Backup Wii Games – Why Do It?

I guess the first question that should be answered before we start looking at the “how?” is the “why?” i.e. why is it important to back up our Wii  games?
I’m a little older than a lot of the other gamers that I know  so for me money is not so big an issue; but I know that this certainly wasn’t the case when I was younger and nor is it the case with most young people I know  who are heavily into gaming.
So let’s start with the facts. It’s probably not too big a stretch to say that when people talk about their favourite gaming platform these days that Nintendo Wii would come near the top of the pack. Wii Games are some of the hottest sellers in the market with no sign of their popularity abating. But these games can be expensive. When you’re paying up to $50 for a new Wii game you certainly don’t want to be in a position where it breaks and then you’re forced to shell out another $50  just to replace it – particularly if you’re a teenager and don’t have ready access to that type of cash.
On top of this, Wii game disks are fragile. They are nothing more than DVD disks which can scratch or break easily. Dropping a  disk onto a hard surface will quite often do enough damage so that it becomes unplayable. I know – I’ve done this! Playing games regularly can also result in minor damage to the surface of the disks which is caused by the playing mechanism. Through repeated and frequent use (and don’t we all play Wii a lot?!), these minor blemishes can accumulate and end up damaging the disk permanently.
To reduce the risk of paying extra should any of this happen – your best bet is to make a copy of the Wii games that you already have. And it should be pointed out that you have a legal right to do this. There’s no issue in respect to making backup copies of Wii games that you’ve already purchased. The problem of course lies in which is the best way to do this? It’s not possible to burn Wii games in the same way that you would a music CD as video game discs have “copyright protection” which precludes the copying of their content. Your computer will simply not recognise the disk.
What is needed therefore is a way to bypass the copy protection encryption that is found on the majority of Wii game discs.

Tony.