Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (also known as WFC), was a service for the Wii and Nintendo DS. It was used on games that let a person play with people around the world.
On January 26, 2012, it was announced by Nintendo during an investors' meeting that it would be rebranded to Nintendo Network. On June 27, 2013, WiiConnect24 was discontinued.
On May 20th, 2014, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection was discontinued.
Before Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection shut down, 6 other apps were discontinued. The Forecast Channel, News Channel, Everybody Votes Channel, Nintendo Channel, and the Check Mii Out Channel closed on June 27, 2013. Wii no Ma closed on April 30, 2012. Then, the Kirby TV Channel closed in October 2012.
Features
The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection was announced to be "easy to connect to, safe for everyone to use, and free". Features included worldwide matches, leaderboards, and tournaments. More features were available between people who friended each other with Friend Codes.
Wii Shop Channel
The Wii Shop Channel allowed people to download / buy games or software with Wii Points. You could buy Wii Points by Nintendo Point Cards or by Mastercard or Visa cards online. People could browse the Virtual Console, WiiWare, or Wii Channel sections. Buying Wii Points was disabled on March 26th, 2018. Buying new games or software in the channel shut down on January 30th, 2019. However, people could still install previously bought games, Wii System Transfer Tool, and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Save Data Update Channel. Nintendo announced a way to buy DLC, called Pay & Play. Games in Japan had Pay & Play support as WiiWare titles such as Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, Kotoba no Puzzle Mojipittan Wii, and LONPOS.
Since March 16th, the Wii Shop Channel and the DS(i) Shop have been down for several days. The channels are in maintenance.
DSi Shop
The DSi Shop allowed people to download apps and DSiware, like its Wii and DS equivalent. It shut down on March 31, 2017. Since March 31, the only thing available for download on the DSi Shop is the Nintendo 3DS Transfer Tool. Lots of software is also in this shop, such as Flipnote Hatena. Flipnote Hatena has since been discontinued.
Check Mii Out Channel
The Check Mii Out Channel is a channel that allows people to share their Mii. It was first available on November 11, 2007. People can post their own Miis in the Posting Plaza, or import Mii's into their own Mii Parade.
In the contests, people can send their own Miis to compete in contests to fit a description (for example: Mario without his hat). After the time for submitting a Mii has ran out, the user can vote for three Miis featured on the panel, with ten random Miis being shown at a time. Once the judging is over, the results of the contest can be viewed. Their selection and/or submission's popularity in comparison to others is displayed, as well as the winning Mii and user.
The Check Mii Out Channel sends messages to the Wii Message Board about recent contests. People in some contests can add their user and submitted Mii to a photo with a background related to the contest theme. This picture can then be sent to the Wii Message Board. The Check Mii Out Channel was shut down on June 28, 2013.
Nintendo Channel
The Nintendo Channel (also known as the Everybody's Nintendo Channel in Japan), is a Wii channel for the Wii. It was launched in Japan on November 27, 2007, North America on May 7, 2008, Europe and Australia on May 30, 2008, and was shut down on June 28, 2013. It allowed people who had the Wii to watch videos such as interviews, trailers, commercials, and to download game demos for the Nintendo DS. The channel gave information on games and people could rate games that they played. There was a search feature that people used to find games or software easier. The channel could take the user directly into the Wii Shop Channel to buy the game. The Nintendo Channel was updated with different DS demos and new videos every week, but the actual day of the week varied across different international regions.
An updated version of the Nintendo Channel was released in Japan on July 15, 2009, North America on September 14, 2009, and Europe on December 15, 2009. The update introduces a new interface and additional features, options, and statistics for users to view. The European version is missing some of these new additional features, such as options for choosing video quality. In addition, a weekly show known as Nintendo Week began airing exclusively on the North American edition of the channel, while another weekly show called Nintendo TV, is available on the UK version of the channel.