Why Wii?
Author: Abdelrahim Mansour

The Wii gaming console contains several internal features that
are made available by its firmware and hardware components. The
Wii's hardware permits extendibility through the expansion ports
and the Wii's firmware are capable of receiving periodic updates
through the WiiConnect24 service.

The Wii Menu

The operating system interface for the Wii menu is designed
around the overall concept that television channels possess.
There are separate channels that are displayed graphically
within a grid and they are navigated through by pressing and
holding down the A as well as the B buttons. In all, there are a
total of six primary channels, they are: the Mii Channel, Disc
Channel, Photo Channel, Forecast Channel, Wii Shop Channel, and
the News Channel. At the launch of the Wii, the News Channel and
the Forecast Channel were initially unavailable; however they
were activated through the firmware updates. There have also
been some additional channels that have been made available to
be downloaded through WiiWare from the Wii Shop Channel and they
also appear with each title of the virtual console. All of these
include the Internet Channel, Everybody Votes Channel and the
Check Mii Out Channel.

Backward Compatibility

The gaming console has backward compatibility with all of the
official software for the Nintendo GameCube, along with the
controllers and the memory cards that were used for the Nintendo
GameCube. The compatibility that the Wii shares with this
software can be achieved through the ability the slot-loading
drive has to accept the game discs from the Nintendo GameCube.
The Wii supports a progressive scan output in four hundred and
eighty enabled titles for the Nintendo GameCube. The peripherals
can be connected to the Wii though a complete set of four
controller ports for the Nintendo GameCube and two slots for
memory cards which are concealed, hidden away by the flip-open
panels that are removable.

Therefore, the Wii gaming console retains the connectivity with
the e-Reader and Game Boy Advance through the advance cable for
the Game Boy, which is normally used within the exact same
manner as it was being used with the GameCube. The only way that
this feature can be accessed on those select titles for the
GameCube there would previously utilize it. The accessories for
Gamercize also utilize the backward compatibility in an effort
to support the Wii gaming console. The Nintendo Wii gaming
console that is set for release within Korea is going to lack
the backward compatibility with the GameCube.

Parental Controls

The Wii gaming console features some parental controls, which
are capable of being used in order to prohibit the younger users
from being able to play games with content that is considered to
be unsuitable for their particular age level. In the event that
someone tries to play the Wii gaming console or virtual console
game, it will read the content rating that is encoded within the
actual game data, in the event that that rating is greater than
the set age level of the Wii gaming system, the game isn't going
to load without having an override password that correctly
matches.


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