Channel Surfing on Your Nintendo Wii
The Wii gives the game console experience with a whole new twist: turning your favorite Nintendo party machine into a multipurpose hub for the family with its add-on channels. First time users of the system will notice that the main screen of the system OS features a whole swath of empty channels. With the main game channel placed on the upper left corner and the Mii channel on the second slot, one wonders what else can be added. Heres a quick list of all the great additional content that Nintendo has to offer for your Wii.
First up is the official Nintendo Channel. From here, players can get the latest new on all things Nintendo and more. Previews, demos and video interviews regarding upcoming games and features are updated frequently on this channel. It also allows you to grab very exclusive sneak peeks at upcoming WiiWare titles as well.
Another great channel to have is the Wii Shop channel. This is the place to go for all downloadable content. There are both WiiWare and Virtual Console games, as well as additional channels that can be purchased. From here, players can load up their account with Wii Points as well as send gifts to the people on their Wii friends list.
Of course, once you have downloaded your favorite games, it is time to play them! The Virtual Console not a single channel but a multipurpose tool that emulates the Neo Geo, the old NES, SNES and N64 consoles, Segas Genesis and even the TurboGrafx 16 system. Each game for the various consoles will appear on the main screen as a separate channel.
Going back to your Miis, theres a great way to enjoy your personal avatar outside of the default Mii channel. Enter the Check Mii Out channel. This is the place to go to if you want to see other peoples creations, to compare avatar designs and to compete in special weekly challenges (usually a create-a-Mii with a theme). If you did not get to join the competition, you can still join the fun by becoming part of the judging system.
And while we are on the topic of socializing with other Nintendo users, the Everybody Votes channel is one interesting polling system. Here, various questions are asked of the population in general. Its a great big giant survey machine for the Nintendo community and is a great way to see how far or similar your view is from the public opinion. The statistics are provided in a daily basis and there are new polls to answer each week. The great part about this is that if you have got questions of your own, you can also add them to the poll.
The Nintendo News channel is a great way to introduce your non-computer savvy folks (or roommates) to the power of RSS driven news content. There is local and international news coverage on a wide range of topics (politics, science, sports, entertainment and more). Most of the content is from Reuters so users can be assured of the accuracy of details. Be warned however, as most news is often bad news -so some parents might keep their children from this content until they reach a certain age of comprehension.
Last on our list is the photo channel. From here, users can access image content stored on an SD card to view the content on the TV. This works best for system using component cables in order to achieve the best image quality. Also, the Wii will detect any MP3 music files on the card and play it as a background to your slideshow.
If you have not added any of these amazing channels on your Wii, now is the perfect time to set up your WiFi connection and experience all the useful and fun functionalities that the console has to offer.
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