The Wii system software is a discontinued set of updatable firmware versions and a software frontend on the Wii , a home video game console . Updates, which could be downloaded over the Internet or read from a game disc , allowed Nintendo to add additional features and software, as well as to patch security vulnerabilities used by users to load homebrew software . When a new update became available, Nintendo sent a message to the Wii Message Board of Internet-connected systems notifying them of the available update.
157-697: A Mii ( / m iː / MEE ) is a customizable avatar used on several Nintendo video game consoles and mobile apps . The name Mii is a portmanteau of "Wii" and "me", referring to them typically being avatars of the players. Miis were first introduced on the Wii console in 2006 and later appeared on the DS , 3DS , the Wii U , the Switch , and various apps for smart devices such as Miitomo . Miis can be created using different body, facial and clothing features, and can then be used as characters within games on
314-585: A metaverse . Many modern virtual worlds provide users with advanced tools to customize their representations, allowing them to change shapes, hair, skins and also genre. Moreover, there is a secondary industry devoted to the creations of products and items for the avatars. Some companies have also launched social networks and other websites for avatars such as Koinup , Myrl, and Avatars United . Lisa Nakamura has suggested that customizable avatars in non-gaming worlds tend to be biased towards lighter skin colors and against darker skin colors, especially in those of
471-625: A "virtual reality" such as the Metaverse is by now widespread in the computer-graphics community and is being used in a number of different ways. The particular vision of the Metaverse as expressed in this novel originated from idle discussion between me and Jaime (Captain Bandwidth) Taaffe ... The words avatar (in the sense used here) and Metaverse are my inventions, which I came up with when I decided that existing words (such as virtual reality ) were simply too awkward to use ... after
628-636: A 4:3 grid, and each displaying the current time and date. Available applications, known as "channels", are displayed and can be navigated using the pointer capability of the Wii Remote . The grid is customizable; users can move channels (except for the Disc Channel ) among the menu's 48 customizable slots. By pressing the plus and minus buttons on the Wii Remote users can scroll across accessing empty slots. Similar to many other video game consoles ,
785-554: A Mii as their avatar and used as the basis of the systems' social networking features, most prominently the now-defunct Miiverse . On the Nintendo Switch, a Mii can still be used as an account avatar, but avatars depicting various Nintendo characters are also available. Miis are also used as profile pictures for Nintendo Accounts and can be used in Nintendo smart device games such as Super Mario Run , Mario Kart Tour and
942-718: A Mii that would personify a specific idea or character and then vote on the Mii that would best fit the suggestion. The channel was available for free download on the Wii Shop Channel from November 12, 2007, until June 27, 2013, when Nintendo discontinued the channel along with the Everybody Votes channel. Although the platform lacks native support for Mii creation, a few games on the Nintendo DS console do support Mii functionality, and will work in conjunction with
1099-607: A Nintendo Account. Miis can still be integrated into games as a playable character such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe , Go Vacation , Nintendo Switch Sports , Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe . In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe , there are 20+ amiibos registered after when you tap an amiibo on the NFC reader on the right Joy-Con or on the top of the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller , similar to what can be achieved with Mario Kart 8 for
1256-399: A Structured Language Processing or SLP Avatar. Avatars in video games are the player's representation in the game world. The first video games to include a representation of the player were Basketball (1974) which represented players as humans, and Maze War (1974) which represented players as eyeballs. In some games, the player's representation is fixed, however many games offer
1413-426: A basic character model, or template, and then allow customization of the physical features as the player sees fit. For example, Carl Johnson , the avatar from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas , can be dressed in a wide range of clothing, can be given tattoos and haircuts , and can even body build or become obese depending upon player actions. One video game in which the avatar and player are two separate entities
1570-602: A character based on their creator, either a fictionalised version (e.g. the Matt Groening character in some episodes of The Simpsons ) or an entirely fictional character (e.g. Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series has been said by J. K. Rowling to be based upon herself). Such characters are sometimes known as " author surrogates " or "author avatars". Early examples of customizable avatars include multi-user systems, including MUDs . Gaia Online has
1727-456: A city of blue trees with bright red foliage and living buildings growing from the soil in a multitude of forms. The use of the term avatar for the on-screen representation of the user was coined in 1985 by Richard Garriott for the computer game Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar . In this game, Garriott desired the player's character to be their Earth self manifested into the virtual world. Due to
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#17327767795051884-458: A construct composed of text. The term has been also sometimes extended to refer to the personality connected with the screen name , or handle, of an Internet user. Despite the widespread use of avatars, it is unknown which Internet forums were the first to use them; the earliest forums did not include avatars as a default feature, and they were included in unofficial "hacks" before eventually being made standard. Avatars on Internet forums serve
2041-440: A customizable avatar where users can dress it up as desired. Users may earn credits for completing sponsored surveys or certain tasks to purchase items and upgrades to customize their avatar. Linden Lab 's Second Life creates a virtual world in which avatars, homes, decorations, buildings and land are for sale. Less-common items may be designed to appear better than common items, and an experienced player may be identified from
2198-470: A given console. The Wii's firmware has many active branches known as IOSes, thought by the Wii homebrew developers to stand for "Input Output Systems" or "Internal Operating Systems". The currently active IOS, also simply referred to as just "IOS," runs on a separate ARM926EJ-S processor unofficially nicknamed Starlet , which resides within the Hollywood GPU . The patent for the Wii U shows
2355-521: A group of facial and bodily features. At the Game Developers Conference 2007, Shigeru Miyamoto explained that the look and design of the Mii characters are based on Kokeshi , a form of Japanese doll used as souvenir gifts. A Wired interview of Katsuya Eguchi (producer of Animal Crossing and Wii Sports ) held in 2006 confirmed that the custom player avatar feature shown at Nintendo's E3 Media Briefing would be included in
2512-458: A group of new characters before in-game statistics are seen. To meet the demand for millions of unique, customised avatars, generator tools and services have been created. Many of them, such as the website Picrew , are based around works by original artists. The 2021 Electronic Entertainment Expo featured an avatar creator, to align with its new all-digital nature. Some people add visual details or effects to their avatars to show support for
2669-569: A limited time between March 13 and 30, 2007, Wii owners in Japan were sent Mii versions of comedian Sanma Akashiya and tennis player Shuzo Matsuoka . The duo had been featured in Japanese promotions for the Wii, highlighting Miis themselves. Miis of Satoru Iwata and Reggie Fils-Aimé (the presidents of Nintendo and Nintendo of America, respectively) were released on the 3DS for the 1st anniversary of
2826-638: A male default Mii appears on Luigi's smartphone in The Super Mario Bros. Movie when he receives an incoming call. Avatar (computing) In computing , an avatar is a graphical representation of a user , the user's character , or persona . Avatars can be two-dimensional icons in Internet forums and other online communities, where they are also known as profile pictures , userpics , or formerly picons (personal icons, or possibly "picture icons"). Alternatively, an avatar can take
2983-727: A maximum of 10 Miis. In addition, Mii characters can be transferred from a user's Wii to Nintendo 3DS consoles, as well as supported Nintendo DS games via the Mii Channel. While in the channel, pressing A, followed by B, then 1, and holding 2 on the Wii Remote allows the user to unlock the feature. The Mii Channel is succeeded by the Mii Maker app for both Nintendo 3DS and Wii U , and the Mii options in Settings for Nintendo Switch . According to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata , over 160 million Mii characters had been created using
