Booting up the “Wiiloader”, Japan Edition

I have a copy of Datel’s Freeloader for Nintnedo Wii, but unlike some early reports the disc clearly says “for use with Japanese consoles.” The discs are region encoded so if you’re thinking about getting one make sure you select the correct version.

Let’s open up the pacakage… what? This is a Gamecube disc! The one page slip of paper clearly warns about accepting online upgrades. Datel cannot guarantee compatibility with future firmware updates.

Enough with the warnings, it’s time to test the Freeloader for Wii. After putting the disc in the screen blurs horizontally, twice. You don’t need to click on the Wii disc channel to run a program or anything like that. Just insert a disc and you’re good to go. OK. How about a classic Wii title like the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess?

That’s the US version of Twilight Princess working on a Japanese Wii!

It appears the game can save properly too. Now for a second test… how about something more recent like Trauma Center: New Blood.

The Freeloader for Wii successfully loaded the game, but the nunchuck style screen is in Japanese…

… wait this says Caduceus: New Blood in Japanese on a US disc?

Surprisingly, my North American copy of Trauma Center: New Blood completely switched to the Japanese version when booted with Datel's device. Not only did this include Japanese text, but Japanese voice acting too! Apparently, Atlus put two versions of Trauma Center: New Blood on the same disc and the disc can tell which region it's being run on. Neat! I wonder if any Japanese games have hidden English language options.