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, of course, someone quickly came up with a way to copy these disks without problems. The best way to do this is using programs capable of breaking through the Wii game's copy protection.

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 use encryption that these specialty programs can break. If you own more than one game system, choose software that will help you make backup copies on each one, not just on the Wii.

Once you've found the right program and installed it on your computer, you'll also need to copy the game as a disk image onto your hard drive. This disk image can then be burned onto a blank CD or DVD in your burner drive.

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.

The different kinds of copying utilities available now make copying Wii games much easier. This is an excellent way to back up any favorite game that you're worried about damaging. After all, it never hurts to have a backup in case you run into problems.