Soft hacking your Wii to accept discs with any region code
Note: This tutorial is for Wii software version 4.3 (newest as of this date) and done on a US (region code NTSC) Wii. Any lower versions or other region codes of Wiis are not included in this tutorial.
Alright, first of all, you need a blank SD card. I'd hope that anyone with a computer knows what that is, so I feel like I don't need to explain it. Also, you need a file unzipping program. I use WinRAR, but anything is fine. Again, not going to explain how to use a file unzipping program.
Basically, we're installing:
The Homebrew Channel via Letterbomb (SD files)
The Homebrew Browser (SD files)
Then Gecko (via the Homebrew Browser)
Then you can play games with any region code on your Wii!
#Ok, so first you need to get the Homebrew Channel on your Wii. It enables hacks and it's fairly simple to install. The way you do this is by using the hack called Letterbomb. It's extremely easy to install. Here's what the wiki about it says:
On the wii, go to Wii Options>Wii Settings>page 2>Internet>Console Information. Enter your MAC Address into the boxes on please.hackmii.com
Make sure the HackMii installer is bundled with your download
Cut the red wire to download the .zip file and unzip it
Copy "private" folder and "boot.elf" to your SD Card (Can also be SDHC)
Insert the SD card to your Wii and go to Wii Messageboard
You should see a red envelope looks like the one on "please.hackmii.com". Click it, and BOOM!
#Here's some caps of this process:
Enter the MAC address the above directions led you to (yours will be different than mine)
Make sure this box is checked
Click this one, not the blue one.
#Next, it will give you the file as a zip.
#Copy the "private" folder and "boot.elf" onto your SD card.
[Might insert a screen cap here if there's confusion over what this looks like. The card is blank, so you literally copy/paste the files from where you unzipped it to the SD card]
#After that, pop in the card and turn on your Wii. Check your messages, and the red Letterbomb envelope should be there. I had to go home and then to messages again to make it show.
You will be presented with the screen below.
Go to Homebrew Channel>Install the Homebrew Channel. You will be asked whether you want to install the channel; select yes. After installation you should get a message "finished" and return you to the initial menu.
#Alright, on mine, it crashed the first time, but I just turned it off and did it again and it was fine.
#So, now after you've installed the Homebrew Channel, it stays on your Wii and you no longer need the SD card. Remove it, and pop it back in your computer, because now you need the Homebrew Browser. It's not the same, and it allows you to install Gecko, which is how you override the region code.
Note: Erase all of the files you put on there for the Homebrew Channel before making the apps folder and moving in the Homebrew Browser files.
#And now for the files and where to put them.
Create an apps folder on the root of your SD card (e.g. E:/apps).
Copy the homebrew_browser folder to the /apps folder on your SD card.
#Here's the files you need for the Homebrew Browser right here. That's a zip file, once again. After that, pop the SD card back into the Wii and click on the Homebrew Channel. The browser should pop up on a list right on the main screen for the channel. Click it and tell it to load.
DON'T PANIC. IT'S SUPPOSED TO DO THAT. After that, it should look similar to this:
#I know it looks a little crazy now (and your screen might look a little different other than the buttons on the left), but this is where you get Gecko from. On the right, you can tell it to arrange alphabetically (the button with the big A on it). Do it, and you should see scroll down and see Gecko under G, obviously. Click it and tell it to download. After that, exit the Homebrew Browser.
#You can exit by pressing home button on your remote and selecting return to loader.
#When you get back to the Homebrew Channel, Gecko should be right there.
Click it, and tell it to load.
#There's something called config menu there.
When you select it, you should see something similar to this:
*LEAVE THE OTHER SETTINGS ALONE, PLEASE*
For this game, which is a PAL game, you want to use the D-pad to get down to Force PAL60 and change it to Yes.
Now, back out of the config menu insert your game disc, and click run/launch disc! Ta-da! Your Wii is now playing a region code PAL on an NTSC Wii.
Note: Every time you run the game, you will have to go to the Homebrew Channel, load Gecko, and tell it to read the disc. You won't need the SD card, as far as I can tell.
That's it! Hope this tutorial was as easy as it could be. I can't guarantee I'll have an answer to your question, but send me an ask if you followed these steps and it did not work for you. This is exactly what I did and I'm now 6 hours into Project Zero 2.