Mod Chips – How Can You Use Them to Play Copied Games?
Have you ever heard of a “mod chip”? If you’ve got a Wii, I’m willing to bet that you have. But you might not know exactly what one is.
But what is a mod chip exactly? Well, a mod chip is a small device that you install inside of your Wii that will allow you to do things that the manufacturer did not intend , such as
Play burned games
Play games from other countries
Play games off of the homebrew channel
Installing a mod chip isn’t all roses and rainbows though. There are a couple of drawbacks that you should be aware of. Before we go any further, I feel like I should mention those. First of all, as soon as you open up your Wii, you’ve voided the warranty. You can’t install a chip without opening the case, so unfortunately, your warranty will be null and void. Next, you have to realize that these chips are high tech devices and are very fragile. Finally, they require a little bit of “geek” expertise to install them correctly and get them functioning.
Mod Chips: 2 Very Different Kinds
Let’s look at the two different types of mod chips. The first type is the one that’s been in use for quite a few years now – these are the traditional solder on mod chips. This involves opening up your Wii, using a soldering gun to attach the mod chip, and then upgrading the device’s firmware.
Solder on chips are older, and thus their prices have come down a bit the last couple of years. These chips make me nervous, though, since you have to get so deep into the guts of your precious console with a hot soldering gun.
The second type differs mainly in it’s installation method. These just hit the market in maybe the last 14 months. Instead of soldering, you simply clip them onto the motherboard, like you would a stick of RAM in a PC.
Like I said before, these chips are great – the problem though is that sometimes they can come loose inside the console. This then necessitates opening the box back up to reseat the chip. Not a huge deal, but definitely a pain in the keister!
I’ve used mod chips for a few years now, but, honestly, I was kind of sick of not having a valid warranty. It’s bit me in the butt a couple of times. There is actually a way to mod your Wii using a software based method, but I’ll discuss that in the next article.
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