Do you have a Nintendo Wii? This amazingly popular system has a unique gameplay style and many fun games to offer. That’s why we’re not surprised that so many people are interested in copying their Wii games as backups in case the originals are damaged.

These games come on discs that look a lot like standard burnable CDs, but they can’t be copied in exactly the same way. The procedure is a bit more complicated. Here’s a short guide to tell you the basics for copying Wii games, as well as when to do it and when not to.

Regular burning software – even high end programs like Roxio and Nero – can’t copy this kind of disk due to the encryption included on it. The copy protection that comes as part of one of these disks means that your computer just doesn’t have a way to make sense of the data.

Like most types of copy protection, this encryption didn’t last long before there was a way around it. Programs are available which will read through this encryption and help your computer understand the information on the Wii game disk.

After the software has been installed, it’s really quite easy to make a copy of the game. That’s because the information your computer couldn’t understand is now easy to deal with. This works for games on just about all systems, including the Wii, but also the Xbox 360 and PS3.

There are even some PC games that make use of copy protection, but these programs can help you deal with it. If you own more than one kind of gaming system, you can use this kind of program to get backup copies for all your games, not just the ones for the Wii.

Once you’ve found the right program to help you break this encryption, and you’ve managed to install it on your computer, the next thing to do is copy the game data as a disk image. After you’ve placed this image on your computer’s hard drive, you’ll be able to insert a blank disk and burn the image onto it without any problems.

Most of the time, you won’t even have to use your regular software, since copying and burning functions come with the decryption software. Choosing to use its utilities will allow you to get a cleaner burn and less likelihood of an error.

Copying programs are now available that’ll let you copy Wii games with just a few clicks of the mouse. This is a wonderful way to make a backup of any game that you want to be sure stays in good shape. After all having a backup in case the original is damaged or loss never hurts.