Wii

Wii
Developer: Nintendo IRD Publisher: Nintendo Released in JP: December 2, 2006 Released in US: November 19, 2006 Released in EU: December 8, 2006 Released in AU: December 7, 2006 Released in KR: April 26, 2008 Released in BR: November 19, 2006 Released in HK: December 12, 2009 Released in TW: July 12, 2008 This console has unused graphics. This console has unused text. This console has debugging material. This console has regional differences. This console has revisional differences. This console has a prototype article This console has a prerelease article

This game/console's online features are no longer supported. While this game/console's online features were once accessible, they are (as of January 30, 2019) no longer officially supported and online-exclusive features may be documented as now-unseen content.

The Wii is Nintendo's second disc-based home console, and the first to have fairly in-depth online capabilities, plus a sophisticated updatable operating system. The Wii shares much of its base hardware with the GameCube, and thus most models are backward-compatible with GameCube discs and Memory Cards.

Because of the console's relatively modest hardware upgrade, it was much cheaper to manufacture and sell compared to its competition. Couple that with a unique and intuitive control scheme, a pack-in title as essential as the console itself, a memorable advertising campaign, and attracting grandparents to video games, it's no secret why the Wii sold over 100 million units - though that success resulted in it overshadowing its successor.

To do: There is an envelope icon hidden in the HOME Menu files, however it’s not known if it exists in every version of the HOME Menu. Some strings reveal some early plans (e.g. games) for Virtual Console. Maybe there's more hidden things in the Virtual Console files? The "preset IDs" also show some unreleased games. This video showcases a Japanese Wii with the 1.0 firmware, displaying a number of notable differences to later firmware revisions and placeholders for as-of-yet unreleased channels in 1.0. The iQue Wii was never released, document any materials regarding it. Wii Shop Channel music has unused data after the loop end (source: James-Money)

Sub-Pages

Prototype Info

Prerelease Info

Disc Channel Banner Files

To do: There also exists a reflection of the DVD Disc in the diskBann.ash file. This should also be uploaded.

The Wii Menu contains a DVD banner for the Disc Channel, which would presumably be displayed when a DVD was inserted. This, along with spotted functions in the code (specifically syscalls 50 and 51, which control DVD video-related functions), suggests Nintendo planned to include DVD playback for the Wii.

The Wii's hardware is capable of DVD playback, but it was scrapped likely because they had to pay a small fee with every console shipped for licensing issues (a similar situation occurred with the original Xbox, which required an add-on for DVD Video playback due to Microsoft omitting the DVD logo on its console so the licensing fee wouldn't have to be paid for every unit produced). The ability to play DVDs on the Wii can be "unlocked" through Wii homebrew software, but this does not work on some newer Wii consoles due to the drive chip being changed.

In diskBann.ash, the brlyt file for the Disc Channel shows that the DVD Disc and reflection are actually still present, but are set to be hidden. They are located to the left of the Wii Disc and are slightly off-screen. A shade for the DVD also exists, but is incorrectly named "DVDSahde" and is also set to not be visible. These images remain in all known and datamined versions of the Wii Menu, including Korean 3.5, vWii, and the Wii Mini.

By extracting and editing the Disc Channel's brlyt file, you can re-enable all parts of the DVD, and it will behave partially as expected when opening the channel. The DVD Disc will perform the default animation for when no disc is inserted, as seen in the video above, but doesn't seem to have any other animation assigned to it, as the DVD and reflection icons do not spin when a disc is being read, and do not stop and fade out when a disc can't be read.

On July 20, 2021, a few prototype designs for the Wii Remote were leaked on the Internet, and some of them featured "Back" and "Pause" buttons as opposed to the final's "Plus" and "Minus", which may have been the design intended for the scrapped DVD functionality.

Unused Text

Wii Menu 1.0 has some unused text, shown below.

Watch DVD

This would most likely be shown if you were going to watch a DVD, before the feature was disabled.

Reading the disc...

The Disc Channel does not display this text when reading a disc - however, it may have been leftover from the GameCube. In later versions of the Wii Menu, the location where these strings are stored still exists, but is blanked out.

