User:SinclairUkiri/WiiLink
{{Short description|Service revival project}}
{{Infobox software
| name = WiiLink
| logo =
| author =
| developer = WiiLink Team (including former RiiConnect24 contributors like noahpistilli, giustino, mkwcat, Humanoidear, PablosCorner, et al.{{cite web |url=https://wiki.hacks.guide/wiki/Wii:WiiLink |title=Wii:WiiLink - Hacks Guide Wiki |website=Hacks Guide Wiki |access-date=2025-04-15}})
| released = {{Start date and age|2020}} (Initial services);
{{Start date and age|2023|12|29}} (Merger with RiiConnect24{{cite web |url=https://www.wiilink24.com/en-GB/news/major-merger-announcement |title=News (Major Merger Announcement!) - WiiLink |website=WiiLink |date=2023-12-29 |access-date=2025-04-15}}{{cite web |url=https://wiidatabase.de/wiilink-uebernimmt-alle-riiconnect24-projekte-larsenv-tritt-zurueck/ |title=WiiLink übernimmt alle RiiConnect24-Projekte; Larsenv tritt zurück |website=WiiDatabase |language=de |date=2023-12-29 |access-date=2025-04-15}})
| programming language = Go, C#, C, Python{{cite web |url=https://github.com/wiilink24 |title=WiiLink - GitHub |website=GitHub |access-date=2025-04-15}}
| operating system = Server-side; Client patches for Wii system software
| genre = Network service, WiiConnect24 & Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection replacement
| license = Various FOSS licenses (e.g., MPL 2.0, AGPL 3.0)
| website = {{URL|https://www.wiilink24.com/}}
}}
WiiLink is an unofficial, non-profit homebrew project developed by a team of volunteers{{cite web |url=https://github.com/wiilink24 |title=WiiLink - GitHub |website=GitHub |access-date=2025-04-15}} dedicated to restoring discontinued online services for the Nintendo Wii console. It primarily focuses on replacing functionality lost after the shutdown of WiiConnect24 and also addresses select Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (WFC) features.{{cite web |url=https://www.wiilink24.com/guide/ |title=Guide - WiiLink |website=WiiLink |access-date=2025-04-15}} It operates by providing alternative, community-run servers that mimic the original Nintendo infrastructure.
On December 29, 2023, the WiiLink project officially merged with RiiConnect24, another prominent WiiConnect24 revival service. Development efforts were consolidated under the WiiLink name and management structure, bringing together the resources and communities of both projects.{{cite web |url=https://wiki.tockdom.com/wiki/WiiLink |title=WiiLink - Custom Mario Kart Wiki |website=Custom Mario Kart Wiki |access-date=2025-04-15}}
History
WiiLink's origins can be traced back to discussions within the Wii homebrew community regarding the potential revival of discontinued online services. The project officially began to take shape around late 2020, with the initial focus on restoring the Japan-exclusive Wii Room channel. This early release, while functional, was noted for its initial instability and ongoing development. The team's early efforts were heavily focused on reverse engineering the network protocols and data formats used by these Japanese-exclusive channels.
Concurrently, RiiConnect24 had been operating independently for several years, having been founded by Larsenv (initially under the name "CustomConnect24"). RiiConnect24 successfully restored several key international WiiConnect24 services, including the Forecast Channel and News Channel, garnering a significant user base within the Wii homebrew community. Their approach involved creating custom server software and providing patches that redirected the Wii's network traffic to these alternative servers.
As WiiLink matured, it began to expand its focus beyond Japan-exclusive channels, with the goal of restoring a wider range of WiiConnect24 functionalities for users globally.{{cite web |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/WiiHacks/comments/17dpkfl/which_one_is_better_read_description/ |title=Which one is better? (Read Description) : r/WiiHacks |website=Reddit |date=2023-10-22 |access-date=2025-04-15}}{{cite web |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/homebrew/comments/1geqbdb/wiilink24_or_riiconnect24/ |title=WiiLink24 or RiiConnect24? : r/homebrew |website=Reddit |date=2024-10-29 |access-date=2025-04-15}} This naturally led to some overlap in the services offered by WiiLink and RiiConnect24. Recognizing the benefits of a unified effort, discussions about a potential merger began in late 2023.
