So, I just found a Wii in the garbage.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

While walking to my car I found a perfectly good Wii stacked with some other abandoned electronics - a VCR, a cordless telephone and a composite DVD player.

The only thing that the Wii was missing was Wiimotes, of which I have a bunch.

Judging by the condition of the system (excellent) and the game save files on it (lots of kids games), I'm going to guess that the family that disposed of it upgraded to a Wii-U.

I believe Gamestop gives less than $20 for a Wii presently, and based on the saturation of the system it's probably even a tough thing to give away to friends/family.

I saved it from total disposal. Couldn't help myself.

A Wii in the trash. An interesting social commentary as to where we are in this console generation and what the current "value" of the Wii is.

Here are some photos of the main unit for posterity:

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b328/FrankieViturello/AB3F9E6D-5622-492B-BFCF-BBAF62B36D7D-833-00000018A30445EE_zps83c8b82a.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/FrankieViturello/media/AB3F9E6D-5622-492B-BFCF-BBAF62B36D7D-833-00000018A30445EE_zps83c8b82a.jpg.html)

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b328/FrankieViturello/E76B545C-EEC3-43F5-A28A-6511DA89E976-833-000000189C813725_zpsa00185a7.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/FrankieViturello/media/E76B545C-EEC3-43F5-A28A-6511DA89E976-833-000000189C813725_zpsa00185a7.jpg.html)

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b328/FrankieViturello/263D94B9-DD38-4DFE-A70C-3E893D761BEC-833-0000001895F35189_zpsfb6e5a17.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/FrankieViturello/media/263D94B9-DD38-4DFE-A70C-3E893D761BEC-833-0000001895F35189_zpsfb6e5a17.jpg.html)

[Kitsune Sniper]

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE VHS DECK

Don't tell me you left it there! :(

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE VHS DECK

Don't tell me you left it there! :(

Yeah, sorry didn't save the rest of the stuff.

I already have VCRs and DVD players that I don't use for anything. Hell, I don't even have any land-line phone jacks in my place.

[SOL BADGUY]

A Wii in the trash. An interesting social commentary as to where we are in this console generation and what the current "value" of the Wii is.

Its a game console, to women(if theyre not into games), theyre these invading alien boxes, and they got to eradicate them from our planet.

But anyone who isnt into games will just toss them out, they threw away those other old electronics after all.

[Flashback2012]

While walking to my car I found a perfectly good Wii stacked with some other abandoned electronics - a VCR, a cordless telephone and a composite DVD player.

The only thing that the Wii was missing was Wiimotes, of which I have a bunch.

Judging by the condition of the system (excellent) and the game save files on it (lots of kids games), I'm going to guess that the family that disposed of it upgraded to a Wii-U.

Or they got a real gaming system like the PS3 /kupo :p
So the Wiimotes were missing but the sensor bar and cables were tossed out with the system?



I believe Gamestop gives less than $20 for a Wii presently, and based on the saturation of the system it's probably even a tough thing to give away to friends/family.

I saved it from total disposal. Couldn't help myself.

A Wii in the trash. An interesting social commentary as to where we are in this console generation and what the current "value" of the Wii is.

Personally I think it's a damn shame this family didn't have the good sense to recycle their electronics instead of designating them for a landfill. I realize that requires some time and effort on their part so if you are able to profit in any way off of their shortsightedness, that would be awesome. :D

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Or they got a real gaming system like the PS3 /kupo :p
So the Wiimotes were missing but the sensor bar and cables were tossed out with the system?

Yes, it had everything but the Wiimotes. the Wii-U pro system comes with a sensor bar, so if they had Wiimotes and Wii Motion Plus attachments that would be all that they would need to keep.



Personally I think it's a damn shame this family didn't have the good sense to recycle their electronics instead of designating them for a landfill. I realize that requires some time and effort on their part so if you are able to profit in any way off of their shortsightedness, that would be awesome. :D

Yeah, though I hear a lot of "electronics recycling" programs are financially collapsing under the sheer volume of donated technology that is literally 100% useless.

