I'd like to paint everybody a picture in this post, of what the future of Wii Backup Loading will probably be like. I'm basing this on my knowledge of the Wii and pure speculation
. However, I can with confidence say that the below scenario is not technically impossible.
The future of DVD based Wii Backup Loading:
Loading of backups will eventually be possible to same way you are launching your retail Wii games right now, through the Disc Channel. However, for that to be possible, the System Menu has to be modified. Instead, a clone of the System Menu will be placed on either the SD card or on the Wii itself. This clone will be loaded through BootMii, and will start up just like the System Menu right now.
The System Menu clone will have a modified Disc Channel, which is capable of detecting both real Wii discs, as well as Backup discs. In both cases it will load the banner of the game, but when you click Start with a Backup disc in the drive, a cIOS will be loaded. This cIOS will detect the IOS the game requires and then on the fly patches a DIP module into that IOS. The Wii will reboot into this modified IOS and will then be able to load the Backup disc. [The above step is necessary to ensure full compatibility with all games, however the modified System Menu may be able to patch the required IOS itself, without an intermediate cIOS.]
All of the above will be fully region free, but the Backups will still be read at 3x speed. [But, as Wiigator has shown us, 3x speed doesn't have to feel slow.]
For the above scenario to become reality, this still has to happen:
- BootMii has to be released [Basically just a waiting game]
- Properly modified clone of the System Menu. [Shouldn't be hard, considering that there is already a video of a modified System Menu floating around (
HERE), with close to the right modifications]
- Software to patch a DIP module into any IOS and reboot into that. [May not be very easy, considering that every IOS is different.]
Although I'm probably wrong about the technical specifics, this will most likely be the future of backup loading (for DVD's) and I personally like the look of it.
The future of non-DVD based Wii Backup Loading:
Loading Backups without the use of DVD's will eventually be possible. The bases for this is the development of modules (for the Wii) capable of reading SDHC cards and USB2.0 devices. Both of these approaches are not technically impossible, and both have the potential to be faster at loading games than a DVD at 6x speed. [the SDHC card has to be of Class6 to be able to handle such speeds].
Practically this will mean a new Channel in your System Menu or a Homebrew program launched through Homebrew Channel or BootMii. Launching the program or Channel will get you to a new menu which shows the Backups you have on your USB2.0 storage device or SDHC card. This menu will show small banners of the Backups you have, just like those little banners you see in the Disc Channel right now. [It will look PRETTY
]
Clicking a banner will launch the Backup and run it at DVD 6x speed or even faster.
For the above scenario to become reality, this still has to happen:
- Modules for reading SDHC and/or USB2.0. [A lot of work, and will probably not happen for some time now]
- Something to modify an IOS on the fly, because games require different IOS's. [Not easy]
- A neat menu capable of reading Backup files and extracting the banners and rendering them in a pretty way. [Not difficult]
- A Windows/Linux/Mac program that 'scrubs' Wii Backups, but instead of replacing junk data with 0's, it will remove it altogether. This will cut down the size of the Wii Backups so you can fit more onto your USB2.0 storage device or SDHC card. [Very Easy]
This is of course the future of Backup Loading, since it doesn't require you to waste DVD's.
Disclaimer: the above post is for your reading pleasure only, it doesn't give any warranty that the above scenario will ever happen.
Or others 