3140-622: A movement or issue, in a similar way to a physical awareness ribbon . The awareness avatar may have first been used in the New Zealand Internet Blackout , to protest copyright law changes in New Zealand. Globally, protesters replaced their icons with black squares to show solidarity. The protest was successful and proved the method effective at both raising awareness and effecting change. Campaigns have used this method include: Avatars have become an area of study in
3297-427: A new version of their Xbox avatars for Xbox One and Xbox on Windows 10 , featuring increased detail and having a focus on inclusivity. PlayStation Home for Sony 's PlayStation 3 console also featured the use of avatars, but with a more realistic style than Nintendo's Miis or Microsoft's Avatars. Avatars in non-gaming online worlds are used as two- or three- dimensional human or fantastic representations of
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#17327767795053454-576: A paid subscription, users can select individual identities for different communities. Avatars can be used as virtual embodiments of embodied agents , which are driven more or less by artificial intelligence rather than real people. Automated online assistants are examples of avatars used in this way. Such avatars are used by organizations as a part of automated customer services in order to interact with consumers and users of services. This can avail for enterprises to reduce their operating and training cost. A major underlying technology to such systems
3611-456: A person's inworld self. Such representations are a tool which facilitates the exploration of the virtual universe, or acts as a focal point in conversations with other users, and can be customized by the user. Usually, the purpose and appeal of such universes is to provide a large enhancement to common online conversation capabilities, and to allow the user to peacefully develop a portion of a non-gaming universe without being forced to strive towards
3768-484: A pre-defined goal. The earliest avatars of this form were text-based descriptions employed by players within MUDs . These often allowed players to express an identity disparate from their public one within an interactive environment. For instance, LambdaMOO allowed a choice of 11 different genders , which could be changed at the user's will. The visually-based game Habitat also used the term to refer to players within
3925-854: A resolution of up to 848×480 pixels ( Wide VGA ). Photos, even high resolution ones, are compressed and decreased in resolution. Photo Channel 1.1 is an optional update to the Photo Channel that became available on the Wii Shop Channel on December 10, 2007. It allows users to customize the Photo Channel icon on the Wii Menu with photos from an SD Card or the Wii Message Board. It also allows playback of songs in random order. The update replaced MP3 support with support for MPEG-4 encoded audio files encoded with AAC in
4082-613: A set of four GameCube controller sockets and two Memory Card slots (concealed by removable flip-open panels). The console retains connectivity with the Game Boy Advance and e-Reader through the Game Boy Advance Cable , which is used in the same manner as with the GameCube; however, this feature can only be accessed on select GameCube titles which previously utilized it. There are also a few limitations in
4239-549: A similar device which is simply named "Input/Output Processor". IOS controls I/O between the code running on the main Broadway processor and the various Wii hardware that does not also exist on the GameCube . Except for bug fixes, new IOS versions do not replace existing IOS versions. Instead, Wii consoles have multiple IOS versions installed. All native Wii software (including games distributed on Nintendo optical discs ,
4396-569: A system update (after the user is prompted). With downloaded software, this should not theoretically happen, as the user cannot access the shop to download software unless the player has all the IOS versions that they require. However, if homebrew is used to forcefully install or run a piece of software when the required IOS does not exist, the user is brought back to the system menu. Nintendo created this system so that new updates would not unintentionally break compatibility with older games, but it does have
4553-570: A time, including any Mii imported from a linked Nintendo Network ID (also known as NNID). In Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge at the Super Nintendo World amusement areas in Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Hollywood , Mii characters (CPU Miis from Wii Sports Club and Wii Party U ) appear on several screens in the pre-show rooms to showcase ride mechanics and safety precautions. An icon for
4710-420: A user's real-life personality. Student test groups were able to infer upon extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism, but could not infer upon openness and conscientiousness. Researchers have also studied avatars that differ from real-life identity. Sherry Turkle described a middle-aged man who played an aggressive, confrontational female character in his online communities, displaying personality traits he
4867-736: A web page. Miis on the Nintendo 3DS can also be used in conjunction with the device's built-in augmented reality software – the software includes a mini-app named 'Mii Pics' which allows the user to take a photo of their Mii within a regular photo, using an augmented reality card included with the system. The first Nintendo 3DS game to include support for Mii characters is Pilotwings Resort . Miis obtained through StreetPass appear as non-player characters in Nintendogs + Cats . Mii characters also appear in Pokémon Rumble Blast , Mario Kart 7 , and in many more games . Currently,
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5024-591: A year after the Wii was released. There, Shigeru Miyamoto said that the personal avatar concept had originally been intended as a demo for the Family Computer Disk System , where a user could draw a face onto an avatar. Miyamoto commented that the concept could not be turned into a game and was discarded. In late 1999, during the Nintendo 64 era, the 64DD (a disk drive peripheral for the N64)
5181-458: Is natural language processing . Some of these avatars are commonly known as "bots". Famous examples include IKEA 's Anna, an avatar designed to guide users around the IKEA website. Such avatars can also be powered by a digital conversation which provides a little more structure than those using NLP, offering the user options and clearly defined paths to an outcome. This kind of avatar is known as
5338-473: Is also available in multiple languages. Unlike the other channels, the video in the channel is not translated digitally, but is presented in multiple dubs, which means there are multiple copies of the same video in a single channel. The language of the video is presented is respectively according to the Wii's language setting. There are three languages available in the US versions: English, French and Spanish; and six in
5495-477: Is also known as a profile picture or userpic, or in early Internet parlance, a 'picon' (personal icon). With the advent of social media platforms like Facebook , where users are not typically anonymous, these pictures often are a photo of the user in real life. Alternatively, avatars can also be three-dimensional digital representations, as in games such as World of Warcraft or virtual worlds like Second Life . In MUDs and other early systems, they were
5652-562: Is also possible for the browser to use technologies such as Ajax , SVG , RSS , and Adobe Flash Player 8 and limited support for Adobe Flash Player 9. Opera Software has indicated that the functionality will allow for third parties to create web applications specifically designed for the use on the Wii Browser, and it will support widgets , standalone web-based applications using Opera as an application platform. Third party APIs and SDKs have been released that allow developers to read
5809-645: Is also tied to social influence, as more human-like representations can be more persuasive. For the Harvard Business Review , Paul Hemp analysed the effects of avatars on real-world business. He focuses on the game "Second Life", demonstrating that the creators of virtual avatars are willing to spend real money to purchase goods marketed solely to their virtual selves. In addition, research in data collection via Second Life avatars suggested important considerations related to research participant engagement, burden, and retention, as well as accuracy of
5966-461: Is an RPG minigame in which players use the Miis they gathered to fight through dungeons, earning accessories for their Mii. Each Mii possesses a different type of magic depending on their color, and become more powerful if the player meets them more than once. These games can be optionally played with Play Coins, though the results are more random than with Streetpass Miis. On December 6, 2011, the feature
