Nintendo reportedly making Wiis in Japan unmoddable

Wii modders have already hit (and overcome) a few snags as a result of changes Nintendo has made to the console, but it doesn't look like the company is ready to give up the fight just yet, now reportedly introducing (as rumored) another round of revisions to stop folks from messing with the Wii's innards. According to at least one retailer in Japan, Nintendo has taken the somewhat drastic step of actually snipping some of the pins from the surface-mounted IC on the Wii's motherboard, making the current crop of modchips virtually useless. Currently, the changes only seem to apply to NTSC-J model Wiis sold in Japan, with no word of any NTSC-U model Wiis suffering the same fate -- although we wouldn't bet on them being immune for long. Of course, all this is of little concern for anyone planning on playing by Nintendo's rules, but the rest of ya may want to grab a moddable Wii while the going's still good -- or at least wait for the inevitable workaround to this latest impediment.

[Mr.Playstation3 @ May 25th 2007 2:38PM]

Can you really make something unmoddable, I mean you know how the hackers are, just saying they can't do it makes them try even harder to crack it... LoL

Good luck with that one Nintendo. May the Force be with you, you're going to need it.

[J. R. @ May 25th 2007 3:08PM]

Ha! This is laughable. All you have to do is solder directly to the chip. This isn't goign to stop anything. Make it harder to solder? Maybe. Impossible? Not a chance...

[Megan @ May 25th 2007 3:08PM]

I don't see what the problem is with modding it. The cooler things people find to do with them, the more people are gonna buy them. And if they screw it up, that's the consumer's problem, not Nintendo's. I have a friend who modded his Wii, screwed it up,threw it away and bought a new one. I have a feeling a few people have done that now. Nintendo's making money, so they shouldnt care if people are modding it or useing it as a door stop

[Ray-- @ May 25th 2007 3:09PM]

if Wiis weren't already sold out everyplace on earth I'd say this was a good idea by Nintendo to drive up demand for the current crop of consoles out there...

[Big @ May 25th 2007 3:18PM]

Do they have a MODCHIP that makes Wii games NOT SUCK?

with the exception of Zelda and all these Wii games with the name "Mario" in them, Wii has FAILED to deliver on its revolutionary game promise. All of Wii's ports (Call of Duty, Mortal Kombat, etc) share one thing in common... THEY ALL SUCK and are lackluster when compared to the same game on other consoles. The Motion sensor system is GARBAGE. In order to make use of it, the games have to be ramped down in difficulty which means that you typicaly have ABNORMAL firepower abilities or UNGODLY health/stamina amounts.


And please don't mention "virtual console" cause if you do then I'll feel free to mention Xbox 360's Arcade and Playstation 3's classic game downloads.

I'm currently selling my Wii on Ebay. LEt the senior citizens get ahold of it so they can play Wiisports in their retirement homes while I'm on C&C3 and Gears of War.

[n3rrd @ May 25th 2007 5:30PM]

Nice. Comparing the game library from a system that is six months old to the game library from a system that is a year and a half old. A better comparison would be between the PS3 and the Wii. Regardless, there have been hordes of lack luster games on all three systems and, quite frankly, I'm growing disappointed with console gaming in general.

I have been tempted to mod my Wii, though. :| Luckily, mine is from the first batch.

[Godsmurf @ May 27th 2007 11:35AM]

"The Motion sensor system is GARBAGE. In order to make use of it, the games have to be ramped down in difficulty"

Just like every PS and Xbox shooter is dumbed down to be playable with a gamepad. Mouse + keyboard is the way to go if you want serious gaming dude. And Wii is the way to go if you want something that's simple and innovative.

[Ray-- @ May 25th 2007 3:18PM]

because they make more money on games than they do on the console itself... modding is bad in the sense that it allows you to play copied games which means no more revenue...

[my moustache @ May 25th 2007 3:36PM]

perhaps you mean while the getting is still good?

[Jerry @ May 25th 2007 3:38PM]

Dont forget that there is a legitimate reason for mod chips, the ability to run custom code, linux, or who knows what else. If they want to limit modding, they should allow us to run custom code off the bat and give away a free sdk and whatever else we need to create our own apps.

As for Piracy..it will always exist, thats a given, and the hackers pretty much can't be stopped because they'll always be one step ahead, and there are a lot more of them then developers - so instead of wasting money on useless attempts to block it, spend that money on improving the actual console itself.

