Wii Startup Disc - What was it? How did it work?

[@spacefightertzz]

I worked at a Nintendo warehouse in Redmond, Washington, USA during the Wii release. I played Wii sports a few months before the Wii was released. I worked different areas of the warehouse. When I was on an assembly line of installing the operating system on the Wii and running a system diagnostics check. I remember there was a disc we inserted and also a sd card like. The disc installed the operating system and the card would run some kind of diagnostics debug that the engineers made. Whenever there was a system error, we would take it over to a setup table so the engineers can further troubleshoot things. I worked with the teams for the 1st million Wiis. And I do believe remembering that all the Wiis did come with a startup disc and the teams actually used that one in the box for installing the OS. And we booted up Wii sports to the menu screen just to be sure it does work. And we put the disc back in the sleeve and back into the box. After our million Wii goal, we were ahead of schedule so I moved to the refurbishment warehouse working with teams of repairing GameCubes and Nintendo DS and advance 2 months before Wii release. And I was getting Wiis sent from the Wii warehouse for repairs, or actually I was getting called to go and pick them up from the other warehouse haha.

[@spacefightertzz]

@@trolojolo6178 I remember the sd-card-like would install the Wii firmware. The Wii would reboot. And then we selected option to run diagnostics. Then used the startup disc that was in the box. Same startup disc was put back into the box for release. We didn't have a bunch of scratched up startup disc laying everywhere. We were just assigned the firmware cards and must be returned to the engineer desk.

[@spacefightertzz]

Extras of my story. I also worked at a different Nintendo warehouse in North Bend, Washington before I worked at the Redmond location. There is a gaming room at the North Bend that has about 10 to 15 gaming stations. But it's always packed full. So after my first 2 days, I just stopped going to it. There is also a locker room and showers for anyone that camps out seasonal. I actually wish my current job had washers and showers because of all the roommates I live with. So annoying when I'm in the middle of trimming my beard and someone comes knocking on the bathroom door.

[@spacefightertzz]

Extras part 2: There are about 8 or 10 microwaves in our break room. And usually the microwaves are packed. So ya might have to wait up to 8 minutes just to get to a microwave. A lot of us went to the nearby 711 for lunch. Very pricey to be eating there every day. Well now that wages are a bit better now in 2018-2022 than it was in 2006, it might not be too bad. And next door to Nintendo warehouse was a digital arts school called digipen. I heard that digipen moved locations according to an old girlfriend of mine, who had a cousin that was enrolled to digipen.

[@lemonzest8650]

@@demon_roo5353 yes, *Wii* Sports on the *GameBoy Advance*

[@kargaroc386]

oh hey that would be sd_boot basically a factory wii right off the assembly line would have boot0 in rom with all-blank e-fuses, a normal boot 1, and sd_boot as boot2 you boot it up, boot0 sees the e-fuses are all empty and knows its in the factory so boots up boot1, and boot1 (with or without the trucha bug) boots up sd_boot which then boots up whatever's on the SD card and yeah it just goes on from there

[@Chipmunkboy]

Cool fact; On the disc channel, there is a unfinished third disk on the left that reads DVD Video, however this is set to be invisible.

[@nicko9799]

Yes I remember Nintendo was intending to add DVD player compatibility in a system update however shelved it because they didn’t see the Wii as a media hub and wanted the Wii to be associated with gaming not media

[@michaelepica3564]

@@nicko9799 no its more the dolby license

[@callmememe1308]

@@michaelepica3564 I think it was the licensing. It's also why the original Xbox couldn't play DVD videos out of the box because Microsoft didn't want to pay licensing fees on every console sold, and instead worked around it by making a separate remote with a dongle to enable playback which they paid the license fees on instead. Considering that it got into the software, it probably was a late change. Also if you think about it being capable of playing DVDs, then the name and design of the Wii Remote makes a lot more sense. A power/standby button is a weird thing for a console controller, but makes perfect sense for a DVD player, and the WiiMote had TV remote functionality which was only used in a Japan only TV Guide Channel, & would also help explain why Start and Select became '-' and '+' symbols to double as a volume control in that mode.