[The 1 2 P]

A Wii in the trash. An interesting social commentary as to where we are in this console generation and what the current "value" of the Wii is.

It would have been much more amusing if you had found a Wii U in the trash. I would have to question the sanity of whoever threw it away but still have been slightly amused. As for finding the Wii in the trash, I will agree that it is a bit of ironic symbolism there.

[ProjectCamaro]

Wow, nice find!

Why can't I ever find items like that in the trash when going to my car?

[needler420]

Did you actually test the console to see if it works?

I'd imagine it's most likely broken as that's why is was thrown away. In which case even if you are techy and can solder it depends on how bad of shape the wii is in. More likely then anything you just grabbed a door stop.

Test it, if it works leave it sitting around the house.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Did you actually test the console to see if it works?

I'd imagine it's most likely broken as that's why is was thrown away. In which case even if you are techy and can solder it depends on how bad of shape the wii is in. More likely then anything you just grabbed a door stop.

Test it, if it works leave it sitting around the house.


Judging by the condition of the system (excellent) and the game save files on it (lots of kids games), I'm going to guess that the family that disposed of it upgraded to a Wii-U.

I didn't find out what game saves were on it through osmosis.

Fully tested, it works perfectly.

[RP2A03]

I didn't find out what game saves were on it through osmosis.

Fully tested, it works perfectly.


You could have just transplanted the NAND chip to your Wii without even powering on the trashed Wii that you found.

[BricatSegaFan]

You could have just transplanted the NAND chip to your Wii without even powering on the trashed Wii that you found.

Does the nand have some kind of snap on ribbon cable? I've never opened a Wii.

[RP2A03]

Does the nand have some kind of snap on ribbon cable? I've never opened a Wii.

Nope. I was being sarcastic.


http://i926.photobucket.com/albums/ad101/RP2A03/Nintendo/wiinand_zpsdc2002a2.jpg:original

[Oldskool]

With how many millions of Wii's were sold throughout the years, it doesn't surprise me that you found one in the garbage. Give it a few more years and the thrift stores are going to have them stacked up to the roof for $4.99 each. It's just a matter of time.

[needler420]

I didn't find out what game saves were on it through osmosis.

Fully tested, it works perfectly.

Yeah but just because the game saves are good doesn't mean everything else is till you finished testing it.

If the wii didn't read discs or had a bad laser etc it would be a worthless paper weight with game saves on it. Which I see quite often. Someone takes a electronic out the trash and thinks because it powers on that it works then they find out the disc drive is broken etc.


Pretty dumb on the people that threw it away. I've seen people get rid of stuff because they think it's broken when all it needs is the smallest fix.


With how many millions of Wii's were sold throughout the years, it doesn't surprise me that you found one in the garbage. Give it a few more years and the thrift stores are going to have them stacked up to the roof for $4.99 each. It's just a matter of time.



Yup in another year they will be common like PS1 console. I see PS1's every where because the new consoles have PS1 BC.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Yeah but just because the game saves are good doesn't mean everything else is till you finished testing it.

If the wii didn't read discs or had a bad laser etc it would be a worthless paper weight with game saves on it. Which I see quite often. Someone takes a electronic out the trash and thinks because it powers on that it works then they find out the disc drive is broken etc.

Pretty dumb on the people that threw it away. I've seen people get rid of stuff because they think it's broken when all it needs is the smallest fix.

Yeah, well, I wouldn't get it to a place where I could check the saves (connected, Wiimote synced) without testing the rest of it. That would be silly.

Laser intensive dual layer games like Smash Bros and Metroid Prime Trilogy run fine. If it had needed it I also have the official Nintendo fixed-position lens cleaner which unlike spinning brush cleaners is actually decent at cleaning a Wii lens.

[calgon]

Thread just reminded me I have a bricked wii given to me by a friend that I swore I was going to one day take the time to fix...that was two years ago.

