Nintendo's Wii game console has been riding a wave of golden quarters ever since it took the gaming world by storm way back in late 2006. Since its insanely successful launch it has barely taken a moment's pause on its climb to the top of the hardware sales charts month after month.

As with almost every other decision Nintendo made in regards to its itty bitty box of joy, it kept the main user interface as simple as can be. "Channels" are what guide us along our Wii journey, and there are several of them to explore. The trick, of course, is finding out which channels are worth your time and which ones don't even warrant a glance.

There are some channels that are a necessity for using the system in the first place, and as such they are exempt from any kind of judgmental review. Channels like the Disc Channel (which allows you to play Wii and GameCube games) and the Wii Shop Channel (which is the means by which you'll acquire new games, old games, and even additional Wii Channels) are a couple of examples.

Other channels are there merely as added value for the console, so are they worthy additions?

The Best

The list of the best channels the Wii has to offer starts with one of the first features you're likely to use upon booting up your system for the first time: the Mii Channel. This channel allows you to customize a virtual avatar, or Mii, to look like you, a family member, a celebrity, or just about anyone else. The customization options are rather beefy but everything is presented in a super-cute cartoony fashion that will produce somewhat of a living caricature of the subject, as opposed to a life-like representation.

Speaking of the Mii channel, you're probably going to want to show off your amazingly artistic David Spade Mii, right? That's where the Check Mii Out Channel comes in. Offering you the ability to upload your Miis to be judged by the community is a great way to get Wii fame and gain some new friend codes. While you're there you'll probably want to check out some of the other amazing creations that like-minded Wii owners have been working on, so prepare to be surprised.

After you're done Mii-ifying yourself and showing off your creation to the whole world, you'll probably want to check the weather — we don't know why, but it works for this story so we're going to go with it! Wii offers a program for just that purpose called the Forecast Channel. Upon entering the channel you're greeted with up to a 7-day forecast of the weather for your area, but the real fun comes when you enter the "Globe" mode. In Globe mode the world is in your hands as you control a 3D representation of the earth and can zoom in and out at your leisure. This allows you to check the current weather in hundreds of locations around the world. This might sound rather gimmicky, but trust us; it can be addicting!

The next great channel is going to be of particular interest to those of you who also own Nintendo's dual-screen wonder, the Nintendo DS. The Nintendo Channel allows you to both watch videos of upcoming games for both systems as well as download playable trial versions of DS games straight to the handheld. The only drawback is that the demos are stored on the DS's flash memory which is cleared if you turn the system off, so be sure you're done playing before powering off for the night!

Finally we come to a channel that is perhaps the best reason to boot up your Wii each day; the Everybody Votes Channel. The premise is simple: vote on a variety of poll questions submitted by Wii owners just like yourself. However, this is where the simplicity ends. Once the results come in you can sort them in a number of ways such as by sex or country (applies to worldwide polls only). Additionally, you can view stats for your own personal voting trends which graphs how tuned in to the world you are, and even charts how far, on average, your votes are from the majority.

 

 The Rest

 Borrowing most of its interface from the Forecast Channel, you'd think the News Channel would be a hit. You'd think that, and you'd be wrong; it's a jumbled mess of news stories loosely linked to different parts of the globe. You do have the ability to browse freely, but finding stories of interest is perhaps the most difficult part of using this channel. Nothing is presented in an appealing matter and if your Wii isn't hooked up to an HDTV, expect to be reading the stories a few sentences at a time, as the font size options leave something to be desired.

Maybe you'd rather just jump on the built-in web browser for your news fix. Unfortunately the Opera browser isn't much good for surfing the web, or anything else for that matter. Sure, if it's the only option available and you're in a pinch it'll do its job. But aside from watching YouTube videos, there isn't much that this low-memory surfing tool is good for, especially if you're relying on the Wii remote as a keyboard.

The final channel of interest to some is the Photo Channel. In theory it sounds like a fantastic idea and the built-in editing tools sure to do seem like a blast for the first five minutes. After that, the novelty wears off and you're left with a semi-capable slideshow application that is easily trumped by any home computer. The inclusion of music playback from an SD card is a nice touch, but unless you really like drawing funny faces on your friends, there isn't much fresh to be had.

 

The best part about the Wii "Channel" interface is that it can always be updated with new and better applications. We'll be sure to keep you updated on any further channels as they are released, but for now this is what we've got to work with. Think of this as kind of a TV Guide for your Wii. You're well on your way to may enjoyable, satisfying hours with that little white box sitting next to your TV!

[Image credit: Header image from Flickr user daveynin . Used via Creative Commons.]