The official announcement of the merger came on December 29, 2023, marking a significant moment for the Wii online service revival scene. The merger saw the RiiConnect24 project and its community integrated into the WiiLink infrastructure, with all future development and maintenance consolidated under the WiiLink banner. Larsenv, the founder of RiiConnect24, announced his departure from the project as part of this transition, expressing confidence in the WiiLink team's ability to carry the torch forward. Since the merger, the combined WiiLink team has continued to actively maintain and improve the restored services, providing regular updates and addressing any issues that arise.{{cite web |url=https://status.wiilink24.com/history |title=Incident History - WiiLink Status |website=WiiLink Status |access-date=2025-04-15}} They also actively communicate with their user base through news updates and social media channels.{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/WiiLink24 |title=WiiLink24 on X |website=X (formerly Twitter) |access-date=2025-04-16}}
Services
WiiLink aims to provide a comprehensive replacement for the discontinued online services of the Nintendo Wii. To access these services, users need to have Wii homebrew installed on their console. The primary method of connecting to WiiLink's servers involves using the WiiLink Patcher, a tool that modifies the Wii's system files and channel applications.{{cite web |url=https://wiidatabase.de/tag/riiconnect24/ |title=RiiConnect24 - WiiDatabase (Mentions WiiLink DNS change) |website=WiiDatabase |language=de |access-date=2025-04-15}} This patcher redirects network requests from the Wii to WiiLink's custom DNS servers, which then point the console to the project's replacement servers. The patches often involve updating hardcoded server addresses, replacing expired security certificates, and adjusting region-specific settings to enable international access to previously region-locked content.
The key services restored by WiiLink can be broadly categorized into those that originally relied on the WiiConnect24 background service and region-exclusive channels that have been adapted for a wider audience.
= WiiConnect24 Based =
These channels utilized the always-on WiiConnect24 service for receiving updates, messages, and other forms of data.
- Forecast Channel: This channel displays current weather conditions and forecasts for a wide range of locations around the world. Users can navigate a globe to select their desired region and view detailed weather information.{{cite web |url=https://www.wiilink24.com/guide/forecast/ |title=Guide (Forecast Channel) - WiiLink |website=WiiLink |access-date=2025-04-15}} WiiLink's implementation has been reported to potentially offer a more extensive list of supported locations compared to the original Nintendo service.
- News Channel: The News Channel provides news headlines and articles from various sources, presented in a visually engaging format on a rotating globe. Users can browse news by category and read full articles within the channel.
- Everybody Votes Channel: This interactive channel allows Wii owners to participate in opinion polls on a variety of topics. Users can vote, view the results of past polls, and even make predictions about the outcome of ongoing polls. The channel supports multiple languages, depending on the Wii console's region settings.{{cite web |url=https://www.wiilink24.com/guide/evc/ |title=Guide (Everybody Votes Channel) - WiiLink |website=WiiLink |access-date=2025-04-15}}
- Check Mii Out Channel (Mii Contest Channel): This channel serves as a platform for sharing and showcasing user-created Mii characters. Users can submit their Miis to themed contests, browse and download Miis created by others, and vote for their favorite submissions in the channel's plaza area.
- Nintendo Channel: Originally designed as a promotional channel, the Nintendo Channel provided access to game trailers, information about upcoming releases, screenshots, and even downloadable Nintendo DS game demos. WiiLink's restored version may feature a curated selection of video content relevant to the Wii and its gaming library. Due to the nature of the content delivery, updates to this channel may occasionally necessitate re-patching the application on the user's console.
- Wii Message Board (Wii Mail): This feature allows Wii owners to exchange messages, including text, pictures, and Mii characters, with other registered Wii friends. It also facilitated the reception of messages and updates from compatible games and channels, such as in-game achievements or the results of Everybody Votes Channel polls.
- Wii Speak Channel (Requires Wii Speak accessory): For users who own the Wii Speak microphone accessory, this channel enables online voice chat with other Wii owners in dedicated chat rooms.
= Region-Exclusive Channels (Restored/Modified) =
A significant aspect of WiiLink's work involves bringing channels that were originally exclusive to Japan to a global audience, often with substantial modifications and translations.
- Food Channel (Demae Channel - Japan): Originally a service for ordering food delivery in Japan, WiiLink has adapted this channel to allow users in the United States and Canada to order pizza from Domino's Pizza directly through their Wii console. This functionality requires users to separately configure their address information within the channel settings.
- Photo Prints Channel (Digicam Print Channel - Japan): This channel originally allowed users to order physical prints of digital photographs stored on an SD card inserted into their Wii. WiiLink has successfully restored the network connectivity for this channel, although the actual printing service is not provided by WiiLink itself. Users may need to configure the channel to work with alternative photo printing services if available.
- Wii Room (Wii no Ma - Japan): The Wii Room was a unique virtual living room interface that originally offered access to curated video content, interactive services, and even concierge features in Japan. WiiLink has successfully revived this channel, and it occasionally features original content created by the WiiLink team or community contributions.
