DVD playback on a Wii?

A new Wii modchip website is claiming some very interesting new features and capabilities for the Nintendo game console. Among other things, the mod-chip site claims that with its’ chip installed, the Wii will have the ability to boot any region Wii and Gamecube backups, boot Gamecube and Wii Homebrew, boot DVD movies, boot virtual console games and support mod-chip software upgrades. Here is a quick excerpt from the mod-chip website.

Quicksolder? So the chip is easy to install? – Unfortunately no. The quicksolder points only control the Drive hacks, 4 additional wires need to be soldered into other areas of the console to enable the USB dongle’s functionality.

Looking at this excerpt from their webpage, it looks like installing this mod-chip will be a complicated project. Due to the soldering requirement and multiple points of interaction with the Wii circuit board, most users will probably stay away from this mod-chip hack. But is this even real or is it a hoax? There are multiple discussions flying around the net regarding the claims of this mod-chip site, with many people calling out “Fake!”. There have been no secondary reports of the chip actually delivering the promised capabilities and the chip is not yet available for purchase, so it is all vapor-ware at the current point in time. But even if it is 100% real, the soldering and complicated installation requirements will turn off most Wii owners. I would still like to see the magical chip in action though if it does ever make it out on the market. I’ll be keeping an eye out for any further developments of “Wii XT”.