Argon vs D2CKEY

Over twenty different mod chips have sprouted up for the Nintendo Wii, all of them attempting to allow you to play backups of your games. Early on, the WiiKey was the most popular, but on newer models of the Wii, the WiiKey no longer works. In its place, two different mod chips have risen to prominence — the Argon and the D2CKEY.

In this article, I’m going to explain the pros and cons between the two, but first, I have to explain what they are trying to accomplish in the first place. Mod chips are a common response to embedded console copy write protection schemes. Ever since consoles started using regular optical discs instead of cartridges, there has been much easier for people to duplicate and pirate games. To combat this, the consoles usualy implement some sort of protection scheme. One common method is to use the early disc data that cannot be burned by normal burners and must be made in factories. To overcome these protection schemes, third-parties will often design a chip, called a mod chip, that connects to the console and changes various sorts of data that it gets. In response, console developers often make more elaborate protection schemes and round and round we go. Modding your Wii will invalidate your warranty, but it is legal. It is also legal to make and play backups of games you own. It is also legal for Nintendo to disable your chip, so keep that in mind.

Currently, the two most popular Wii mod chips are the Argon and the D2CKEY. Both of these chips are for different models of the Wii, so if you want to mod a Wii you already have, the choice is already made for you. If you are buying a premodded though, you’ll probably have a choice between the two.

The Argon, doesn’t have as many features as the D2CKEY. For example, it can’t do backup GameCube games while the D2CKEY can (a recent update has fixed this). Also, the Argon is more picky about what type of DVDs you use. But the Argon is easily programmable, and updates can and have been given to it. Super Mario Galaxy included an update that put almost every mod chip out of commission, but the Argon team had a fix ready to go extra quickly. The update process is a little rough, and requires you to buy some Argon software, but the added safety of knowing that if things go bad someone is there to fix it is great.

The D2CKEY is a lot harder to install, with almost twice as many connections, but the team that created it insists that it is undetectable. They seem pretty certain that there is no way Nintendo can disable it. All talk? Maybe. But the Super Mario Galaxy update that put every other mod chip on the ropes didn’t even touch this one. A lot of people are hesitant about the D2CKEY because it doesn’t have a system implemented for updating it. So if Nintendo did find a way to disable it, everyone might just be out of luck. The D2CKEY team insists that a) Nintendo can’t disable it, so it doesn’t matter and b) even if they somehow managed to, an update system could be set up.

So which should you get? My vote is for the D2CKEY. Cautious people favor the Argon, but history has shown that sooner or later a mod chip will come about that “just works”. To me the D2CKEY looks like that mod chip. Personally, I’d rather go with the chip that has worked perfectly so far than go with the chip that could theoretically be updated to work perfectly. But I guess it is up to you.