6123-461: Is designed to look more natural, and its weight will be determined by the weight Wii Fit found of the player in Wii Fit tests. Sometimes Miis will wear outfits in context with the game. In Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel , the Miis can be optionally used for the planet's icon that represents the save file, the other option being to use Mario characters for the planets. Only the Mii's head
6280-417: Is either brightening up the photo, making the photo grayscale, zapping the photo, or cooking up a hard-boiled photo. Puzzles can be created from photos or videos with varying degrees of difficulty (However, your first puzzle will be six-pieces) with 6, 12, 24 and 48 piece puzzles available, with 192 selectable while holding down 1 on the Wii Remote. Edited photos can be saved to the Wii and sent to other Wiis via
6437-594: Is impossible for Nintendo to implement any functions that would affect the games themselves, for example an in-game system menu (similar to the Xbox 360 's in-game Dashboard or the PlayStation 3 's in-game XMB ). The Wii Menu (known internally as the System Menu) is the name of the user interface for the Wii game console, and it is the first thing to be seen when the system boots up. It has four pages, each with
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6594-525: Is more advanced than the Mii Channel . Mii characters can be created manually with Mii Maker as on the Wii's Mii Channel , but they can also be created automatically through the use of the Nintendo 3DS's cameras. The system captures an image of a subject's face, and the application converts the image into a Mii likeness using integrated recognition software. Automated Mii character designs can be manually adjusted. Mii characters can also be imported from
6751-539: Is no third party network that traffic is being routed through. It receives a connection from a router/modem and uses a web browser to pull up HTTP and HTTPS (secure and encrypted) web pages. Opera, the Wii's web browser, is capable of rendering most web sites in the same manner as its desktop counterpart by using Opera's Medium Screen Rendering technology. The software is saved to the Wii's 512 MB internal flash memory (it can be copied to an SD card after it has been downloaded). The temporary Internet files (maximum of 5MB for
6908-408: Is one wherein an image is automatically generated based on the identity of the poster. Identicons are formed as visually distinct geometric images derived from a digest hash of the poster's IP address or user ID. These serve as a means to associate a particular user with a particular geometric representation. When used with an IP address, a particular anonymous user can be visually identified without
7065-1167: Is perceived to be human), anthropomorphism (having human form or behavior), identomorphism (how much the form of the avatar resembles the player), and realism (the perceived viability of something realistically existing). Perceived agency influences people's responses in the interaction regardless of who or what is actually controlling the representation. An earlier meta-analysis of studies comparing agents and avatars found that both agency and perceived agency mattered: representations controlled by humans were more persuasive than those controlled by bots, and representations believed to be controlled by humans were more persuasive than those believed to be controlled by bots. Additionally, researchers have investigated how anthropomorphic representations influence communicative outcomes and found that more human-like representations are judged more favorably; people consider them more attractive, credible, and competent. Higher levels of anthropomorphism also lead to higher involvement, social presence, and communication satisfaction. Moreover, people communicate more naturally with more anthropomorphic avatars. Anthropomorphism
7222-622: Is shown and it's shown in a sphere shaped like the planet. In Mario Kart Wii , Mii racers can be dressed in jumpsuits , or Mario style overalls for males and a Peach style dress for females, in Dr. Mario Online Rx , Miis appear in medical clothing, and in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption , where they appear as bobblehead dolls , they will be dressed up in bounty hunter Samus Aran 's Power Suit . In MLB Power Pros , Miis are designed to look like regular Power Pro-Kun avatar, with legs detached from
7379-421: Is the app that allows Mii creation on the Wii U . It can store up to 3,000 Miis and includes the same facial features used on the Nintendo 3DS. The Mii Maker installed on the Wii U can use facial recognition to generate a Mii, which selects the features based on a photo of a face taken with the Wii U GamePad camera. Mii characters evolve further for the Wii's successor, Wii U. In addition to previous uses on
7536-491: Is the game Perspective , where the player controls both themself in a 3-dimensional world and the avatar in a 2-dimensional world. Aside from an avatar's physical appearance, its dialogue, particularly in cutscenes , may also reveal something of its character. A good example is the crude, action hero stereotype , Duke Nukem . Other avatars, such as Gordon Freeman from Half-Life , who never speaks at all , reveal very little of themselves (the original game never showed
7693-603: Is ultimately derived from the Sanskrit word ( avatāra / ˈ æ v ə t ɑːr , ˌ æ v ə ˈ t ɑːr / ); in Hinduism , it stands for the "descent" of a deity into a terrestrial form. It was first used in a computer game by the 1979 PLATO role-playing game Avatar . In Norman Spinrad 's novel Songs from the Stars (1980), the term avatar is used in a description of a computer generated virtual experience. In
7850-726: The Check Mii Out Channel , also known as the Mii Contest Channel ( Miiコンテストチャンネル , Mī Kontesuto Channeru ) in Japan , Europe , and Oceania , was released on November 11, 2007. Perhaps an evolution of an idea shared by Shigeru Miyamoto at the Game Developers Conference in 2007, this channel allowed players to upload their Mii characters and share them with other users. There were also popularity contests, in which players would design
8007-480: The Metaverse , a fictional virtual-reality application on the Internet . Social status within the Metaverse was often based on the quality of a user's avatar, as a highly detailed avatar showed that the user was a skilled hacker and programmer while the less talented would buy off-the-shelf models in the same manner a beginner would today. Stephenson wrote in the "Acknowledgments" to Snow Crash : The idea of
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#17327767795058164-640: The .m4a extension. Wii owners who updated to version 1.1 can revert to version 1.0 by deleting it from the channels menu in the data management setup. Consoles released after December 10, 2007 come with the version 1.1 update pre-installed, and cannot be downgraded to version 1.0. Owners of systems on a Japanese firmware can download a "Revert to Photo Channel 1.0" Channel from the Wii Shop Channel if they wish to do so. The Wii Shop Channel allowed users to download games and other software by redeeming Wii Points , which could be obtained by purchasing Nintendo Points cards from retail outlets or directly through
8321-669: The Everybody Votes Channel and the Internet Channel . Separate Channels are graphically displayed in a grid and can be navigated using the pointer capability of the Wii Remote . Users can also rearrange these Channels if they are not satisfied with how the Channels are originally organized on the menu. The Wii system supports wireless connectivity with the Nintendo DS handheld console with no additional accessories. This connectivity allows players to use
8478-528: The Forecast Channel to simulate weather conditions depending on the player's region. There are slight variations of Forecast Channel versions in different regions. When viewing weather conditions in Japan, a different set of weather icons is used. Additionally, the laundry index was only featured in the Japanese version. After the August 6, 2007 update, the Forecast Channel showed the icon for
8635-600: The Forecast Channel ) was not available in South Korea. Like the four other Wii channels ( Forecast Channel , Everybody Votes Channel , Mii Contest Channel , Nintendo Channel ), the News Channel ended its seven-year support on June 27, 2013. The Get Connected Video Channel or Wii & the Internet Channel (or alternatively known as the Wii + Internet Channel or Wii: See What You Can Do On
8792-539: The Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 . This is a list of new Wii Channels released beyond the four initial Channels (i.e. Disc Channel, Mii Channel, Photo Channel and Wii Shop Channel) included in the original consoles. The News Channel and the Forecast Channel were released as part of system updates so separate downloads were not required. As of January 30, 2019, all channels listed below have been discontinued with
