Tuesday, August 16, 2011

My copy of Xenoblade Chronicles has been 'despatched'

Oh, suuuuuuuurrrrrrre. I was all ready to make fun of the folks at The Hut/SendIt/Zavvi for telling me my copy of Xenoblade Chronicles had been "despatched"--and then I discovered (via dictionary.com) that "despatch" is an acceptable alternative to "dispatch." Harrumph.

Whatever. All that really matters is that this open-world RPG, which will be released throughout Europe on Friday, is on its way across the ocean to our doorstep. How long it takes to arrive on said doorstep, of course, is anyone's guess. I'm expecting it to take a few weeks, but I won't be at all surprised if it takes longer.



Regardless of when my copy of this Monolith Soft-developed game shows up, you can rest assured I'll take and post a few Glamour Shots-esque photos of its packaging shortly after I rip it open.

See also: 'I just pre-ordered Xenoblade (or, who needs Nintendo of America when you've got The Hut?)'

14 comments:

Marcus said...

All these crazy alternative spellings... It's always so hard for my American eyes to get used to them :P.

I hope your copy arrives soon-ish! :) I'm also going to be playing Xenoblade (at some point this year).

Viewtiful_Justin said...

That spelling still makes me cringe. And...dang. How are you able to play European titles on your Wii?

Bryan Ochalla said...

I think "despatch" may be primarily used in the UK, Marcus, but don't quote me on that!

As for hoping it arrives soon-ish: Me, too! Hope you get it soon, too. Can't wait to hear what you think about it...

Bryan Ochalla said...

Yeah, it's a weird spelling, Justin. Like I just said, I think it must be a British thing, for the most part.

As for how I play Euro titles on my Wii: I homebrewed the sucker a long time ago just so I could play Japanese and Euro games on it, if I so chose. (It also allowed me to add emulators to my Wii.)

Homebrewing your Wii is a snap, BTW. If you ever want to know more, just let me know!

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Well, I'm sure my warranty has ALREADY expired...so...you know...that's not a concern anymore. What happens when a system update comes along? Does that do anything bad for you?

Consider me intrigued.

Marcus said...

Yeah, I think you're right Bryan but since the internet knows no bounds I often see UK spellings of things and get all thrown off!

Justin, if you're intrigued it is probably a good idea to just go for it :). The various procedures to get a Wii homebrew-ized are pretty noob friendly and safe. There's even a way to back up your Wii beforehand just in case something does go wrong.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Justin: If you're at all curious, I'd suggest checking out this site -- http://gwht.wikidot.com/

I used that particular guide when I first homebrewed my Wii, and I've used it since whenever I needed to update the Shop Channel.

As for what happens when an update comes along: Well, for starters, I believe Nintendo has given up on updating the Wii, but I may be wrong. Even if they do throw out another update, though, the guide/wiki above will be updated to provide you with a workaround (which usually involves updating the Shop Channel on its own).

I have another thing on my Wii that helps me avoid system updates, but I can't remember the name of it at the moment (it allows me to rip my games onto an external hard drive and play them directly from there). I'll look after work tonight and let you know what that is, OK?

Bryan Ochalla said...

I agree, Marcus -- Wii Homebrew seems completely safe at this point if you use the guide/wiki I linked to in my last comment.

Honestly, my main use for it is to play old games via emulation, but it's also cool to be able to rip my Wii games and play them from a hard drive. I haven't had to insert a disc into the system in ages!

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Thanks!

Bryan Ochalla said...

You're welcome, Justin!

If you wind up homebrewing your Wii, I think you'll love it. There's nothing better than playing emulators on an actual TV, using an actual controller. (I *hate* playing games on a computer, for various reasons.)

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Me, too, actually. I probably on't homebrew my Wii...seems a little above my level of expertise...but maybe.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Believe me, Justin, it's not above your level of expertise. Really, if I can do it, anyone can. As long as you can download a few files, move them onto an SD card, stick said SD card into your Wii and press the A button when prompted, you can do it.

Actually, now that I'm saying all of this, I just remembered that a new way of homebrewing your Wii was made public within the last week or so. I'll look at that tonight and see if it's supposed to be even easier/safer.

Honestly, though, I'd be surprised if it's easier/safer than the method described in the guide/wiki I linked to earlier. It really is made for dummies/noobs like us :)

Bryan Ochalla said...

Justin: I just found this on NeoGAF and thought I'd share it here, in case you're still interested in soft-modding your Wii.

How to Homebrew your Wii:

Boot up your Wii. Fully update it, make sure you have the latest system update. Done?

Once that is done, click settings, go to the second page. Click Internet, click Console Information. Write down the 12 letter/number digits you see (your Wii's MAC address).

Go here in your PC's web browser:
http://please.hackmii.com/

- 4.3U
- Type the digits in
- Leave "bundle Hackmii Installer" checked
- Click either "Cut the Red Wire" or "Cut the Blue Wire".

Download the zip file you get. Copy the contents of the zip file to your SD card (private folder, boot.elf). Stick the SD card in your Wii. Check your Wii's messages (bottom right). If there's no message today, check yesterday or the day before. Click on the Letterbomb message (red envelope, bomb).

Install the Homebrew channel by following the prompts, don't worry about anything else.

It's been less than 5 minutes and you have a Homebrewed Wii.

How to play region-free games on a Homebrewed Wii:

Download this:
http://geckodownloads.googlecode.com.../gecko1931.zip

Unzip onto the SD card (in the apps/Gecko1931 folder, obviously).

Launch Homebrew Channel, launch Gecko OS, from here you can now launch games outside your region. If you're on an SDTV/composite/480i and playing a European game you might need to fiddle with different video mode patches (Force NTSC, VIDTV) for certain games but these are easy to try.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Not sure if you're still paying attention to this post, Justin, but in case you are, the folks at Joytiq published an article about hacking your Wii today -- http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/19/how-to-play-xenoblade-chronicles-if-you-live-in-america/