I have a few questions about what the risks are on modding a wii...
first of all, how often do people get banned? Is it a common thing, or does it hardly ever happen? What are they doing when they get banned? Is there something that brings more attention to yourself? Is there a way to simply lay low and not get a ban?
Beyond that, i have noticed some chips advertising "stealth mode" with nothing said beyond that... does this mean stealth mode like in previous generations... where the chip is DEACTIVATED while not playing a backup? or is it always on and detectable, even if your not runnign a backup game?
I would not plan on paying any back up games on on-line play... does this mean that i would not be bannable with a mod chip that advertises stealth mode?
And my last concern is, if i do get banned, what features would be deactivated? would i lose access to all but the ability to play game discs?
Would i no longer be able to jump on OPERA to browse the internet ( a prime concern to me... i use my wii for youtube all the time!)
would i lose features such as the weather channel?
or would i simply lose access to the market place and online play?
I have searched for the answers to these questions all over, but have not found any rocksolid answers.... i appreciate any help you can provide! i got this wii for a wedding gift from my wife, and would feel terrible if i took the life away from this system with a mod chip ban! I know there are lots of questions, but the answers to these would give me a strong hold on just what i'd be getting myself in to by throwing a chip in the mix! Thanks so much!!
As for stealth mode, no chips are detectable by any firmware, so its not an issue.
The only risks of modding are
1) physically messing up the wii while trying to mod it
2) updating the console with an update from an out of region game. If you only run backups from your console's region you dont have anything to worry about here. If you do update it with the wrong region you get a partial-brick, which means you can play games but no online features will work and you cant access the system settings. Partial brick can be fixed via some homebrew programs.