[J. Evans Turner @ May 27th 2007 10:25AM]

With the Wii, there is still no way to run homebrew except in GC mode, which does not allow access to the Bluetooth Wii Remote and attachments nor the increased specs of the Wii. Wii games are signed and it's looking to be quite a challenge to completely crack the system...if it is ever cracked "wide open" at all...

[skmetal7 @ May 25th 2007 3:46PM]

they could just cover the circuit board or a part of the board in a hard plastic, cut throught the plastic and u might cut through the circuit

[cduran01 @ May 25th 2007 4:34PM]

They can always cover the entire circuit board in an epoxy, that would definitely stop any hardware hacks. Its dont with a lot of automotive electronics, and I can tell you its imposible, to get to the electronics one needs to grind and sand away almost an inch of epoxy which is imposible to do without destroying some components along the way.

[Irfan @ May 25th 2007 4:48PM]

wouldnt coating it in thick plastic just make it overheat and fry?

[DJBro @ May 25th 2007 5:03PM]

they tried the epoxy with the xbox 360 dvd eeprom firmware chip. someone promptly figured out how to heat it up and peel it off.

[G-Bot @ May 25th 2007 5:14PM]

If there is a lock, there is a key....mod-chips will always exist, because there is always a key to whatever lock the manufacturers can dream up.

[Mr. Picklesworth @ May 25th 2007 6:25PM]

*Sigh*
If they'd just opened the thing up to homebrewers via a free official dev kit (with limited license), the smart people wouldn't have tried these mods in the first place.
Thus, it would be much easier to tell pirates from adventurers. ("If you solder on a mod chip, you're a pirate!")

When will they learn?

[DarrenJ @ May 25th 2007 6:46PM]

J.R. said: "Ha! This is laughable. All you have to do is solder directly to the chip. This isn't goign to stop anything. Make it harder to solder? Maybe. Impossible? Not a chance..."

It looks like the pins are actually unplaced by the part manufacturer. That means there isn't a pin or bondwire inside the part. You can't solder to it unless you crack open and bond to the silicon. That's a no-go. However, you could potentially replace the part if the code doesn't recognize the difference.

skmetal7 said: "they could just cover the circuit board or a part of the board in a hard plastic, cut throught the plastic and u might cut through the circuit"

cduran01 said: "They can always cover the entire circuit board in an epoxy, that would definitely stop any hardware hacks. Its dont with a lot of automotive electronics, and I can tell you its imposible, to get to the electronics one needs to grind and sand away almost an inch of epoxy which is imposible to do without destroying some components along the way."

See the above comments about easy removability with heat and overheating parts during operation. Airflow is a key part of keeping consumer electronics within spec, and automotive electronics actually generate way less heat and are rated for much wider temp extremes. The other thing to keep in mind is the ability to manufacture it. It's alot harder to bring up and test when you don't have board access, and your manufacturing defects go way up.

[phlavor @ May 25th 2007 7:18PM]

Wiis are being MADE? I've seen no evidence of that at all.

[TwhiT @ May 25th 2007 8:20PM]

haha poor japs, i'm so glad i got my wii modded, now i just need to get a 360 and modify that as well ^_^

[corey @ May 27th 2007 4:29AM]

ya but if you mod your 360 you cant go on live ^

[Carl @ May 26th 2007 12:31PM]

BTW this report refers to consoles sold in Hong Kong, where the Wii finally got a domestic release, not Japan.

[Genome @ May 26th 2007 4:45PM]

nice, all thats going to happen is that console modding will become like bomb defusal.

[CR @ May 26th 2007 11:11PM]

I think Nintendo has reason to be afraid. I live in Shanghai. Almost everyone who is selling a Wii here sells it pre-modded. The games are all copied. The cheapest game I've seen for sale was 4 RMB, about $0.50 USD.

[Big @ May 28th 2007 10:21AM]

Just like every PS and Xbox shooter is dumbed down to be playable with a gamepad. "


THAT IS THE MOST BULLSHT FANBOY REMARK I'VE EVER HEARD. If they needed a defense lawyer for hitler, it could have been you.

[TyLord @ May 27th 2007 3:32PM]

Corey said:

ya but if you mod your 360 you cant go on live ^


That is only the case with firmware flashes, actual modchip mods are still undetectable, for now at least.

[Makalu @ Feb 29th 2008 9:11PM]

"Nintendo reportedly making Wiis in Japan unmoddable"?
Really? Why don't they just put a big sign on the Wii that says "mod me"?