Emulators and USB Loading for Wii Series Games (As of 2021)
Emulators and loading games via USB are always something brought up by several new runners wanting to get into the scene of Wii Series Speedrunning. “Can I play Wii Sports on Dolphin?” “My disc is broken; can I use Homebrew to load the game?” Well here is the current, quick, and easy guide on what games you can use Emulators and USB Loads on, what games you can’t, and the reasonings for banning them, directly from the game moderators.
Friendly reminder that these rulings are as of February 2021 and are allowed to change.
Wii Sports
Allowed, but Hidden – Emulator and USB Loaded runs are Hidden on the leaderboard by default
“Due to faster loading times and some graphical issues (miis without faces, etc.), emulators and USB loaders are not allowed to be seen by default. However, we do allow them to be submitted as hidden runs due to the increased accessibilities of emulators and USB loaders.”
-Plyd823
Wii Sports Resort
Banned – No Emulators or USB Loading
“Both running the game through an emulator and running the game through loading via USB/SD Card greatly increase the speed of load times, putting both methods at an advantage over loading the game normally via official hardware on an official disc.”
– Cmdr
Wii Sports Club
Banned – No Emulators (Digital release on USB is allowed)
Pending Statement from Moderator.
Wii Play
Banned – No Emulators or USB Loading
Pending Statement from Moderator.
Wii Play Motion
Banned – No Emulators or USB Loading
Pending Statement from Moderator.
Wii Party
Allowed, but Hidden – Emulator and USB Loaded runs are Hidden on the leaderboard by default
“Me and the moderator team have decided to ALLOW emulator runs, which are suspected to have faster loading times. However, they are HIDDEN BY DEFAULT. (Note: Versions of Wii Party that DO NOT use a disc count as an emulator.)
-AdamLikesCars
Wii Party U
Allowed – The emulator, Cemu, is allowed for runs up until a top 3 placement. (Digital release on USB is allowed).
Pending Statement from Moderator.
Wii Fit (Plus)
Pending Statement from Moderator.
Pending Statement from Moderator.
Wii Fit U
Pending Statement from Moderator.
Pending Statement from Moderator.
Wii Music
Allowed – Emulator and USB Loaded Runs are allowed, outside of Pitch Perfect Runs faster than 21:00.
“Emulator and USB/SD loaded runs are allowed with the exception of Pitch Perfect runs that are faster than 21:00, which must be done on original hardware (Wii or Wii U) and disc to contend.”
-Kefka14
Wii Chess
Allowed – Emulator and USB Loaded Runs
“Due to the nature of Wii Chess’s availability, with the fastest version of the game no longer obtainable through the Wii Shop, and the physical release only playable via PAL consoles, the moderation team has decided to allow the use of emulators.”
-Wipeoutjack7