Hacking Guide to The Wii GiftCard

Target is handing out Wii GiftCards in anticipation of Nintendo's release of this remarkable console. The cards are a bit thicker than your regular credit card and house some pretty nifty electronics. Pressing the button on the outside of the card turns on a ominous blue Wii glow that lasts about ten seconds. I'll pop the case on this little thing and check out the internals. After that we'll add a bit of functionality to the LEDs.

Gather up some tools...

#0 Phillips Screwdriver
Small Flat Screwdrivers
Soldering Iron & Solder
Forceps or Needle Nose Pliers
Knife

and lets get started!

Step 1: Crack The Case

On the back side of the card are four #0 Phillips screws to remove.

Carefully remove the backplate and observe the four light diffusers on the edges of the card.

Stash the backplate, diffusers, and screws somewhere safe.

Comments

[hrodriguez7]

why not just spraypaint the back white?

[bsdbf]

can some one tell me how i can get one PLEASE

[friedpope]

Target stopped producing these once the Wii was released a few years ago.

Keep an eye out for some of the other crazy gift cards they make, I don't think they have anything electronic right now. Nevertheless they are pretty creative in the gifting department.

[bfloobis]

i want to know too...

[lolcat360]

If it's a gift card, why would you want to scratch off the bar code?

[khaos4ng31]

No... He used Gimp and Blurred it so nobody would try and use it, because it is possible to reactivate a used gift card and track someone with it.

[seabananers]

maybe he used it all ready like if it's empty

[maxpower49]

wot is the point of this?

[Bert99]

the point is to change the color on a gift card and make it seem complimicated.

[hassannaeem101]

do they still sell em

[Kikurimu]

They stopped selling the wii ones a while back, but they just started selling Blu-Ray giftcards which are exactly the same. (I guess they just had blank ones and printed Blu-ray instead of Wii on them.

[ReCreate]

wow the pictures are...awesome they look soo professional

[Xynck]

So.. What does it do? As far as I can tell, you took apart a card, changed the lights, and did something with Morse Code.

[heaveN]

Funny comment; 'morse code' Besides that; what a cool giftcard. Looks neat :]

[Colonel88]

I cant find them anymore. I have a wii but noo gift card

[caclark]

This gives me an idea, but I'm not too circuit savvy.
What would I need to solder in to allow this to run from a 12v source?
If you're wondering where I'm going with this, look at --> this.

I've got a blue car with a blue interior - so this would be cool. But I'd never pay $80-100 dollars for this.

Thanks to anyone who can help.

[spork969]

12v leds ftw

[xoClaire]

...thats pretty rad.

[marc92]

You have a sweet car

[royalestel]

You just need a large resistor to drop the voltage to 5v. Then solder the 5v power to the positive and negative points on the board mentioned by friedpope above (and remove the batteries) and you should be good to go.

[CaffeineHouse]

you could also use a 7805 voltage regulator chip.

[royalestel]

Can you program the 7805? I might have need for a dual-voltage output circuit in the near future . . .

[CaffeineHouse]

no, the 7805 puts out a constant 5v+, but there are other similar chips which do the same thing but output different voltages. here is an adjustable one:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062601&cp=&sr=1&origkw=voltage+regulator&kw=voltage+regulator&parentPage=search

[royalestel]

Thankee! thankee!

[friedpope]

That's an excellent schematic. Your right about the PNP resistor, the anodes of the LEDs are connected to the emitter of the transistor. When you see that it means that a positive voltage will go from the transistor and into the LEDs, a PNP will do that when you bring the base to ground.

[royalestel]

Oh, I get it. Thanks so much for the explanation. I'm learning a little bit every day. :)

[doomduc]

Hey! I've got that exact same knife. Good people know good tools.

[ojochris]

agreed, I have it also. But did you get yours in a set or a single? I have 4 of the kind(just diff. blades)

[friedpope]

Just a single, my grandpa had an identical knife for most of his life.

[ojochris]

This set was my first, my grandpa gave it to me, I was 8. (I'm 15 now, and they are all in near perfect condition, and are used.) I practice my karate with them(I think I'm a little crazy) lol I'v got soooo
many scars from those knifes it beyond funny.

[doomduc]

single

[ojochris]

cool

[led235]

does target give them away anymore?

[he3r0]

Instead of a razor, get a fine grit sand paper in sheet, than lay your GC on that sheet and sand it down

[Jr Hacking kid]

hay could i buy one from you

[cotton]

you are buts becasue this is nutes it is not the bad nuts it is the good nuts lol i love it

[Amon2]

How do you short out the resistors? And do you stick the wires in those holes? I dont wanna screw up on my wii target think so please reply.

[hp_bierbaumer]

a smd led driver could be used to control each led individually (but would be quite some work to rewire the board)

[Hawaii00000]

What does it do?? I'm very confused.

[Jr Hacking kid]

i cant find one do u guys want to sell me one