[@Snivy_Films]

While you're accurate about that, does it apply to the later wiis (The sideways default ones, Wii Mini) and the Wii U's vWii, Im sure it is but I never heard anything about that outside of just the regular Stand Up White Ones

[@sniperbloom1305]

@@callmememe1308 I thought it was common knowledge the wii remote is supposed to be shaped like a TV remote. a "wiimote." that's why the wii home menu has TV screens on it. that's why wii channels are called "channels"

[@null]

I honestly wonder why Nintendo sold some Wii consoles without the Menu, I'd expect Nintendo to just, not sell them.

[@LilacMonarch]

Probably had a miscommunication somewhere and a few ended up getting to shelves

[@𰻝]

Because the System Menu wasn't finalized yet when the Wiis were being handed out to retail stores

[@nullvoid3545]

nice name.

[@null]

@@nullvoid3545 ty

[@SuperSmashDolls]

The actual eBay listing that Bushing found was almost certainly someone outside of Nintendo HQ assembling working consoles from spare parts. Only reason why it would have a serial number from 2008 and a disc drive from 2007. Nintendo would have either updated the console themselves or junked it.

[@donoteatmikezila]

I worked in retail when the Wii launched. When we got Wii kiosks to set up, the Wii that was included showed the same "Insert fancy disc" screen, and it came with a special disc that turned that Wii into a kiosk, where it would boot directly into the kiosk environment, and stopped it from booting any other games. The instructions that came with the disc said to destroy the disc after the Wii booted into the kiosk environment. I've never see one of those discs in the wild before, only when I was setting up that kiosk. I was big into console modding and game preservation at the time (still am) and always wondered if I was holding something in my hands that would be rare or impossible to find in the future. I've never even seen a picture of what the disc looked like on the internet.

[@joethemanager1]

7:50 that's crazy, because I do vaguely remember having this menu when we first got the Wii where you couldn't access any of the channels yet. I don't think we had Wi-Fi either, so I'm not sure if we connected to the internet to update, but I do remember one of the games we got (either Wii Sports or Twilight Princess) had an update on the disc and the console forced you to update when you put it in the drive. It's all very fuzzy though since I was literally 7 years old at the time.

[@anarchysplatcast]

Im pretty sure there was a day one release like that.

[@nelsonrodriguez2085]

you are right, there was a 1.0 wii sports that did not update, this one came with the wii´s you are describing, then 1.1 Wii Sports forced you to update

[@daeken]

I dunno if you know this, but bushing also worked on the original iPhone jailbreak/unlock; we met there and he was one of the most wonderful people I've ever had the pleasure to work with. The phone/console hacking scene in the mid-late 00s was really something else... RIP bushing 😿

[@emilyjones8713]

My god, it all makes sense. 0verflow was one of the only legitimate tetherless jailbreaks for YEARS, and since his passing in 2016 we haven’t had many successes in that. RIP a real legend to his communities.

[@CyclonesWorld]

When I picked up my Wii on release night, I had to wait for hours for the thing to download an update. Guess this explains why. It was such a bad launch experience from that perspective, but camping out all day waiting on one was a lot more fun than I expected it to be.

[@brandenjames2408]

I remember having a similar experience with a early wii u. It was a nightmare to set that thing up.

[@sgtcreasegrease]

You downloaded it on wifi? In '06?

[@CyclonesWorld]

@@sgtcreasegrease yes

[@talvisota327]

@@sgtcreasegrease whats so special about that? most laptops had wifi around 2003 / 2004 already

[@sgtcreasegrease]

@@talvisota327 Because the standard was very much still finish products ready to go out of the box when it came to game consoles at that time. Things didn't start to change until a few years later. Also, even in the early 00s, the wifi modules in laptops were detachable PCMCIA cards, because wifi was nowhere near as ubiquitous as it is now.

