Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Copying Wii Games On a Computer - How and Why

By Cam Halladay

The popularity of the Nintendo Wii is something which has never been seen before in the world of gaming. The system works like no other and it shouldn't shock anyone that there is a lot of interest in copying Wii games to make backups in case of damage or loss of the original game discs.

Wii games are usually in the form of a CD which looks like any other CD or DVD; the difference is you cannot simply copy these discs as you would a music disc. It's a somewhat more complex process than a simple rip and burn operation. Here's some information on copying Wii games to keep a backup of yor favorite Wii games.

Your standard CD burning software can't copy Wii games. Nero, Roxio and other common CD burning software doesn't have the capabilities of breaking the copy protection which is encoded in to Wii games and other game discs. Your computer cannot make sense of the data on the disc because of this encryption.

Of course, like most copy protection, it didn't take long for someone to come up with a workaround. There are programs available that can read through the copy protection that comes on a Wii disc.

When you have this softeware, copying Wii games becomes a relatively simple process. Your computer will now be able to read the copy protected data on the disc. It's not just Wii discs which can be read using this type of software, but also Xbox 360 and PS3 games.

Even some PC games use encryption that can be broken by these programs. Should you own more than one game system, this software can help you produce backup copies for all of them, not just your Wii.

Once you have the necessary software to break the encryption on the disc, you can copy the game to your hard drive as a disk image. Then you can burn a discussing this image just as you would with any other, using the CD burning software of your choice.

Often, burning and copying functions are included in the decryption program, so you won't need to resort to your regular burners at all. This reduces the chances of an error when ripping and burning the disk.

The copying programs that are now available make it possible to copy Wii games without having to do anything but click a few buttons. Copying Wii games is a great way to make a backup copy of any game you want. It never hurts to have a backup in the case that the original gets lost or damaged. Enjoy! - 16459

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