By: Retro Tech Chronicles
The era of the blue disc is over. The era of the USB drive is now. Fire up the Homebrew Channel, install that USB Loader, and keep the Wii alive—one download at a time. Have you successfully modded your Wii? What was the first game you loaded onto your hard drive? Let us know in the comments below.
If you own the disc, softmod your console and rip it to a USB. If you don't own the disc, consider this: by downloading it, you are not stealing a potential sale (because no sale exists), but you are violating copyright.
The Nintendo Wii is a dead console. You cannot give Nintendo money for a digital copy of Super Paper Mario today. The secondary market for discs is inflated by scalpers ($100+ for Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn ). In this specific vacuum, becomes a preservation act.
Buy the disc (even a scratched one) for $10 at a flea market, rip it, then sell the disc. That is the ethical loop.