Yowii Competition: Win Cash and modchips worth over $600 usd!

2007-12-30T01:45:00.000-08:00

I just noticed in google analytics that i had a new source of traffic! Someone actually linked to my first blog post, which was very exciting for me. When i checked the details it was actually from the Yowii Wii modchip site. They are using my post as an example for a new competition they are running.
I've copied and pasted some of the details below, so have a read.

How the competition works:

It's simple. Write a review on the Yowii modchip and post a link to it in this forum topic.
The best, honest review will win. This does not mean the one that talks about how good the Yowii chip is!
We are after honest and detailed reviews.

This competition is designed to reward the people that have supported Yowii by buying a Yowii mod chip
or having a Yowii mod chip installed.
It is open to anyone who has used a Yowii modchip.
You won't be asked to prove you have used one, but if you haven't it may be hard to review.

Prizes:
First Prize is: $100 usd + 5 Yowii modchips and 5 Yowii programmers.
Second Prize is: $25 usd + 5 Yowii modchips and 2 Yowii programmers.
Third, Fourth and Fifth Prizes are: 2 Yowii modchips and 1 Yowii programmer.

Read more on the Yowii modchip website...

More Wii News: Wii security cracked; homebrew now possible!

2007-12-30T00:34:00.000-08:00

Well it looks like i got my Wii modchip at just the right time. A group of hackers have used a modchip and gc homebrew to crack the security through the ram on the Wii. What does this mean? It means that true Wii homebrew is now possible. So far only gamecube homebrew has been possible, but this really opens some doors to cool features in the future.... Think xbox media centre, full region free compatibility and alternative menus. For more info on homebrew, see my last post titled: What are Wii to do? It also explains which version of Wii modchip you need for your Wii.

But back to this post... Alot of people are bemoaning the fact that the Wii security has been hacked. There are people all over the net claiming that this opens the doors for pirates and will be the downfall of the Wii. They believe that the Wii will now follow the path of the Gamecube.
Wrong!
There are some very important differences...
For one thing, the Gamecube just wasn't all that popular to begin with.
For another, look at the ps2.. Very easily moddable for years, yet possibly the most popular and profitable console of all time (not including the Wii and handheld).
And finally, it is already possible to pirate games on the Wii with an easy to install modchip, but its only currently possible to run gamecube homebrew.
All cracking the security on the Wii allows is more powerful Wii homebrew and possibly other things that have nothing to do with piracy.
This is a very exciting thing for independent programmers who now have a new platform to develop on.
And a very exciting thing for Wii users with a modchip, since it means lots more free content (games and applications).
Here is the Youtube video that shows how the Wii was cracked.

Hope you enjoyed reading this post. Feel free to leave comments.

What are Wii to do?

2007-12-19T19:57:00.000-08:00

I'll start by saying hi to my massive list of subscribers... I'm expecting my subscriber list to increase by 100%......... as soon as i subscribe on my other pc!

My first post is basically going to look at whether its worth putting a modchip in your Nintendo Wii.
Now before you all start saying its illegal, well its not in the land of Oz. In Oz as long as the modchip defeats region protection then its legal. This is because in Oz, the kind rulers have declared that if ozzies can get games cheaper by importing them, they aren't going to get in the way of fair competition. They probably decided to do this because in Oz, you can expect to pay as much as $110 aud for a new release console game. Buying online at almost half the price just makes more sense.

So.... what are the benefits and what are the drawbacks?

The benefits are:
Play imported wii games

Play imported gamecube games

Play backups of your original games

Play pirated/downloaded games (highly illegal and should possibly be listed under drawbacks)

Play homebrew games and applications (basically open source or hobbyist designers make games and applications out of pure love and flowers from somewhere over the rainbow.)

Play dvd movies (with the help of a homebrew application
There's more but i think thats enough

Drawbacks? Well there are quite a few wicked witches spreading rumors about all these bad things that will happen to you if you put a modchip in your Nintendo Wii. These range from having a whole house fall on you to ending up with a single brick.... in the size and shape of a Wii.
The truth is, there are a few drawbacks, but not many.

