With successful launches of Wii worldwide, console hackers from all over have had the opportunity break open Nintendo’s console. It’s taken only a couple of months, but creators of a “Wiinja” modchip claim that its coded IC is able to bypass the copy protection on the Wii.

As described on Emuboards, the first Wii modchip will allow direct booting of backup games of the same native region as the console. That is, a North American Wii will only be able to run software intended for North America.

The modchip is reminiscent of hardware mods from the days of the original PlayStation, requiring five wires to be soldered directly onto the Wii’s motherboard. It should go without saying that the console must first be dismantled and that the entire process would completely and utterly void the warranty.

As proof of the modchip’s operation, the developers have posted a couple videos on YouTube, demonstrating a Wii loading games burned onto recordable DVD media. A method to backup Wii games was revealed earlier this month, though the process of creating a disc image could take in the neighborhood of about fifty hours.