8949-487: The Internet , although this is not required for the Wii system itself to function. Each Wii has its own unique 16-digit Wii Code for use with Wii's non-game features. With Internet connection enabled users are able to access the established Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service. Wireless encryption by WEP , WPA (TKIP/RC4) and WPA2 (CCMP/AES) is supported. AOSS support was added in System Menu version 3.0. As with
9106-434: The Mii Channel as of May 2010. If a user inserts an SD card into the console, or receives photos ( JPEG ) or videos ( MJPEG ) via email, they can be viewed using the Photo Channel . The user can create a slideshow simply by inserting an SD card with photos and, optionally, MP3 or AAC files (see note regarding December 10, 2007 update to version 1.1). The Wii will automatically add Ken Burns Effect transitions between
9263-522: The Mii Channel or the Mii Maker, which are pre-installed on the Wii and the Nintendo 3DS / Wii U / Nintendo Switch consoles respectively. While the user can assign a gender, name, birthday , favorite color , and mingle preference to a Mii, the majority of the interface used for Mii creation focuses on the appearance of its face and head : the user is given a variety of different hairstyles , eye , nose , and mouth shapes, and other features such as facial hair or wrinkles , to select from. Most of
9420-472: The Mii Channel . Many other games, like We Ski , and Guitar Hero World Tour and Sonic Colors also use Miis. While a Mii's head always remains the same, its body varies between games. For example, in Wii Sports , the Mii's body is stylized, with spherical floating hands and bearing no arms, and Mii audiences or CPUs floating with spherical bottoms with no legs instead, but in Wii Fit its body
9577-495: The Nintendo 3DS and Wii U , while also providing unnatural hair and eye colors. The Switch's Mii creator can hold up to 100+ Miis, much like the Wii and 3DS. Miis can be used on the Switch to represent accounts; users may optionally use a Nintendo character such as Mario as their avatar instead. Miis can be transferred between Switch consoles and imported from a 3DS or Wii U using an amiibo figure. Miis can also be imported from
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#17327767795059734-426: The Wii Remote acts like a mouse, making it possible to click anywhere on the screen and navigate through web links. However, the browser cannot always handle all the features of most normal web pages, although it does support Adobe Flash , thus capable of playing Flash files. Some third-party services such as the online BBC iPlayer were also available on the Wii via the Internet Channel browser, although BBC iPlayer
9891-602: The Wii Shop Channel using MasterCard or Visa credit cards online. Users could browse in the Virtual Console , WiiWare , or Wii Channels sections for downloads. A feature to purchase downloaded software as gifts for others became available worldwide on December 10, 2007. Additional channels that were not released at the console's launch were available for purchase in the Wii Shop Channel . These included: Internet Channel , Everybody Votes Channel , Check Mii Out Channel , Nintendo Channel, Netflix Channel , and
10048-432: The GameCube footprint and high-speed port needed for Game Boy Player support. Furthermore, only GameCube functions were available and only compatible memory cards and controllers could be used when playing a GameCube game. This is due to the fact that the Wii's internal memory would not save GameCube data. Because of the original device's backward compatibility with earlier Nintendo products players can play older games on
10205-549: The Internet ) is pre-installed onto Wii console units manufactured in October 2008 or later. It contains an informational video specifying the benefits of connecting the Wii console to the Internet, such as downloading extra channels, new software, Virtual Console titles, and playing games over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection . The Get Connected Video Channel is the only pre-installed channel that takes up spare internal memory, and
10362-400: The Internet Channel was made available to Wii owners for no cost of Wii Points and updated to include improved Adobe Flash Player support. A refund was issued to those who paid for the channel in the form of one free NES game download worth 500 Wii Points. The Internet Channel uses whichever connection is chosen in the Wii settings, and utilizes the user's internet connection directly; there
10519-527: The Internet can still receive updates. The system menu will not start such games if their updates have not been installed, so this has the consequence of forcing users to install updates in order to play these games. Some games, such as online games like Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii , contain specific extra updates, such as the ability to receive Wii Message Board posts from game-specific addresses; therefore, these games always require that an update be installed before their first time running on
10676-661: The Internet. News articles were available on a globe view, allowing users to view news from certain areas of the world (similar to the Forecast Channel) , and as a slide show. The content was automatically updated and viewable via WiiConnect24 with clickable news images supported. The channel contained seven categories: National News, International News, Sports, Arts/Entertainment, Business, Technology and Oddities. The News Channel became available in North America, Europe, and Australia on January 26, 2007. Content
10833-715: The Japan-only Television Friend Channel . Until the channel's shut down on January 30, 2019, all downloadable channels were free of charge. The name was originally going to be called the Shopping Channel . Nintendo discontinued the Wii Shop Channel on January 30, 2019 (having announced that they planned to do so on September 29, 2017), with the purchase of Wii Points ending on March 26, 2018. The ability to redownload previously purchased content and/or transfer Wii data from
10990-495: The Mii trademark is as valuable to Miyamoto as that of the Mario brand, implying that the company would only narrowly consider any offers from game developers to implement Miis in their games. Nintendo designer Yamashita Takayuki attributes his work on Talent Studio as having been foundational to his eventual work on the Mii, which was necessitated by the development of the game Wii Sports . Mii characters are created and stored in
11147-485: The Nintendo 3DS can use facial recognition to generate a Mii, which selects facial features based on a photograph of a person's face taken with the system's cameras. Unlike the Nintendo DS, which features limited support of Mii characters, its successor the Nintendo 3DS features Miis as a standard. Similar to the Wii's Mii Channel , the Nintendo 3DS features its own Mii-creating application called Mii Maker , which
11304-399: The Nintendo 3DS, which features an original female Mii character called Nikki (ニッキー). Nikki gained a relatively small fan base of her own right, especially in Japan. After Nikki's debut, Nintendo featured the character in a few other games and apps, such as Nikki no tabi suru kuizu ( ニッキーの旅するクイズ , Nikki's Travel Quiz ) , a Nintendo 3DS travel guide app that was exclusively distributed via
11461-475: The Nintendo DS microphone and touch screen as inputs for Wii games. Pokémon Battle Revolution is the first example Nintendo has given of a game using Nintendo DS-Wii connectivity. Nintendo later released the Nintendo Channel for the Wii allowing its users to download game demos or additional data to their Nintendo DS. Like many other video game consoles , the Wii console is able to connect to
11618-505: The Nintendo DS, Nintendo does not charge for playing via the service; the 12-digit Friend Code system controls how players connect to one another. The service has a few features for the console, including the Virtual Console , WiiConnect24 and several Channels. The Wii console can also communicate and connect with other Wii systems through a self-generated wireless LAN, enabling local wireless multiplayer on different television sets. The system also implements console-based software, including
11775-420: The Nintendo DS, also uses Miis and has a built-in Mii editor. Miis from the user's Wii's Mii Channel can be transferred to the game, and vice versa. The Mii Maker ( Miiスタジオ , Mī Sutajio , lit. "Mii Studio") is the app that allows Mii creation on the Nintendo 3DS . It can store up to 100 Mii characters, much like the Wii, and includes more facial features than the latter console. The Mii Maker installed on
11932-538: The Olympic Games , Mario Party 8 , Mario Kart Wii , Mario Super Sluggers , Animal Crossing: City Folk (using their Mii's head as a mask) and in Go Vacation . The Japan-only Sega game Pachinko: Sammy's Collection is the first third-party game to incorporate Miis, while the Wii version of FIFA Soccer 08 is the first third-party game released in North America, Europe and Australia to use
12089-500: The PAL version: English , French, Spanish , German, Italian and Dutch . The Internet Channel is a version of the Opera web browser for use on the Wii by Opera Software and Nintendo . On December 22, 2006 a free demo version (promoted as " Internet Channel: Trial Version ") of the browser was released. The final version (promoted as "Internet Channel: Final Version") of the browser