You may not be able to play online

You need to keep your console up to date with the latest nintendo update from your region. (If you update with an imported game, you may end up with that brick after all. Your console will always ask you if you want to update... so if its an imported game... dont update... update either online or with a game from your region and you are fine)

Your warranty is voided.... Now there are some little munchkins that have returned their consoles on warranty after removing a modchip and gotten replacements, but this is illegal and not recommended. You just need to weigh up the risks against the potential benefits.. How many imports will it take to cover the cost of a replacement wii? In saying all that, the Wii is highly reliable... unlike other competing consoles which i wont mention....Yes you know who you are!

Now if you fancy yourself as a technical wizard (had enough of the bad jokes yet?) like i do, then you will be installing the modchip yourself.
With this in mind the first question is, "Which Wii modchip?"
After looking for a good 30 minutes, you will realise that is the second question. The first question is actually, "which wii is witch?" Or "What version Wii do i have?"
There's more than one version? Yes.
The newer ones need a different modchip from the older ones.
If you go to this site: Wii version tracker
you can see what version you have. There is dms, d2a d2b and d2c.
I have 2 Wii's. One is d2b and one is d2c.
Armed with that information, you can move on to the next step....

Which Wii Modchip?
The important part here is that the dms d2a and d2b all work with the same modchip, but the d2c needs a different modchip.

For my d2b, i decided to use a Yowii modchip which uses Yaosm open source code.
Why?
Well its from Oz and so am I...
But also, its feature list rivals the more expensive chips.
It uses Yaosm code. Its an open source modchip code that rivals the commercial codes and is updated much quicker.
It uses a better microchip than some of the other modchips.. this is important, because the latest yaosm updates dont all fit on these other modchips.
I like the fact that the guys from Yowii actually spent extra to get a higher quality microchip before it was needed rather than waiting until it was needed and bringing out a new version.
I sent an email to the guys at Yowii about this and they told me that they would rather have happy customers than customers that had to buy their chips twice. They also said it was obvious the extra space would be needed because the older microchips only had room for a few extra lines of code. They wouldn't say anything bad about the other modchip companies, but it seems pretty obvious to me that some of them were planning on double sales from all the customers needing to upgrade to a newer modchip.

Ok, what other reasons? Well Yaosm, being open source, can be continued by anyone even if the current team loses interest. When other commercial modchips stop manufacturing chips for the dms, d2a and d2b, i really cant imagine that they will continue to release updates. They are following the yellow brick road, but i dont see any love, flowers or rainbows from them.
(sorry its been a while and its embedded into my nature)

Well thats about it.

For my d2c version Wii, i discovered i only had 2 choices.
D2ckey or Argon modchip.
I decided to go for Argon for 2 simple reasons.....
1. Argon is a 13 wire install... d2ckey is approx 30 wires!!
2. Argon is upgradeable and reminds me alot of Yowii even though its a different company.

I have installed my Yowii modchip but i have to wait a week or two for the Argon modchip because its very new.

Installing the Yowii chip was probably one of the easiest soldering jobs i've ever done.
Mostly thanks to the tutorials on the Yowii website. I dont think i've been more impressed by something as simple as a set of tutorials.... except maybe the modchip itself....

I have done a decent amount of soldering, but cant imagine anyone having a great deal of difficulty with this. The Wii is working flawlessly. It plays movies better than my cheap dvd player and much better than my xbox360 which is giving me the 3 red lights of death (3 rlod)

I ordered my Yowii modchip from TechSick.com (One of the official resellers) a week ago. I received the Yowii modchip the very next day.

Because of that, I also ordered my Argon chip from TechSick too just this morning. I'm considering a professional install for that one.

This blog post is probably long enough already without adding everything else that i did after installing my yowii modchip, but suffice it to say that im well past over the moon and possibly somewhere over the rainbow!

P.S. The good thing about having no subscribers is that no-one can flame me for my bad jokes.
If you feel i deserve flaming... why not subscribe so you can do it all the time.

The Tinman Talks Tech in Oz

Yowii Competition: Win Cash and modchips worth over $600 usd!

More Wii News: Wii security cracked; homebrew now possible!

What are Wii to do?