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51-614: The Wii Shop Channel is a discontinued digital distribution service for the Wii video game console. The service allowed users to purchase and play additional software for the Wii (called Channels), including exclusive games (branded WiiWare ), and games from prior generations of video games (marketed with the Virtual Console brand). The Wii Shop Channel launched on November 19, 2006, and ceased operations on January 30, 2019. Succeeded by

102-541: A DVD . Some companies, such as Bookmasters Distribution, which invested US$ 4.5 million in upgrading its equipment and operating systems, have had to direct capital toward keeping up with the changes in technology. The phenomenon of books going digital has given users the ability to access their books on handheld digital book readers. One benefit of electronic book readers is that they allow users to access additional content via hypertext links. These electronic book readers also give users portability for their books since

153-544: A hard drive or other forms of storage media may allow offline access in the future. Specialist networks known as content delivery networks help distribute content over the Internet by ensuring both high availability and high performance. Alternative technologies for content delivery include peer-to-peer file sharing technologies. Alternatively, content delivery platforms create and syndicate content remotely, acting like hosted content management systems . Unrelated to

204-423: A base starting price for games on that system. All titles ranged from 500 to 1200 Wii Points. If a person using the now defunct Connection Ambassador Programme reached Gold status (Helped 10 people to connect), they would be able to download any Nintendo-published NES game free of charge. Additionally, if they reached Platinum (helped 20 people to connect), they would be able to download any NES, SNES and N64 game in

255-624: A contest could create a souvenir photo that showed their submitted Mii and their artisan placed and posed on top of a background related to the contest theme. The image could then be sent to the Wii Message Board. Souvenir photos were usually related to Wii games such as Super Mario Galaxy . As part of Nintendo 's WiiConnect24 service for the Nintendo Wii console, the Mii Contest Channel / Check Mii Out Channel

306-405: A major publisher of science fiction and fantasy books, started to sell e-books DRM-free by July 2012. One year later the publisher stated that they will keep this model as removing DRM was not hurting their digital distribution ebook business. Smaller e-book publishers such as O'Reilly Media , Carina Press and Baen Books had already forgone DRM previously. Online distribution is changing

357-432: A reader can hold multiple books depending on the size of its hard drive . Companies that are able to adapt and make changes to capitalize on the digital media market have seen sales surge. Vice President of Perseus Books Group stated that since shifting to electronic books (e-books), it saw sales rise by 68% . Independent Publishers Group experienced a sales boost of 23% in the first quarter of 2012 alone. Tor Books ,

408-574: A retailer is the Canadian music chain Sam the Record Man ; the company blamed online distribution for having to close a number of its traditional retail venues in 2007–08. One main reason that sales took such a big hit was that unlicensed downloads of music were very accessible. With copyright infringement affecting sales, the music industry realized it needed to change its business model to keep up with

459-422: Is gog.com which has a strict non-DRM policy while most other services allow various (strict or less strict) forms of DRM. Digital distribution is also more eco-friendly than physical. Optical discs are made of polycarbonate plastic and aluminum . The creation of 30 of them requires the use of 300 cubic feet of natural gas , two cups of oil and 24 gallons of water. The protective cases for an optical disc

510-522: Is generally used to describe distribution over an online delivery medium, such as the Internet , thus bypassing physical distribution methods, such as paper , optical discs , and VHS videocassettes. The term online distribution is typically applied to freestanding products; downloadable add-ons for other products are more commonly known as downloadable content . With the advancement of network bandwidth capabilities, online distribution became prominent in

561-416: Is made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a known carcinogen . A general issue is the large number of incompatible data formats in which content is delivered, possibly restricting the devices that may be used, or making data conversion necessary. Streaming services can have several drawbacks: requiring a constant Internet connection to use content; the restriction of some content to never be stored locally;

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612-675: The Nintendo Channel . An update to the Photo Channel (Photo Channel 1.1) is also available, if not preinstalled. A fourth Channel, the Internet Channel , a web browser based on Opera , was available worldwide originally for 500 Wii Points but was free as of September 1, 2009. Anyone who paid the 500 Wii Points for the Internet Channel has been refunded. There were also two exclusive free Japanese channels:

663-600: The Nintendo eShop on the Wii U , the Wii Shop Channel was also accessible on the Wii U console via Wii Mode, supporting the download of WiiWare titles, as well as legacy Virtual Console titles that were not available via the Nintendo eShop. The Channel's theme music has become popular and well-received on the internet, and is often used in internet memes . Wii Points were the currency used in transactions on

