WODE Jukebox for the Wii - can put GC games on hard drive!

[gtmtnbiker]

Is there anyone in the forums thinking of picking up the WODE (Wii Optical Disk Emulator) Jukebox (http://www.wodejukebox.com/) for the Wii? Here are the features of this device:

- Play Wii & GC game ISOs direct from USB Mass Storage devices @8X read speed (HDD and FLASH drive)
- Complete Solder free install solution
- Easy to use GUI - LCD & Joystick - NO homebrew software required (no any update of console SO can block this device)
- Region hack, Update blocker, Autoboot.
- Passthrough with FLAT-MOD mode built-in, play your DVD-R Wii & GC backups and Imports @3X read speed
- Powerful ARM9 MCU
- Totally Flexible Linux Kernel
- USB hub support for multiple USB devices connection

- Great File System support - use existing WBFS formatted media or 'drag and drop' ISOs to existing USB devices
* NTFS
* WBFS
* EXT3FS
* HPFS

- Future updates will bring more cool features:
* Disc ripping to WBFS
* USB WiFi & SAMBA streaming
* Torrent & eMule download Client

I'm interested in this device for the ability to play gamecube games. It would be great to put my original media away for good and avoid the hassle of burned media. The disadvantage of WODE is that you need to open up the Wii to install a solder-less interface chip.

[fastbilly1]

Color me interested (and no I dont know what color that would be). Combining this with emulators that load off of the harddrive well you have a solid Wii party machine. Well I guess it depends on compatibility. If it is fairly high Ill buy another harddrive and Wii. Sure beats burning my Gamecube collection.

[t0yrobo]

That sounds really nice. I may have to finally get a wii before they start making hardware revisions to kill this sort of thing.

[gtmtnbiker]

In another forum, someone mentioned this device: Sundriver Wii USB Loader Modchip

http://www.modchipcentral.com/store/pro ... =15&page=1

It's cheaper than the WODE jukebox. You need to remove the Wii optical drive but the SATA drive is inside the Wii which makes it very portable. I may just have to get this one.

I'll google around for more information on this one.

[gtmtnbiker]

I just recently picked up a second hand Wii for $75 and have been doing some research on getting WODE or SunDriver for this Wii. Mainly I want to be able to put my 80+ gamecube games on the hard drive.

Initially I was thinking of the SunDriver because I like how you take the existing DVD drive out and replace it with a SunDriver card and 2.5" hard drive. Also it's $30 cheaper. But now I'm leaning towards the WODE because there's a lot of open source development activity happening for it.

According to this thread: http://www.wodejukebox.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=858&sid=aa12f051a60f04b7af6302e3137a2b2c&start=250
a few developers are pretty close to a beta of a Wii channel that will allow you to select your games (Wii or Gamecube) using the Wiimote. Previously, you would have to go to the device and switch games using the LCD display. Pretty cool.

EDIT - meant to say Wii channel, not WODE channel.

[fastbilly1]

Once they get that finalized, second Wii here I come.

[gtmtnbiker]

One knock against the WODE is that it doesn't support streaming audio. I think SunDriver does support this.

Is this a big deal? Are there any good Wii games that use streaming audio?

[gtmtnbiker]

Here's a good thread that discussing audio streaming. Apparently audio streaming was used in about 15 gamecube games, of which only 5 were any good.

http://www.wodejukebox.org/viewtopic.ph ... o&start=30

Eternal Darkness
Ikaruga
Mario Soccer (ingame uses audio, not on the menus)
Mario Superstar Baseball (as above)
Wave Race Blue Storm

Apparently it's not possible to do with the WODE because the FGPA (field gate programmable array) chip used by the WODE doesn't have enough pins to interface directly to the DSP chip.

[fastbilly1]

15 out of a couple hundred aint bad. And out of those, Mario Soccer was rereleased on teh cube, Eternal Darkness is fairly cheap, and Ikaruga is on three platforms so not terrible to get ahold of. I can live with that actually.

[dlmvii]

Does this offer anything over the FlatMii? http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=135750

It was released about a year ago and people seem to love it...as far as I can tell it offers the same functionality as the WODE