[@theprizewinningsquid]

So I bought the Wii day one… stood in line, got my ticket from target, went back and got my Wii….. and my Wii was one of the broken ones. I actually called multiple stores with kiosks to ask if they still had discs and a GameStop said they literally got rid of a “start up disc” they had two days before. I had to call Nintendo and they gave me a box to send it back and they would send me a working Wii. I still have a really crappy picture I took off my CRT of the screen. Couldn’t play my Wii for a week. It was torture!

[@astralwyzard]

Oh man this is great, I thought this was going to be strictly informative but you earned my heart with "my Wii shat itself"

[@fatyoshi1456]

And you earned theirs.

[@mizukittyakinyama]

i went straight to the comments to see anyone commenting about that, it's so funny

[@thenintendoman]

I had that 1.0 wii menu! I got a wii a week or so after launch and we didn't have internet and we only had wii sports and play. It definitely played Wii Sports. The Wii is somewhere in storage now completely softmodded at this point.

[@NatetheNintendofan]

Nice OG username quite a rare one the Nintendo man seems rare

[@itsyaboikirbo]

same! played the crap out of kirbys return to dreamland and mario kart, never realized it was anything out of the ordinary

[@theblueskittle71]

i found you through nick robinson and i must say i’m so glad he promoted your video as your channel is wonderful! great video you have here. Rest in peace bushing

[@SilvazWasTaken]

whats the video link

[@Ungodly-Specimen]

@@SilvazWasTaken here it is kzbin.info/www/bejne/moLaZapvjMyLmbM

[@xilitla.]

ew

[@blackwiiremote]

@@xilitla. what

[@tsvtsvtsv]

@@blackwiiremote nick is not a good guy

[@itsblarg7543]

Interesting to learn the history of this, I heard about it in the past through the lost media wiki scene but never really knew what it was. Good video!

[@girlbossincorporated]

fun fact the wii from the auction was made on my birthday

[@ricogoins]

Found this video out of nowhere at 6 am last night, and I can say that u deserve more subscribers for this content! !!

[@gdcalamity]

This is a really high quality video! I learnt a lot about the Wii Startup Disc during this.

[@greedyasskemono]

"We don't have access to one.. or do we?" had some real vsauce energy to it

[@purplegill10]

This was randomly recommended to me and I am so glad it was. You're a wonderful presenter and consider me an instant sub.

[@3DJapan]

1:09 I was one of those outside of Best Buy at 4am. I didn't really want it THAT bad I just thought it would be fun to do a launch event.

[@QueenofTNT]

It was absolutely insane watching the gigaleak happen in somewhat real time from twitter; multiple people were live tweeting the threads from /v/ and we got to watch L become real, alongside numerous prototypes getting leaked. It was actually insane. Glad the leak let us see a little bit into the history of my favorite console!

[@guiege842]

Dang some deep cuts for the sources, great vid as always

[@PhirePhlame]

To elaborate on something you mentioned: the release candidate for 1.0 requires the Z button on GCN port 4, or else it will just boot straight into the disc drive (I wonder what happens if there's a system update on the disc?) and iirc will also not listen to the Home button in such cases. This is probably because they had no choice but to also use the prototype firmware builds in their prerelease demonstrations and samples. After all, people can't sneak a peek at the unfinished Wii Menu if the system summarily refuses to show it in the first place.

[@allingby]

thanks to fami and team tweezers we can see the wii menu without slopes

[@f4micom]

I have to thank Luna for having uploaded that footage to KZbin in HD and for letting me use it

[@fatyoshi1456]

We can finally see the wii menu without a pelvis

[@Dyl_Apple]

This video is awesome, I love the Wii it was the second console I ever used and I have a little bit of an obsession with it and I had no idea that this was a thing. Thank you so much for this video it’s so cool! I’m subscribing, I can’t wait for more content!

