I remember a time when you needed to physically modify your console to get it to play anything but retail games. Well, with the Wii it seems that this is no longer a necessity, as this guide on Lifehacker* will get your little white console up and running with all the latest homebrew goodies, DVD playback, and, er, anything else, in less than 10 minutes.

It’s simply a case of dragging and dropping some files onto an SD card, popping it in, and running them. You can even install software which will let you rip all of your games to an external HDD – couple it with one of those bus-powered 2.5″ enclosures and you’ve got the ideal “go anywhere” party gaming solution.

Those homebrewers, eh?

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* UPDATE

This guide didn’t work on my Wii running the very latest Wii Menu (version 1.4E). I guess even Lifehacker fail sometimes!

You can install the homebrew channel and use WAD Manager to install all those Wii WAD files you get all over the internet, even on the latest menu, without downgrading or otherwise damaging your Wii using this guide on yafaze.com. Be sure to follow the instructions to the letter and all will be OK.

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