12246-409: The System Menu itself, Virtual Console games, WiiWare , and Wii Channels), with the exception of certain homebrew applications, have the IOS version hardcoded into the software. When the software is run, the IOS that is hardcoded gets loaded by the Wii, which then loads the software itself. If that IOS does not exist on the Wii, in the case of disc-based software, it gets installed automatically with
12403-462: The Wii Message Board. One can connect to the Internet with third-party devices as well. The Wii console also includes a web browser known as the Internet Channel , which is a version of the Opera 9 browser with menus. It is meant to be a convenient way to access the web on the television screen, although it is far from offering a comfortable user interface compared with modern Internet browsers. A virtual keyboard pops up when needed for input, and
12560-408: The Wii U. Nintendo Switch Sports introduced new avatars known as "Sportsmates", however Miis can still be selected as an option. Currently, the only game on the Switch to feature Miis in their entirety is Miitopia , which is a remaster of the 2017 role-playing video game of the same name for the 3DS. When the freemium mobile app Miitomo launched on iOS and Android devices in 2016, it
12717-571: The Wii and/or the Nintendo 3DS to the Wii U, in which in the latter's case transfers between consoles can occur as many times as possible. Mii characters also return as in-game characters for certain Wii U games, which in addition to Nintendo-published launch titles such as Wii Sports Club , Super Smash Bros. for Wii U , Mario Kart 8 , New Super Mario Bros. U and Nintendo Land , they are also included in third-party titles such as Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed . In Mario Kart 8 , there are 19+ amiibo suits when you tap an amiibo on
12874-473: The Wii is not only about games. For example, it is possible to install applications such as Netflix to stream media (without requiring a disc) on the Wii. The Wii Menu let users access both game and no-game functions through built-in applications called Channels, which are designed to represent television channels . There are six primary channels: the Disc Channel , Mii Channel , Photo Channel , Wii Shop Channel , Forecast Channel and News Channel , although
13031-463: The Wii runs a variant of IOS specifically for GameCube games, MIOS, which contains a modified version of the GameCube's IPL . Custom IOSes, called cIOSes, can be installed with homebrew. The main purpose of cIOS is to allow homebrew users to use other homebrew apps such as USB Loader GX (allows games stored in the WBFS file format to be run from a USB stick). The system provides a graphical interface to
13188-444: The Wii to the 3DS or from the 3DS to the Wii U, however, Miis cannot be sent from the 3DS to the Wii, as Mii Maker features an expanded selection of design parts that are not available on Mii Channel . The Nintendo 3DS can generate and read QR codes that represent Mii characters. QR codes and pictures of Mii characters can also be transferred to an SD card in any picture format, and be used in various ways, such as posting them on
13345-531: The Wii to the Wii U still remains available. The Forecast Channel allowed weather reports and forecasts provided by Weathernews to be shown on the console from the Internet via the WiiConnect24 service. The Forecast Channel displayed a view of the Earth as a globe (courtesy of NASA 's The Blue Marble image), with which users can view weather in other regions. When fully zoomed out, an accurate star map
13502-538: The Wii's Mii Channel . Miis can be transferred from a user's Wii to supported Nintendo DS games via the Mii Channel. A code must be entered by the user to unlock the feature on the Mii Channel . The Nintendo DS game Personal Trainer: Walking uses Miis to allow players to track their progress in the game. Players are also able to create Miis in-game. The Nintendo DS version of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time also uses Miis. The life-simulation game Tomodachi Collection , only released in Japan for
13659-531: The Wii's abilities. All games run directly on the Broadway processor, and either directly interface with the hardware (for the hardware common to the Wii and GameCube ), or interface with IOS running on the ARM architecture processor (for Wii-specific hardware). The ARM processor does not have access to the screen, and therefore neither does IOS. This means that while a piece of software is running, everything seen on
13816-582: The Wii, Mii characters are wholly integrated into the Wii U's social online network Miiverse , the WaraWara Plaza community where clusters of Mii characters crowd around the hottest games, and being depicted as personal avatars for individual Wii U players, who have the ability for twelve separate Nintendo Network ID User accounts that can be used on a single console at a time. User accounts with Mii representatives are used for both games and apps such as Nintendo TVii . Mii characters can be transferred from
13973-430: The Wii. Wii Sports is perhaps the best-known example of this, and it adds a further personal touch to Miis by saving game statistics and records for individual Miis. Miis will make cameo appearances as computer-controlled opponents, teammates, or within the audience. Miis have been used to serve as game file icons (profiles) within several games. Often appearing as just a head for identification, this Mii has no impact on
14130-472: The ability to use a Mii as an avatar must be unlocked, such as in Mario Kart 8 . In late 2008, Microsoft released an Xbox 360 Dashboard update which featured the introduction of Avatars as part of the console's New Xbox Experience . With the update installed users can personalize the look of their Avatars by choosing from a range of clothing and facial features. In October 2018, Microsoft launched
14287-499: The actual gameplay other than to identify a player in another way besides the name, or representation based on looks. Miis are primarily used in games such as Wii Sports , Wii Play , Wii Fit , Wii Party , Wii Fit Plus , Wii Music and Wii Sports Resort . Players can also use their Miis, however, in other first-party games , most noticeably within WarioWare: Smooth Moves , Mario & Sonic at
14444-483: The backward compatibility. For example, online and LAN features of certain GameCube games were not available since the Wii does not have serial ports for the GameCube Broadband Adapter and Modem Adapter . The Wii uses a proprietary port for video output, and is incompatible with all GameCube audio/video cables ( composite video , S-Video , component video and RGB SCART ). The console also lacks
14601-501: The channel. However, not visiting the channel for a period of time resulted in the ticker not appearing, instead displaying "You must use the News Channel regularly for news to be displayed on this screen." on the preview screen until the channel was opened up. A December 20, 2007 PAL region update increased the number of news feeds to the channel, sourced from a larger number of news resources and agencies, providing more news that were available per country. The News Channel (along with
14758-537: The character the player controls in some/all forms of gameplay. Miis can interact with other Wii users by showing up on their Wii consoles through the WiiConnect24 feature or by talking with other Miis created by Wii owners all over the world. This feature is called Mii Parade. Early-created Miis as well as those encountered in Mii Parades may show up as spectators in some games. Miis can be stored on Wii Remotes and taken to other Wii consoles. The Wii Remote can hold
14915-623: The console in addition to newer Wii game titles. However, South Korean units lack GameCube backward compatibility. Also, the redesigned Wii Family Edition and Wii Mini, launched in 2011 and 2013 respectively, had this compatibility stripped out. Nevertheless, there is another service called Virtual Console which allow users to download older games from prior Nintendo platforms (namely the Nintendo Entertainment System , Super NES and Nintendo 64 ) onto their Wii console, as well as games from non-Nintendo platforms such as
15072-464: The consoles, either as an avatar of a specific player (such as in the Wii series ) or in some games (such as Tomodachi Life and Miitopia ) portrayed as characters with their own personalities. Miis can be shared and transferred between consoles, either manually or automatically with other users over the internet and local wireless communications. On the 3DS and Wii U, user accounts are associated with
15229-495: The creator's real-life persona. YouTube's 2020 Culture and Trends report highlighted VTubers as one of the notable trends of that year, with 1.5 billion views per month by October, and in May 2021, Twitch added a VTuber tag for streams as part of a wider expansion of its tag system. Samsung's AR Emoji which comes on Samsung Galaxy smartphones lets users create animated avatars of themselves. Cartoons and stories sometimes have
