What's new?? Modded Wii!!!

While I have been away since the begining of this year, several key gadgets have arrived in KL, some to much fanfare while some making a more quiet entrance.

Firstly, a modded Nintendo Wii (hereafter to be known as Wii only) has hit the stores in KL, way back in April 07. What this means is that Wii have been cracked and chipped to play pirated games. While WiiKey and its many clones have been available in the market for few months now, it has only recently showed up in MY.

There are two types of Wii systems in MY, the Japanese version and the US version. Most of the units sold here are of the Japanese varient, as its about RM300 cheaper than the US version. So whats the difference??

There are two main differences, firstly is the language. Japanese Wii have menu screens in Japanese, while the US version has an English for its menu (duh!!). Note that the Wii does not have options to change language unlike the PS3. So if you got yourself a Japanese Wii, you are stuck with Japanese menu. While this may not be a very big deal to many, I would go for the US version for the friendliness of the the menu. As I cant read Japanese, this limits my ability to change the preset options of the Wii, like the sound output, the video output, the internet connection setting, the Wii Connect24 options, the many Wii Channels setting, and even the cool blue LED lights at the DVD slot. I want full control over my unit, and this alone makes the RM300 seems worth it.

However, if you got the Japanese system and have limited command of the Japanese language, there are many system FAQs out there online, so you can learn the menu setting, what buttons means what and what to do to change the settings on your Wii. One good site to start is www.gamefaqs.com. If I am up for it, I may post the settings here at a later date.

One other difference to the Japanese versus the US version is that the latter comes with Wii Sports as a bundle. Now as pirated versions of Wii games are available at a fraction cost of the original softwares, this may seem insignificant. Still, its a good bundle to have for free.

Most stores will sell you a Japanese Wii, so if you wish to be able to read your Wii settings in English, pls specify that you want the slightly costlier US Wii. The current market price is RM1199 for the Japanese Wii, and its RM1499 for the US version. The pirated games retail for RM15 each, they can be found in most stores around KL.

For my blog readers, head over to Wega Enterprise (LG floor, in front of Parkson side entrance, opposite Michael Ling hair saloon), look for Kenny Gan and tell him Steven (thats me!!) sent you. He will give you a better price (for the Wii only) than the retail price as above.