[Osiris]

Nintendo Revising Wii To Thwart Hacking

Nintendo has reportedly altered the circuit layout of the Wii to prevent modchips from working on the console. Unfortunately for Nintendo, reworking the circuit layout is just a short term fix.

The new Wiis, which are part of new shipments of the console, have an altered circuit layout that makes modification more difficult than in earlier versions. Users attempting to mod the new consoles using current modchips are very likely to damage the system, the sources pointed out.

[Biker-Boy-Nay]

ahh well i dont see the reason modding one i might mod the Casing like put stickers on etc but im happy with what i got.. im surprised the people that are moding aint

[Jorsoft]

I never understood why manufacturer's are so concerned with hobbyists modding their consoles. What's the big deal?

[Vormund]

Originally Posted by jorsoft03

I never understood why manufacturer's are so concerned with hobbyists modding their consoles. What's the big deal?

It's not the hobbyists, it's the pirates (har, har!)...I did this with my PS2. And believe me, from the original PS2 to the last one I did, version 9 I believe, the connections that had to be soldered were crazy. It was like 16 different wires with points as fine as a needle tip, surrounded by others that'll short the board if connected.

Like the article says - it's definitely short term, but it sure does add some fun for people with unsteady hands like myself. :rolleyes: Actually, on my home PC, I still have the layout of the version 9 PS2...I should post it here for some laughs...hah!

But with it, I'd rent games and copy them. I usually ended up buying them shortly thereafter or tossing 'em, so maybe it was just a hobby, hmm...anyhow...

[Brinson]

The pins that connect one of the chips to the board have been cut. All you have to do is dremel back the plastic cover on the chip and solder directly onto what's underneath.

Not as hard as it sounds.

[Jorsoft]

Originally Posted by Vormund

It's not the hobbyists, it's the pirates (har, har!)...

Ahh, now I understand. lol

[c0rr0sive]

If consol makers really wanted to, they could remove just about any points to solder to... Like those holes in the board that are in the traces.... They could also put something all over the board like they do on computers in a car that keeps moisture out... Stuff hardens and entraps the board and parts forever, never allowing them to be serviced again...

[FadingTheory]

Originally Posted by charles_scott

If consol makers really wanted to, they could remove just about any points to solder to... Like those holes in the board that are in the traces.... They could also put something all over the board like they do on computers in a car that keeps moisture out... Stuff hardens and entraps the board and parts forever, never allowing them to be serviced again...

They could also tag an extra 100 bucks onto the price tag. Woot.

Making your board impervious creates two problems: cost to manufacture and cost to repair. They could potentially lose millions of dollars. When all things are tallied, I think the best bet is just to make it harder, keeping a few more people honest.

[Brinson]

The better bet would be to make more affordable games

They're on the path, actually. Wii dev kits are going to sell for a few thousand. Hopefully we'll see homebrew and pro game developers overlap and see a price competition.