The Mii Contest Channel , known as the Check Mii Out Channel outside of Europe , Oceania and Japan , was a channel for the Nintendo Wii that allowed players to share their digital avatars , called Miis , and enter them into popularity contests.
23-533: Nintendo ended support for the Mii Contest Channel on June 28, 2013, along with four more Wii channels as WiiConnect24 , which the channel required, was permanently disconnected. Users were able to submit their Mii(s) for other Mii creators around the world to view. When a Mii was submitted to the Posting Plaza, a twelve-digit entry number was assigned to it (#### - #### - ####), so others could find it using
46-552: A SCART switching signal when the Wii is in WiiConnect24 standby mode. This occurs with both official Nintendo RGB SCART cables, and any third party RGB SCART cables that carry the SCART switching signal. This problem can be alleviated by disabling standby mode, but leaving WiiConnect24 running. When the disc slot light glows, it can cause the Wii to get hot in standby mode. This is because the fan
69-539: A contest could create a souvenir photo that showed their submitted Mii and their artisan placed and posed on top of a background related to the contest theme. The image could then be sent to the Wii Message Board. Souvenir photos were usually related to Wii games such as Super Mario Galaxy . As part of Nintendo 's WiiConnect24 service for the Nintendo Wii console, the Mii Contest Channel / Check Mii Out Channel
92-480: A message as soon as new contests began or when a contest update was available, if the user had set up an Internet connection. If a user didn't want to receive these messages from Nintendo, they could opt out by going to the settings in the Check Mii Out Menu or the opt out button when viewing one of the messages that were sent to the Wii console. Scrolling headlines of a contest and a picture above it appeared on
115-602: Is on. If the power button on the console is pressed and held down for three to four seconds, the Wii goes into standby mode with Standby Connect off. If the Wii is cut off from power and power is later restored, it goes into standby mode with Standby Connect mode off, and WiiConnect24 will not operate until the console is turned on. The Wii's optical drive will glow a neon-blue colour when Wii Message Board data has been received through WiiConnect24 in Standby Connect mode and, with firmware 3.0 and above, it will briefly flash when
138-583: Is turned off while the console is in standby mode. On June 28, 2013, Nintendo discontinued all WiiConnect24 services. The Wii Shop Channel closed on January 30, 2019, and remaining video-on-demand services on Wii also ended on that date. List of Wii games using WiiConnect24 This is a list of games on the Wii video game console that use WiiConnect24 . WiiConnect24 games are distinguished from Wii Wi-Fi Connection games in that WiiConnect24 support only allows for passive connection between players, such as
161-888: The DS, during the night, to the Wii consoles in each household. Users would wake up each morning, find the LED lamp on their Wii flashing, and know that Nintendo has sent them something. They would then be able to download the promotional demo from their Wii systems to their Nintendo DS's." According to Nintendo's European micro-site for the Wii, WiiConnect24 could be used to send SMS messages "to family members that are out and about", and exchange pictures and messages with other Wii users. The following were Wii Menu channels that used WiiConnect24 that were released in North America: The Forecast Channel and News Channel required WiiConnect24 and Standby Connection to be enabled; if WiiConnect24
184-622: The Japanese newspaper Nikkei Business Publications , Nintendo 's CEO, Satoru Iwata, revealed that the WiiConnect24 could be used for the downloading of demos for the Nintendo DS (this was later revealed to be the Nintendo Channel ). "Let's say your Wii is connected to the Internet in a mode that allows activation on a 24-hour basis. This would allow Nintendo to send monthly promotional demos for
207-513: The Mii Contest Channel icon when an update to a contest was available. These stats were located in the "Mii Artisan Info" section of the Main Menu. The "Highest Mii Ranking" stat showed the highest ranking that the user had ever gotten on a contest, and the "Judging Eye" stat showed the user's most recent ranking for judging. Note that this was the user's most recent judging rank, not the best rank. The Mii Contest Channel had new contests going on all
230-468: The Mii. The artisan was also given a ratings rank of anywhere from one to five stars. Every month, the Posting Plaza had a "Mii Artisan" ranking section that lasted for the entire month. The first ranking Mii Artisan by the end of the month was declared a "Master Mii Artisan". The Mii Contest Channel was the first Wii channel that used the Wii message board. When WiiConnect24 was turned on, Nintendo would send
253-492: The Nintendo Network on April 8, 2024. In 2015 and 2020, fan-made services, called RiiConnect24 and WiiLink respectively, were established as a replacement for WiiConnect24, aiming to bring back WiiConnect24 to those who have a homebrewed Wii console. On December 29, 2023, RiiConnect24 and WiiLink combined to become one project and henceforth is simply known as WiiLink. Currently, WiiLink offers access to most services using
