Forecast Channel
| Forecast Channel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Pre-installed |
| Developer(s) | Nintendo |
| Platform(s) | Wii Channels |
| Release date(s) | JP/NA/EU/AUS December 19, 2006 |
| Genre(s) | Utility |
| Input methods | Wii Remote |
| Compatibility | 5  Perfect |
| GameIDs | |
| See also... |
Dolphin Forum thread |
The Forecast Channel allows weather reports and forecasts to be downloaded onto the console from the Internet via the WiiConnect24 service. The Forecast Channel displays a view of the Earth as a globe (courtesy of NASA), with which users can view weather in other regions. The user can also spin the globe. When fully zoomed out, an accurate star map is visible in the background (the Big Dipper and the constellation Orion are easily recognizable, for example). The Forecast Channel features include the current forecast, the UV index, today's overall forecast, tomorrow's forecast, a 5-day forecast (only for the selected country), and a laundry check (Japan only). Certain games (like Madden NFL 07 and NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams) can use the Forecast Channel to simulate weather conditions depending on the player's region.
Emulation Information
Shut Down
This channel's original online functionality has been shut down as of June 28, 2013 and works in neither Dolphin or on Wii hardware.
WiiConnect24 Revival Services
WiiLink can provide WiiConnect24 support in Dolphin by enabling "Enable WiiConnect24 via WiiLink" under `Settings → Wii`.
Stale VFF Files
Users that have previously used a VFF downloader may need to delete old VFF files before the WiiLink service will work. This is because VFF files downloaded with some revisions of the VFF downloader have been hacked to never expire, so the emulated system will never attempt to download new ones.
Missing Game List Banner
Certain Wii apps and homebrew apps never create savefiles that are handled by the emulated Wii's internal savefile lists, so no banners are ever generated for them in Dolphin.
Prototype channel animation
Under various circumstances, including to have Wii Menu installed → install Forecast Channel as a WAD to NAND → remove Forecast Channel from NAND again → open anything else directly from Dolphin → return to the Wii Menu, prototype logos are shown as if Forecast Channel thinks it's on System Menu 2.0 from the North American Wii launch in 2006, and will also show an Update prompt that for users of System Menu 4.3x can't update anything anyway. The rest of Dolphin will work as normal.
The prototype is often referred to as "Forecast Channel dummy", and plays a special "3 tone with fadeout" jingle when clicking on it in Wii Menu.
Problems
There are no reported problems with this channel.
Configuration
This channel does not need non-default settings to run properly.
Version Compatibility
The graph below charts the compatibility with Forecast Channel since Dolphin's 2.0 release, listing revisions only where a compatibility change occurred.
Testing
This channel has been tested on the environments listed below:
| Test Entries | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revision | OS | CPU | GPU | Result | Tester |
| 5.0-2877 | Windows 7 | Intel Celeron G1610 @2.6 GHz | Intel HD Graphics | Well, it started, but since the service was shut down i don't know how many stars should i put to it. It ran the same on my wii. "Unable to get latest information." | EblfIYH |
| 5.0-5033 | macOS | Intel Core i5 @ 2.7 GHz | Intel Iris Pro | If you copy over the VFF from a Wii that has RiiConnect24, it works perfectly. | Larsenv |
| 5.0-21088 | Windows 11 | AMD Ryzen 5 3600 @ 3.6 GHz | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 | Works perfectly by running "Perform Online System Update" → "Europe", turning on "Enable WiiConnect24 via WiiLink", then "Load Wii System Menu 4.3E", and opening Forecast Channel from there. The default country with this method is Switzerland, which would have to be changed in the System Menu settings. | DandelionSprout |
Gameplay Videos
- Nintendo (Developer)
- Japan (Release region)
- North America (Release region)
- Europe (Release region)
- Australia (Release region)
- 2006 (Initial release year)
- Utility (Genre)
- Wii Remote (Input supported)
- 5 stars (Rating)
- Tested On (Release): 5.0
- Tested On (OS): Windows
- Tested On (CPU): Intel
- Tested On (GPU): Intel
- Tested
- Tested On (OS): macOS
- Tested On (CPU): AMD
- Tested On (GPU): NVIDIA
- Untested for 2500+ revisions
- Wii Channels