714-563: The Television Friend Channel , which provides channel listing and recording reminder features, and the Digicam Print Channel , which allows users to order business cards and photo albums using photos stored on SD cards or the Photo Channel. Previously, a preview channel for Metroid Prime 3: Corruption was available for free in the fall of 2007 for North America and PAL regions before it was removed from

765-475: The "Mii Artisan Info" section of the Main Menu. The "Highest Mii Ranking" stat showed the highest ranking that the user had ever gotten on a contest, and the "Judging Eye" stat showed the user's most recent ranking for judging. Note that this was the user's most recent judging rank, not the best rank. The Mii Contest Channel had new contests going on all the time. Players submitted a Mii that they thought fitted

816-464: The 21st century, with prominent platforms such as Amazon Video , and Netflix 's streaming service starting in 2007. Content distributed online may be streamed or downloaded, and often consists of books , films and television programs , music , software, and video games. Streaming involves downloading and using content at a user's request, or "on-demand", rather than allowing a user to store it permanently. In contrast, fully downloading content to

867-577: The IPs you signed, your art direction would not change, and so on. Now it's the opposite extreme: we can put something up on Steam, deliver it to people all around the world, make changes. We can take more interesting risks.[...] Retail doesn't know how to deal with those games. On Steam [a digital distributor] there's no shelf-space restriction. Since the 2000s, there has been an increasing number of smaller and niche titles available and commercially successful, e.g. remakes of classic games. The new possibility of

918-542: The Mii Contest Channel on June 28, 2013, along with four more Wii channels as WiiConnect24 , which the channel required, was permanently disconnected. Users were able to submit their Mii(s) for other Mii creators around the world to view. When a Mii was submitted to the Posting Plaza, a twelve-digit entry number was assigned to it (#### - #### - ####), so others could find it using the search function. The submitted Miis were also given two initials by their creator and

969-466: The Mii's talent. If a person liked a Mii, it could be imported to his or her Mii Channel plaza. An imported Mii could not be edited, but could have been used in Wii games that use the Mii interface. People could favorite Miis, and the Mii would be given a rank out of five stars, depending on how many people liked the Mii. The artisan was also given a ratings rank of anywhere from one to five stars. Every month,

1020-403: The Posting Plaza had a "Mii Artisan" ranking section that lasted for the entire month. The first ranking Mii Artisan by the end of the month was declared a "Master Mii Artisan". The Mii Contest Channel was the first Wii channel that used the Wii message board. When WiiConnect24 was turned on, Nintendo would send a message as soon as new contests began or when a contest update was available, if

1071-698: The Virtual Console featured several import titles which were not previously made available in those respective territories, such as Mario's Super Picross . These games cost 100–300 more points than the normal price due to their import status and some translation work. Consoles included both Nintendo systems, such as the NES , SNES and N64 , and non-Nintendo systems, such as the Sega Genesis , Master System , TurboGrafx-16 , MSX , Neo Geo and Commodore 64 (Europe and North America only). Each system had

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1122-463: The Virtual console free of charge. The WiiWare section featured original games specifically designed for Wii. Games were priced between 500 and 1500 points. To decrease the size of the games, instruction manuals were hosted on each game's Wii Shop Channel page. Some titles featured additional downloadable content , priced from 100 to 800 points, that could be purchased using Wii Points in game or from

1173-579: The Wii Shop Channel remained functional until January 29, 2019. On January 30, 2019, Nintendo shut down the Wii Shop Channel and removed all WiiWare, Virtual Console games, and other Wii Channels from sale or initial download. The only exceptions are the save data update channel for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword , the Wii U Transfer Tool channel (on Wii consoles), and the Wii System Transfer channel (on Wii U consoles). Users can continue re-downloading any games and apps they acquired before

1224-651: The Wii Shop Channel several months after the game's launch. In North America and Europe, the Netflix channel was available in the Wii Channels section, along with Crunchyroll . The Wii Channels section in the Wii Shop Channel was originally under the name of WiiWare in North America and Wii Software in Europe, before moving to its own dedicated space when WiiWare launched. These Wii Channels were unavailable on

1275-483: The Wii Shop Channel, allowing users to purchase and send games and channels to others as gifts. The receiving user was given the option to download or reject the gift upon opening the Wii Shop Channel, with a notification being sent out to the sender if it was accepted. If a user already had the game or if the user did not choose to accept the gift within 45 days, then the gift expired and the Wii Points are returned to

1326-480: The Wii Shop Channel. Both the Ambassador and the user who was assisted to get their console online received a reward of 500 Wii Points. If the ambassador assisted 20 people, the ambassador would have accumulated 10,000 Wii Points from the programme while attaining Platinum status and be able to download all NES, SNES and N64 titles from the Virtual Console section of the Wii Shop Channel free of charge. The service

