The Forgotten Channels of the Wii (featuring Domino's pizza)

Welcome back, adventurer!

Remember when Nintendo decided to make an entire console that’s existence hinged on the gimmick of being able to swing your arms around, and it worked? Seriously, it’s still crazy how the Wii managed to become one of the most bestselling consoles of all time. Some of my favorite memories include booting up Super Smash Bros. Brawl and hearing that iconic opening

Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Intro Opening HD

then begging my sister to play with me only to fly around as Pit the entire time, much to her annoyance. Or playing Wii Sports with my frends and trying not to fling the remote at the screen. But besides the motion controls, the Wii had another unique feature: exclusive apps, or "channels". You could access the news, look up the weather, and if you happened to live in Japan - order food. Unfortunately, these channels were discontinued in 2017 and are inaccessible through normal means. But hey, who needs normal means?

I stumbled across a video that details how to order Domino’s pizza on your Wii in 2023. I Ordered Pizza From the Nintendo Wii (and you can too) This method definitely isn’t Nintendo approved, but I am not passing up the chance to order pizza on my Wii. So, let’s get into this.

First order of business is installing Hombrew, which is what allows unofficals programs to run on the Wii, such as the food delivery one. This took a lot of fumbling with menus and files trying to click on the right thing, but feeling like a hacker definitely outweighs those problems.

Now that that’s out of the way, it’s time for the fun part. I downloaded WiiLink onto an SD card, which would allow me to access the discontinued channels, put the card into the Wii, and booted up Homebrew. Did some more hacker-esque menu navigating, and then the Food Channel appeared.

Domino’s, here I come! I put in my address, placed an order, and soon enough, the pizza arrived.

The fact that this worked is hilarious, and it got me curious: what else could I do? I downloaded a few other channels, including the Forecast Channel, Kirby TV, and perhaps the most interesting one - WiiRoom. Apparently, this was another Japan exclusive online service where you could watch Nintendo related videos and share them with other players. Upon starting the channel it asked me to choose one of my Miis and make them a profile, so you bet I had a bit of fun with that.

I have no idea where this Mii even came from, but it’s pretty goofy. From there you could watch videos, including anything from video game trailers to baking Pokemon themed desserts. It also seemed like you could visit other people's rooms, but that doesn't mean much with such a niche program.

 One of the other fun aspects was the ability to rate and share videos, though the rating system wasn’t like anything I’ve seen before, using random shapes to convey...something.

I don’t know about you, but this DSi video definitely made me feel like a triangle. I also tried to open the Forecast Channel, but that one sort of froze my Wii. 

It’s kind of sad that these programs never saw a release outside of Japan, since they’re pretty cute and there was clearly thought put into them. But, it’s neat that someone took their time to make them accessible again - it’s like looking into a piece of lost Nintendo history. I’m definitely going to continue messing with Homebrew and modding.

Take care on your quests!