Channel Time Remaining: 

Less than a minute

These strings would have been used for Channels with time limits, and would be displayed on the Channel's banner. However, since the feature was never implemented, this and related strings wind up going unused.

The period of use for this 
Channel has ended.

Even if the time limit option had been implemented, the system uses the limitOver.ash file rather than this string.

This and the prior two strings link in with the unused time limit option for Wii Channels.

Please connect a Nunchuk to the Wii Remote.
Please connect a Classic Controller to the Wii Remote.
Please connect a Classic Controller to the Wii Remote or connect a Nintendo GameCube Controller to your Wii console.

Originally, games could have had a flag for controller requirements set, with the Wii Menu not allowing the game to be launched until the required controller had been connected. The Wii SDK includes a package for banner mastering; in its release notes, a note dated September 2006 mentions the removal of this flag, which would have been present in the game's banner.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

What's a Wii Number?
What's a nickname?
What's an e-mail address?

These strings exist, but have never been used in any version of the Wii Menu. The text appears to be related to the Wii Address Book specifically, and may have been intended as button labels, which would have loaded some information for people who were not familiar with computers, the Internet, or having an email address.

GB
MB
KB

The Wii does not use byte sizes to determine space on the System Memory, SD Card, or GaameCube memory card, instead referring to space as "blocks", similar to the GameCube.

Nintendo's Internet-based services
have not yet launched. Please check
back at a later date.

This text suggests that selecting Update/Enter Settings on the stub channels (Forecast/News/Wii Shop) may have originally displayed this text instead of prompting the user to update, or this text may have displayed when attempting a software update. Interestingly, this string still exists in Wii Menu 4.3, albeit unused.

Dear Tommy,

I have gone out to buy groceries.
Your ice cream is in the fridge.

Mom

This letter is from Grandma.

This is my neighbor's cat.
Isn't it cute?

Love, Grandma

Grandma

See you at Christmas!

Some of the messages that were used to demonstrate the uses of the Wii Message Board at the Wii Channels conference on September 14, 2006. The message about the cat also appears in the Wii Manual on pages 32 and 36. The cat picture itself is also used as part of the Photo Channel's banner.

Grandma

Dad's Cell

Michelle

These were used to demonstrate the uses of the Wii Address Book. They also appear in the Wii manual on pages 35 and 37. The UK Wii manual has different names, with "Dad Mobile" on Page 37 and just "Dad" on Page 39.

Animal Crossing

-Notice-

The Flea Market is open for business tomorrow!
Visit other folks' houses and pick up gently used items for dirt cheap!

It seems that Animal Crossing: City Folk would have sent messages regarding events happening in the game to your Wii Message Board. However, it uses an in-game Bulletin Board instead, similarly to other games in the series.

Japanese Localization

Present in Japanese localization directory which actually has three extra files.

Most likely DVD player controls, relating to the latter in sample.bmg.

再生 (Play)
停止 (Stop)
早送り (Fast Forward)
巻き戻し (Rewind)
DVDの設定 (DVD Settings)
再生機能 (Playback Functionality)
字幕変更 (Change Subtitles)
音声変更 (Change Audio)
アングル変更 (Change Angle)
タイトルプレイ (Play Title)
ビデオ出力モード (Video Output Mode)

ジャンプ (Jump)
この操作は禁止されています。 (Operation denied.)
年齢制限により視聴が制限されています。 (You are unable to watch this due to the age limit.)
本体設定で年齢制限を解除してください。 (Please disable the age limit in the console settings.)
リージョンが異なるため再生できません。 (Cannot play due to region mismatch.)
DVD-VIDEOディスクではありません。 (The disc is not a DVD-VIDEO disc.)
ディスクが読めません。 (Unable to read the disc.)
ディスクが入っていません。 (There is no disc inserted.)
TVシステムが異なるため再生できません。 (Cannot play due to TV system mismatch.)
エラーが発生しました。 (An error has occurred.)
詳しくは取扱説明書をご覧ください。 (Please read the Operations Manual for more information.)
MENU
TOP MENU

Remote Control Functionality

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: See if it's possible to get the Home Menu to display on TV no Tomo Channel G Guide for Wii in case these images display on the Home Menu. Also check the brlyt files, we might find where these images were supposed to be used, where they are located, and if they're visible or not.