[theclaw]

May as well use it. You aren't going to get enough money out of a Wii, compared to the entertainment value offered.

[Polygon]

I can't believe someone would throw a perfectly good Wii away. I hope none of my family members do. I'll gladly take them off their hands. That will make a nice spare system for you!

[Rickstilwell1]

Even Wii's with dead disc drives are very useful because you can put homebrew on any Wii via SD card and make it so you can even boot Wii ISO's from a hard drive on top of all the other SD card functional emulators. The Wii is literally one of the easiest game systems to mod. The only totally useless Wii is a bricked one, or one with a dead SD card slot.

[needler420]

Even Wii's with dead disc drives are very useful because you can put homebrew on any Wii via SD card and make it so you can even boot Wii ISO's from a hard drive on top of all the other SD card functional emulators. The Wii is literally one of the easiest game systems to mod. The only totally useless Wii is a bricked one, or one with a dead SD card slot.

I wouldn't say being able to use illegal roms is useful to the industry.

In that same sense you might as well make fun of everyone who buys a physical copy of a retro game instead of running an ISO in a emulator. If you're going to run illegal roms on a wii why even bother collecting NES/SNES/N64 etc just use roms and emulators for free too.

But you just use those legal homebrew apps. You'd never run illegal back ups.

[Jorpho]

So is this the newer horizontal model, or one of the older ones with GC compatibility?


Nope. I was being sarcastic.

http://i926.photobucket.com/albums/ad101/RP2A03/Nintendo/wiinand_zpsdc2002a2.jpg:originalIs it possible to replace the chips at all? It suggests that Wii Mini modding might be a thing someday. Of course, if regular Wiis are going to be common as dirt, that would make buying and messing with a Wii Mini slightly pointless.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

So is this the newer horizontal model, or one of the older ones with GC compatibility?

Is it possible to replace the chips at all? It suggests that Wii Mini modding might be a thing someday. Of course, if regular Wiis are going to be common as dirt, that would make buying and messing with a Wii Mini slightly pointless.

GameCube compatible. I don't know much about the chips, but during the process of jailbreaking you can back-up your NAND chip image.

[RP2A03]

Is it possible to replace the chips at all?

Not only possible, but they can be hot swapped as well.

[Tanooki]

Good rescue.

It may be a hard sell as it is, but there are uses for it depending on your needs or others. It works fine as a netflix movie streaming box for one which is why mine is even plugged in anymore in the back bedroom. Also as other pointed out, warez. You can get a usb HDD and load it up with all sorts of junk, it's like the xbox emulator of that generation where you can put whatever you want on it and have at it. People still pay a bit for one of those things fixed up in such a way and the price goes up with the size of the included HDD and if it's preloaded. Not saying go do it, but obviously a random person wouldn't think of that when tossing it as it's just old electronics.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Good rescue.

It may be a hard sell as it is, but there are uses for it depending on your needs or others. It works fine as a netflix movie streaming box for one which is why mine is even plugged in anymore in the back bedroom. Also as other pointed out, warez. You can get a usb HDD and load it up with all sorts of junk, it's like the xbox emulator of that generation where you can put whatever you want on it and have at it. People still pay a bit for one of those things fixed up in such a way and the price goes up with the size of the included HDD and if it's preloaded. Not saying go do it, but obviously a random person wouldn't think of that when tossing it as it's just old electronics.

Yeah, I'm not going to sell it.

I'll probably keep it as a backup or a Netflix/Hulu box for the time being and then if I have a friend or relative in the future that waxes nostalgic about 8 and 16 bit games I'll jailbreak it, load it up with stuff and give it to them as a gift.

[kupomogli]

Or they got a real gaming system like the PS3 /kupo :p

I second this.

--

Good idea to keep it as a Netflix box like Tanooki mentioned. You've probably got atleast one SDTV hooked up, and a free Wii as a Netflix streaming device would be the perfect solution. I've got my PC and PSP for emulation, but having the ability to emulate anything up to N64 is good if the room the system is in doesn't already have those features, and with Gamecube bc you would actually have some good games to play outside of emulation. Just kidding. The Wii has "some" good games.