15386-445: The current weather on the Wii Menu. The Forecast Channel (along with the News Channel ) was not available in South Korea. Like the four other Wii channels ( News Channel , Everybody Votes Channel , Check Mii Out Channel / Mii Contest Channel , Nintendo Channel ), the Forecast Channel ended its seven-year support on June 27, 2013. The News Channel allowed users to access news headlines and current news events obtained from
15543-565: The data collected. The Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication published a study of the reactions to certain types of avatars by a sample group of human users. The results showed that users commonly chose avatars which were humanoid and matched their gender. The conclusion was that in order to make users feel more "at home" in their avatars, designers should maximise the customizability of visual criteria common to humans, such as skin and hair color, age, gender, hair styles and height. Researchers at York University studied whether avatars reflected
15700-468: The ethical content of his story, Garriott wanted the real player to be responsible for their character; he thought only someone playing "themselves" could be properly judged based on their in-game actions. Because of its ethically nuanced narrative approach, he took the Hindu word associated with a deity's manifestation on earth in physical form, and applied it to a player in the game world. Other early uses of
15857-472: The exception of the Wii Fit Channel and the Internet Channel. LoveFilm The Disc Channel is the primary way to play Wii and GameCube titles from supported Nintendo optical discs inserted into the console. Each Wii game disc includes a system update partition, which includes the latest Wii software from the time the game was released. If a disc that is inserted contains newer software than
16014-407: The facial features can be further adjusted, including their size, position, color, and alignment. Accessories such as hats and glasses are also available to add, and the Mii's height and build can also be adjusted. The Mii Maker installed on the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U can use facial recognition to generate a Mii, which selects facial features based on a photograph of a person's face taken with
16171-418: The fantasy of who we want to be". Another form of use for avatars is for video chats/calls. Some services, such as Skype (through some external plugins) allow users to use talking avatars during video calls, replacing the image from the user's camera with an animated, talking avatar. Through the use of facial motion capture and a webcam , an avatar can be configured to mimic the motions and expressions of
16328-414: The first publication of Snow Crash , I learned that the term avatar has actually been in use for a number of years as part of a virtual reality system called Habitat ...in addition to avatars, Habitat includes many of the basic features of the Metaverse as described in this book. An avatar can refer to a two-dimensional picture akin to an icon in Internet forums and other online communities. This
16485-455: The form of a three-dimensional model , as used in online worlds and video games, or an imaginary character with no graphical appearance, as in text-based games or worlds such as MUDs . The term avatāra ( / ˈ æ v ə t ɑːr , ˌ æ v ə ˈ t ɑːr / ) originates from Sanskrit , and was adopted by early computer games and science fiction novelists. Richard Garriott extended the term to an on-screen user representation in 1985, and
16642-493: The game world. A later example is Linden Lab's Second Life , which has the player use a custom avatar to interact in a virtual 3D world; after peaking in 2007, its user count declined due to the encroachment of more traditional platforms such as Facebook . More recently, the concept has been combined with virtual reality ; VRChat allows the user to interact with other avatars in custom environments, and Mark Zuckerberg 's Meta Platforms has promoted it as part of his vision of
16799-645: The game, but the idea was decided against due to fears of bullying . They would eventually debut in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U . Miis were incorporated in the downloadable Everybody Votes Channel , where Miis represented the voter. Up to six different Miis could be registered within the channel to use in voting. The channel was discontinued along with the Check Mii Out channel by Nintendo on June 28, 2013, as they moved on to other next-generation projects. Another Mii-centric channel,
16956-551: The handheld console. During 2013, Nintendo released special Miis of Shigeru Miyamoto and Kensuke Tanabe , and during E3 2013 , also released special Miis for Takashi Tezuka , Koichi Hayashida , Eiji Aonuma , and Hideki Konno . Their Miis feature gold pants, as opposed to a gray pair, and cannot be edited or copied. If owners transfer them to another Wii or Wii Remote, they will be removed from their original location, instead of traditionally making another copy. In late 2011, Nintendo released Swapnote / Nintendo Letter Box for
17113-487: The handheld's StreetPass feature, which data can be transferred between nearby Nintendo 3DS consoles in standby mode. As Miis are gathered in the plaza, they can be used in numerous minigames, with the initial two being Puzzle Swap and Find Mii (known as StreetPass Quest in PAL regions). In Puzzle Swap, players can exchange pieces of several jigsaw puzzle panels based on Nintendo games, in which there were initially seven, but this number increased with occasional updates. Find Mii
17270-507: The hardware. The feature was described as part of a "profile" system that contains the Mii and other pertinent player information. This application was officially unveiled by Nintendo in September 2006. It is incorporated into Wii's operating system interface as the " Mii Channel ". Users can select from pre-made Miis or create their own by choosing custom facial shapes, colors, and positioning. In certain games, each player's Mii will serve as
17427-400: The implications, possibilities, and transformed social interaction that occur when people interact via avatars. Another use of the avatar has emerged with the widespread use of social media platforms. There is a practice in social media sites: uploading avatars in place of real profile image. Profile picture is a distinct graphics that represent the identity of profile holder. It is usually
17584-447: The latter two were not initially included and only became available via system updates. Some of the functions provided by these Channels on the Wii used to be limited to a computer , such as a full-featured web browser and digital photo viewer. Users can also use Channels to create and share cartoon-like digital avatars called Miis and download new games and Channels directly from the Wii Shop Channel. New Channels include, for example,
17741-469: The left side of the Wii U Gamepad based on the customizable characters. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild uses an evolved form of Mii, UMii , to render non-essential NPCs . Unlike previous Nintendo consoles and handhelds, The Nintendo Switch 's Mii creation software is located within the console's system settings menu instead of it being a separate app. It includes the same facial features used on
17898-489: The main body. In Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 2 , the Mii's body is formed more like a regular human. This design was, however, criticized by IGN 's Lucas M. Thomas, who sarcastically commented that "[it] doesn't look disturbing at all." While Miis are not playable in Super Smash Bros. Brawl , the creator of the series, Masahiro Sakurai , explained that Miis were originally considered to be playable in
18055-566: The male gender. In Second Life avatars are created by residents and take any form, and range from lifelike humans to robots, animals , plants and legendary creatures . Avatar customization is one of the most important entertainment aspects in non gaming virtual worlds, such as Second Life , IMVU , and Active Worlds . Some evidence suggests that avatars that are more anthropomorphic are perceived to be less credible and likeable than images that are less anthropomorphic. Social scientists at Stanford 's Virtual Human Interaction Lab examine
18212-399: The message board. According to the system's manual, the following file extensions (i.e. formats) are supported: Photos (jpeg/jpg), Movies (mov/avi), and Music (mp3/aac). JPEG files can be up to 8192x8192 resolution and in baseline format. Video data contained within the .mov or .avi files must be in an OpenDML -compliant MotionJPEG and use some variant of this format for their videos, with
18369-538: The moniker of "buddy icon" as 3D customizable icons became known to its users from the mainstream popularity of PC Games. Yahoo's instant messenger was the first to adopt the term "avatar" for its icons. Instant messaging avatars were usually very small; AIM icons have been as small as 16×16 pixels but are used more commonly at the 48×48 pixel size, although many icons can be found online that typically measure anywhere from 50×50 pixels to 100×100 pixels in size. More recently, services such as Discord have added avatars. With
