What is the official Nintendo stance on softmodding a Wii?

[dabamus]

I am most likely picking up a Wii later today once the major stores other than WalMart open, and I was reading up on modding.

I saw that hard mods void the warrenty, which I expected as much.

However, I saw that softmodding supposedly doesn't void the warrenty.

If I was to softmod the Wii, would I still be able to play official games online and not get my wee Wii banned?

Thanks for any help that is provided!

[kiyomasa]

I've *heard* that you can play a softmodded wii online. Even though my wii is softmodded, I don't play online. Sorry. =/

Softmodding will void your warranty because it loads "unauthorized software" onto the wii. If you need to send it in for repair, depending on the softmods you may or may not get away with a repair. http://hackmii.com/2010/04/check-disk-for-pre-repair-process/

I hope it's okay to post links.

[basilofbkrst]

Can you softmod the new Wii? thought they cut that out. Haven't looked into the community recently.

I might unmod mine If i can. Don't really use it for anything besides legit Wii gaming.

[TimPV3]

Uh, don't fucking do it?

[iKilledChewbacca]

were you planning on running games off of a 32GB Flash Drive like someone I know... ?

not me of course * im being serious, not me *

[dabamus]

were you planning on running games off of a 32GB Flash Drive like someone I know... ?

not me of course * im being serious, not me *

No. I was just wanting to play homebrewed games.

I'm not into piratical conquests except on Facebook.(mine is in English-Pirate translation mode)

[iKilledChewbacca]

No. I was just wanting to play homebrewed games.

I'm not into piratical conquests except on Facebook.(mine is in English-Pirate translation mode)

haha cool just making sure ;). Well I read that article that other user posted and it said that Nintendo some how traced that it had unofficial software something on it. So.. I guess the answer is " YES " they would know :(

[basilofbkrst]

Are there any homebrew Wii games worth a sh!t these days?

[sciafb]

I was gonna give a small interesting history lesson but simply put, when Nintendo reads "mods" or "homebrew" it just means piracy to them as a company and as a developer.

[ananag112]

I softmodded my Wii (the new Black one with 4.2 firmware) to play Fatal Frame 4 on it. I am sure Nintendo is against using any unauthorized software on the Wii however.

[crunchewy]

Softmodding does allow you do things like backup game saves that aren't normally backupable, not that that is actually a word. Well, you use to be able to. I think after the last update my softmod didn't work and I never got around to addressing that issue. Note that, as I recall, the usefulness of these backups was a bit questionable as I'm pretty sure they could not be moved to another Wii. That means they'll do nothing for you if your Wii dies. You're still SOL. Maybe that's changed, though? I don't know. Or maybe I'm just wrong about that. :) As far as homebrew games being good... I'd highly, highly doubt it aside, perhaps, for emulators, and you can run those a lot more easily, and better, on your computer, and perhaps yet another Doom port. Of course you have to be willing to set aside the legality issues of emulators. Console/handheld homebrewers just keep doing the same things over and over, and not particularly well

Mind you, I wouldn't have a PS2 without HDLoader. :) EDIT: which I only use to have my personally owned, on my shelf, games on the HDD. It's awesome, but there is the risk of being tempted to the dark side. You'll start out saying you're just doing that to test games out before purchase, but soon enough you'll end up with games that you've been testing for months, years, etc. I ended up stopping all that with the DS (because that's the only reason to have a DS flash card - the homebrew, even the emulators, are a joke), but I keep HDLoader because DDR is so much better with your games on the HDD and so I can play Japanese games (again, that I own and are on the shelf).

[dabamus]

Well, I got the Wii w/Wii Sports Resort bundle(for $154 out the door I might add :D) and I'm deciding against soft or hard modding it since I got it mainly for my mum.

[Doomed]

It voids your warrenty. If you're super paranoid, don't softmod until 1 year after you buy it. There are also programs that let you copy uncopyable saves that supposedly don't leave any traces on the Wii.

[dabamus]

Well, since it's mostly for my mum, I'm going to hold off. I'd rather not get it banned from online or anything.

[mtxbass1]

Well, I got the Wii w/Wii Sports Resort bundle(for $154 out the door I might add :D) and I'm deciding against soft or hard modding it since I got it mainly for my mum.

How'd you get it for that price?

[dabamus]

PMed BB's $149 at Sears and they gave me the new bundle. :D

[CouRageouS]

I have a launch Wii, hardmodded, softmodded, all sorts of crap done to it. Nothings gone wrong with it. Plays online fine, though the last thing I actually really played online was Mario Strikers. Well I did try online with Monster Hunter 3 for a bit before I got too impatient with it.

Pretty much the Wii is a solid system so I wouldn't worry about warranty, defects, etc. Just do your research beforehand so you don't screw up with any of the installs and accidentally brick your system.

[2DMention]

If you're paranoid about it, just buy a separate Wii for online play only.

[Doomed]

Nintendo does not (as of 4.2 and the games out so far) ban you from online if you have the HBC installed to your Wii. It's bad for PR and opens themselves up to false positives and BS. I know for certain that using hacks and cheats in an online game can get you banned from online. It is very rare, judging by the amount of cheaters I read about.

I think they have the capability, but not the will to ban people.

[dabamus]

Ok, thanks. I'll consider installing the homebrew channel down the road, but not right away.