Within exBtn.ash are multiple files indicating that, at some point, the Wiimote had functionality to act as a TV remote. It is possible this is leftover from when DVD functionality was planned.

This feature would later be implemented in the Japan-only TV no Tomo Channel G Guide for Wii and later on the Wii U's GamePad. Coincidentally, the Japanese Club Nintendo offered a Ｗｉｉテレビリモコン ("Wii TV Remote"; RVL-003(-01)) to Platinum members from 2005 to October 2006, the month prior to the release of the Wii and the regular Wii Remote.

In Wii Menu 1.0-3.0, you can find a file called tvrc_DB.arc. Inside the file are some .bin files, which were likely used to control the TV. TV no Tomo Channel G Guide for Wii also has this file.

In addition, in Wii Menu 1.0, the Wii Settings HTML files have an empty TV_Remote folder. In the leaked release candidate build, though, the Japanese Wii Settings HTML files left 3 pages inside of the same folder, which would have set up this functionality.

It is also noteworthy that the Wii Settings JavaScript files have some leftover functions within HTML files inside of the TV_Remote folder, which may also have been leftovers from this TV remote setup, although the names of the HTML files differ.

	Translation
	Volume Control
	Power On/Off Change Input

rimocon_sousa.tpl shows the controls of said functionality.

rimocon_btn.tpl shows a sphere-like shape, more than likely the background for a button icon of some sort.

rimocon_btn_min.tpl shows a "TV" button.

tvrc_maker tvrc_type

0000009b.app, the main executable for Wii Menu 4.3E, together with alternate names for the other SYSCONF variables. This suggests a brand-centric database, as used on most universal remotes with a display, including the Wii U.

Unused Icons

In board.ash is an image called Nigaoe.tpl ("nigaoe" translates to "portrait") that contains a small picture of Mario. This icon was also used in early prerelease material for Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

Wii Menu 1.0 has a file called tanuki.arc, which inside it has a picture called okane.tpl ("okane" translates to "money") which has a render of Tom Nook from Animal Crossing.

Early	Final

myLetterS.tpl contains an unused picture of a memo for the Wii Message Board, while myLetterS_a.tpl contains the final picture of a memo. The unused graphic appeared in a prerelease screenshot.

myLetterS_Game_a.tpl contains an unused Animal Crossing graphic used for memos regarding the game - a feature which was showcased at the September 14, 2006 Wii Channels conference. This possibly relates to the unused string mentioning the flea market event. The only used Animal Crossing-related memo graphic is the orange envelope with a leaf logo on the red sticker, ehich appears when a letter is sent to the Wii Message Board via Pelly in the Post Office window of Town Hall in Animal Crossing: City Folk.

Early	Final

In letter.ash are two Mii icon pictures: myNigaoePos.tpl (an early Mii icon, likely used when no Mii is selected for a given memo), and th_mii_icon_a.tpl (the icon used in final).

Unused Font

In Wii Menu 1.0, matDbg24.brf contains a font that was only used in pre-release builds (for example, the Release Candidate 1 build) of the Wii Menu for displaying debug output on the television screen.

Error Messages

Some early Wii executables have a variant on the standard disc error message, which is also present in sample disc error headers in the SDK. The "Startup Disc" placeholder Wii Menu has an even earlier message that mentions the Revolution.

Very Early	Early	Final Version 1	Final Version 2 (Wii Menu)	Wii Mini (Wii Menu)
An error has occurred. Turn the power off and refer to the Nintendo Revolution Instruction Booklet for further instructions.	An error has occurred. Turn the power off and refer to the Instruction Booklet for further instructions.	An error has occurred. Press the Eject Button, remove the Game Disc, and turn the power off. Please read the Wii Operations Manual for more information.	An error has occurred. Press the Eject Button and remove the disc, then turn the Wii console off and refer to the Wii Operations Manual for help troubleshooting.	An error has occurred. Turn the console off, then press the OPEN Button and remove the disc. Please read the Operations Manual for further instructions.

Startup Disc

To do: The Startup Disc leaked, write about it here. A NAND dump of one of these early consoles exists and contains a few more things not yet documented here.