18526-497: The most detailed and comprehensive in-game avatar creation processes, allowing players to construct anything from traditional superheroes to aliens, medieval knights, monsters, robots, and many more. Robbie Cooper 's 2007 book "Alter Ego, Avatars and their creators" pairs photographs of players of a variety of MMO's with images of their in-game avatars and profiles; recording the player's motivations and intentions in designing and using their avatars. The survey reveals wide variation in
18683-633: The most notable game to feature Miis in their entirety is Tomodachi Life , the sequel to the Japan-only Tomodachi Collection for the Nintendo DS. This is also the first game to give Miis complete lines of dialogue as well as the first game to allow players to choose what Miis say. Miitopia is another Mii-centric game title for the Nintendo 3DS. A feature on the Nintendo 3DS, the StreetPass Mii Plaza ( すれちがいMii広場 , Surechigai Mī Hiroba ) makes use of
18840-561: The need for registration or authentication. If an account is compromised, a dissimilar identicon will be formed as the attacker is posting from an unfamiliar IP address. GIF avatars were introduced as early as 1990 in the ImagiNation Network (also known as Sierra On-Line) game and chat hybrid. In 1994, Virtual Places offered VOIP capabilities which were later abandoned for lack of bandwidth. In 1996 Microsoft Comic Chat , an IRC client that used cartoon avatars for chatting,
18997-432: The now-defunct Miitomo . Games such as Wii Sports , Wii Sports Resort , Wii Sports Club , Nintendo Switch Sports , Mario Kart Wii , Mario Kart 8 , Go Vacation , Super Mario Maker 2 , Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe use Miis as playable characters. Nintendo's idea of a free-form personal avatar software was discussed at the Game Developers Conference in 2007,
19154-437: The now-defunct Club Nintendo in Japan. The Mii Channel is the app that allows Mii creation on the Wii menu. It can store up to 100+ Miis, and Wii Remotes are also able to store and transfer up to ten Miis to other consoles. It is also possible to see other Miis from TV shows and games. Miis are intended to be an extension of the player, and in keeping with this spirit, the user can use them in several Nintendo titles for
19311-467: The number of images as well as the time in which they are replayed vary considerably. Other avatar systems exist, such as on Gaia Online , WeeWorld , Frenzoo or Meez , where a pixelized representation of a person or creature is used, which can then be customized to the user's wishes. There are also avatar systems (e.g. Trutoon) where a representation is created using a person's face with customized characters and backgrounds. Another avatar-based system
19468-417: The one installed on the console, installing the new software will be required to play the game. This allows users without an internet connection to still receive system updates. When loaded into the disc slot, an icon on the Disc Channel that says "Wii System Update" appears. After selecting the channel, the Wii will automatically update. If these updates are not installed, the game will remain unplayable until
19625-462: The only channel that can be manually deleted or moved to an SD Card by the user. The channel takes up over half of the Wii's internal memory space. Upon connecting to the Internet and running the channel, the user will be asked if they would like to delete it. It cannot be re-downloaded or restored upon deletion. The same video presentation contained in the channel can also be viewed on an archived version of Nintendo's official website. The channel
19782-435: The option also available. Miitomo was also used to support Mii avatars on other Nintendo apps for smart devices. For example, an update released for Super Mario Run on April 25, 2017, introduced player Mii icon customization options with the support of Miitomo , and its in-game costumes, via the same Nintendo Account. Miitomo was only available in 60 of the 165 countries/territories recognized by Nintendo Accounts when it
19939-474: The photos and play either the music on the SD card or built-in music in the background. A built-in editor allows users to add markings and effects to their photos or videos (The edits float statically above the videos). Mosaics can also be created with this feature. In "Doodle" mode, the user can draw on or make art on the photos. The "Mood" mode allows the user to make all the photos on these four following effects which
20096-736: The player what he looked like without the use of a console command for third-person view). Many Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) also include customizable avatars. Customization levels differ between games; for instance, in EVE Online , players construct a wholly customized portrait, using a software that allows for several changes to facial structure as well as preset hairstyles, skin tones, etc. However, these portraits appear only in in-game chats and static information view of other players. Usually, all players appear in gigantic spacecraft that give no view of their pilot, unlike in most other RPGs. Alternatively, City of Heroes offers one of
20253-447: The portrait of an individual, logo of an organization, organizational building or distinctive character of book, cover page etc. Using avatars as profile pictures can increase users' perceived level of social presence which in turn fosters reciprocity and sharing behavior in online environments. According to MIT professor Sherry Turkle : "... we think we will be presenting ourselves, but our profile ends up as somebody else – often
20410-435: The post without having to read their username. Some forums allow the user to upload an avatar image that may have been designed by the user or acquired from elsewhere. Other forums allow the user to select an avatar from a preset list or use an auto-discovery algorithm to extract one from the user's homepage. Some avatars are animated , consisting of a sequence of multiple images played repeatedly. In such animated avatars,
20567-455: The purpose of representing users and their actions, personalizing their contributions to the forum, and may represent different parts of their persona , beliefs, interests or social status in the forum. The traditional avatar system used on most Internet forums is a small (80x80 to 100x100 pixels , for example) square-shaped area close to the user's forum post, where the avatar is placed in order for other users to easily identify who has written
20724-478: The real world. Often, these are customised to show support for different causes, or to create a unique online representation. Academic research has focused on how avatars can influence the outcomes of communication and digital identity. Users can employ avatars with fictional characteristics to gain social acceptance or ease social interaction. However, studies have found that the majority of users choose avatars that resemble their real-world selves. The word avatar
20881-517: The real world. She described a case in which a man with a serious heart condition preventing him from ordinary socializing found acceptance and friendship through his online identity. Others have pointed out similar findings in those with mental disorders making social interaction difficult, such as those with autism or similar disabilities. Mii Channel Most game discs, including first-party and third-party games, include system software updates so that systems that are not connected to
21038-457: The screen (including the HOME button menu) comes from that software, and not from any operating system or firmware. Therefore, the version number reported by the Wii is actually only the version number of the System Menu. This is why some updates do not result in a change of the version number: the System Menu itself is not updated, only (for example) IOSes and channels. As a side effect, this means it
21195-427: The side effect that it uses up space on the Wii's internal NAND Flash memory. IOSes are referred to by their number, which can theoretically be between 3 and 255, although many numbers are skipped, presumably being development versions that were never completed. Only one IOS version can run at any given time. The only time an IOS is not running is when the Wii enters GameCube backward compatibility mode, during which
21352-412: The story, humans receive messages from an alien galactic network that wishes to share knowledge and experience with other advanced civilizations through "songs". The humans build a "galactic receiver" that allows its users to engage in "artificial realities". One experience is described as such: You stand in a throng of multifleshed being, mind avatared in all its matter, on a broad avenue winding through
21509-457: The system's and GamePad 's cameras respectively. The features can then be fine-tuned by the user. These versions also have more options than their Wii counterpart. Because the selection of facial features is considered by some to be limited, users are encouraged to develop caricatures of real people instead of accurate depictions. Nintendo periodically released special Miis, usually during E3 or to commemorate game and franchise anniversaries. For
