Yesterday, a long-time listener of my podcast plaintively wrote me and asked if there were any way that I could be more specific about how to copy Wii games. She was so tired of wasting money on replacing broken games that she was at the end of her rope. As a result, I’ve put together this guide for both her, and for you. Enjoy!
When I first started my blog and my podcast, back in 2005, there was no easy way to copy Wii games. You had to copy the games as you would a CD, and then install a mod chip into your Wii to make the games playable. Sounds great right? Well it wasn’t. Because when you installed a mod chip, you had to open up your Wii and solder it to you inside of the console’s motherboard, instantly voiding your warranty.
As I write this, though, in early 2011, a better way has come about that I’m trying to educate everyone about. Instead of modding your Wii and voiding the warranty, you can mod your game discs instead. How? Simple. You use game copying software to make complete cloned copies of the discs that include all of the proprietary information from the original discs that will effectively trick your Wii into thinking that the game is an original.
But, before I ramble on and on, let’s get into the guide:
First:
You need to locate a copy of the game copying software. It’s not free, but it’s not very expensive. Once you find a reputable source to buy it from, you’ll pay about the cost of one game at retail. Download the file, and save it to your computer’s C: drive root
Second:
Now you’re going to load the application (a process sometimes called installation). Locate the file in the location where you saved it in step 1. You do remember where you put it right? Now, click it twice rapidly (this is called double-clicking). An installation screen will appear. Hit “Next”. It will work for a few minutes and then ask you to confirm some settings. It might do this several times. Each time it does, just accept the default settings and hit “Next”. When it’s done, it will play some music, and give you a screen that says “finished”.
Step Three:
Decide which game you want to burn first. The game is smaller than a regular CD, but CD drives on PCs are capable of reading them. Insert the game into the center of the drive tray.
Step Four:
Launch the game cloner software that you just installed, and wait for it to load completely.
STEP 5
Now, we come to the first technical part of this operation. You need to “rip” the game disc. Don’t worry, it’s not as destructive as it sounds! This simply means that you will copy an exact clone of all of the files on the disc to your PC’s desktop. Within the game copy utility, choose “extract” and then drill down to where you want to extract it to – I recommend the desktop for ease of use. Hit “Start” and go grab a soda. This could take a few minutes.
Sixth:
Okay, in case you managed to get this far: Now i’m presuming that the copy finished properly. If not, start again at Step Two. Now, take out the game cd from your optical disk drive, and insert a blank CD or DVD in it. Any sort of CD or DVD which is suitable for your own drive works. Inside the applications menu, go for “write” function. Then scan to the file that it copied to your desktop. Hit “Start”.
STEP 7
That’s all she wrote – you’re done, and you’ve just copied your first Wii game. W00t!
What this means is that you no longer have to abide the tyranny of the game companies – you can backup ALL of your games and never have to pay to replace a lost or damaged game again!
The writer is a part time comic book illustrator, and full time Video game console hacker. Learn more about how to copy Wii games with this other write-up. You can also find more in-depth instructions on how to copy Wii games at his blog.. Unique version for reprint here: Instructional Guide for Copying Wii Games.