http://wiikey.com/products/
The Wiikey team, a team responsible for the most popular design of chip for early wii drives and also the xenogc for the gamecube, has made a post on their site saying they have a chip coming out for the wii U.
Not much information is available at present but they claim it is a drive emulation driven hack (sometimes known by the initialisms ODE and ODDE) and will load from USB, presumably the USB on the chip itself. Such an approach is not new with examples later on in the Wii's lifetime and more recently it also got a following in the 360 though it all has its roots in the gamecube.
How well Nintendo can defend against it depends a lot upon how the Wii U is designed but as little information is available on that front, or indeed any front, we can not elaborate much further at this point. However from what has been said it is unlikely it will allow for true region free without any further hacks unless Nintendo made a similar mistake to the one that led to the partial Wii region free (unlikely). Being a drive emulator that also means no native homebrew, probably no downloadable content and no modified games without further hacks.
Wiikey site said:
Wiikey U is the first and only optical drive emulator that allows you to play all your WiiU games from any USB media!
Play your WiiU and Wii games from any USB media!
Compatible with all WiiU models and regions
User friendly intuitive interface
No soldering required
Multi-language support
Supports most popular file systems, including EXT4/3/2, Max OS X, and NTFS
Powerful embedded Linux system
High-speed USB2 interface
Firmware and FPGA fully in-system updatable from USB media
Recovery mode - it is always possible to recover from a bad flash
Stylish USB remote with powered USB hub and charger function
Bulletproof high quality hardware (not manufactured in China!)
The Wiikey team, a team responsible for the most popular design of chip for early wii drives and also the xenogc for the gamecube, has made a post on their site saying they have a chip coming out for the wii U.
Not much information is available at present but they claim it is a drive emulation driven hack (sometimes known by the initialisms ODE and ODDE) and will load from USB, presumably the USB on the chip itself. Such an approach is not new with examples later on in the Wii's lifetime and more recently it also got a following in the 360 though it all has its roots in the gamecube.
How well Nintendo can defend against it depends a lot upon how the Wii U is designed but as little information is available on that front, or indeed any front, we can not elaborate much further at this point. However from what has been said it is unlikely it will allow for true region free without any further hacks unless Nintendo made a similar mistake to the one that led to the partial Wii region free (unlikely). Being a drive emulator that also means no native homebrew, probably no downloadable content and no modified games without further hacks.
Wiikey site said:
Wiikey U is the first and only optical drive emulator that allows you to play all your WiiU games from any USB media!
Play your WiiU and Wii games from any USB media!
Compatible with all WiiU models and regions
User friendly intuitive interface
No soldering required
Multi-language support
Supports most popular file systems, including EXT4/3/2, Max OS X, and NTFS
Powerful embedded Linux system
High-speed USB2 interface
Firmware and FPGA fully in-system updatable from USB media
Recovery mode - it is always possible to recover from a bad flash
Stylish USB remote with powered USB hub and charger function
Bulletproof high quality hardware (not manufactured in China!)
