Soft modding the vWii

Last night I decided to go ahead and soft mod my Wii U's "Wii mode". Main motivation to do this is to play emulators via the HDMI interface and see if input lag would improve, another reason was to try GC games using progressive scan.

The process is simple enough if you have the right tools. In my case I procured a copy of Smash Bros Brawl many moons ago to perform the Smash Stack on a relative's red Wii. I kept the game in case it was needed in the future.

The process is pretty much the same as with a regular Wii, 

- Start "Wii mode" 

- Delete any Smash saves

- Launch Smash

- Create a save

- Delete custom stages

- Go back to "Vault"

- Insert a regular SD card (< 2gb one) with the smash stack and the Hackmii installer

- Go to the stage builder, the Hackmii installer should begin

- Install the Hombrew channel as usual

I tried FCEU GX, I can even load roms from my NAS. Picture quality and lag improved by a lot compared to using my Wii with composite. Super Mario 3 and Tecmo Super Bowl were definitely playable.

Nintendon't worked like a charm using the SD card exclusively. Great picture quality at 480p, and flawless control with the Wii U Pro controller.

I couldn't get the external USB hard drive to work even using a "Y" cable. It seems the Wii U USB ports are utter garbage. The same drive works great on the Wii and using a regular cable. I'll test tonight with a powered enclosure and report back.

Another issue I found is that with certain homebrew apps (tested multimods, wad manager and the intellivision emulator) after the the app starts the Wii remote disconnects and it doesn't connect back, so it is impossible to use the app or get back out of it, so I have to unplug the console. Multimods screen saver kicks in so I know the console is not locked, just the remote is not syncing. I'll have to do some research.

Update 1: Just read some newer controllers maybe incompatible with certain apps. Last night I was using a Luigi edition remote with integrated motion plus. I'll test with an old regular regular remote and report back.

Update 2: Using a powered interface I solved my hard disk issues, homebrew can see the hard disk no problem. Using an old regular Wii remote solved my controller problems, that one works fine with all homebrew apps (Atari 2600 yay!).

My first experience with the WiiU

December 7th was when I got me a WiiU plus a handful of games. However, it wasn't until last night when I hooked up the system. 

Having the Wii I knew it wasn't going to be a breeze to hook it up but at the same time it wasn't rocket science etiher.

One of the first things I dind't like is the glossy finish on the main unit, it is big finger print collector. I had to clean it when I decied where to put it (on top of the X360).

I like the fact, every single basic cable is included (namely the HDMI cable). I already had Wii remotes laying around, although I ultimately decided to get a candy orange control which will be dedicated to the WiiU.

After I hooked up everything, I had to remove the Wii U gamepad form the craddle and hook it up directly to the AC adapter since it was completely dry. The first thing I had to do was to sync up the Wii U tablet, after syncing the controller I set up the WiFi connection, the TV remote (very easy to pair with my Samsung TV and my Dish receiver) and then the dreaded update. It took like an hour or so, I don't since I abandoned the console and went to the living room to watch the soccer final (León Campeón yay!!!).

After the update finished, my controller was also fully charged. I hooked up the craddle the way it is supossed to be. I spent some time creating a Mii and a Nintendo Network account, and then finally I went on to play some Super Mario 3D World. I played a couple levels (I love what I'm seeing).

Also, I popped in Ducktales remastered. Some people may feel anoyed by the cutscenes, in my opinion, I like them. I like how they created a backstory and how the story develops during the game, it feels almost like watching a Ducktales episode. I just played the Transyvania level.

Al the time I played using the tablet and it felt comfortable, perhaps a bit bulky at times but comfortable overall. Next session I'll give the wii remote + classic controller pro a try. 

That's all I have for now. Until next time...