Wii 4.2 Soft Mod Guide

Software modification, or softmod, can be done to the Nintendo Wii video gaming console with version 4.2 system menu software in order to unlock many dormant features. You will be able to install the Homebrew Channel, which allows you to download user-created games and applications to your Wii console. Some of these applications can be used to playback media, stream internet radio stations or to load backups of the Wii games you own from an external USB hard drive





Requirements

To softmod a Nintendo Wii video gaming console with a 4.2 system menu, you will need a 2 GB or smaller SD memory card. You will also need the softmod files found at the website listed in the References section. These files are unique to version 4.2 Wiis and cannot be used on any other versions.




Media Playback

With a softmodded Wii, you can download a user-created application called WiiMC, which is capable of playing movies and music on the console. This program will load many types of media files, including Windows Media Video files, AVI videos, MP3 audio files and Flash videos from websites. On older Wii systems which have compatible disc drives, it can also play your DVDs. WiiMC supports several different types of storage media, including SD memory cards, external USB drives and CDs or DVDs. You can even view a slideshow of photos from one of these devices.




Classic Games

You can also download and play many different types of user-created games based on classic video games such as "Piing," the game that started it all, and "BlastGuy," which is based on "Bomberman." Adults can relive their childhood with the "Pac-Man" clone named "PieChart," or with the game "Wii Breakout," a "Breakout" clone. There are many different categories to choose from, including arcade, card games, platform games, racing simulators and puzzles. You can also download and classic console emulators to player games from Atari and Nintendo Entertainment System.




USB Loaders

There are a few programs that can be used to play backups of the Nintendo Wii video games you own from an external USB hard drive. One of the most widely used programs to do such is called USB Loader GX. With this program, you can insert a Nintendo Wii video game disc, while an external USB hard drive is connected to the Wii, and then create a copy of the game onto the hard drive. You can then play the game directly from the USB hard drive using the program, without a need for the game disc. You can also use WiiFlow to play your backups. With WiiFlow, you can download cover art for each of your games, view game trailers and create up to 11 custom categories to organize your games.