These channels are part of my childhood memories. I would scour through the content in these channels every Friday night after school.
Furthermore, they illustrate Nintendo's capability in creating engaging UI/UX. Before iPhone apps became prevalent, Nintendo was able to design simple, pleasing UI with their own Nintendo personality. Unlike apps nowadays, the accompanying music was memorable; Wii Shopping Channel music remains popular on YouTube recommendation algorithms. Despite the rise of smart TVs later, they still haven't captured the magic one would feel touching a Nintendo Wii Channel. UI designers can learn much from engaging with them.
Very true. My family had our Wii since 2006 (according to the Wii Message Board), and we really loved it. I'm glad people are reviving these channels, it makes the Wii much more than a paperweight in 2023.
If anyone is interested in making homebrew for the Wii: https://github.com/devkitPro/libogc is pretty good. Certainly not as easy as say GBStudio or any game engine but the Wii's graphics being fixed function makes things a lot easier.
> Is your service a replacement for services such as RiiConnect24?
> No! This service is designed to be a companion to RiiConnect24, providing exclusive Japanese and streaming services, though some channels will be able to replace them (such as Mii Contest Channel and Everybody Votes Channel)
It's not a competitor to RiiConnect24, but they have been working on a small number of WiiConnect24 channels, such as Forecast Channel, and News Channel. I use the WiiLink Forecast Channel, as it supports my city, and has a larger support of cities than RiiConnect24. For everything else, I use RC24. Too bad they decided to rerun Nintendo's polls. I wonder what would happen when they run out...
I've seen a youtube video of someone using this with the food channel to order a dominoes pizza. (they're the only one added right now, because they have the simplest ordering API)
Seems like someone needs to make a separate revival, WiiLink revives Japanese-exclusive channels from Nintendo themselves. And didn't Joysound launch outside Japan in 2012?
Furthermore, they illustrate Nintendo's capability in creating engaging UI/UX. Before iPhone apps became prevalent, Nintendo was able to design simple, pleasing UI with their own Nintendo personality. Unlike apps nowadays, the accompanying music was memorable; Wii Shopping Channel music remains popular on YouTube recommendation algorithms. Despite the rise of smart TVs later, they still haven't captured the magic one would feel touching a Nintendo Wii Channel. UI designers can learn much from engaging with them.