[thegamezmaster]

Congrats on the cool find! GC compatible too! Wish I was so lucky.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

... having the ability to emulate anything up to N64 is good ...

I've spent the past few months pretty extensively testing the emulation on Wii with my main system which is Jailbroken.

Based on what I've tried some of the emulators are exceptional.

NES, SMS, Genesis, SNES, GB/GBC/GBA, C64, 2600, 7800, Coleco, Intellivision, LYNX, ZX Spectrum

And some are half-baked, temperamental, broken and/or abandoned by their originators

Neo-Geo, N64, MAME, Saturn.

Original XBOX is still a superior emulation box for classic stuff overall IMO - especially the build of MAME that runs on it, but what does work great on Wii works REALLY great.

[SpaceHarrier]

Nice, and it still has the Gamecube port cover attached to the top. I already see Wiis missing the flap quite often at swapmeets.

[Rickstilwell1]

I wouldn't say being able to use illegal roms is useful to the industry.

In that same sense you might as well make fun of everyone who buys a physical copy of a retro game instead of running an ISO in a emulator. If you're going to run illegal roms on a wii why even bother collecting NES/SNES/N64 etc just use roms and emulators for free too.

But you just use those legal homebrew apps. You'd never run illegal back ups.

I never said it was useful to the industry. It is useful for people who like a nice portable emulator box to take somewhere rather than haul their massive collection of 1000 game cartridges in their car when they go on vacation or something like that.

Your opinion about roms and whatnot has no effect on what other people such as myself would rather do with this system, PSPs original Xboxes and even PCs. We know how to make good use of what's left of any piece of hardware, even if it is not its original intended use.


I've spent the past few months pretty extensively testing the emulation on Wii with my main system which is Jailbroken.

Based on what I've tried some of the emulators are exceptional.

NES, SMS, Genesis, SNES, GB/GBC/GBA, C64, 2600, 7800, Coleco, Intellivision, LYNX, ZX Spectrum

And some are half-baked, temperamental, broken and/or abandoned by their originators

Neo-Geo, N64, MAME, Saturn.

Original XBOX is still a superior emulation box for classic stuff overall IMO - especially the build of MAME that runs on it, but what does work great on Wii works REALLY great.

I agree here. What I usually do because of the way controllers feel, I run what I can run well on the Wii then go back to the original Xbox if it runs better on there or doesn't even have an emulator available on the Wii. One system you can run really well with sound on the Wii but not the Xbox is Virtual Boy. It's also a great way to play Virtual Boy games without getting eyestrain from the original unit, which = longer playing sessions.

[Retr0J]

While walking to my car I found a perfectly good Wii stacked with some other abandoned electronics - a VCR, a cordless telephone and a composite DVD player.

The only thing that the Wii was missing was Wiimotes, of which I have a bunch.

Judging by the condition of the system (excellent) and the game save files on it (lots of kids games), I'm going to guess that the family that disposed of it upgraded to a Wii-U.

I believe Gamestop gives less than $20 for a Wii presently, and based on the saturation of the system it's probably even a tough thing to give away to friends/family.

I saved it from total disposal. Couldn't help myself.

A Wii in the trash. An interesting social commentary as to where we are in this console generation and what the current "value" of the Wii is.

Here are some photos of the main unit for posterity:

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b328/FrankieViturello/AB3F9E6D-5622-492B-BFCF-BBAF62B36D7D-833-00000018A30445EE_zps83c8b82a.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/FrankieViturello/media/AB3F9E6D-5622-492B-BFCF-BBAF62B36D7D-833-00000018A30445EE_zps83c8b82a.jpg.html)

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b328/FrankieViturello/E76B545C-EEC3-43F5-A28A-6511DA89E976-833-000000189C813725_zpsa00185a7.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/FrankieViturello/media/E76B545C-EEC3-43F5-A28A-6511DA89E976-833-000000189C813725_zpsa00185a7.jpg.html)

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b328/FrankieViturello/263D94B9-DD38-4DFE-A70C-3E893D761BEC-833-0000001895F35189_zpsfb6e5a17.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/FrankieViturello/media/263D94B9-DD38-4DFE-A70C-3E893D761BEC-833-0000001895F35189_zpsfb6e5a17.jpg.html)

Wow this is actually really sad to see this in the trash! Just went and had a look on Amazon and they are selling for like £30 each. It was labelled as "revolutionary" when it came out and this is the end result.

