send a Wii for repair they use thier diagnostic disc to get your Wii sohp account data. This is then transfered to a brand new Wii. The worst that would come from an inspection is the repair fee being "misuse/abuse" (the more expensive one) regardless of if you have a warrnety (using homebrew voids it).

Download history shows everything (the Fujifilm channel comes up in its Japanese name) but channels you have download only show channels from that region (so in Japan only the Fujifilm one shows up while in Europe everything but Fujifilm shows up)
 

later

Member
I'm downloading the game now, couldn't wait :) Will let you know if it works + if so, detailed step by step instructions.
 
send Nintendo a cheque for $10
download it like a ragged man of the seas.
Never do this.

Ask VOOK would be my other suggestion, he loves games not coming out in his region in time. he probably has a solution (Or he will cry like a bitch!!!!)
 

later

Member
My god, this is the slowest wiiware download I've ever seen. Not sure if it's my connection or because the files are not in my continent.
 

later

Member
So, instructions:

1. Make sure you have enough wii points. Can't buy points in other regions.
2. Set up the homebrew channel.
3. Add AnyRegion Changer to the applications folder. Make sure to rename the .dol to boot.dol
4. Add Starfall tot he applications folder. Make sure to rename the .dol to boot.dol
5. Run AnyRegion Changer and install firmware 3.2 if you don't have this.
6. Run Anyregion Changer. Write down your current country code. Change to the US country code (49), then save and exit. DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING ELSE!
7. Go to the wii settings > internet > agreement. Re-Agree.
8. Go to the shop channel. You will have to unlink your club nintendo if you had it linked. Don't worry, you can link it again afterwards.
9. Buy and download the game.
10. Don't start the game. Go to the homebrew channel. Open Starfall.
11. It says you have to press B+2 but it actually is B+1. You may have to press that combo a few times before it recognizes it. Afterwards, choose to install "region free channels" only.
12. Change your country code back to the original in AnyRegion Changer. You will again have to re-agree to the terms in the wii settings. (This is if you want your old wiiware region back again)
13. You're done, enjoy.
 
That's fantastic!! Fingers crossed it doesn't throw up 1 or 2 problems later on. Does it still remain on the Wii Menu when you switch back to your native region?

edit: Cheers for those later, can't wait to try it when I get home tonight. I'll let you know how I get on.
 

later

Member
Chibbi Brady said:
That's fantastic!! Fingers crossed it doesn't throw up 1 or 2 problems later on. Does it still remain on the Wii Menu when you switch back to your native region?

I didn't change the region, only the wiiware country code. So after i changed it back it works just fine :) I don't recommend you do this for all games as there could be a firmware that disables this, but since this is a game that won't ever come out in Europe, I did this anyway.
 
Thanks for taking the plunge and figuring this out for us. I'll be interested to see if there is anything Nintendo can do about it so keep us posted.

Because I would love me some Dracula X.
 
wait, what? Damnit, now I have to try this too tomorrow. I did not want to use the homebrew channel so far. Only installed the Daigasso 2 Channel per Twilight hack directly


So Lost Flight will be mine too, nice!

THX SO MUCH
 
Anony said:
isnt world of goo going to be on steam?
Wait, what? That would be awesome too. World of Goo with touch *in love*
edit: you're right, great, this is great, so I will get it on steam instead I think.
 

nli10

Member
later said:
Woohoow got it installed, runs perfectly fine :)


Wow - impressed!

I still haven't finished the UK shop games, and hope that it will be fully international before I do, but this is a neat little solution!
 

DDayton

(more a nerd than a geek)
...

Wait... so this means that if I were in the mood to load homebrew and violate my warranty, I could buy C64 games?
 

markatisu

Member
DavidDayton said:
...

Wait... so this means that if I were in the mood to load homebrew and violate my warranty, I could buy C64 games?

You are not really violating warranty, by installing the homebrew channel you can easily remove it and Nintendo will never know
 

HUELEN10

Member
Okay, I just bought Mario's Super Picross, but it will not work with any region free method I try. Any thing like menuloader or starfall or anyregionchanger that could help me out? I want to play it now, and BAD!
 

DDayton

(more a nerd than a geek)
markatisu said:
You are not really violating warranty, by installing the homebrew channel you can easily remove it and Nintendo will never know

Er... while you are mostly correct (even though removing the channel doesn't remove all traces of it), you are still violating the warranty in as much as you are running unlicensed code on it and violating the warranty terms. :)
 

markatisu

Member
DavidDayton said:
Er... while you are mostly correct (even though removing the channel doesn't remove all traces of it), you are still violating the warranty in as much as you are running unlicensed code on it and violating the warranty terms. :)

Didn't stop them from fixing my console 2 weeks ago (it was rebooting and having other read issues so they had to access the system) :lol
 

DDayton

(more a nerd than a geek)
markatisu said:
Didn't stop them from fixing my console 2 weeks ago (it was rebooting and having other read issues so they had to access the system) :lol

I know, I'm just pointing out that, theoretically, it could be a problem at some point.
 

later

Member
HUELEN10 said:
Okay, I just bought Mario's Super Picross, but it will not work with any region free method I try. Any thing like menuloader or starfall or anyregionchanger that could help me out? I want to play it now, and BAD!

Well, as has been said in the original post, there are certain games that it just doesn't work with. This could be one of them? :( You did starfall, etc? Then I think it's a lost cause.
 

later

Member
For anyone who wants to use this trick for other games, proceed with caution. It does not work on all games.