21666-432: The term gained wider adoption in Internet forums and MUDs . Nowadays, avatars are used in a variety of online settings including social media , virtual assistants , instant messaging platforms, and digital worlds such as World of Warcraft and Second Life . They can take the form of an image of one's real-life self, as often seen on platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn , or a virtual character that diverges from
21823-399: The term include Lucasfilm and Chip Morningstar 's 1986 online role-playing game Habitat , and the 1989 pen and paper role-playing game Shadowrun . The use of avatar to mean online virtual bodies was popularised by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 cyberpunk novel Snow Crash . In Snow Crash, the term avatar was used to describe the virtual simulation of the human form in
21980-567: The trial version) can only be saved to the Wii's internal memory. The application launches within a few seconds, after connecting to the Internet through a wireless LAN using the built-in interface or a wired LAN by using the USB to the Ethernet adapter. The Opera-based Wii browser allows users full access to the Internet and supports all the same web standards that are included in the desktop versions of Opera, including CSS and JavaScript . It
22137-464: The update is installed, as each time the channel is loaded with the game inserted, the update prompt will appear, and declining the update will return the player to the Wii Menu instead of starting the game. Games requiring a system update can still be played without updating using homebrew software, such as Gecko OS or a USB loader. The Mii Channel is an avatar creator, where users can design 3D caricatures of people called Miis by selecting from
22294-701: The user. This can be integrated directly into games, such as Star Citizen , and via standalone software such as FaceRig. Both 3D and 2D avatars have been used in Learning and Development content for education, onboarding, employee training and more. Photorealistic 3D AI avatars have been used as stand-ins for real actors via video editing tools like those made by Synthesia among others. Virtual YouTubers use animated avatars designed in software such as Live2D , which often resemble anime characters. A whole ecosystem of talent agencies and investors exists to manage these online personalities, which often differ from
22451-455: The values of the Wii Remote buttons in both Flash and JavaScript. This allows for software that previously required keyboard controls to be converted for use with the Wii Remote. The browser was also used to stream BBC iPlayer videos from April 9, 2008 after an exclusive deal was made with Nintendo UK and the BBC to offer their catch-up service for the Wii. However, the September 2009 update caused
22608-513: The ways in which players of MMO's use avatars. Felicia Day , creator and star of The Guild web series , created a song called " (Do You Wanna Date My) Avatar " which satirizes avatars and virtual dating . Nintendo 's Wii , 3DS and Switch consoles allow for the creation of avatars called " Miis " that take the form of stylized, cartoonish people and can be used in some games as avatars for players, as in Wii Sports . In some games,
22765-558: The world of academics. According to psychiatrist David Brunski, the emergence of online avatars have implications for domains of scholarly research such as technoself studies, which is concerned with all aspects of identity in a technological society. Across the literature, scholars have focused on three overlapping aspects that influence users' perceptions of the social potential of avatars: agency, anthropomorphism, and realism. According to researchers K. L. Novak and J. Fox, researchers must differentiate perceived agency (whether an entity
22922-563: Was because the Wii hardware had ports for both GameCube memory cards, and peripherals and its slot-loading drive was able to accept and read the previous console's discs. GameCube games work with the Wii without any additional configuration, but a GameCube controller is required to play GameCube titles; neither the Wii Remote or the Classic Controller functions in this capacity. The Wii supports progressive-scan output in 480p-enabled GameCube titles. Peripherals can be connected via
23079-403: Was discontinued on May 9, 2018. On May 24, 2018, Nintendo introduced a browser-based Mii editor called Mii Studio. The editor is integrated into all Nintendo Accounts for users in all regions, including regions that did not originally have official support for Miitomo . Mii Studio supports all Mii attributes and standards introduced for the Nintendo Switch. Up to six Mii avatars can be created at
23236-470: Was embarrassed to display in the offline world. Research by Nick Yee of the Daedelus Project demonstrates that an avatar may differ considerably from a player's offline identity, based on gender. However, most players will make an avatar that is (proportionately) equal to their height (or slightly taller). Turkle has observed that some players seek an emotional connection they cannot establish in
23393-480: Was for the Nintendo e-Reader and GameCube . Along with the Game Boy Camera , it can build an avatar maker. Miyamoto showed another short film they made with this software, which was shown at E3 2002 with the name Stage Debut . This software, renamed to Manebito , was discontinued prior to release. During a Financial Results Briefing Q&A with investors in 2008, Iwata mentioned that the licensed use of
23550-545: Was in a variety of languages provided by the Associated Press , who had a two-year contract to provide news and photos to Nintendo. Canadian news was submitted by the Canadian Press for publication. Japanese news was provided by Goo . European news was provided by Agence France-Presse . Starting with the August 6, 2007 update, the News Channel showed a news ticker in the Wii Menu, and when selecting
23707-488: Was later relaunched as the separate BBC iPlayer Channel on the Wii. In addition, Internet access including the Internet Channel and system updates may be restricted by the parental controls feature of the Wii. The original designs of the Nintendo Wii console, more specifically the Wii models made pre-2011 were fully backward compatible with GameCube devices including game discs, memory cards and controllers. This
23864-530: Was launched in Japan. Mario Artist: Talent Studio featured an avatar maker, which includes clothes and a built-in movie editor. The player can optionally utilize the Game Boy Camera and the 64DD's Capture Cassette to put their own face upon the avatar. Nintendo had produced a short film using the game's avatar maker to demonstrate its capabilities. Talent Studio was one of Nintendo's first public debut of avatar creation. The next avatar implementation
24021-452: Was possible for the first time to officially create Mii characters without the need for a Nintendo console. Mii characters created on the app initially resembled their Wii U counterparts, and use the same attributes. A later update introduced the Nintendo Switch's standards and attributes for Mii characters. Nintendo Account holders can opt to use the app to create Mii avatars without the need to link their accounts to any Nintendo console, with
24178-451: Was released on April 11, 2007 and was free to download until June 30, 2007. After this deadline had passed, the Internet Channel cost 500 Wii Points to download until September 1, 2009, though users who downloaded the browser before June 30, 2007, could continue to use it at no cost for the lifetime of the Wii system. An update (promoted as the "Internet Channel") on October 10, 2007 added USB keyboard compatibility. On September 1, 2009
24335-582: Was released. America Online introduced instant messaging for its membership in 1996 and included a limited number of "buddy icons," picking up on the avatar idea from PC games. When AOL later introduced the free version of its messenger, AIM, for use by anyone on the Internet, the number of icons offered grew to be more than 1,000 and the use of them grew exponentially, becoming a hallmark feature of instant messaging. In 2002, AOL introduced "Super Buddies," 3D animated icons that talked to users as they typed messages and read messages. The term Avatar began to replace
24492-441: Was updated to include SpotPass functionality, as well as new puzzle panels, a sequel to Find Mii, a map showing where players met other Miis, Accomplishments and a music player. Special Miis released by Nintendo and obtained through SpotPass can also be used in StreetPass Mii Plaza . They have access to all Puzzle Swap pieces and provide a level 5 player for Find Mii. The Mii Maker ( Miiスタジオ , Mī Sutajio , lit. "Mii Studio")
24649-518: Was visible in the background. (The Big Dipper and the constellation Orion were easily recognizable, for example.) The Forecast Channel features included the current forecast, the UV index, today's overall forecast, tomorrow's forecast, a 5-day forecast (only for the selected country in which the user lives), a laundry check (Japan only) and pollen count (Japan only). The Forecast Channel first became available on December 19, 2006. Certain games could use
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