Wii Freeloader With Import Gamecube Games

[mobiusclimber]

So I recently got a copy of Giftpia for cheap (thanks Alex & Kevin!), but now I need to find a way to play it. I think importing a Gamecube would be too costly a solution considering I only want to play one or two GC games. So now I'm thinking about the Wii Freeloader disc. I hated the Gamecube version of this, tho, so I wanted to find out if it does the same horrible horrible thing or not. Does the Wii Freeloader turn the Japanese text into gibberish the same way the Gamecube Freeloader did? Also, anyone know if the Wii Freeloader will work with Giftpia? (I've heard certain games won't play.)

[Clownzilla]

As far as I know it doesn't mess up the text on the Wii. I use mine to play Eyeshield 21 and all the text looks ok. I guess there could be game specific problems but I really haven't read about any yet.

[tomwaits]

It's really easy to add a region select toggle switch to the Gamecube. Might be the easiest mod I've ever done. I don't know if anything changed with later Gamecube hardware revs, but on early models you only needed to solder a few wires onto a cheap Radio Shack switch. The solder points were all very easy to reach. 100% compatibility.

With the region switch you have to use separate memory cards for Japanese/US games because they're formatted to match the console's region. When I tried to play some of my imports on my brother's Gamecube with Freeloader none of my Japanese formatted memory cards were recognized. Freeloader saves Japanese game data onto US formatted memory cards. I think there were some imports that wouldn't save properly with Freeloader.

Also, Kururin Squash (one of the best Gamecube imports) has really messed up text with the Freeloader.

[smork]

Importing a Gamecube is cheap as hell. They can be found by the pile for 500 yen (minus hookups). I saw an auction on Yahoo Auctions last week for 10 loose Gamecubes with a starting bid of 1 yen and they didn't sell. Shipping wouldn't be expensive at all as it's so small and light.

Tomwaits is right, though - it's a super easy mod, as easy as it could ever get.

[Kyle15]

The messed-up text is explainable; some games do not have the text data directly stored on the disc. In the case that they don't, all text is displayed in accordance to which region the system is set to.
If it is on Japanese, the text will be displayed fine. If it is on English, you'll get a mess of random characters. Now, text within the actual graphics in the game will not be affected.

In the case with Giftpia, I'd have to look first to see if it has those special dialog boxes. If it does, you'll likely have gibberish contained instead.
My best bet would be to import a cheap GC like Smork said, or do the region-toggle mod.
It will be a lot less troublesome that way.

[mobiusclimber]

Problem is I haven't found anyone w/ cheap Gamecubes. Everyone wants at least $30 to $45 + shipping, and I just can't afford that, especially for one game.