American Wii in U.K.?

I've found about a dozen websites with conflicting information on whether or not one can use a Wii purchased in the U.S. in the U.K.

There's plenty of discussion about step-down converters, NTSC/PAL television compatibility, the fact that you can only play U.S. purchased games on a U.S. purchased Wii, but no general consensus of "yes, you can" or "no you can't" with regards to using it successfully abroad.

Anyone have any experience? We have a lovely new Wii that we got for Christmas this year that I'd hate to leave behind in our move.

My Wii works perfectly fine in the UK. You can only play games bought in the US though. My DF just bought a plug converter and thats it.

^^ Ditto!  We brought our US Wii as well.  Works well!  When we go back to the US or know someone is coming to visit, we stock up on US games -- that's the only downside.  Although if there was a game we were dying for ASAP, I'm sure my dad or someone could just mail it to us.   

Pack your Wii!   

Great thanks!

What kind of converter did you use for it? Is that something that we should wait to purchase when we get to England?

Thank you, I was wondering that too.  This is why we all keep coming back to this site, it is full of information from people who have actually done it vs people who are just speculating if it would work of not.

I'm so glad someone made this thread! I've been wanting the answer to this for future reference.

All that's needed is a plug converter. So the hook-up wires (excuse my layman terminology; I'm no electrowhiz) that connect the Wii to the TV are the same?

I dont know the exact plug converter but he bought it in England. I would imagine that the selection is better there. Also, the cords all worked fine.

So the hook-up wires (excuse my layman terminology; I'm no electrowhiz) that connect the Wii to the TV are the same?

It depends on what connections are available on the TV you'll be using in the UK.  If you've got a fairly new (within the last 5 years or so) TV in the UK, it will probably have the same video and audio connectors you've got in the US (assuming you're using the 3-plug yellow/red/white combo), in which case you can just hook it up the same as you did in the US.  

If you've got an older UK TV, it may only have SCART connectors (big weird fat connectors that aren't used in the US), in which case you'll need either a Wii SCART cable which you can find cheap online (search Google for "wii SCART").

With respect to the UK plug - I bought a UK Wii plug online for my US Wii and the darn thing burned out after only a few weeks.  The power brick was clearly smaller than the US version - basically it was a cheap imitation.  It's really, really hard to find a good quality replacement UK plug on its own - shop carefully.

That being said, I may have one for sale sometime in June (I bought a much higher quality replacement)!!!  I'll post if/when I'm ready to sell it!! 

If you have a Wii, US or UK, I'm just going to covertly suggest you do a Google search for "Bannerbomb". If you homebrew-enable your device, you won't have to worry about region-locking. The process is probably only for the tech-savvy, however.

With respect to the UK plug - I bought a UK Wii plug online for my US Wii and the darn thing burned out after only a few weeks.  The power brick was clearly smaller than the US version - basically it was a cheap imitation.  It's really, really hard to find a good quality replacement UK plug on its own - shop carefully.

I second that. We used an adapter only and it worked for a while before burning out on our Playstation. Then we got a replacement power cord for the PS and the Wii just to be safe. I think they were about ten pounds a piece.

And I can only use NTSC disc which I haven't found here.

I read this thread before we moved here to London 3 weeks ago, and our things arrived a few days ago.  My son wanted his Wii hooked up right away.  I plugged it in with a plug converter and it blew a fuse and now will not turn on at all.  No lights no nothing.  Do you think it could possibly be just the power supply or is the whole thing fried?  I have been sick to my stomach since this happened as my son just got this for Xmas and I don't think I ever registered for the warranty.  Any suggestion/advice will be greatly appreciated!

We used an adapter only and it worked for a while before burning out on our Playstation. Then we got a replacement power cord for the PS and the Wii just to be safe. I think they were about ten pounds a piece.

Where did you end up buying your replacement cords?

It'll be a few weeks before we're able to obtain and unpack our things, but I'm hoping to be able to set up the Wii sooner than later.

Does anyone know if the Wii automatically converts between 120 and 240 volts?  Most computers and monitors do this.  If this were the case then a simple plug that changes the power prongs from US standard 2 to UK standard 3 prongs would do.  If the voltage can't be converted then you'll need a transformer that switches the voltage coming out of the wall.  Depending on how much wattage the Wii produces you may need a smaller or larger transformer.

I've found about a dozen websites with conflicting information on whether or not one can use a Wii purchased in the U.S. in the U.K.

There's plenty of discussion about step-down converters, NTSC/PAL television compatibility, the fact that you can only play U.S. purchased games on a U.S. purchased Wii, but no general consensus of "yes, you can" or "no you can't" with regards to using it successfully abroad.

Anyone have any experience? We have a lovely new Wii that we got for Christmas this year that I'd hate to leave behind in our move.

Hi Oonablah, where you able to find the replacement cords and converter for the wii? What kind did you buy? Any suggestions will be appreciated as my son will be bringing his as well.

Thanks!