Wrong Disc (Menu)	Insert Startup Disc (Menu)	Checking Disc (Menu)	Installing (Disc)

Installation Completed (Disc)	Error (Menu)	Already Completed (Disc, Unused)

The first ~300,000 Wii units to be manufactured included an incomplete Wii Menu. Rather than re-flash all of these units before shipping, Nintendo included a Startup Disc that was required to be inserted to update the system's firmware on first-run. Most of these units were shipped to retailers for use in demo kiosks. These units would display the above screen instructing the user to insert the Startup Disc.

Early Wii retail boxes include a reference to the Startup Disc in the package contents, however only a few actually-incomplete units shipped to end consumers. Nintendo asked affected users to ship their units back to Nintendo for replacement.

The Startup Disc Wii Menu also checks if a Title ID of a Wii Disc is "RAAE" and if it is any other Title ID, then the disc is rejected. In any other version of the Wii Menu, if a Disc ID has "RAAE" then the disc is rejected (note that RAAE01 is the default titleID in the SDK). The Startup Disc Menu also accepts discs with Title IDs starting with a number, allowing it to natively run auto-boot discs such as the Wii Backup Disc and Movie-Ch Install Disc. If a disc is accepted, the Startup Disc Menu plays a short fade-out animation.

The Startup Disc was discovered on September 2, 2020, when an anonymous user leaked numerous internal Nintendo files to 4chan. The disc is a fully automatic bulk title installer, styled to provide visual continuity with the Startup Disc Wii Menu, which provides Wii Menu 1.0 (v33), MIOS v1, BC v1, Mii Channel v0, Photo Channel v0, Forecast, News, and Wii Shop Channel v0.

An error sound only present in the Startup Disc Wii Menu exists and does play, but is not in any other Wii Menu. It is located at WSD/ERR/ with the filename "MSG":

(Source: https://hackmii.com/2010/09/insert-startup-disc/)

Time Limits and Usage Periods for Channels

Channel Time Remaining	Period of Use Ended	License Expired

In limitover.ash, there are some unused graphics indicating that you can't use a Channel after a certain period of time. This was most likely intended for demos. Each title for the Wii has an option for a time limit, but Nintendo never used this on the Wii. This feature would later find its way to the 3DS and Wii U, which do have demos with a maximum play limit. In the Wii Shop JavaScript files, there are references to title categories including subscriptions, rentals, and demos; this is most likely the intended use of this feature.

(Source: CCCen)

(Source: Original TCRF research)

This feature is still functional in the retail System Menu but is left unused by any official titles. It is stored as a four-byte value in the channel's ticket at address 0x264, and can be enabled by setting it to 0x00000001 (signifying the Channel has a time limit in minutes) and the following four bytes to the specified amount of time. The system permanently registers the amount of time spent to sys/cc.sys, meaning that the channel's time limit cannot not be reset if it is reinstalled.

(Source: Emucross)

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Wii Factory Tools

To do: Add more pictures of the different screens. And also see if this can be dumped.

When Wiis had their NANDs programmed in the factory, Nintendo would have used discs and tools to install boot2 and important Wii Menu files. However, one of these tools was discovered by fluffy. These tools would be imported onto the NAND, and would then be deleted after they were no longer needed. However, one of these Wiis still had a factory tool on the NAND. The disc itself is known as "0002". What is known about it is that it can import files from an SD Card and then write it to the NAND. This application reads from a file on the SD card known as "all.ini", containing a list of DOL files launched from the SD card.

See: 0002/Data Check And Log Check

(Source: thefluffydino)

Stub Channels

See also: Prerelease:Forecast Channel, Prerelease:News Channel, and Prerelease:Wii Shop Channel

The Wii Menu has special handling for the titleIDs associated with the "region free" Forecast and News Channel stubs (00010002-HAFA and HAGA). It will replace the Start button with an Update button pointing directly to the Wii System Update feature (part of the Wii Menu), as well as hide said stubs if the matching region-specific actual Channel is also installed.

While the stub channels appear to be unnecessary for the functionality of those applications, they are still installed on every regular Wii released. They can be seen again by uninstalling the functional channels using homebrew.

