Feb 2007 
3 Companies figured out how to mod the wii at pretty much the same time. Wiinja and Team Cyclops rush
 out their chips out, while Wiikey wait it out, and bring out the first chip that allows users to play 
 international games on their Wii. 

The Wiikey v1 is a modchip that is soldered onto the DVD drive of your Wii. The wiikey doesn't not 
alter your Wii software, so you can still do 100% of what you normally do on your Wii. The added 
features is the ability to play about 70% of international games, play backups of your games
 from DVDs, and playing Gamecube homebrew. 

Mid 2007 
In a quick effort to stop people from modding their Wii, the 3 essential pins that are used for 
modchip communication are cut out newer wiis. For an extra charge, modders can grind down the IC 
and solder the points internally. (But these model can now be done with d2pro, wiikey v2, or 
xenoWii with only 5 wires without grinding the IC)

Late 2007 
The Wii now has a totally different security chip inside the DVD drive. Therefore none of the 
1st generation modchips work! It took 2 months, but the smart guys at wiikey figured it out 
first and bought out the D2CKey. Instead of being a relatively easy 6 wires, the D2CKey requires
 a massive 31 wires. The modchip functionality is exactly the same. Infectus, a respected company 
 in Europe dramatically dropped the wire count with their Argon modchip, only 13 wires + 4 more for
 region free. D2Ckey team then bought out D2pro, which is more expensive than the D2Ckey, but half 
 the wires, and like the Argon it is upgradable! 

Early 2008
A new team, called 'Team Wasabi' (team Cyclops with a new name) bring out a new modchip that allows
 you to modify a D2C console with only 9 wires. It uses a similar method to d2b mods. It proves to
 be very successful, but the modchip refuses to work on about 10% of Wiis. D2pro, being the powerhouse
 that they are now, simply look at the way the modchip was working, and create a new version called 
 'D2pro 9 wire' and write up custom firmware that works in the same fashion as the Wasabi.. A modchip 
 that can be installed 2 ways, and is upgradable via DVD and JTAG programmer? We have a winner! 

Mid 2008
Nintendo bring out a new version of D2C. It looks extactly the same, but all modchip would not work 
on it. The code word for it is 'd2c2'. D2pro take a look at it, bam, 2 weeks later there is a solution.
 D2pro 9 wire modchips with D2c2 complaint stickers on the back supports these new drives (as well as 
 all older drives). 

July 2008 
Yet another security chip 'D2E' enters the market. D2pro and Wasabi hack it in 2~3 days and their new 
firmware is ready - too easy this time :) 

November 2008 
Same Security Chip...D2e...but this time nintendo have put epoxy over the soldering area (a hard black
 glue). When heated to 250~350c, the epoxy can be removed and the wii can still be modded! Around the 
 same time, the smart guys that made d2pro9, bring out new firmware for only 6 wires maximum on any wii.
 They also bring out Wiikey v2, which is currently the most popular modchip. It mirrors D2pro is features,
 and is cheaper.