Wii Channel Tunes

[00:00:00] Alright, welcome back and thanks for tuning in to another episode of BarSILENCE.

[00:00:09] My name is Jameson and I'm your host.

[00:00:11] BarSILENCE is a show that's dedicated to exploring the very best video game music

[00:00:15] from past and present each and every month.

[00:00:17] If you haven't yet, head over to BarSILENCE.com to find an easy link to subscribe on whatever

[00:00:21] your favorite podcatcher is.

[00:00:23] And if you're looking for the best 24-7 video game music radio station on the planet,

[00:00:27] check out 8 Beads Radio.

[00:00:29] This show plays there live on the first Tuesday of every month and you can tune in by going

[00:00:33] to 8beads.co.

[00:00:35] You can also listen to this show on terrorplayer.com, which is the premier location to hear a great

[00:00:40] variety of video game music and entertainment podcasts from some of the best creators

[00:00:43] on the internet.

[00:00:45] In this episode, we're going to be listening to something a little bit different this

[00:00:49] time.

[00:00:50] Instead of a soundtrack to a specific game, we're actually going to be listening

[00:00:52] to the music of the Nintendo Wii console.

[00:00:55] The idea of a soundtrack that plays within the system itself is definitely becoming

[00:00:58] a relic of the past, but it's also one of those classic examples of Nintendo's hyper

[00:01:03] level of detail and care that they put into crafting a fun experience for gamers.

[00:01:08] When looking back at the system, the Wii actually marks an interesting reset point

[00:01:11] for Nintendo as they were forced to reconsider who they were in the market and what the

[00:01:16] meaning of their efforts would become.

[00:01:18] And there's a reason for that too.

[00:01:20] Shortly after the release of the Nintendo GameCube in 2001, Nintendo began developing

[00:01:24] their next console.

[00:01:26] And unlike their peers, Nintendo decided, somewhat controversially, not to focus on the graphics

[00:01:30] and power of the hardware, and instead focus their efforts on creating unique and interesting

[00:01:34] gameplay concepts.

[00:01:36] The choice for industry veteran Nintendo to refocus this energy against its hot selling

[00:01:40] and much larger corporate competition was a huge risk too.

[00:01:44] Because at the time, the GameCube was definitely not selling anywhere near as well as Sony's

[00:01:48] Titan PlayStation 2 and was starting to fall behind Microsoft's new system,

[00:01:51] the original Xbox.

[00:01:53] In the face of this battle for gamers' attention, all three systems arguably felt very samey,

[00:01:58] offering only minor differences between what the three of them could produce graphically.

[00:02:03] But when Sataro Owada became president of Nintendo in 2002, he recognized that Nintendo

[00:02:07] was starting to fall behind in not only how their current system was performing, but

[00:02:11] also in terms of variety of games that were being released.

[00:02:14] In the gaming media world, Nintendo was noted for ignoring the potential of online

[00:02:18] gaming and Nintendo themselves even felt that gaming was becoming too exclusive from

[00:02:22] larger audiences by focusing on increasingly complex gameplay styles and genres that were

[00:02:26] not really broad reaching in terms of demographics.

[00:02:29] Owada's approach for this new console was to make hardware and software that could appeal

[00:02:33] to all people, thus defining Nintendo's play separately from the competition and

[00:02:37] placing them as an innovator and experience maker that they're still championed

[00:02:41] for even today.

[00:02:43] In 2003, Shigeru Omayamoto was tasked with going off the tech roadmap and spearheading

[00:02:48] development of a new type of controller that utilized motion-sensing technology,

[00:02:52] focusing on simplifying the gaming interface and making it approachable to many more people.

[00:02:56] Within just six months, the first prototypes were developed and by early 2004,

[00:03:00] Nintendo was starting to reveal some details of their upcoming console which was

[00:03:04] referred to by its codename, Revolution.

[00:03:07] This excitingly named and interesting concept that Nintendo was working on

[00:03:10] wasn't showcased until the E3 Expo in 2005.

[00:03:13] Here, Nintendo revealed that they had a new control system in mind and that this

[00:03:17] system was going to be able to play all GameCube games thanks to it having four

[00:03:20] of that system's control reports and two memory card slots on top.

[00:03:24] Additionally, they introduced their secret weapon which later evolved into the

[00:03:27] virtual console. This innovative idea would make the Wii a

[00:03:31] super backwards compatible system that would provide gamers access to

[00:03:34] Nintendo's extensive library spanning back to the NES era.

[00:03:38] It wasn't until E3 a year later when Nintendo first announced the name

[00:03:42] Wii, which of course was met with jokes and various forms of crude humor online.

[00:03:47] The meaning of the system's name though actually comes from the word Wii,

[00:03:50] as in multiple people, and it was meant to represent that this system was for everyone.

[00:03:54] And it was.

[00:03:56] The Nintendo Wii was released at $250, making it not only more affordable than the

[00:04:01] PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, it also came with the added benefit of a pack-in game

[00:04:06] that excellently gave owners a demo into what the system could do with Wii Sports.