Bizarre!

[needler420]

I've spent the past few months pretty extensively testing the emulation on Wii with my main system which is Jailbroken.

Based on what I've tried some of the emulators are exceptional.

NES, SMS, Genesis, SNES, GB/GBC/GBA, C64, 2600, 7800, Coleco, Intellivision, LYNX, ZX Spectrum

And some are half-baked, temperamental, broken and/or abandoned by their originators

Neo-Geo, N64, MAME, Saturn.

Original XBOX is still a superior emulation box for classic stuff overall IMO - especially the build of MAME that runs on it, but what does work great on Wii works REALLY great.

Why even waste time with console emulation? If you're going to bother to pirate video games you might as well do it on a PC where it's the best emulation and you can use different controllers a lot easier.

Anything your console can do your PC can do better.

[Videogamerdaryll]

Great Save...

I'd had stopped Short Quick to save it...
I usually pick up DVD players as they seem to go bad on me often,and I get lucky the ones I pick up work,or they are just jammed..

It's amazing the stuff people throw out...Pisses me off sometimes as it seems people have,throw away money..




But when they do throw stuff out like that... I call it Free Money..

Just like that Surround Sound System I recently Sold...It was thrown out on curb,I sold it a week later for $40.00=Free Money..
Thats $40.00 found on a curb to me..



Yesterday was bulk trash day in my town....BIG CRT TVS on The curb,Flat screen CRT Tv..Dressers.TV cabinets,stools...HUGE projection TVS..
I have no room for this stuff...

Driving around though doing errands we did stop and pick up a very nice little girls bike with training wheels for my daughter..

....................
Flea Market vendors want $50.00 for Wii Consoles.with no controller port doors nor any hook ups..Untested door stops...
I have one on my shelf that a buddy of mine got burnt buying......It's Toast..but I won't chuck it..

He just got burnt buying another one with 5 games for $75.00..from a family doing a garage sale..it doesn't work and they swore it did.....He really got beat on that one..I think he felt bad for the family.

One of these days I'll snag one of these..I have one in my kids room but I want a second set up for my room..

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Why even waste time with console emulation? If you're going to bother to pirate video games you might as well do it on a PC where it's the best emulation and you can use different controllers a lot easier.

Anything your console can do your PC can do better.

Other than the PC in my MAME cabinet and a few online browser based things I don't game on PC at all.

Had a few dedicated gaming PCs in the late 90s but I just couldn't deal with the scaling, compatibility and inexplicable hardware issues. Gave it up then and after several robust generations of console and portable hardware, I've never missed it.

Yes, I know it's much better now, but I've never been inclined to get into it again. What's available on consoles and portables more than satisfies me entirely and what games/genres are fully unique to PCs (MMORPGS, RTS, Minecraft, Advanced FPS competition, etc.) are way outside of my tastes/wheelhouse anyway.

[Rickstilwell1]

Why even waste time with console emulation? If you're going to bother to pirate video games you might as well do it on a PC where it's the best emulation and you can use different controllers a lot easier.

Anything your console can do your PC can do better.

The depends entirely on your PC and which operating system you are using and their compatibility. At least with consoles you don't have to look at specs because they are the same across the board. You don't have to take a gamble buying a random costly PC wondering "gee I wonder if these particular emulators will run correctly on this one or not." My laptop, a Toshiba Satellite A505 is worse at emulation than my old Dell Inspiron 1100 was and it's newer and faster! It can run a few emulators that wouldn't run on the Inspiron, but the hiccups it has and the screen tearing are an issue with all of them, even weaker systems like the NES. If only my old Dell hadn't had its screen and headphone jack broken when the cat knocked over the TV tray...

