Wii Channels

Wii Channel was created with the idea of "expanding the number of television channels" available to users. In all, your Wii can have a total of 48 channels. By increasing the software stored within the system, you get access to new channels, all selectable from a main selection screen.

The main channel interface (yours will be in English)

An example of a channel is the Disk Drive Channel, which shows what's currently in the Wii disk drive, be it a Wii game or a GameCube game. You'll also find a picture channel, which gives you access to the pictures located on your system, and a news channel, which uses the internet to access the latest news. To purchase Virtual Console titles, you access the Wii Shopping Channel.

Here's a channel by channel look at the Wii Channel service.

Disk Drive Channel
Go here to start up Wii and GameCube games.

Picture Channel
Access the pictures that are stored away on your SD Memory Card. The Wiimote is used to shrink and enlarge pictures by moving the controller away and towards the screen. You also have access to image modification tools including paint brushes and paint buckets, and can view your images as a slide show.
 

The picture channel

Editing a picture

Internet Channel
Go here to access the Opera internet browser. In addition to supporting flash (making this a step up from the DS browser), the browser uses the Wiimote to zoom in and out. The browser will normally cost money, but Nintendo will make it available for free download until June of 2006.

Weather Channel
This free weather service requires an internet connection. In addition to daily weather based on region, you also have access to a weekly forecast. The service gives you a view of the Earth, which you can rotate to access different regions.

 

Checking the weather.

News Channel
The latest news is automatically updated and viewable through this free service, which also requires an internet connection. The new channel is said to have "functions indicative of a game machine." Users can also change the font size for easy viewing.

Avatar Channel
In this channel, you create your own avatar, which is referred to as a "Mii." Your Mii is used in Wii games (as in Wii Sports) and can be transferred to your Wiimote and used on other Wii consoles. Nintendo chief software producer Shigeru Miyamoto commented at Nintendo's Japanese Wii press conference that this is a feature he's always wanted to have.

Creating an avatar

Your avatar will appear in games

You'll also find channels for launching Virtual Console aps on the Famicom, Super Famicom and Nintendo 64. The interface also seems to allow players to assign shortcuts to Virtual Console titles, although it's unclear how Nintendo will be organizing all the games players will potentially have stored on their SD cards. Players will be able to view available software in various ways, selecting to view all Super Famicom games, for instance, or all games in the Mario series.

In addition to the individual channels, the Wii Channel interface gives you access to a message board, used for exchanging messages with your family members. Nintendo considers this similar to posting a memo on a refrigerator. In addition to writing text, you can also include images from your SD card in the body of messages. The message board service also gives access to the internet via WiConnect24, allowing those with whom you've exchanged friend codes to see your memos.

The whole family can send messages to one another.

You might even see memos created by games like Animal Crossing...

Could this change how Animal Crossing is played?