How to Homebrew Wii Games: 37 Tips, Tutorials and Resources

By now, you’ll have heard the news that integrated Wii homebrews are available for the Wii.

Through the Internet Channel, you can play Flash and Javascript games, and yes – you can even make your own.

If you’ve spent all your money on a bidding war to get the Wii, and you’re out of cash for games, follow this guide to some of the best Wii homebrew resources out there.

Inspiration

Take a look at these Wii homebrews to get an idea of what can be achieved.

1. WiiPlayable: On WiiPlayable, you’ll find shooters, card, board, sports, and more games. These games can be played both with your computer and on the Wii.
2. Viidelectrix: Play these games from Homestar Runner on the Wii.
3. WiiSticks: Check out this game that uses full integration with the Wiimote.
4. Orisinal: Orisinal has some really nice-looking games for the Wii.
5. Xensory: These games are designed specifically for the Wii and support up to 4 Wiimotes.

Coding Resources

Get code, API, and SDKs here.

6. WiiCade Wii Remote API: Get the software you need to fix up your game here.
7. Wii Opera SDK: The SDK from Hullbreach offers the option to make Javascript games.
8. WiimoteLib: This API for the Wiimote can be used in any managed application.
9. WiiWare: Nintendo has promised that soon, they’ll release WiiWare, which will give developers a kit for creating Wii games, as well as an outlet to distribute them on the Wii Shop Channel.

Tutorials

Learn how to do nearly any Wii homebrew mod with these tutorials.

10. Selfbooting Multi-Emu-Disc for Wii: This forum post offers instructions for creating your own emulator disc for the Wii.
11. High-score List Using PHP: Create a challenge with this high-score tutorial.
12. High-tech City Animation: Check out this lesson to create a light city animation.
13. Run Backups on Any Wii: Find out how to run backups on any Wii, even without a modchip.
14. Zoom in Zoom Out Flash Animation with Fading Effect: Learn how to create a simple zoom in and zoom out animation.
15. Updating Your CycloWiz With External Install: Use this tutorial to update your externally mounted CycloWiz modchip.
16. DIY Nintendo Wii Classic Controller Clip: Put together this clip, and you’ll be able to connect your classic game controller and Wiimote together, which is useful if you’re making games that have motion-sensitive controls as well as dual-analog.
17. Homemade Wireless Wii Sensor Bar: Make your own wireless Wii sensor bar to play homebrew games with a projector, on the road, or any way you feel like.
18. Wii Ground Points: Check out this diagram that highlights alternative soldering points for modchips.
19. Connect the Wiimote: Use this tutorial to learn an easy way to connect your Wiimote to your PC.
20. Adding a Top Secret Serial Port to the Outside of Your Wii: Do an external modchip installation with this tutorial.

Game-Specific Tutorials

Use these tutorials to learn how to make a specific game, and then tweak what you’ve learned.

21. The Tank: Part 1: Basic Movement and Artillery: Learn how to animate and move tanks for your game in this tutorial.
22. The Tank: Part 2: Rotating and Shooting the Cannon: In this continuation of the previous tutorial, you’ll cover more advanced tank movements.
23. Simple Guessing Game with Actionscript: Here you’ll see how to use ActionScript to create a number guessing game. You’ll also get access to source files.
24. Building an Arcade Game: This five-part tutorial series covers angles, weapons, collision checking, and terrain scrolling.

GameCube Resources

Much of Wii homebrewing is made possible by modding your Wii hardware to accept GameCube homebrews. These are some of the best resources for developing GameCube games that can be played on the Wii.

25. GCEclipse: This IDE facilitates GameCube development in C and C++, including code examples and syntax checking.
26. Nintendo GameCube Homebrew: This site covers GameCube homebrewing pretty well.

Sharing & Support

Get answers to your questions, or just show off your latest creation on these forums.

27. Flash Kit Community Forums: On these forums, you can chat up other Flash game developers.
28. Nintendo Wii/GameCube Hacking and Development Forum: On these forums, you can get ideas and ask for help.
29. Flash Kit: If you’ve discovered a useful tidbit for creating Wii Flash games, share it here.

Software

These are some of the many pieces of software that are designed to facilitate Wii homebrews.

30. WiinRemote: With WiinRemote, you can use the Wiimote or homebrewed games on the PC.
31. WiiFlash: You’ll need WiiFlash to connect your Wiimote to Flash.
32. SDLoad: The SDLoad software is required if you’re going to run an emulator.
33. DarwiinRemote: This program allows customization of buttons on Wii controllers, so you can modify them to fit your games.
34. GlovePIE: This software makes it easy to use the Wiimote on a PC or Mac, so you can use it with homebrewed games that can’t be played on the Wii.

Hardware

Mod your Wii with these components to get homebrew-ready.

35. Datel Homebrew Launcher: With this kit, you’ll be able to run homebrew Wii and GameCube games on the Wii.
36. Wii Modchip: You can use this open source modchip to unlock Gamecube homebrew games on the Wii.
37. Drive Doctor: You can use the Drive Doctor to add your own data to the Wii from your PC.

Tags: Resources