Note that I have not tested these myself, this is all anecdotal:

- Secrets of mana: It just boots to a black screen, no sound, and the wii remote unsyncs
- Mario's Super Picross
- Star Soldier R
- Hudson games (all of them? dunno)
- Family table tennis
- Some japan only games (not referenced)
 

batbeg

Member
later said:
For anyone who wants to use this trick for other games, proceed with caution. It does not work on all games.

Note that I have not tested these myself, this is all anecdotal:

- Secrets of mana: It just boots to a black screen, no sound, and the wii remote unsyncs

:-\ I wanted to do it for this one.

Anyone know if this Friday is a WiiWare or VC day? Fingers crossed.
 

later

Member
Actually, someone just said it can be fixed (for the black screen, like secrets of mana)

@mcullinane: All US/JP SNES Channels run in NTSC. Now unless your Wii is set to run in NTSC mode (it can be changed using AnyRegion changer), it won't display (even if your TV supports NTSC).
This can be fixed by dumping the Channel, change the TV settings in the Channel to run in PAL60, and that will solve the problem. If you need more information, send me a e-mail to: commandershadow@hotmail.co.uk

However, I didn't have to do any of this for world of goo, so... Dunno.
 

markatisu

Member
later said:
@mcullinane: All US/JP SNES Channels run in NTSC. Now unless your Wii is set to run in NTSC mode (it can be changed using AnyRegion changer), it won't display (even if your TV supports NTSC).

This can be fixed by dumping the Channel, change the TV settings in the Channel to run in PAL60, and that will solve the problem. If you need more information, send me a e-mail to: commandershadow@hotmail.co.uk.

Sounds about right, kind of like the workaround with Neo Geo VC games on some HD units where you have to force them to run in 480i even though the system is set to run in 480p (I was one of those effected who had to do the trick)

Its merely forcing the console to display in a compatible format so that should work for quite a few members here
 

later

Member
Yeah, some more info:

@mcullinane. Do you have the video settings set to 60Hz? That is all I can think of. I can imagine the executable being 60Hz or don't boot since the emulator won't work...
I can understand PAL60 not working on NTSC machines (PAL60 is similar to NTSC but still using PAL colours), but NTSC does work...
At least my import Wii games play in Red only through my RGB cable* because they output in NTSC rather than PAL60. You see NTSC signal treats the RGB cable as an S-video cable...and the RGB cable isn't fully wired, the PINout for Red thankfully is the same for both S-video and RGB...the solution for full colour is an S-video or composite cable...
*-UInless they support being forced to boot in PAL60.

I'm gonna get in touch with Radioshadow to see if his solution works. But it's definetly not an issue with the game just failing to display on my screen (I'm using component cables). Also tried RGB+composite. The fact that there's no sound and the remote unsyncs itself means that the game is failing to boot at all, which leads me to believe that Radio is on the right track. Well i'll let you know how I get on! Cheers again guys.

@Starwolf_UK: It doesn't matter if your Wii is set to 60Hz or 50Hz, when you boot a SNES Channel, it forces the Wii to use the TV Settings inside the channel.
By default, US/JP SNES Channels are set to run in NTSC mode. A PAL Wii is set to run games in PAL. Loading a US/JP SNES Wad will just tell the Wii to load in NTSC and because the PAL Wii is set to run in PAL, it won't display anything (even if your TV supports NTSC).
If you set your PAL Wii to NTSC using AnyRegionChanger, the SNES Channel will load correctly (providing your TV has NTSC support).
@wesleyh: A lot of Wii/WiiWare games contains the necessary TV settings to run in NTSC, PAL60 or PAL50, depending on your Wii's settings.
The Wii instead of being forced to use a TV setting like the SNES Channels, uses the necessary ones. World of Goo basically has been set to work in NTSC and PAL Mode.

All thanks to the guys at wiiware-world.com :)
 

lamotia

Member
so let me get this straight? I can basically do this without installing any channels on my Wii? What about future Wii firmware updates? I don't want to brick my console just for the fact that I wanted to play World of Goo early.
 

markatisu

Member
lamotia said:
so let me get this straight? I can basically do this without installing any channels on my Wii? What about future Wii firmware updates? I don't want to brick my console just for the fact that I wanted to play World of Goo early.

Well as far as I know you still have to install the Homebrew Channel (or at least run the Zelda TP hack but imho HBC is easier to do and less risky), but you can delete that if it ever becomes a problem as nothing system wide is really being modified. I even sent my Wii to Nintendo after doing it and they repaired it just fine (it has a power problem and i deleted all references to the HBC before sending it in)

The exploit being used to activate this comes from the Zelda TP save, there is nothing Nintendo can really do about that. They can close certain things off like they did in the last firmware update but it wont render the Wii bricked, it would just stop the Homebrew Channel from starting until the guys who created it release an update (which they did the last time Nintendo caused the Homebrew to go wonky)

People really need to get our of their heads the whole bricking my Wii idea, Homebrew Channel is about the most basic you can get. if you are doing modchips or messing around with more advanced things then yes you run the risk of bricking it but I have yet to meet anyone who has hurt themselves with just the Homebrew Channel
 

later

Member
Add to that that the homebrew scene is going to release a bootmii app pretty soon, which will help unbrick 95% of all bricks.. (or more).. as you will be able to circumvent the typical boot process, and for example, go directly to the homebrew channel app. You will be able to circumvent the typical boot process by just inserting an SD card. If it's not inserted, the normal boot process occurs.
 

lamotia

Member
really thanks for the answers guys. I'll try the region changer and starfall this weekend and see if world of goo is everything they say it is. hell, I might even buy it again when it gets it's release here in Europe next year.
 
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