Neither the actual channels nor the stubs are present on the Wii Mini or Wii U, as the WiiConnect24 service was not offered on those systems. If manually installed on a Wii U, the Update button not only remains functional but also provides access to the normally hidden Wii System Settings via canceling the update.

The nonfunctional v0 version of the Wii Shop Channel (00010002-HABA) preinstalled on 1.0 Wiis also has a banner and icon in the same style, but it is built into the channel itself instead of a stub.

Version Differences

Wii Menu 1.0	Wii Menu 2.x	Wii Menu 3.x and Wii Mini	Wii Menu 4.x and vWii

Wii Menu 1.0	Mainline versions	Wii Mini

1.0 (NA)	Mainline versions (NA/EU)	1.0 (EU) and Wii Mini

• Shortly before the release of 1.0, IOS was modified to not verify installed titles at runtime, to improve performance. This is the primary reason unsigned digital titles are viable on the Wii without further modifications once some method of installing them to internal storage is achieved.
• Wii Menu 1.0 does not feature the Wii Menu text or slope present in 2.0 onward.
• Wii Menu 1.0 does not display a version number in the top-right corner of System Settings.
• Channels cannot be moved around or uninstalled on Wii Menu 1.0, which doesn't include SD Card support either.
• The US version of Wii Menu 1.0 loads channels faster than any other Wii Menu, as it lacks the fade out animation.
• The warning text displayed by Wii Menu 1.0 just before a disc update is, confusingly, just the same string displayed during the update itself.

1.0	2.0-4.3
Updating... Do not turn the power off. Please wait a moment.	In order to use this software, you must perform a Wii System Update. Select OK to begin the update.

• The warning displayed before any kind of update was revised.

1.0-2.0	3.0-3.5	4.0-4.3
Updating... Do not turn the power off. Please wait a moment.	If you do not want to accept this upgrade, you can shut down your Wii console and cancel the upgrade by holding down the Power Button for four (4) seconds. If your Wii console has an unauthorized technical modification, this upgrade could cause inoperability of your console.	If your Wii console includes unauthorized modifications, this update may detect and remove unauthorized content causing immediate or delayed inoperability of your console. If you do not wish to accept this update, you can hold down the POWER button for 4 seconds.

• Wii Menu 1.0 lacks a button in network settings to access the EULA hidden channel (which, along with the Region Select hidden channel, is not preinstalled on 1.0 systems).

1.0	1.0	2.0+

• Wii Menu 1.0 lacks an update button in the last page of the settings: online updates can only be accessed through the connection test feature.
  • For this reason, the "Update" button used in Stub channels is replaced by an "Enter Settings" button when on Firmware 1.0.

(Source: Wii Startup Disc demo, Wii Menu 1.0 in action)

• The country of residence is not an option in 1.0.
• The Disc Channel icon in 1.0 and 2.x has the Wii logo appear every few seconds. In 3.0, it was changed to have the disc spin. The Wii logo also never appears.
• Wii Menu 1.0 and 2.x do not feature the clock which was added in 3.0 and onward.
  • The Wii Menu text still appears in 3.0 and onward, but is then faded out to show the clock.
  • The slope in the bottom UI meant for the clock was made deeper to fit the clock. The gradient was also made more noticeable.
• Despite having always been possible in the main screen with the available channels, the three pages of settings could not be scrolled with the -/+ buttons until this feature was added in a certain version of the Wii Menu.

Wii Menu 1.0	2.x and 3.x	Wii Menu 4.x	4.3 for Wii Mini

• Wii Menu 4.0 added the infamous option to run software exported to the SD card from the main menu (which requires automatically copying them back to NAND for technical reasons).
• Unprotected saves and channels can now be moved between different storage devices, complementing the existing copy and delete features.
• Protected saves can easily be identified by the greyed out copy/move options.
• Wii Menu 4.0 was the first licensed Wii title to support SDHC cards.

1.0-3.4	4.0+

1.0-3.4	4.0+

• The messages and formatting for the factory reset screen were revised to mention SD Card support. The second message (mentioning the Wii Shop Channel) simply didn't exist in 1.0, but it does in all other releases.