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#1732858856893276-542: The Wii U's Wii Mode menu and Wii Shop Channel, even prior to WiiConnect24's shutdown. On the shutdown date, the defunct downloadable Wii channels were removed from the Wii Shop Channel. WiiConnect24 was succeeded by SpotPass , a different trademark name for similar content-pushing functions that the Nintendo Network service could perform for the newer Nintendo 3DS and Wii U consoles. SpotPass shut down alongside
299-404: The Wii uses about 9.6 watts, compared to 1.3 watts without WiiConnect24. WiiConnect24 can still be turned on or off via the setup interface. If it is on, the user is allowed to enable or disable Standby Connect mode. While the console is in standby, the power LED indicates the current status of the standby connection; red indicating Standby Connect is off and yellow indicating Standby Connect mode
322-679: The console is turned on. The brightness level of this blue light can be changed via the Setup Interface with the options of Bright, Dim, or Off. The flowing light on the Wii is timed with the bird call of the Japanese bush warbler . When game messages are received with pictures, the player can view and customise them in the Photo Channel. The player would also be able to send them to other Wii consoles. Nintendo would also send messages to players, which they could opt out of. During an interview with
345-461: The corresponding level. This system was reverse-scored from the normal games; in other words, 10 was best, and 1 was worst. One's "Eye for Miis" was how one judged other people's Miis. A high Mii ranking indicated that the user was a great judge. The user was then shown the first place Mii, along with its "Artisan." This lead into the top 50 Miis for the contest, viewable either as a "Parade" or "Arranged". For certain contests, those who participated in
368-480: The functionality, as well as sending messages to other users in the Wii Message Board. WiiConnect24 was used to receive content such as Wii Message Board messages sent from other Wii consoles, Miis , emails , updated channel and game content, and notifications of software updates. If the Standby Connect mode of WiiConnect24 is enabled, this content can also be received when the Wii is left in standby mode. While running in standby mode with Standby Connection enabled,
391-405: The search function. The submitted Miis were also given two initials by their creator and the Mii's talent. If a person liked a Mii, it could be imported to his or her Mii Channel plaza. An imported Mii could not be edited, but could have been used in Wii games that use the Mii interface. People could favorite Miis, and the Mii would be given a rank out of five stars, depending on how many people liked
414-544: The sharing of credits in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption or Metroid Prime: Trilogy . Some games support both active connectivity with the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (requiring an independent 12-digit Friend Code), as well as passive connectivity with WiiConnect24 (only needing the Wii's own 16-digit Friend Code), such as Mario Kart Wii . After Nintendo's termination of the WiiConnect24 service on June 28, 2013,
437-420: The time. Players submitted a Mii that they thought fitted the category, and they were judged by other players. At the end of a contest, a "Level System" was shown on a 1-10 scale (10 being the highest, and 1 the lowest). The Mii that the user had created would be running up the mountain. One's Mii would be based on a 1-10 scale, and if it stopped at a certain spot (ex: 5th layer), the user's Mii would be ranked at
460-741: The user to remain connected to the Internet while the console was on standby . For example, in Animal Crossing: City Folk , a friend could send messages to another player without the recipient being present in the game at the same time as the sender. On June 27, 2013, Nintendo shut down WiiConnect24. Consequently, the Wii channels that required it, online data exchange via Wii Message Board, and passive online features for certain games (the latter two of which made use of 16-digit Wii Friend Codes) were all rendered unusable. The Wii U does not officially support WiiConnect24, therefore most preloaded and downloadable Wii channels were unavailable on
483-427: Was discontinued alongside the other services offered under WiiConnect24 . A fan-made service called Wiilink has brought back this service to people who have homebrewed Wiis. It can also be used on Dolphin . WiiConnect24 WiiConnect24 is a discontinued feature of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for the Wii . It was first announced at Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in mid-2006 by Nintendo . It enabled
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#1732858856893506-476: Was enabled and Standby Connection was disabled, the channels would give an error message upon launch and return the user to the Wii Menu. This was required so the channels could download up-to-date information. The initial firmware update caused some parts of the console to be inaccessible to a small portion of people who purchased the Wii at launch. Those Wii consoles received constant error codes. For those users it
529-455: Was necessary to contact Nintendo's customer service to replace or repair the console. In some countries, trying to connect to WiiConnect24 displayed a screen stating that the service "is currently not being offered". This could be circumvented by selecting a different country as a location. It is currently unknown what the actual availability map of the service was. The PAL versions of the Wii connected with RGB SCART cables continue to send
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