Nintendo Wii System Hardware Hints and Tips: Menu Secrets, Mii Transfers, Photo Channel Secrets, and Channel Rearrangement

Nintendo Wii System Hardware Hints and Tips: Menu Secrets, Mii Transfers, Photo Channel Secrets, and Channel Rearrangement
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The Nintendo Wii is a unique system with many unique features. I talk to people almost every day that love their console, but few of them seem to be aware of all the cool things you can do with the Wii’s user interface, various channels, and Miis.

These aren’t exactly Wii hardware secrets, as most people know about some of them, but I have met very few people who seem to know about them all, so I’ve collected the best, “semi-secret” Wii hardware hints and tips here, just so they’re all in one place.

Wiimote Tips

Mii Channel

Your Wiimote is more than just a controller. You can use it to transfer Miis between systems, adjust the onboard speaker, and check battery life.

Each Wiimote has a small amount of internal memory that can be used to store Miis. Using this memory, you can transfer Miis between Wiis without using memory cards.

To copy a Mii to your Nintendo Wii remote, first enter the Mii Channel. Once inside, select the Wiimote icon on the right side of the screen. A popup will appear with ten spaces for Mii storage. Simply drag the Miis you wish to copy to these spaces.

Simply sync your Wiimote with your friend’s Wii system and repeat the process to copy the selected Miis to the new console.

To adjust the volume of the Wiimote’s built-in speaker, press the “home” button at any time. Click on the Wiimote button at the bottom of the screen to bring up a configuration menu with options for volume adjustment, rumble, and a graphic display of the controller’s remaining battery life.

General Wii System Hints

Nintendo Wii Menu

Did you download some Virtual Console games that seemed like a great idea at the time, but now you’d rather just forget about them? Are you tired of seeing them on your screen when you fire up your Wii?

You can actually move them around by pressing “A” and “B” while hovering over a channel. You can then drag the channel around. To move it to a different page, drag the channel over the arrows one the right or left side of the page.

Speaking of Virtual Console games, do you ever find yourself bored waiting for them to download? Watching Mario cross the screen collecting coins can be fun, but you can add an extra dimension of interactivity to the experience by pressing “B.” If Mario is wearing his fire suit, he will shoot fireballs.

Photo Channel Tips

Photo Channel

The Photo Channel allows you to turn your personal photos into puzzles of various sizes that you then race to reassemble. The standard puzzle sizes are 6, 12, 24, and 48 pieces, but there is also a hidden 192 piece puzzle option. To access it, hold down the “1” button at the puzzle size selection screen and the 48 piece puzzle option will change to 192.

You may have noticed the cat that sometimes appears at the top of the screen within the various Wii channels. What you may not know is that if you can catch the fast-moving feline by pressing the “A” and “B” buttons simultaneously, you can get some helpful hints about the channel.

The cat appears at the top of the screen once you select the “Fun!” option within the photo channel. Catch him to receive the following hints:

  • There’s a simple way to create composite photos. First, use the scissors to cut a piece out of one photo. Then just move to the photo you want to paste that piece onto!

  • The scissors in Doodle can do more than just cut. Try pressing the 1 Button while you cut or after you’ve cut.

  • Try pressing down on the +Control pad and selecting the eraser while doodling. This will undo some of your changes.

  • Have you tried selecting the Brighten and Hard-Boiled mood changes multiple times in a row?

  • Press the + or - Buttons during a slide show to adjust the volume. You have more volume options with MP3 files than you do with the default music.

  • Wii Shop Channel

    There is an easy way to move from a close-up of one photo to a close-up of the next: just press left or right on the +Control Pad.

  • In some areas, you can aim the pointer while holding the B Button to scroll around the screen. What’s that? “Where’s the B Button?” Hmm… I wonder…

  • You can also try your hand at puzzles of movie files.

  • If you do a mood change to a movie file, the sound changes, too.

  • If you hold some buttons down, you might be able to scroll faster.

The cat also appears within the Forecast and News Channels.

These fun “semi-secrets” are just a few of the many amazing features of the Nintendo Wii. There are many amazing things to discover about the console, so make sure you always keep an eye out for new secrets.

For more great Wii information, be sure to check out our article on the Top 5 Games for the Nintendo Wii.