[AdamAnt316]

Some people throw away the damndest things. Several years back, I was hanging around at a local computer surplus store, looking for RAM for an ancient iMac, when a couple of guys came into the store looking to sell some computers. The employee running the store asked what they had, and the guys rattled off a bunch of vintage computers, including the Apple Lisa, at which my ears perked up. :eek 2: O_O

The store employee said that he couldn't buy their computers, since they were too old to be supportable, so the guys asked if they could just leave them in the parking lot. When asked if they knew that the computers were valuable, they replied that they didn't care, and that they just wanted to get rid of them. After the guys had left, I went outside the store to see if it could possibly be true. Sure enough, sitting in the parking lot was an Apple Lisa 2, complete with keyboard and mouse. I quickly loaded it into my car, along with an IBM PCjr and an Apple //e which they'd also left behind.

I went back later in the day to get something I'd left behind, and encountered two men who were loading the remaining stuff into a truck to take it to be scrapped. My guess is that, had I not rescued it, the Lisa would've ended up in a dump somewhere. I still can't fathom why someone would leave something this rare sitting in a parking lot, even after being told that it might have value to it. :? X_x

[Gameguy]

I still can't fathom why someone would leave something this rare sitting in a parking lot, even after being told that it might have value to it. :? X_x
Laziness. Never underestimate how lazy people can be, assuming they're well enough off to not be desperate for as much cash as they can get. It's really the same reason why people donate good things to thrift stores or price stuff cheap at yard sales, it's just to quickly get rid of stuff they don't want. If that doesn't work they'll just throw it out. With yard sales you don't have to leave your property, it's easier than having to dump it somewhere else. With thrift stores you don't have to be outside watching your stuff for several hours. Either way it's mostly laziness.

[Haoie]

I couldn't fathoming throwing away electronics.

Although it really has to be done doesn't it? Like, old CRT TVs and other outdated junk.

Hell, some people don't even throw out dead batteries! Too far am I right?

[Jorpho]

Considering old batteries have a nasty habit of leaking all over the place, yes, that would be too far.

[AdamAnt316]

Laziness. Never underestimate how lazy people can be, assuming they're well enough off to not be desperate for as much cash as they can get. It's really the same reason why people donate good things to thrift stores or price stuff cheap at yard sales, it's just to quickly get rid of stuff they don't want. If that doesn't work they'll just throw it out. With yard sales you don't have to leave your property, it's easier than having to dump it somewhere else. With thrift stores you don't have to be outside watching your stuff for several hours. Either way it's mostly laziness.

Very true, and sad. If I can't use something, I at least try and find someone who can. Earlier this month, I managed to find someone willing to save a beautiful Zenith "Space Command" 25" console TV which would've ended up in a dumpster otherwise. Posted a thread on a forum, a guy from New Jersey drove up to the Boston area to pick it up, and it now has a new lease on life. :)


I couldn't fathoming throwing away electronics.

Although it really has to be done doesn't it? Like, old CRT TVs and other outdated junk.

Hell, some people don't even throw out dead batteries! Too far am I right?

I hang onto stuff if I think there's any chance of me needing it in the future. I'll readily admit that this sort of mentality can descend into hoarding, but I've had it pay off before. CRT TVs are kinda an iffy thing; nice to have if working, but take up a lot of space, can be difficult to fix if something goes badly wrong, and are classified as hazardous waste. As mentioned above, I try to save them if possible, but it's not always feasible.

As far as batteries go, It depends. The individual cells, as mentioned above, can start leaking nasty things, and should be disposed of. However, if the batteries in question are contained within some sort of pack, it might be a good idea to keep the outer casing, removing the internal cells, noting their original position, and then discarding them. But I digress...