Hacking The Current State of the Wii?

[appleburger]

So, with tax returns, I'm debating whether to pick up a wii again or a playstation vita. I had a modded wii a couple years ago, but I managed to trade it for a ps3 with three movies and 15 games on craigslist - couldn't pass that deal up.
But, I'm not sure how the wii is doing these days; from what I've heard, a lot has changed (mine was a first gen).

I noticed the sticky about being able to modify ANY wii, but are the new (non-backwards compatable) wiis the only ones you can buy new these days? Playing Gamecube games is an absolute must for me. And if the backwards compatable wiis are still around, can you buy them anywhere, and do they look the same?

And I'm assuming the hacks haven't gotten any more difficult since two years ago, right?

I know some searching could provide me with the answers, but It'd be way easier to just get a straight answer from somebody who's still in the Wii scene, since I've been absent for so long now.

 

[JoostinOnline]

When it comes to hacking a Wii, the older it is, the better. If you get a Wii, try and get one of the old white ones. Also, don't follow that Modify Any Wii guide, it sucks. Use ModMii by XFlak or Softmod ANY Wii by mauifrog/ShadowSonic2.

Modding is pretty easy these days.

 

[Taleweaver]

Let's see...first of all: "modify ANY wii" actually means "modify ANY wii" (up until firmware 4.3). This is done via a softmod hack, so you won't even need a special game or any sort of hardmod. In fact, the newer wiis don't differ that much from older.

-wiis sold after mid 2009 cannot have bootmii as boot2. This isn't much of a deal in terms of day-to-day usage. At best, it means you'll have to be a bit more careful when doing stuff that is potentially dangerous, as the backup program is just equally sturdy as other programs.
-wii's sold after...erm...about the same time? (not sure)...either way, some have a newer drive that won't allow for backup disks. You can overcome it by switching the drive with an older model (or get an older model wii in the first place), but the much preferred method is to just use a USB drive. You can load your wii games from that, and thanks to DML, loading gamecube games from SD card has become quite reliable.
-since a couple months, nintendo slimmed down their newest batch of wiis so that they don't contain gamecube controller ports or memory cards. While these can be softmodded in the same way, gamecube controllers are still a must. And the memory card for the large part as well.

The older model wiis are obviously still very much around. Just make sure to ask about it in the store (of course the slim model is a bit cheaper). Or buy a secondhand one.


Hacks haven't gotten more complex. On the contrary: with modmii, it has never been easier to get a reliable way to do it and get all the needed files in the process.


I wouldn't say the "modify any wii 4.3"-guide sucks. Compared to some other guides on the net, it stands out well above the average. Still, modmii stands out even more.

 

[obcd]

If a wii in a shop has no stand to place it vertically, it's one of the newer slim models without gamecube support.
The gamecube controller ports and memory slots are missing.
Another indication is the WII printed on the front of the console. When it's horizontally the moment your wii is placed horizontally, it's one of the newer wii's without gamecube support. It's normally like that printed on the box as well. So, you don't need to open the box to see if there is a stand in it.