Wii



The Wii is a Nintendo console that was released on November 19, 2006 in the USA along with Wii Sports, the game it comes with for $249.99. The Wii came with 30 titles at it's launch. Before the official name was announced on April 27, it was codenamed Revolution. The Wii is also able to play GameCube games. It was released on December 8, 2006 in the UK with Wii Sports for £180. Unlike the Nintendo GameCube, the Wii's disc are normal sized. As time has passed, Nintendo has released Wii games to utilize the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. The first game in the North American region to do so was Pokémon Battle Revolution on June 25, 2007.

Mario Games

 * Donkey Kong Barrel Blast
 * Mario Kart Wii
 * Mario Party 8
 * Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
 * Mario Strikers Charged
 * Super Mario Galaxy
 * Super Mario Stadium Baseball
 * Super Paper Mario
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * WarioWare: Smooth Moves

None of these games were available at launch. Super Paper Mario was the first traditional Mario game on the system and launched on April 9, 2007 in the United States. WarioWare: Smooth Moves, however, preceded it, coming out on December 2, 2006 in Japan, January 12, 2007 in Europe, January 15, 2007 in the United States, and January 25, 2007 in Australia. However, the first traditional Mario game released in the PAL Region was Mario Strikers Charged.

In addition to being backwards-compatible with GameCube games, the Wii also possesses a Virtual Console, allowing players to download classic games from the Nintendo 64 era and before to play on the Wii. Each downloaded game costs between $5 and $10 USD.

Wii Channels


Wii Channels are "channels" accessible from the Wii main menu.

Disc Channel
Basically the "start game" button. Not only can it play Wii games such as Super Mario Galaxy, but it can also play older GameCube games such as Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

Mii Channel
Miis are custom characters and can be used in several Wii games, including Wii Sports. Up to 100 Miis can be created, and each one is stored in Mii Plaza. By using WiiConnect24, friends Miis can be displayed in the Mii Parade. Up to 10 Miis can be stored on a single Wii Remote, to transport and play on a friend's Wii.

Photo Channel
Allows the player to upload their pictures onto the Wii from an SD card, and alter them, draw on them, and make them into puzzles.

Wii Shop Channel
This is where users go to download Wii Ware and video game content, including classic video games originally played on the NES, SNES, and N64. Here the users may buy Wii Points with a credit card to download "Virtual Console" (see below) games. Users also can use points to download Opera used in the Internet Channel (see below).

Forecast Channel
This channel was added December 19, 2006. It allows the user to check the weather conditions from across the world. It can tell the five day forecast, current temperature, highs and lows for the day, along with many other things. Using the Globe, one can use the Wii mote to spin an interactive globe to see countries across the world. Japan has unique cartoonish symbols compared to the rest of the world. Five day forecast is not available everywhere, like in obscure places such as Antarctica.

News Channel
Allows the player to read news from around the world. It is categorized by type of news such as Technology, Fashion, etc.. The player can also scroll around the globe like the Forecast Channel and search for news by area.

Internet Channel
Once the player has bought Opera (see above), they can use this to surf the web. This channel was free up until the end of June, 2007, and now costs 500 Wii Points to download.

Everybody Votes Channel
This channel was added on February 13, 2007, and can be downloaded for free from the Wii Shop Channel. This channel presents polls every day that players can use Miis to vote in. Up to six voters can be registered. They can also predict which answer will be more popular. Results can be compared with other users on the national and worldwide scale.

Virtual Console Channels
Virtual Console channels are "channels" that can be bought from the Wii Shop Channel at various prices. These various channels allow people to play classic NES, SNES, and N64 games such as Super Mario World, Donkey Kong and even later ones such as Super Mario 64. The Virtual Console also supports selected games from the Sega Genesis and the TurboGraphx-16 systems. Although some games can be played using the Wii Remote, others require the use of either a GameCube controller or a Wii Classic Controller.

Wii Message Board
A message board that uses WiiConnect24. If a player has someone else's Wii number, they can exchange messages.

Wii Sports
Wii Sports, as stated above, was released with the Wii on launch day for free. It includes the customizable Mii characters that you can create on the Wii as playable characters. In a conference, Miyamoto explained how when they were creating the baseball game, they originally had Mario characters rather than the Mii characters, but soon decided to change it.