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.