= Other Services =
Beyond the restoration of individual channels, WiiLink also provides or supports other online functionalities for the Wii.
- WiiLink WFC: This is an independent, open-source project developed by the WiiLink team that aims to provide a replacement for the core infrastructure of the now-defunct Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service.{{cite web |url=https://wiki.tockdom.com/wiki/WiiLink |title=WiiLink - Custom Mario Kart Wiki |website=Custom Mario Kart Wiki |access-date=2025-04-15}} While Wiimmfi is the primary service for restoring online multiplayer gameplay in WFC-compatible games,{{cite web |url=https://wiimmfi.de/ |title=Wiimmfi Main Page |website=Wiimmfi.de |access-date=2025-04-15}} WiiLink WFC may focus on other aspects of online connectivity or specific game features that do not fall under Wiimmfi's scope. Notably, WiiLink (WiiConnect24) services and Wiimmfi can generally be used simultaneously on the same Wii console without conflicts.
- Animal Crossing: City Folk DLC: WiiLink enables users to once again receive previously distributed downloadable content (DLC) items for the game Animal Crossing: City Folk via the Wii Message Board. This allows players to access exclusive in-game items that were originally available for a limited time.
- RSSMii: This service restores the functionality of receiving RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds on the Wii Message Board.
- RiiTube: While details may vary, RiiTube is a service associated with WiiLink that aims to provide YouTube video playback capabilities on the Nintendo Wii. This allows users to access and watch YouTube videos directly on their console.
Technical Aspects
The backbone of WiiLink's services consists of custom-built server software designed to emulate the behavior of the original Nintendo servers. The WiiLink WFC server component, for instance, is developed in the Go programming language and utilizes a PostgreSQL database for storing and managing data. This open-source server software allows the community to contribute to its development and ensure its continued operation.
On the client side, modifications to the Wii console are typically implemented through the WiiLink Patcher, a user-friendly application written in C#. This patcher is available for various operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. The WiiLink Patcher works by modifying official Channel WAD files (installable packages for Wii channels) and, in some cases, core system IOS files. These modifications primarily involve redirecting network requests to WiiLink's servers and applying necessary compatibility fixes to ensure the channels function correctly in the absence of the original Nintendo infrastructure.
To further aid in the development and reverse engineering efforts, the WiiLink project also develops and maintains a suite of open-source libraries and utilities, including:
- libpatcher: A C library designed for applying common patches to Wii IOS files. This library simplifies the process of modifying low-level system software components.
- brlytlib: A Go library specifically for manipulating BRLYT files. BRLYT is a common UI layout format used extensively in Wii software for defining the structure and appearance of user interfaces.
- bmgconv: A Go utility for handling BMG files, which are used in many Nintendo games and channels to store text strings, including in-game dialogue, menu options, and error messages. This tool facilitates the extraction and modification of text content within these files.
Emulator Support
WiiLink services, including the functionalities previously offered by RiiConnect24 such as Wii Mail, are compatible with the Dolphin emulator, a popular open-source emulator for the Nintendo GameCube and Wii consoles. To utilize WiiLink with Dolphin, users typically need to enable specific WiiLink-related settings within the emulator's configuration menu.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndaWrBtQ1KY |title=Riiconnect and WiiLink on Dolphin | play old Wii channels! |website=YouTube |date=2024-04-24 |access-date=2025-04-15}} This involves configuring Dolphin to use WiiLink's custom DNS servers, effectively mimicking the network setup of a physical Wii console connected to the service.
While most WiiLink-restored channels function seamlessly within Dolphin, some channels, such as the Everybody Votes Channel, may require additional workarounds or the use of homebrew applications (like a region selector WAD) to function correctly. These additional steps are often necessary due to differences in how Dolphin handles certain system settings and region-specific configurations compared to a real Wii console. Online guides and tutorials are available within the Wii homebrew community to assist Dolphin users in setting up and using WiiLink services.
Community
WiiLink is fundamentally a community-driven project, relying heavily on the dedication and contributions of its volunteer development team and the wider Wii homebrew community. The project's code is largely open-source and hosted on the collaborative development platform GitHub, encouraging community involvement in the form of code contributions, bug reports, and feature suggestions.
Like many homebrew initiatives, a significant portion of the community interaction and support for WiiLink takes place through online platforms such as Discord. The official WiiLink Discord server serves as a central hub for users to seek help, share their experiences, discuss the project's development, and stay informed about the latest news and updates. The community also plays a vital role in testing new features and providing feedback to the development team, helping to ensure the stability and functionality of the restored services.