Wii Shop Channel Sucks Fix!
January 1, 2007 | 18 Comments
Update: If you are experiencing problems like I outlined below, you can most likely resolve the issue by changing your wireless routers broadcast channel to 1. You do this by simply logging into your router (most likely at http://192.168.1.1) and going to the “Wireless” tab. Below is a screenshot.
After making this change suddenly it became much more responsive and reliable. Not sure why this matters, but it makes a world of difference if you are suffering. A big thanks to Dan for the heads up on this.
Original story continues below…
No question about it, I love my Nintendo Wii. However, the biggest most glaring problem is with the Wii Shop Channel. This is the application Nintendo has built for purchasing virtual console games.
The primary problem is you can hardly ever get into the application. Apparently it makes some sort of connection across the internet to a service at Nintendo. Clearly that service has not been scaled and/or engineered properly. What is most amazing to me is that after 5 or 6 failed attempts, you may suddenly get in, then the shop is fairly responsive.
For awhile I thought maybe my wireless router was flaky, but when the Internet Channel was released I learned that getting online was pretty reliable. After struggling with the Shop, I always confirm it is working with the internet by surfing a few pages in Opera. This has been consistently responsive and quick to use.
Never wanting to complain without suggestions on how to make it suck less… here are a few things they could do in lieu of fixing the obvious scaling and efficiency isssue:
Timeout faster - I’m not sure what it spends it’s time determining, but I’ve waited as long as 10 minutes before it comes back and says it couldn’t connect. Seriously it should be able to know faster than that.
Cancel button - If you are going to make us wait, let us decide we’re tired of it and cancel out. This is especially frustrating on the third try or so when you finally decide, screw buying another VC game I just want to play!
Timeout properly - Twice just today I tried to go in the shop and even after multiple hours it still said connecting. Since there was no cancel button, I was a little afraid of having to push and hold the power button to reboot. Eventually I did and there was no problems, but still…
Queuing - If the service can’t handle the number of users and requests, time to start putting people in a queue. Make sure there is good feedback about this though, if I’m number 30,000 in the queue and estimated entry time is 3 hours, it would be nice to know.
So there it is Nintendo, I want to give you money. I want to buy games you have already sold me. I believe in the virtual console whole heartedly. Now it’s time for you to live up to your end of the bargain and provide a usable service that doesn’t suck.
I hope they can get this cleared up and that their online game play delivery is not launched in such a clunky manner.
Tags: internet channel, Nintendo, nintendo wii, opera, shop channel, virtual console, wii