Playing USA games on a Japanese WiiU: What do I need to know?

[skydancer93]

Thinking of trying to get a white 32GB unit from Japan as it's much cheaper and a color we never got here in the US in that size.

In a nutshell, what would I need to know about running USA games on a Japanese unit in English?

How many games would I need to patch, how much of a headache is it, etc.

 

[godreborn]

I don't have a Japanese wii u, but I believe that most games should run with spiik. however, the main problem is if you don't understand Japanese as some games use the default language of the console to determine the language. I don't know what happens if Japanese isn't found though.

 

[neph00]

Thinking of trying to get a white 32GB unit from Japan as it's much cheaper and a color we never got here in the US in that size.

In a nutshell, what would I need to know about running USA games on a Japanese unit in English?

How many games would I need to patch, how much of a headache is it, etc.

If you know how to handle with cfw, FTP etc. Playing US games on JPN console is not a problem. Most run ok with Spik only, but almost all Nintendo original need extra work with language files replacement. Some other games need this too. Small number will run but with minor glitches like Bayonetta and some like Batman wont run.

 

[Kopimist]

Thinking of trying to get a white 32GB unit from Japan as it's much cheaper and a color we never got here in the US in that size.

In a nutshell, what would I need to know about running USA games on a Japanese unit in English?

How many games would I need to patch, how much of a headache is it, etc.

How are you planning to run the games? Off the original discs or off an external USB hdd? That makes a difference. Well ive never used Spiik myself I believe it supports both. Also as others have mentioned CFW will allow you to boot a lot of out of region games off a USB but NOT from disc. Furthermore language may be stuck in Japanese even with CFW but spiik can sometimes force another laguage etc. FTPing is an option for installed games (USB or NAND) but its risky. Requires tampering with language files on the system NAND.

 

[skydancer93]

How are you planning to run the games? Off the original discs or off an external USB hdd? That makes a difference. Well ive never used Spiik myself I believe it supports both. Also as others have mentioned CFW will allow you to boot a lot of out of region games off a USB but NOT from disc. Furthermore language may be stuck in Japanese even with CFW but spiik can sometimes force another laguage etc. FTPing is an option for installed games (USB or NAND) but its risky. Requires tampering with language files on the system NAND.

With downloaded games off USB

 

[cubes]

Get SystemConfigTool from somewhere (the one that punderino fixed to work with sysnand)
Change system language to English
Tiramisu will region free your console
done

 

[neph00]

Get SystemConfigTool from somewhere (the one that punderino fixed to work with sysnand)
Change system language to English
Tiramisu will region free your console
done

Dont write something you didnt check. You cant chang system language with SCT on JPN console.

 

[cubes]

My apologies if that is true, but why can't you? I remember changing regions of Wii Us and game pads I bought second hand this way.

 

[neph00]

My apologies if that is true, but why can't you? I remember changing regions of Wii Us and game pads I bought second hand this way.

You cant change Japan wiiu region with SCT simply because there are no more other regions inside console so SCT cant change them. US WIIU region console has diffrent system apps than JPN console. U cant even simply change country, because only one exists in JPN region WiiU is Japan.
Dont know how its in US region console, because i got JPN version.

 

[Kopimist]

@skydancer93 Honestly I don't recommend tampering with the System Config Tool on a retail WiiU at all its risky. Its meant for dev kits only. While some people have manage to run it okay on retail units, as others have stated you cannot simply change your console region that way.

My advice if youre running games off usb, setup Tiramesu (newer and safer method of CFW than CBHC) this will enable region free loading of USB and NAND installed titles. If you run into any problematic titles where the language is wrong or it just freezes try using Spiik. If that still doesn't work, you can FTP into your console and change files on your system NAND to make it work better but that is very risky because if you make a mistake, you can brick your console. I would only use that as a last resort and if you're willing to run the risk. I'm honestly not familiar with the FTP method so I'll wait for someone else to chime in.