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A great article concerning all Aussie Wii owners was posted on Vooks the other day, so read on!

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Super Smash Bros Brawl is here for the Japanese, it’ll be here shortly for America and sadly due to other delays and the lengthy translation process (or so Nintendo says) Smash won’t be here for a many a month. We’ve had a lot of community questions about importing consoles, modding their Wii’s to play the game and some people are happy enough to wait. Either way it’s your choice – but to help you in that choice we have listed out some potential pros and cons of each method. Spoiler free, more inside!

We’re not going to give a score or a recommendation, some of us here at Vooks have either modded or are importing and some of us are waiting. We hope this guide will help you in your decision no matter what you do. Most Wii releases are getting delayed more and more, but it’s also good to see some cold hard facts.

Waiting for the Australian Release

- Cost: $99 or less

• + Cheapest option, able to choose game from many numbers of stores
• + No modifications to Wii needed and guaranteed to run
• + Game glitches may be fixed
• + Online guaranteed to work
• - You’ll be waiting months for it, Aussies have to wait for 5 languages when we only speak one in Australia
• - No idea when it is coming, you’re at Nintendo’s mercy
• - Australian games are more expensive if you already have another region console
• - Melee had balancing changes made to the game

Importing a Japanese Console

- Cost: Upwards of $400

• + Have the game right now
• + Japanese VC has some cool games, if you can read it
• + Playing before your fellow Australians
• + Able to buy future Japanese Wii games, many released before AU or not at all.
• + Koopa is better than Bowser
• - Too expensive for such arguably little gain
• - Smash may be a fighting game, but the language barrier will affect you at some point
• - Characters speak Japanese and have Japanese names, may feel alienating
• - Online play laggy and no one really knows if it works with the Australian version of Brawl

Importing a US Console

- Cost: Upwards of $400

• + You’ll have the game months before Australia, and in a couple of weeks
• + It’s in English, the official language of Australia
• + While the console will cost a bit, Brawl will actually be cheaper
• + Join the many Aussies who have switched to a US console, games are cheaper and released many months in advanced (in most cases). Once you buy a few games your Wii purchase is absorbed
• - Getting a Wii here is hard, getting one in America is harder. Stock issues may hamper your effects and drive up Ebay prices if you go down that route
• - Online problems may occur
• - Cost, A US Wii will cost an Australian Wii + Postage
• - Warranty Issues

• Modding your Aussie console

  Cost - Upwards of $100 (Chip, Game)

• + Able to play most Japanese and America Releases
• + Able to imported games in the future
• + Able to play Homebrew in the future
• - You are opening your console, breaking the Nintendo magic seal, Pikmin’s escape
• - Don’t pay attention to instructions and you can brick your Wii
• - Warranty Expired? If not there it goes!
• - May have issues playing online with an import title due to different regions
• - Most modchips don’t boot the game without some “help”
• - Region Free not 100% for other games

Some simple and perhaps obvious information there, but those are the choices you have. Remember we’ve only created this article because of the uncertainty of the Australian release of Smash Bros. Brawl and the uncertainty and delays suffered on other games. Look for impressions of Super Smash Bros Brawl, features and more coverage of the game as we’ve imported and we’re ready to show how awesome the game can be. If you have any more points or methods to suggest drop us a line on the forums.

Disclaimer to international readers, Modding your Wii and all Mod Chips are legal under Australian law, Piracy of course is not and we wouldn’t want anyone to think we are condoning it.