[00:04:10] But let's get back to the music and talk about the songs we're going to hear in our next block.

[00:04:14] First up is going to be one of the most iconic set of tunes from the Mi Channel.

[00:04:18] This music should immediately be recognizable to anyone who's ever created a Mi character.

[00:04:22] I've mixed together the version of the Mi Channel song that plays while you're creating

[00:04:25] your character, which then will flow right into the parade version that plays when all

[00:04:29] of your Mi's would march together on screen. Then after that we'll listen to four songs

[00:04:33] from the Check Mi Out channel. This channel allowed players to share their Mi's and

[00:04:37] enter them into popularity contests for others around the world to see.

[00:04:40] This was also an excellent location to see the often strange collection of lookalike celebrities,

[00:04:45] grotesque monsters and recreations of other pop culture characters,

[00:04:48] as well as anything else that the creative minds of gamers could come up with.

[00:04:51] For this set we're going to listen to Main Menu, then Contest Menu,

[00:04:55] followed by Contest Winner Parade, and then we'll hear the submission plaza parade version.

[00:04:59] After that we're going to listen to a few songs from the Everybody Votes channel.

[00:05:03] I would regularly tune into this channel just to see the weird opinion polls that were

[00:05:06] being asked. I used to love seeing either how far off my answers were from everyone else's,

[00:05:11] or just how close I could actually get by trying to guess the most popular one.

[00:05:15] For this set we're going to hear three tracks called The Results Are In,

[00:05:18] Answering the Question, and Vote Results. After that we'll listen to the Transfer Tool menu

[00:05:23] song that comes from the Wii U Transfer Tool channel. This soothing track plays while you

[00:05:28] wait for your content to be sent over to your shiny new Wii U, if you were one of the

[00:05:32] people that had one. Last for this block we're going to listen to a couple of songs

[00:05:36] from the photo channel that allowed users to insert their SD cards into the console and

[00:05:40] look at their photos and videos on the TV. There was a built-in editor, slideshow maker,

[00:05:44] and a variety of other options including puzzles that you could solve that were made from your

[00:05:48] photos. We'll hear the dreamy photo list song, then finish our block with the atmospheric jam

[00:05:53] called Slideshow, Scenic. Alright let's waggle our Wii modes through these tunes

[00:05:57] and I'll be back after that to talk a little bit more about the Nintendo Wii.

[00:31:36] The Nintendo Wii main user interface was controlled by using the Wii mode and pointing it at your TV

[00:31:45] screen. With an on-screen cursor like a mouse you could select through menus to pick different

[00:31:50] applications that Nintendo referred to as channels. The interface and operating system of the Nintendo

[00:31:55] Wii was really unique compared to its peers at the time, and notably was given the care equal

[00:32:00] to or at least just as important as the games themselves were. So much so that the incredibly

[00:32:05] relaxing and at times upbeat tunes that play while you navigate your way through different parts of

[00:32:09] the user interface all had music of its own, giving each area within the console its own feeling

[00:32:14] and making even the non-games feel fun. The channel system for the Wii was interesting too,

[00:32:19] because when the system was released in 2006 it came out just a few months before Apple

[00:32:23] first revealed the iPhone to the world. At the time the idea of tiling applications in a

[00:32:28] grid on screen wasn't especially common, so seeing that Nintendo was able to develop

[00:32:32] a forward-thinking solution to their interface that maximized the user experience with their new

[00:32:36] controllers is something that should definitely be praiseworthy in retrospect. Now another thing

[00:32:41] that's interesting about the channel system is that across all regions the Wii had over 30

[00:32:45] different channels that you could download and use that were made by Nintendo. The standard

[00:32:49] channels built into the Wii included a disc channel for your games, channels for me's like

[00:32:53] the main me channel as well as check me out, and there were also channels for photos,

[00:32:57] the weather, the news, as well as interactive fun like the everybody votes channel,

[00:33:02] Wii speak and one for searching the internet. Of course there were also channels for games

[00:33:06] like the Wii shop channel and the virtual console, as well as what was known as Wiiware,

[00:33:10] which was Nintendo's version of the Xbox Live arcade for smaller launches of indie games

[00:33:15] designed specifically for the Wii. There were also channels that were exclusive to Japan like

[00:33:19] the Jijicam print channel for printing photos, Wino Ma which featured celebrity me's and

[00:33:23] special programming that took place in a virtual living room, and the food delivery

[00:33:27] channel which allowed users to order food online that would then be delivered to them door

[00:33:31] to esch-tile four years before that was even invented. There were even channels for streaming

[00:33:35] video on the Wii which was becoming increasingly popular during the system's lifetime.

[00:33:40] There were channels for Hulu, Netflix, Crunchyroll and even a version of the BBC iPlayer.

