Nintendo Wii

[revlob]

Probably been asked a trillion times, but what are the chances of the freeloader being use-able on the Wii? Because I am getting a PAL console, wondering if I may need to keep my Gamecube to play my ntsc cube games on.

If it has been asked before then I am sorry - not that I care what anyone thinks anyway because I RAWK.

I don't think anyone's actually tried it, but I doubt our GC copies of Freeloader will work on the Wii. Everyone seems to think that because the disc loading methods are different on the Wii and the GC, Freeloader won't work as a swap disc anymore.

[gunrock]

I don't think anyone's actually tried it, but I doubt our GC copies of Freeloader will work on the Wii. Everyone seems to think that because the disc loading methods are different on the Wii and the GC, Freeloader won't work as a swap disc anymore.

Think about it, chaps. Freeloader works by booting up as a normal Gamecube disc, then stops the drive from spinning so you can press the eject button, which is mechanical (ok, so it does have a sensor) to opne the flip up lid, and plop in a new disc. So how will Freeloader (designed for the Gamecube - not the Wii), control the electronic eject mechanism and slot-loading drive of the Wii to allow you to put another game in (without it rebooting or going to the Wii Channels page or whatever)?

[elkatas]

So how will Freeloader (designed for the Gamecube - not the Wii), control the electronic eject mechanism and slot-loading drive of the Wii to allow you to put another game in (without it rebooting or going to the Wii Channels page or whatever)?

Same way as any Gamecube game that has more than one disc. When you are asked to change disc, software simply sends signal to cube's bios that informs console that disc changing process is on the way, and opening the lid (or ejecting the disc in the case of Wii) shouldn't boot console. Both Freeloader and normal games use this method when they ask change discs.

Main reason why Freeloader can use normal disc changing routine to launch other region's games is that Gamecube doesn't check boot file's region after disc change. If Nintendo would prevent changing discs, they would also prevent Baten Kaitos, Metal Gear: Twin Snakes, Resident Evil 4, Tales of Symphonia etc. from working. What Nintendo can do, however, is to block Freeloader completely. It's only disc for Gamecube that works with every region, and therefore it's pretty easy to identify. Same goes for Action Replay, which is actually quite serious security risk, as it allows you to run unsigned code with your Gamecube.

[revlob]

Think about it, chaps. Freeloader works by booting up as a normal Gamecube disc, then stops the drive from spinning so you can press the eject button, which is mechanical (ok, so it does have a sensor) to opne the flip up lid, and plop in a new disc. So how will Freeloader (designed for the Gamecube - not the Wii), control the electronic eject mechanism and slot-loading drive of the Wii to allow you to put another game in (without it rebooting or going to the Wii Channels page or whatever)?

The only reason I take the automatic assumption that Freeloader won't work with a pinch of salt is because surely the Wii will support the 2-disc Gamecube games, allowing for discs to be ejected without throwing you back to the Channel menu. Allowing the Gamecube drive to stop spinning so a 2nd disc could be inserted was a perfectly normal and legal operation as far as the hardware was concerned. I don't know if Freeloader was doing anything particularly special in that respect.

EDIT: Yeah, what elkatas said.

[Dezm0nd]

On a totally different note, there is now a direct feed video of Call Of Duty 3 running on the Wii at IGN. I don't really have much interest in the title but the controls look alright to me

[gunrock]

Same way as any Gamecube game that has more than one disc. When you are asked to change disc, software simply sends signal to cube's bios that informs console that disc changing process is on the way, and opening the lid (or ejecting the disc in the case of Wii) shouldn't boot console. Both Freeloader and normal games use this method when they ask change discs.

Well, if that's the case, then great! But as you say, I'd be suprised if Nintendo didn't do something to stop this as they did with later Gamecube revisions (101's).

Having said that, what if the Wii doesn't support multi-discs games? There are probably only a few (Resi 4 being the major one), and as we all know even the PS2 isn't fully backwards compatible with the PS1, and nobody makes too much of a fuss. Although, a lack of support for Resi 4 (probably one of the most popular GC titles), would be a bad move.

[Geezer]

Component cables are now available at Yesasia, at $25.99 shipped

[Fat_Bob]

thanks for the heads up, pre-ordered and hopefully will arrive close to when i get my Wii

[Neil]

Apologies if this has been asked before but will the old Gamecube controllers and Wavebirds be compatible with the Wii?.

[Lyris]

Yes

[Neil]

Thanks Lyris.

[Dazzla]

Damn it where the hell are the US Component pre orders?

[Miguel007]

Gamespot's On The Spot is on Live in a couple of minutes and they are having a Live Wii Special, hands on impressions etc, if anyone's interested.

[bignige]

Gamespot's On The Spot is on Live in a couple of minutes and they are having a Live Wii Special, hands on impressions etc, if anyone's interested.

Stooopid fat Americans.

[NecronomiconUK]

Gamespot's video coverage is always great. I watched it from the start up until they started playing Zelda by which point I turned off as I didn't wan't anything spoilt. I'm even more stoked about this than I was before