1377-407: The Wii Shop Channel. Wii Points were purchased by either redeeming Wii Points Cards purchased from retail outlets or directly through the Wii Shop Channel using a Mastercard or Visa credit card. In 2008, Club Nintendo in Europe began offering Wii Points in exchange for "stars" received from registering games and consoles on the website. On March 26, 2018, the ability to purchase and add Wii Points

1428-463: The Wii U console. Software downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel is saved onto the Wii console's internal memory. After a download is complete, the new software appears on the Wii Menu as a channel. Software can be copied to SD cards or re-downloaded for free. Wii consoles with system software version 4.0 can download software directly to SD cards. On December 10, 2007, a gift feature was added to

1479-404: The Wii component cables. These updates are free of charge to those who have downloaded a previous version of the game. Some WiiWare games have also featured free updates for the purposes of fixing bugs. These games include Dr. Mario Online Rx and Alien Crush Returns . In 2009, Nintendo of Japan launched a scheme designed to reward users for helping other new users get connected online and to

1530-414: The ability to purchase and add Wii Points with a credit card or a Wii Points card would be removed on March 26, 2018. On March 26, 2018, the ability to purchase and add Wii Points with a credit card or Wii Points card was permanently removed. As a result, Wii Shop Channel users were no longer able to purchase and play additional software unless they had enough Wii Points in their account balance. Afterwards,

1581-497: The above, the term "digital distribution" is also used in film distribution to describe the distribution of content through physical digital media, in opposition to distribution by analog media such as photographic film and magnetic tape (see: digital cinema ). The rise of online distribution has provided controversy for the traditional business models and resulted in challenges as well as new opportunities for traditional retailers and publishers. Online distribution affects all of

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1632-422: The category, and they were judged by other players. At the end of a contest, a "Level System" was shown on a 1-10 scale (10 being the highest, and 1 the lowest). The Mii that the user had created would be running up the mountain. One's Mii would be based on a 1-10 scale, and if it stopped at a certain spot (ex: 5th layer), the user's Mii would be ranked at the corresponding level. This system was reverse-scored from

1683-487: The content owner directly or from third-party services. YouTube , Netflix , Hulu , Vudu , Amazon Prime Video , DirecTV , SlingTV and other Internet-based video services allow content owners to let users access their content on computers, smartphones, tablets or by using appliances such as video game consoles, set-top boxes or Smart TVs . Many film distributors also include a Digital Copy , also called Digital HD, with Blu-ray disc , Ultra HD Blu-ray , 3D Blu-ray or

1734-715: The digital distribution stimulated also the creation of game titles of very small video game producers like Independent game developer and Modders (e.g. Garry's Mod ), which were before not commercially feasible. The years after 2004 saw the rise of many digital distribution services on the PC, such as Amazon Services , Desura , GameStop , Games for Windows – Live , Impulse , Steam , Origin , Battle.net , Direct2Drive , GOG.com , Epic Games Store and GamersGate . The offered properties differ significantly: while most of these digital distributors do not allow reselling of bought games, Green Man Gaming allows this. Another example

1785-774: The game's page. The first WiiWare games were made available on March 25, 2008, in Japan, on May 12, 2008, in North America, and on May 20, 2008, in Europe. The Wii Channels section featured additional non-game channels that can be downloaded and used on Wii. Before the WiiConnect24 service was discontinued, there were three free Channels offered worldwide: the Everybody Votes Channel , the Check Mii Out Channel (Mii Contest Channel in Europe), and

1836-400: The normal games; in other words, 10 was best, and 1 was worst. One's "Eye for Miis" was how one judged other people's Miis. A high Mii ranking indicated that the user was a great judge. The user was then shown the first place Mii, along with its "Artisan." This lead into the top 50 Miis for the contest, viewable either as a "Parade" or "Arranged". For certain contests, those who participated in

1887-400: The originals with no updated features or graphics, with the exception of Pokémon Snap , which was updated to allow in-game pictures to be posted to the Wii Message Board. New games were added weekly at 9 A.M. Pacific Time every Thursday (previously every Monday) in North America, Tuesdays in Japan and South Korea, and Fridays in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. In Europe and North America,

1938-424: The rapidly changing technology. The step that was taken to move the music industry into the online space has been successful for several reasons. The development of lossy audio compression file formats such as MP3 could take 30 MB for a typical 3-minute song and bring it down to 3 MB without any serious loss of quality. Lossless FLAC files can be up to six times larger than an MP3 while, in comparison,

