~a

video output

assuming no hard mods, the best you can get is to go through the component (YPbPr) signal chain in order to unlock 480p output. this is THE primary consideration when playing off of a wii, imo. there are a few games that only support 480i as well so that is another consideration.

display

the “best you can do” is going to vary based on goals

there’s basically two “happy paths” here:

  • SD CRT TV that supports both 480i and 480p over component. This pretty much locks you into something high-end like a Sony PVM 14L5 or 20L5, but you get a setup that’s not finicky and you also get lagfree gaming.

  • finding a 1440p IPS screen with HDMI input, and using something like an ElectronWarp https://electron-shepherd.com/collections/all/products/electronwarp or Mayflash Wii to HDMI https://amzn.to/4ft7Ddm – this plugs right into the back and converts analog component into an hdmi output. couple that with a 1440p (300% or 3x integer scale) monitor that has a good upscaler/deinterlacer and low input lag, and you can get a way better experience than the LCD or plasma TVs of the era.

things that don’t work as well:

  • HD CRT TVs have horrible upscalers with lots of lag

and then there’s a finicky option:

  • PC CRT monitors. this locks you out of 480i which can be really annoying because not only do some games only run in 480i (and vc titles can run in 240p), the system menu will not show you anything until you blindly manage to switch it to 480p output. without doing this, you will just get an error like “out of sync range”. so it’s not enough to go from component to vga.

i guess for upscaling/deinterlacing you could use something like an ossc or ossc pro or retrotink or whatever, to at least eliminate the 480i out of your analog chain and also have something easier to work with for any modern monitor/tv.

capture

if doing component and nothing else, then get a component distribution amplifier like a calrad 937b. you can run it into a component capture card afterward, which… your only option pretty much ends up being the magewell pro capture hdmi and its breakout cable. yes that thing is $300 but it supports 240p over component so you won’t have any issues with getting a signal out of the wii – 240p/480i/480p should all work.

if you convert from component YPbPr directly to VGA then you can look into VGA capture cards or also anything that accepts DVI-A should work too. i am told that the startech USB3HDCAP should work (but maybe not on linux?). a VGA splitter should also allow you to go into a PC CRT.

if you convert from component YPbPr to HDMI or otherwise throw an ossc/etc at it, then you can easily capture HDMI these days using just about anything under the sun. (the avermedia bu113 live streamer cap 4k is like $99 at https://amzn.to/4fDLRn0 and does a great job from my experience – only about 40ms latency in obs studio, no real quality loss, can handle 720x480@59.94Hz input just fine) you still have the option of going into a PC CRT with an HDMI to VGA adapter which is supposed to be lagless as well (as long as it doesn’t scale content)

my setup

wii -> component hd retrovision cables -> calrad 937b component distribution amp -> [ magewell pro capture hdmi | sony vaio trinitron hmd-a100 via a YPbPr-to-VGA transcoder | mg16xu via an rca audio 1in4out switch ]

alternatively:

wii -> electronwarp wii2hdmi -> ezcoo splitter 1in2out -> [ sony hmd-a100 via moread hdmi-to-vga dongle | avermedia bu113 capture card ]

component costs: $423 ($123 without capture)

hdmi costs: $190 ($90 without capture)

so it would be overall cheaper to go through hdmi and probably more convenient paradoxically lol. even if your ultimate output is a pc crt. somehow a2d2a doesn’t take a noticeable toll

the last thing to mention is if you really want to avoid any 480i/240p signal hassles you probably should get an ossc or retrotink to deinterlace / linedouble to 640x480 progressive signal. yes this is like another hundred or three. such is the price of pc crt i guess. really makes you think if it would be worth just going for a high-end pvm that accepts 480p/480i/240p over component… *glances at ebay prices* nvm

softmodding

https://wii.guide

once you’re homebrewed and installed your ios stuff then usb loader gx is a far superior way to play your games for both wii and gamecube. just make sure to use 480p patches, turn off the deflicker filter if you’re not using a CRT, and highly consider using the framebuffer output instead of the stretched output.

hardmodding

electronAVE obsoletes a lot of other things except maybe the Wii Dual? https://electron-shepherd.com/collections/all/products/electronave-kit

personally idk if it’s worth it though, if you want pure digital output you might as well emulate. also having hdmi out could make it harder to route your signal around – for example i have an issue where my blackmagic intensity pro 4k doesn’t support 480p at all. component only supports 480i and hdmi doesn’t support less than 720p.

wifi

wii only supports wifi b/g on 2.4ghz with wpa2 at most

i knew about the wpa2 thing (not really an issue since wpa3 is so new) and i figured out the 2.4ghz thing (i guess 5ghz was also too new but also the wii u doesn’t do 5ghz wifi either – probably bc 5ghz is reserved for the gamepad communication)

the thing i did not know about until i went searching for it is that apparently wifi n is also too new? i had my router in “n only” mode for efficiency reasons but had to change it back to auto b/g/n/(ax) – that stopped the error 51330 from happening and i could connect to wifi again

it will prompt you to check for an update (phrased as “perform an update”) but if you do this you will softlock the wii since the nintendo servers seem to be down?

etc

hardware revisions

supposedly the RVL40 is better for 480p but i have an older wii and it isn’t bad so i wouldn’t replace a wii i already have. i might spend more effort looking for a rvl40 though if i didn’t already have one. also if you softmod (which you should) then you can enable “480p bug fix” in usb loader gx to get corrected output on older wiis