Skip to main content

Dolphin gains access to Wii Shop Channel in major emulator breakthrough

System Menu Improvements Featuring Wii Shop Channel Support
A new update for popular Nintendo Wii and GameCube emulator Dolphin has added the ability to access Nintendo’s Wii Shop Channel through the emulator.

The latest version can now access the official Wii Shop Channel to buy, download, and even update digital games directly from Nintendo. The update is an unprecedented step forward for game emulation. There are usually complex reasons why unofficial emulators can’t access official digital storefronts, including the obvious one — that gaming hardware makers want you to buy their systems and not use emulators.

Recommended Videos

Emulators are software that replicate — or “emulate” — gaming hardware and operating systems on other systems. Dolphin allows users to play Nintendo Wii and GameCube games on PC. It’s a legal gray area that’s frowned on by big companies like Nintendo, but the emulation community remains enthusiastic, especially among retro gaming enthusiasts and fans of specific, lapsed consoles.

Developer JMC47 detailed the update in the video above. There’s some down and dirty jargon in there, but the gist of it comes around the 2-minute mark. “The biggest breakthrough [in the latest update] has to be support of Nintendo’s Wii Shop Channel,” the developer said. Savvy Dolphin users can even use the NAND (built-in memory) from their actual, physical Wii consoles to re-download games in Dolphin that they’ve already purchased.

“Getting to the point where we could go shopping on Dolphin was a long and tumultuous one,” JMC47 wrote in a blog post. “We couldn’t even connect to the update servers a few weeks ago, and had little idea why.”

“Despite all of the fixes, this is not quite perfect yet: updates can sometimes hang, certain channels aren’t playing nice, and deleting channels doesn’t go quite right yet,” the developer continued. “In the meantime, we hope that everyone enjoys this new feature as we march toward flawless System Menu emulation!”

Michael Rougeau
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Mike Rougeau is a journalist and writer who lives in Los Angeles with his girlfriend and two dogs. He specializes in video…
Nintendo’s eShop closures are a necessary, but messy move
A Nintendo Wii U gamepad flat on a table.

Nintendo last week announced its intentions to shut down the Wii U and 3DS eShops, the systems' digital storefronts, in March 2023. This decision was disappointing for hardcore fans who stuck with Nintendo during that rocky era and extremely worrying as many of the games available on the platforms won't be preserved.
More significant Wii U games and a handful of 3DS titles were ported to Switch, but many titles are still stuck on those systems and can’t be ported. Once the digital storefront shutdowns, digital-only titles will be gone forever, and physical copies of these titles will get more expensive and harder to experience. Fans and game preservationists have not been pleased by this decision, with the Video Game History Foundation giving the most candid response.
https://twitter.com/GameHistoryOrg/status/1494398068346654720
Following this announcement, Digital Trends spoke to an industry analyst and game preservationists to get a better idea of what exactly caused Nintendo to shut down these stores and to learn how it could do a better job at preserving its legacy.
Why is Nintendo shutting down the 3DS and Wii eShops?
Officially, Nintendo’s FAQ on the eShop closures says “this is part of the natural life cycle for any product line as it becomes less used by consumers over time." The answer doesn’t get into specifics and might confuse those still playing games on the system or fans of games only available on Wii U or 3DS. Omdia Principal Analyst Matthew Bailey explains Nintendo’s user base argument in more detail, highlighting the massive gap between the number of people playing the Switch as opposed to the Wii U.
“While Omdia expects the number of Switch consoles in active use to exceed 90 million on a global basis this year, the Wii U’s global active installed base will drop under one million in 2022,” he explains. “Even when you include the more enduring 3DS family of consoles into the equation, the Switch still comfortably accounts for over 90% of Nintendo’s total active console install base.”
If one is going off just the numbers, it’s sensible that Nintendo would want to focus on the majority of its players. Bailey admits that “Switch users are already reaping the benefits of Nintendo’s singular first-party development focus on one platform.” Still, one might argue that Nintendo should just let the eShops remain up even if it isn’t actively updating or maintaining them.

Unfortunately, Nintendo doesn’t see that as possible due to cost and security issues. Game Over Thrity, a Twitter user with over 20 years of experience working on IT projects and infrastructure, shed some light on what might have influenced Nintendo’s decision-making in a thread.
“As these systems age, they require patches, security, special contracts, updates, and personnel that know how they were built (and maintained),” his Twitter thread explains. “As time goes on, there are security holes, servers, code, infrastructure, etc., that can’t be brought up to modern standards. It becomes a constant struggle between maintaining legacy systems, paying people to do so, and trying to keep up with global regulations. It’s not cheap by any means. They can’t just ‘leave the lights on’ and stop supporting them. What if someone hacked the payment processor?”
With every passing year, the Wii U and 3DS eShops likely became more expensive to maintain and an increased security risk for the video game publisher. Instead of investing the time and resources into pleasing a smaller amount of players, the easier option is to turn everything off entirely. While he isn’t affiliated with Nintendo, Game Over Thirty’s assessment aligns with what we’ve heard from Nintendo and Omdia.
"The Wii U’s global active installed base will drop under one million in 2022."

Read more
Nintendo is ending Wii U and 3DS eShop service
Photos of the 3DS eShops

Nintendo has announced the end of its eShop service for the Wii U console and 3DS handheld. The eShop will stay live on those devices until late March 2023, after which players will no longer be able to purchase games or download eShop apps and services for those devices.

After the closure, players will still be able to redownload games and DLC that they already own, use online play, and download software updates.

Read more
Nintendo Switch Sports has a major Wii Sports vibe
A bowler takes the top spot in Nintendo Switch Sports bowling.

Nintendo has announced Nintendo Switch Sports, a Switch sequel to the breakout Wii Sports series. The game will once again allow players to assume a character and play a variety of sports using the Joy-Cons' built-in motion controls. Tennis, bowling, and chambara are returning from previous Wii Sports titles. The game will also include new sports such as volleyball, soccer, and badminton.

Nintendo Switch Sports will launch on April 29, 2022.

Read more