[00:33:45] All of these channels really gave Nintendo a sense of being the little system that could

[00:33:49] in the sense that it was rooted in the promise of the near future. One could argue that it

[00:33:53] was a really effective way of testing out concepts that have gone on to become smart TVs and devices

[00:33:58] like the iPad for home media consumption. Now, the one thing we haven't talked about yet is who made

[00:34:03] all of these iconic songs for these channels. From what I can find online, all of the music

[00:34:07] was composed by none other than Kazumi Totaka, the mind behind soundtracks like Super Mario Land 2

[00:34:12] on the Game Boy, Virtual Boy Wario Land, Wave Race 64, Yoshi's Story, as well as having

[00:34:18] credits on the Mario Artist series, Animal Crossing, Luigi's Mansion and Wii Sports

[00:34:22] just to name a few. His contribution to the Nintendo Wii helped to define many of the channel's

[00:34:27] personalities, arguably burning them into the hearts and minds of gamers for generations.

[00:34:32] Totaka also has credits for voice acting characters like Yoshi, Professor E. Gadd from Luigi's

[00:34:36] Mansion, Captain Alomar from Pikmin, as well as K.K. Slider from Animal Crossing. I'd say

[00:34:42] that one of his most interesting tidbits though is what's known as Totaka's song.

[00:34:46] It's a super short 19 note tune that's hidden in almost every game that he's worked on.

[00:34:51] If you haven't heard it yet, it sounds like this version from Super Mario Land 2 on the Game Boy.

[00:35:07] As of right now, there are 14 versions of the song that have been found and people are still

[00:35:11] looking for it in a handful of other games that he has credits on. It's a pretty fun VGM mystery

[00:35:16] and I love that he had the foresight to hide something like this in his games.

[00:35:20] Anyway, let's get into our final block of tunes and talk a little bit about the music we're gonna

[00:35:23] hear. Like the last block, we're gonna listen to these in sets based on the channels that the

[00:35:27] songs come from. Up first, we're gonna listen to the music from the Japanese only channel

[00:35:31] called Food Delivery. We'll hear main theme, ordering party food, ordering all food, ordering

[00:35:37] fast food, and then confirmation. Then after that we'll listen to local forecast,

[00:35:42] daytime from the forecast channel. This relaxing jam perfectly matches the experience of checking in

[00:35:47] on the weather for the week as well as rotating a globe on screen to see what the weather was across

[00:35:51] the world. We'll follow that with the track called Speaker Room from the We Speak channel.

[00:35:55] The We Speak was a microphone accessory that launched in 2008 with its own channel,

[00:35:59] allowing users to host voice chats with each other while me's on screen mimic their

[00:36:03] mouth movements, which was pretty cool for a limited use accessory. Then last in this block,

[00:36:08] we'll listen to two tracks from the We News channel. This channel allowed users to read

[00:36:12] headline news and even let you rotate a globe similar to the forecast channel to see news from

[00:36:16] all over the world. We'll listen to global news view first, and then hear the fantastically cool

[00:36:21] and grooving slideshow daytime to end the block. Alright, let's get into some of these We

[00:36:26] Rific tunes and I'll be back after that.

[01:02:26] Alright, so that's the show. Hopefully you guys have enjoyed this episode about the infectiously

[01:02:48] upbeat and memorable Nintendo Wii channel music. If you want to interact with the show and tell

[01:02:53] me what you think about my selections in this episode, you can follow me on a variety of social

[01:02:57] media platforms. This includes Instagram, Twitter, Threads and Blue Sky. Following the show in those

[01:03:03] locations are exactly where you can find great screenshots, artwork, music clips,

[01:03:07] and various information about the games featured in each episode. Check the show

[01:03:11] notes to follow along on your favorite platformer choice. If you're enjoying this show's

[01:03:15] selection of incredibly great video game music each month, please consider taking

[01:03:18] a moment to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you're

[01:03:23] listening to this show because I'd really love to hear what you think. Don't forget,

[01:03:28] you can go to BarSilence.com to listen to past shows if you missed any,

[01:03:31] and of course, if you're feeling giving, you can always support BarSilence on Patreon.

[01:03:36] For already subscribing, I want to thank the members of the Legion of EGM for supporting

[01:03:39] the show. Zoe, Alusa and Cameron, I truly appreciate you Wii-tastic friends and

[01:03:45] I really hope you've enjoyed this episode. If you want to join this team of cool cats and

[01:03:49] become a member of the Legion of EGM yourself, you can subscribe for as little or as much as you

[01:03:54] want and you'll get access to a bonus episode of awesome music each month. Be sure to check

[01:03:59] the show notes for a link to learn more. I would also like to thank friends of the show

[01:04:03] and Legion members, Aaron of the excellent video game variety podcast Super Pod Saga,

[01:04:08] as well as Professor Tom of the ShoeGen Academy VGM Club. You can and should check out

[01:04:13] both of these shows wherever you find podcasts as well as on Terraplayer.

[01:04:17] Alright, so to wrap up this show I've got a final set of tunes for us, but you might be thinking,

[01:04:23] Jameson, why didn't you play the Wii Shop theme yet? And that might be because I wanted to save

[01:04:28] the best for last. We're going to close out this episode with the short but sweet

[01:04:31] Wii Shop Channel banner and then take us home with the beloved Wii Shop Channel theme.

[01:04:36] So enjoy this final set and as always, thanks again for listening and I'll see you guys next time.