When the Wii was imported to Shanghai, China from Japan initially, the system sold for 3,000 Yuan, or approximately $388 USD. However, the appearance of Wiis with the new modchips built into them (the ones that play copied games) had forced the imported Wiis to experience a drop in demand – they sold for 2,100 Yuan, or $271 USD. At the time, those modded Wiis were too hard for people to pass up, as they could play copied games that sold for as low as under $1 USD. Luckily, the fact that the Wii rocks has forced demand back up for the virgin Wii units to go back up in price. Still, there’s no doubt that Nintendo will eventually notice these modchipped Wiis and burned games under $1 on the Chinese market.

Wii piracy is a topic that I know comes up on our Facebook group all the time. Many supporters make claims such as “it’s better I pay for the occasional tenth game rather than none at all” or “pirating some games increases my awareness of games and makes me want to buy some others.” Regardless of your reasoning, any pirating is stealing, and while someone may think that their pirating doesn’t make a difference, there are thousands of people that do it and those numbers add up to significant losses for our favorite game companies. Not to mention that it’s a sign of disrespect.

Nintendo Wii Fanboy