Burning Wii Games is Easy! Here's How You Can

The very popular Nintendo Wii offers a lot of fun, plenty of games, and a unique interface that no one else has duplicated. That means it's no surprise when people want to copy their games to keep backups of the originals.

These games come on discs that look a lot like standard burnable CDs, but they can't be copied in exactly the same way. The procedure is a bit more complicated. Here's a short guide to tell you the basics for copying Wii games, as well as when to do it and when not to.

Regular burning software isn't able to copy Wii games like a CD - even top of the line programs like Nero and Roxio. This is because the copy protection encoded on a game disc can't be read by your computer.

Like most types of copy protection, this encryption didn't last long before there was a way around it. Programs are available which will read through this encryption and help your computer understand the information on the Wii game disk.

After installing software of this type, it's really quite easy to copy the game itself. Suddenly, your computer can understand data that it couldn't read before. This is true whether the game is on the Wii or another system.

Even some of the copy protection encryption used by PC games can be broken by programs of this kind. If you own more than one system, you can use this software to make backup copies of all your games, not just the ones for the Wii.

Once you've found the right program for breaking encryption and installed it on your computer, the next step is copying game data as a disk image. After you've stored this image on your hard drive, you just need to put a blank disc into your burner, then tell the program to burn the image there.

Much of the time, you don't even need to use your regular burner, since decryption programs include copying and burning functions. That keeps your chances of an error during ripping and burning much lower.

Copying programs are now available which allow you to copy your games without needing to do more than go through a few menus and click a few buttons. Wii game copying is an excellent way to back up any game at all. After all, a backup is a great way to make sure the original stays in good shape.