[xiaNaix]

The Matrix Team have announced a new Nintendo Wii modification chip that has an on-board SATA adapter that can connect to a stand alone hard drive for quick loading of your legal backup collection. It comes with 2Mbit of flash, requires no soldering and lets you retain the original functionality of your drive.

Note that the chip pictured is a prototype and will be much smaller when produced. The chip will be able to boot images via a menu or burnt backup discs. We should have more details including all of the technical specifications in a couple of days.

News Source: TehSkeen

UPDATE: There is some speculation that this product is fake and is just an attempt by a competitor to kill sales of FlatMii and DriveKey. As we did not receive this information direct from the manufacturer, please take it with a grain of salt until it's authenticity can be confirmed.

UPDATE 01/18/09: WiiNewz member eXOBeX has supplied us with a picture of a generic SATA to IDE adaptor board that looks identical to the one seen in the WiiZii picture. I have attached it to this post. While this does not give us any real confirmation, it does shed some light on the possible authenticity of this chip. We are still awaiting contact from the Matrix Team but, since they have not been heard from since 2006, I do not expect much.

[krayziexploiter]

great stuff

[rudster]

hopefully all these new modchips pull through

[Ka-rosu]

is this from the same matrix team that brought us the matrix infinity on the great ps2 days?

[xiaNaix]

Considering they have been dead for a long while, I doubt it. I've heard from a couple of different dev teams who think this is a fake. I guess we'll know in a couple of days but I'm updating the news just in case.

[phrozenfeonix]

Well considering the chip itself is hand soldered and the SATA part is actually a red PCB with everything machine soldered, i'd take that as the first sign...

Edit: Second sign would be we can't see any controllers, chips, etc...
By this design it looks like they just go to a pin header that's through-soldered... must see the other side obviously...

[unlockmyxbox]

Also where would the sata drive receive power from? I don't see a power connector...

[lenselijer]

this looks like a joke, the red pcb board is just put underneath the 'modchip'

[GeToChKn]

Originally Posted by unlockmyxbox

Also where would the sata drive receive power from? I don't see a power connector...

If its fake or not, you can still have an external power supply.


And if you were to be making a handmade prototype, would you not use an off the shelf sata controller and wire your stuff into it? Should they have only shown a finished product or should they have made their own sata controller too?

Again, it very well could be a fake, but the stuff everyone is using to say its a fake doesn't make sense. Picture of the Drivekey on the front page a few days ago was shown as a hand soldered prototype too.

[phrozenfeonix]

Even the hand-soldered drive key at least showed some of the work horses involved. This pic doesn't show much other than a (mostly) blank handsoldered pcb, and a (possibly) retail sata controller, assuming there's more to the controller than what we see.

This is more indicative of a WIP chip rather than a chip to be released shortly. From what they've shown us so far, there's about as much project as CZN's gamecube prot., except czn actually had a proof of concept that could be created.

Hopefully the next few days will reveal alot more of this project. Let's not start assuming anything?