Is PriiLoader the best way to make a Wii region-free?

Hey guys,
I've been reading up on Wii softmodding as a nice and easy method to get a region-free Wii. Only thing is, a lot of the guides I've found seem to focus on homebrew stuff, turn your Wii a PlayStation emulator or a sandwich toaster or something like that. I don't want any of that business, I just want to play import games! I'd previously been not too keen on softmodding since the mods I'd seen at the time didn't actually make your Wii region-free, it simply let you change what region your Wii was set to. I'm looking for something that behaves like a stock Wii, you just put the game in and it loads up as normal. No region swapping, no disk ripping, no patching. Based on the fact that PriiLoader has the ability to change your Wii's system settings and one of those settings is "region-free Wii games" it sounds like Priiloader can do just that, correct? If so, this is exactly what I'm looking for!

In that case, would it be possible to softmod a Wii to only the barest level necessary to get PriiLoader running so I can set my Wii to region-free? None of that Homebrew Channel or USB loader stuff.

 

I believe priiloader does do that.

http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Preloader/Priiloader/hacks#Region_Free_Wii_Discs

 

Use an exploit like https://sites.google.com/site/completesg/exploits/wilbrand to install the Homebrew Channel https://sites.google.com/site/completesg/how-to-use/homebrew-channel then use the Homebrew Channel to install Priiloader https://sites.google.com/site/completesg/system-hacks/priiloader then boot into Priiloader and enable the system menu hacks you want like region free all.

 

You're absolutely right about priiloader. I can run all Wii and GC games without any problems (it's better to run NTSC GC games on PAL system with Neogamma though - you can get proper 60Hz mode that way instead of squished picture with 50Hz. Not sure if same applies for NTSC Wii + PAL games - sold all my NTSC consoles because they lacked GC compatibility and it was long before Nintendont and other stuff)

 

Awesome, thanks! Would this also make the system appear stock? Seems like I'd be able to uninstall the homebrew stuff once I've set it to region-free, so I'd hope so. Also turns out that Japanese Wiis never lost GameCube compatibility, so that's handy

 

Your wii will look stock.

Also if you have a older wii I would install bootmii in case for what ever reason the console bricks you can bring it back to life.

 

Sorry to butt in, but is priiloader compatible with usb loading cios like d2x? The wiibrew page seems to suggest that's a recipe for a brick.

 

Hey guys, is there some way of using softmodding to transferring my Wii shop purchases? I contacted Nintendo about transferring from my AUS Wii to a JPN Wii, but they said they can't help me. I figured maybe whatever it is that identifies a Wii on the Wii Shop might be kept somewhere on the hardware and that something might be able to be copied to a new Wii. Or maybe it would be easier to do a system transfer from my AUS Wii to a Wii U? That would at least free my Wii Shop purchases from a single hardware and tie it to my Nintendo Network account instead. It's not that much of a loss that I can no longer use my purchases on a Wii.

Also, what are the hazards of using a softmodded Wii online? I figure that since Nintendo no longer supports the system, there's not much risk of an update that's intended to brick softmodded systems, but is there anything else?

 

For the most I think virtual console games/apps are region locked.
Only way I could think of is to do a nand backup on your pal wii and grab your games and apps,then install them on your jpn wii.

Also you should be fine going online,I never had any problems and also the wii has been done with updates for sometime.

 

Would it really be that simple? Just do a NAND backup and restore the backup to the new Wii? Reading online, it seems like for a NAND restore to work, certain hardware needs to be the same version, which seems kinda hard to match up with two different Wiis.

 

I don't think that NAND backup will work because of different keys. But i think that it's possible to convert your Wii Shop/VC software to wad files and install them using wad manager on other console. At least it will be safe, it's just some games may not work (black screen) but that's about it.

For online - there's no updates above 4.3 for wii and will never be. As it seems they don't care about Wii/vWii anymore. It's absolutely safe. And the only way to play a few games online is to use either patched iso or special loader which patches disc game on the fly to run with private server (wiimmfi). Without it Wii online is just a youtube player, that's all.

 

Flash is right, NAND backup is unique, and cannot be shared.

 

Damn. My only option is probably to transfer to a Wii U then. All Wii software works on Wii U right? Or am I going to have to straight up pirate it?

 

why don't you just get your Wii and use the PSU from Japan?

 

I was thinking that, but it's gonna cost like $50 to post it over, and that's $50 I could put towards a brand new, scratch-free one. I'm sort of thinking in terms of long-term collect-ability, a new one won't be as worn as my current one is, so it'll still look great and work well in the future. Plus, I could get a black one instead of a white.

 

Sure, but it'd relieve a lot of trouble ...

 

Eh, it's only $100 or so extra (not counting the cost of having to buy a new AC adapter) over posting my AUS console over. $100 extra for a fresh new console with all the latest features (BUILT-IN MotionPlus? Madness!) in a sexy black finish? Sure, why not!

Alrighty! I've got a new Japanese Wii and I've got Priiloader up and running (only after discovering that the guide I was following was telling me to put the hacks files into the wrong folder!) and I've turned on the "region free EVERYTHING" option so I'm assuming that my Wii is region-free now (I assume there's no point in also turning on all the other region-free options is there?). Thanks for your help guys!

However, I've discovered that Japanese Wiis don't have the option to switch the system language to English like nearly every console ever made. Is there a hack to put it into English? Or would I have to do some region hack and set my Wii to NTSC-U or something?

 

Japanese Wii's don't have any English system menu available, the only way to make it English would be to make some kind of franken-wii and install a US firmware on it with some trickery, and afterwards apply the region-free hacks again. Also with a Japanese Wii set to region-free many other region Wii-games will boot in Japanese, e.g. House of the Dead Overkill (EU) will play in Japanese :O

 

Hmmm, so how do I install US firmware on it? And is this dangerous? I've already done a NAND backup and I'm assuming that since Japan and the US are both NTSC it's not as bad as going from say NTSC to PAL.

*EDIT* So apparently there's a homebrew app called "AnyRegion Changer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3GiXNOoGPw

From the looks of things, you can not only change multiple region settings but even the language. Sounds like it might do the trick, has anyone ever used it?

 

FireAza, Use ModMii tutorial. You can brick Wii changing regions. (if you have boot2 exploit it is safe with nand backup).