Firmware update stonewalls Freeloaders and mod chips

By Matthew Dominick by Aug 7th, '07 at 11:12pm CST

freeloader2.jpgYesterday’s firmware update has some cool changes, such as USB keyboard support and a clock, but Nintendo has also put the kibosh on mod chips and the Freeloader. Before installing the upgrade, Wii owners were greeted with this message:

IMPORTANT: If you do not wish to accept this upgrade, you can shut down your Wii console (by holding down the power button for four (4) seconds) and abort the upgrade. If your Wii console has an unauthorized technical modification, this upgrade could cause inoperability of your console

While I completely understand (and support) Nintendo’s desire to curb mod chip use as much as possible, I am having a hard time understanding why Freeloader discs were also rendered useless. The Freeloader is simply a disc that allows you to play import Gamecube games on the Wii without having to resort to installing a mod chip. In other words, it can even be argued that the Freeloader helps in the ongoing battle against mod chips and piracy.

I’m starting to get the feeling that Nintendo might have tacked on all these unnecessary cosmetic changes to cover up their real agenda for the latest upgrade. That, or I’ve just been reading one too many 9/11 conspiracy articles (many of which have some extremely entertaining theories).

Kotaku

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Categories: Wii

About the Author: Matthew Dominick

Co-Founder/Owner/Director

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  • http://www.thetanooki.com Christian

    Nintendo doesn’t approve of the imported games market. They may not take as much countering action in this area as Sony does, but importing can be bad for potential business and is not something they support.

  • matthew

    I know Nintendo doesn’t support it, but I’m not speaking on behalf of Nintendo when I said the Freeloader wasn’t a big deal. :D

    Nintendo has enough money anyways, so let importers be happy…

  • trudy

    Honestly, I don’t understand why they’d be opposed to this. While Christian points out that they’d prefer people to purchase the domestic release, sometimes, that domestic release never comes! In that case, those of us who are followers of a certain genre/series/developer will either have to dish out the money to have our systems modded (and subsequently, have our warranties voided), purchase a difficult-to-find system from abroad (i.e., the Wii), or resort to pirating the game and running it on an emulator (and sometimes, as in the case of the next-gen systems, is impossible–at least to emulate).

    Double the money, double the fun–I know many people who have bought both Elite Beat Agents and its Japanese counterpart–and vice-versa for the Japanese. Importing can be profitable, and I know for sure that many of the titles I’ve imported recently (Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2, Love And Berry), I’d definitely purchase if there was a domestic release–however faint that hope might be.

    Besides, doesn’t the popularity of the Japanese release sometime determine whether or not we get a release abroad? The more imports, the more likely we’ll get a US release, right?

  • http://www.thetanooki.com Christian

    Not really. Nintendo doesn’t get information on import game sales. They do, however, get your e-mails, phone calls, and letters about games you tell them you’ve been following in the Japanese news for decades or simply heard about because of character inclusions in Smash Bros. If you really want a domestic release for a game, the best way to let Nintendo know you want it is to do it directly. Games aren’t brought to Western countries based on how well the Japanese sales numbers are. Each game is evaluated as to whether or not it has a potential audience in each region.

    If anything, if so many copies of a game are imported and Nintendo eventually does decide to localize a game, it takes away a little bit from domestic sales, and depending on the game’s popularity, that drop in sales might be enough to make Nintendo think it wasn’t worth it and drop plans to localize any sequels.