RVL-101 (Wii Family Edition)

The first redesign of the Wii, often referred to as the "Family Edition" after the bundle under which it was first sold. It is visually very similar to the original, but was slightly reworked for horizontal operation. This caused the text labels on the system's front faceplate to be rotated, and the stand was no longer included.

• GameCube support was removed. The ports for its controllers and memory cards were removed, and the system has a new optical drive that rejects GameCube discs.
  • The split flap covering the ports was replaced by a screw-affixed plate, though underneath it, the the original cutouts are still present. The motherboards for this revision still have the socket to plug in the ports from another system. The optical drive is also interchangeable with previous models.
  • A proprietary connector is in fact preinstalled in the memory card socket area, presumably as the manufacturing process relies on GameCube compatibility. This is also why BC and MIOS, the programs responsible for the backward compatibility mode, are present. As such, it is still possible to boot GameCube ISOs via homebrew methods such as Nintendont, and replacing the revised optical drive with an original allows them to be booted via disc.
• Despite the redesign and removed features, it is otherwise 100% compatible with all Wii software. It runs the exact same software, even continuing to display a GC disc in the Wii Menu.

Wii U

The Wii U, released in 2012, features full backward compatibility with Wii software, accomplished via a hardware-enforced sandbox commonly known as the vWii (virtual Wii). The vWii uses an altered Wii Menu, based on 4.3, with modified IOSes to account for differences in the Wii U's hardware, as well as patches for several homebrew exploits.

• The Wii U version of the Wii Menu is no longer a valid Wii application, as the executable has to be in native Wii U "ancast" format.
• A third common key (2) was added, allowing for vWii-exclusive software.
• The destination of the bottom-left button was changed to hide the settings pages, as vWii configuration is synchronized from and to that of Wii U mode when switching between them.

Wii	vWii

• After factory resetting the system, there's no confirmation button to shut down the console. The console will just automatically power off after some time.

Wii	vWii & Wii Mini

• WiiConnect24 is not supported, so the Forecast and News Channels are not included, and the message composing/address book submenu was removed from the Wii Message Board. Curiously, this also removed access to the local Memo feature.
• A cut-down version of the Mii Channel, the Wii Shop Channel, the new Wii Menu Electronic Manual and a reboot program called "Wii U Menu" complete the user-facing preinstalled software.
• Since it lacks GameCube support (not even for manufacturing purposes), the vWii is the only variant of the Wii without BC and MIOS, though it makes up for that with two compatibility layers (BC-NAND and BC-WFS) for native Wii software. For no obvious reason, there is no Photo Channel either.

RVL-201 (Wii Mini)

The second Wii redesign, marketed and sold as the Wii Mini. Released after the Wii U's launch, it was designed as a low-cost alternative and uses a top-loading disc drive rather than a slot. It uses a slightly modified version of Wii Menu 4.3.

• As shown above, SD and GameCube-related features were removed from the Wii Menu.
• Despite the redesign, the iconic disc ring light was not actually removed: it is now located by pulling down the power light, which is now blue instead of green.

Wii (Europe)	Wii Mini (Europe)

Wii; Wii Mini (Europe)	Wii Mini (North America)

• Since the Wii Mini omits support for component cables (despite using the same DAC as previous models), the 480p option was removed.
  • In the US and Canadian models, this caused the entire TV Type setting to be removed.

Wii (Europe)	Wii Mini (Europe)

• The Wii Mini famously dropped any official support for networking, going as far as recompiling every IOS to disable and fake Wi-Fi card support (which would otherwise be required for operation).
  • As part of this, all Internet related options were removed, leaving USB/Ethernet adapters unable to be configured despite being still supported in IOS.
• Preinstalled software is further reduced to the vWii's Mii Channel and a separate version of the digital manual. BC and MIOS are present despite the unmodified console having no way to read, start, control, or save GameCube software, however EULA and Region Select aren't. The Photo Channel was also removed, despite that application's ability to view screenshots and achievement images saved to the Wii Message Board in supported titles.
  • Full support for digital title management is still present, as a handful of disc titles (like Mario Kart Wii and the Wii Fit series) offer companion apps installable directly from the disc.
• A one-hour power off timer (already implemented on the first Xbox, the PlayStation 3, and the Wii U) was added, presumably to conform with legal standards.

