Datel completes work on the “Wii”loader

By Spencer . February 28, 2008 . 5:44pm

I’m sure you’ve read this somewhere else by now, but in case you haven’t a Nintendo Wii version of the Freeloader exists. Datel’s device allows gamers to boot Wii games regardless of region similar to the Gamecube Freeloader, which was recently blocked by a Nintendo firmware update. Until the next firmware fix this nifty tool should let importers pick up Japan only releases like Naruto Shippuden: Gekitou Ninja Taisen EX 2 and Eyeshield 21: Field Saikyou no Senshi Tachi plus a bevy of games before they get released internationally.

So, why did I wait on posting breaking news? I put in multiple calls / e-mails to Datel to ask if the product is actually shipping, what games they’ve tested and if they have a contingency plan to fight firmware updates. I still don’t have a solid answer to any of these questions, but these are the things that happen behind the scenes at some desk littered with Katamari cell phone charms.

TAGS: Datel, Gadgets, Wii

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DarkeSword

Nice. Please keep us posted if you get a response from Datel. I'm very interested in grabbing this, but not if it's going to get broken on a firmware update.

Aoshi00

That's great news Spence, even though I'm pretty sure the big N would mess w/ this freeloader again w/ future updates just like they did w/ the Gamecube one.

Believe it or not, I'm going to order several Jpn Wii games tonight, and I'm not going to update my Wii until I finish those games!

Aoshi00

Not sure if this is a silly question, never ordered directly from codejunkies before. Do they ship outside of Europe? When I tried to order, there's no option to choose USA...

TacoBeaver

WHAT? NO WII ACTION REPLAY!??!!?!?

EvilAkito

This is good news for hardcore importers, but for the rest of us, it's hard to justify buying something that could be rendered useless next time Nintendo releases a mandatory firmware update.

Aoshi00

Awesome, I just placed an order for it, $27 including shipping. BTW, the link above is for the UK site, that's why it didn't take US orders, no biggie.

AlphaCananogram

# Aoshi00 Says:
February 28th, 2008 at 8:11 pm

Not sure if this is a silly question, never ordered directly from codejunkies before. Do they ship outside of Europe? When I tried to order, thereâ€™s no option to choose USAâ€¦
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Here is the US version of the site
http://us.codejunkies.com/Products/Wii-FreeLoad...

kakashi

This is sweet. I have a modded JPN Wii, but I never tried to play any US games till today -- GH III. I got DBZ, US version and put that in as a test, and it worked. Happy and excited, I torn open my GHIII box and popped in the disc.

Some Japanese text (a huge 10 line message) popped up, and something started downloading. I wasn't sure what it was, perhaps a firmware update, so I quickly rebooted. I tried multiple times, and yet the same thing happened. I haven't proceeded w/the update since i"m not sure if it was coming from the disc or the 'net.

So I left my Wii in standby, hoping for the firmware update over the net.

So, any fellow hardcore importers face a similar situation? And if so, what have you done?