1989-529: The restriction of content from being transferred to physical media ; and the enabling of greater censorship at the discretion of owners of content, infrastructure, and consumer devices. Decades after the launch of the World Wide Web , in 2019 businesses were still adapting to the evolving world of distributing content digitally—even regarding the definition and understanding of basic terminology. Check Mii Out Channel Nintendo ended support for

2040-474: The rise of music streaming services . In 2017, physical formats overtook downloading again for the first time in six years, but despite the vinyl revival and CDs holding its own, the physical formats account for only 11% revenue as of 2023, while streaming services are dominant with 84% of the US industry. Many traditional network television shows, movies and other video content is now available online, either from

2091-451: The same song might require 30–40 megabytes of storage on a CD. The smaller file size yields much greater Internet transfer speeds. The transition into the online space has boosted sales, and profit for some artists. It has also allowed for potentially lower expenses such as lower coordination costs, lower distribution costs, as well as the possibility for redistributed total profits. These lower costs have aided new artists in breaking onto

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2142-404: The scene and gaining recognition. In the past, some emerging artists have struggled to find a way to market themselves and compete in the various distribution channels. The Internet may give artists more control over their music in terms of ownership, rights, creative process, pricing, and more. In addition to providing global users with easier access to content, online stores allow users to choose

2193-516: The sender. The feature was region locked and incompatible with the Wii U 's Nintendo eShop . Downloaded games can receive updates from the Wii Shop Channel. This has been done four times so far to update Military Madness , Star Fox 64 / Lylat Wars , Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (in North America and Europe), and Mario Kart 64 (in Europe and Australia). Several NES and SNES games released before March 30, 2007 have also been given updates in Europe and Australia to fix previous problems with

2244-499: The shutdown date from February 21, 2019 until August 31, 2019. The refunded points could be transferred to a local bank account or received as a refund from a convenience store. Digital distribution Digital distribution , also referred to as content delivery , online distribution , or electronic software distribution , among others, is the delivery or distribution of digital media content such as audio , video , e-books , video games , and other software . The term

2295-534: The shutdown, and the ability to re-download previously purchased content and/or transfer data from a Wii to a Wii U will continue for the foreseeable future. On the day of the closure, the shop's main UI was updated to show its original layout as it appeared when it was first launched back on November 19, 2006, removing the WiiWare option entirely. Japanese users were able to transfer or refund any remaining Wii Points after

2346-400: The songs they wish instead of having to purchase an entire album from which there may only be one or two titles that the buyer enjoys. The number of downloaded single tracks rose from 160 million in 2004 to 795 million in 2006, which accounted for a revenue boost from US$ 397 million to US$ 2 billion. Downloading peaked in the US in 2012, after which it started falling due to

2397-490: The structure of the video game industry . Gabe Newell , creator of the digital distribution service Steam , formulated the advantages over physical retail distribution as such: The worst days [for game development] were the cartridge days for the NES. It was a huge risk – you had all this money tied up in silicon in a warehouse somewhere, and so you'd be conservative in the decisions you felt you could make, very conservative in

2448-473: The traditional media markets, including music, press, and broadcasting. In Britain, the iPlayer , a software application for streaming television and radio, accounts for 5% of all bandwidth used in the United Kingdom . The move towards online distribution led to a dip in sales in the 2000s; CD sales were nearly cut in half around this time. One such example of online distribution taking its toll on

2499-507: The user had set up an Internet connection. If a user didn't want to receive these messages from Nintendo, they could opt out by going to the settings in the Check Mii Out Menu or the opt out button when viewing one of the messages that were sent to the Wii console. Scrolling headlines of a contest and a picture above it appeared on the Mii Contest Channel icon when an update to a contest was available. These stats were located in

2550-469: Was also launched in European counties, New Zealand, and Australia. The scheme had proved hugely popular with many sites appearing online dedicated to helping connect users and share system codes. The programme ended on November 21, 2012. On September 29, 2017, Nintendo announced that the Wii Shop Channel would be discontinued on January 30, 2019. To prepare for the closure, the company also announced that

2601-613: Was permanently removed following a temporary maintenance notice; preventing users from purchasing WiiWare or Virtual Console games unless they had enough Wii Points in their account balance. Already purchased software can still be downloaded, and any Wii Points remaining in an account's balance were redeemable until January 30, 2019. Virtual Console was a brand that included games from past video game consoles, which ran under emulation. There were over 300 games available in North America and, as of December 31, 2007, over 10 million games have been downloaded worldwide. All games are exact replicas of

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