The timed power off option in the settings menu.

Wii (Europe)	Wii Mini (Europe)

• The Wii Mini can't be updated, so the option for System Updates was removed. Updates from Wii discs are also blocked, despite the potential risk of incompatible Wii system titles being installed, having been averted by the use of inflated version numbers on Wii Mini software.

Regional Differences

To do: There are more regional differences. Add the images.

Health and Safety Screen

Japan	US	Europe

Korea	China (Unreleased)

For unknown reasons, the splash screen in the US version loses color: the warning symbol and URL for further information are white instead of, respectively, yellow and blue. The Japanese, Korean and Chinese versions point directly to a localized website instead of a language selector.

Error Screens

	Disc Error	System Memory Error	System Files Error	Channel Error
English
Japanese
French
German
Spanish
Italian
Dutch
Korean
Chinese (Unreleased)

The fatal error screen is formatted differently in all languages. It has four known variants, caused due to either a halt encountered when reading the disc, damaged system data, or in the case of "This channel can't be used", trying to launch a channel with an incorrect region code. It is unknown why this error module was chosen for the latter purpose instead of the menu's regular message dialog.

For unknown reasons, the message files used to display these screens contain various text and styling differences depending on the language and/or type of error; for example, the Japanese versions of the disc and corrupted files error screens use the term 取扱説明書 (instruction manual) to refer to official Nintendo support, but the system memory counterpart instead uses 任天堂サービスセンター (Nintendo Service Center). In the case of the corrupted files error, the Korean string contains an extra blank line, while the English one contains an extra space at the end of the first line.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Home Menu

US/Europe	Japan

Korea	Taiwan / Hong Kong

In the home menus of each officially-released game, the text showing each player and their number differ. In addition, the menu itself is known as the "HOME Button Menu" in Japan and Korea rather than just the "HOME Menu" in the US, and the "Wii Remote" is known as the "Wii RemoCon" in Japan (or "Wii Remote Control").

Traditional Chinese versions of Wii games released for Taiwan and Hong Kong use the Japanese HOME Menu, as these respective regions are a derivative of the Japanese region.

Note that (just like the network configuration tool in DS and PlayStation 2 games), the "Wii's" HOME Menu is in fact individually compiled in every licensed title, resulting in differences across them depending on the version of the HOME library used in the title.

Disc Channel

International	vWii & Wii Mini

Korea	China (Unreleased)

While the international versions have GameCube compatibility, the Korean and the Chinese versions of the Wii Menu do not, possibly due to the GameCube respectively having ceased to be a mainstream console by the time of the Korean launch and never releasing in China, and/or due to Korea becoming a segregated region from Japan in the transition to the Wii. This change was also reflected in the Wii Mini and the Wii U's Virtual Wii, but not the Wii Family Edition, which runs the same software as the original models. Korean Wiis do in fact still contain the BC and MIOS system titles, respectively responsible for starting and running GameCube backwards compatibility.

Video Modes

Europe	Other

As only European Wiis offer 50Hz modes, not only is the matching option missing in other versions, but the other ones received a slight name change.

Technically, the DAC used in any Wii can output any video mode, but (as a holdover from the GameCube with separate PAL and NTSC video encoders), RGB and S-Video formats remain exclusive to the respective two video standards, nullifying the former's advantage as a universal format.

In Japan, where D-Terminal was popular, such a cable was released for the Wii: it is the only official video cable to use status bits (progressive scan and aspect ratio) available in the Wii's video connector.

Wi-Fi Simple Start

International	Japan

The Japanese version of the Wii Menu has a Simple Start option in the connection setup menu, allowing you to easily connect your Wii to a Simple Start compatible router. Since such routers are exclusive to Japan, the button got removed in the other regional Wii Menu versions.

(Source: RGDWiki)

Language Selection

A so-called semi-brick: on an incompletely region-changed console, the Wii Menu fails to load settings pages embedded into it from a nonexistent region- and language-specific path. This screen is always displayed in English.

The European Wii Menu allows the user to select between English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch; the American version only offers English, French, and Spanish, while the Asian variants are monolingual and therefore completely lack this option from the third page of settings.

Note that, while the Wii itself does not include any dialectal variations for English/French/Spanish, a program may also read the console's "AREA" region and discriminate on its basis to provide separate American and European localizations--or, equally as likely, fail to do so as in the case of the Wii Menu itself (pictured).

Wii (USA)	Wii (Europe)

Korean Key

Tickets (licenses) for Wii titles primarily contain a title key for decrypting the title at installation time. That is itself encrypted through a common key, but the ticket can specify which of the common keys should be used.

Most Wiis only have the 0th key, which is sourced from the integrated OTP PROM (ebe42a225e8593e448d9c5457381aaf7 on retail systems) and therefore used on all software. But Korean consoles have a second key (number 1) in EEPROM, which is used by Korean software; while obviously resulting in supplementary regional segregation, the true motive has been debated since its discovery.

For unclear reasons, non-negligible numbers of Korean consoles were sold on the gray market after being converted to American. Nintendo attempted to destructively stop this with IOS70 and higher (i.e. Wii Menu 4.2+), which added to this combination the ability to read out the Korean Key and halt with an "Error 003" IPL error screen if detected on a non-Korean system. Interestingly, this error is not translated on any version of the Wii Menu, it is always in English.

Workarounds, apart from abstaining from use of Wii Menu 4.2 and higher, include copying IOS60 over IOS70/80 (in which case the detection will fail safe) and/or actively removing common key 1 with the KoreanKii homebrew.

(Source: Team Twiizers)

DVDHome.bmg

DVDHome.bmg is a message file containing strings related to the removed DVD playback feature in the Japanese version of Wii Menu 1.0 (it is also present and identical in 1.0 RC1). Several of the strings resemble those in the retail HOME Menu, though with less clear wording.

Japanese	Translation	Notes
各種設定	Settings
MENU	MENU
チャンネル一覧へ	Go to Channel List	This likely refers to the Wii Menu.
停止	Stop
TOP MENU	TOP MENU	This likely refers to the top menu of the DVD being played back.
リモコンのリンクが切れました。参加される順番にボタンを押してください。	The link to the remote has been interrupted. Please press the buttons in the desired participation order.
リモコンの振動をＯＦＦにしました。	Turned off the vibration of the remote.
リモコンの振動をＯＮにしました。	Turned on the vibration of the remote.
リモコンのスピーカーをＯＦＦにしました。	Turned off the speakers of the remote.
リモコンのスピーカーをＯＮにしました。	Turned on the speakers of the remote.

Debug Functions

Maintenance Mode

The Wii has a maintenance mode (available to access on all Wii Menu versions!) accessible by holding + and - on the Wii Remote for several seconds on the health and safety screen. When continuing, the user is prompted with a message stating the following:

The system is operating in maintenance mode. The Wii Message Board cannot be used.

As the message states, the Wii Message Board cannot be used, and the message simply reappears when attempting to access it.

Some Wi-Fi settings also appear to be disabled, although the console itself can still connect to Wi-Fi.

Entering any channel appears to set the Wii from maintenance mode, back into its normal operating system.

The main intended purpose of this feature is in fact only explained in the developer documentation: it overrides dynamic banners (as seen on Forecast and News channels, the Photo Channel 1.1 custom image, or the Mario Kart Channel ghost/competition notifications) in case of trouble with their content (but has no power over the conventional "banner brick", caused by a defective banner/icon).

Recovery Mode

The Wii Menu also has a recovery mode which allows the console to execute software from an autoboot disc or a retail disc containing a valid update partition. This function overrides the Disc Channel and acts as a stopgap in case the Wii Menu cannot be accessed. It can be launched by holding the four D-Pad buttons on the P4 GameCube controller while turning on the console. On Wii Menus 2.1 and later, the version number and region code are displayed on the bottom-right corner until a disc is inserted.

Exception Handler

An exception handler is still present in every version of the Wii Menu, but it cannot be seen normally without hacking or heinously corrupted files such as a malformed channel banner.

It can be triggered after a Wii Menu crash by pressing Left, Down, Down, 1, -, 2, +, Down on the P1 Wii Remote. You can use the D-Pad to scroll.