[@xFreSh999_]

"my Wii shat itself" absolute gold lmao

[@charlesdeichman5115]

It wasn’t just hard to find in 2006. All of 2007 and 2008 as well. We got my kid brother a Wii in for his birthday and I had to drive to another (bigger) city an hour away just find one. That was at the beginning of 2009.

[@Leclaron]

In high school (secondary school in Canada) my buddy’s mom worked in marketing for Nintendo and was responsible for setting ip kiosks for console releases. I remember hanging out at his house around 2009 and looking g at his collection of Wii games and he had one of these disks, I had no idea that it was rare or uncommon. Very cool to hear it’s history!

[@jjhack3r]

I admire you. You learned another language and used that skill to make awesome niche content. You got my subscription... 💜

[@AkaiAmeUltsch]

Love your accent, and this video hits home since I had an OG released Wii from back in the day, got it for Christmas from my parents, which ended up needing to be sent back to Nintendo since when I booted it up for the first time it gave me that 'Start Up Disc' screen. couldn't even play anything on it, I was a sad kid.

[@dreamsyntax]

Great video! You did a great job with the editing style.

[@EzraMashupVT]

Found you through the algorithm. Your content is awesome!

[@FlameRat_YehLon]

IIRC, iQue Wii was pretty much done but pulled off the shelf before being released. And those three China exclusive Nintendo games for Nvidia Shield is likely also done production from that era. It's a kinda well documented thing, even though the document is also like a decade old by this point. Maybe someone can eventually find the old stock of Chinese Wii one day, though I'm not sure if those exists in the first place.

[@TheGlitchyMario]

Wii: tweezers Switch: paperclip What next? A hammer?

[@oqocraft2661]

saw

[@TheGlitchyMario]

@@oqocraft2661 I wouldn't doubt it.

[@oqocraft2661]

@@TheGlitchyMario a taser connected to the CPU

[@TheGlitchyMario]

@@oqocraft2661 A Nintendo 64 DD

[@TheGlitchyMario]

@( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ✓ Actually one of the 1st 3DS exploits was Overloading the DS profile settings with a modified DS card. To make the system vulnerable enough to run a custom flashcard (Gateway specifically)

[@X41-f4t]

did not expect to be randomly hit in the feels by being reminded of bushing RIP legend

[@snugray_p1659]

Can't believe I found this video exactly a year from now, guess my recommended is actually doing some good!

[@aurastorm64]

Same here!

[@fshahid88]

same here!

[@TheKarateKidd]

Your videos are so wonderfully done. It's like telling a story and it never gets boring. Thanks!

[@Moongeist23]

“My wii shat itself” that cracked me up so bad.

[@awesomegamer31]

that was a lot of information! very well-presented :)

[@petalbeetle]

i remember reading about this a while back and being bewildered by the forbidden disk

[@gbam1312]

The last thing the Wii arc of my life needed was a startup disc.

[@alext2792]

I remember this start up disc when I was a kid me and my dad modded my wii he had a disc just like this grey disc actually..

[@emireri2387]

hold on your dad discovered modding?

[@alext2792]

@@emireri2387 what he told me when I was 8 was he knew a way to get free wii games lol as a kid I jumped at that he is a IT person for a company

[@MrNoobNub]

we're gonna need video proof bud

[@thomasgamer4000]

from what i remember, the homebrew channel used to require a disc to install (presumably one that was just a burnt dvd)

[@SmackedByJack]

Bullshit.

[@thebrownmantapesthenewchan2206]

You know when they say "or do we?" stuff is about to take a turn. Amazing video!

[@Artorikus]

I'm so glad that I discovered your channel, I love your videos. I was kinda moved at the end of this video btw ❤️

[@ask343]

That's so cool, I had never seen version 1 before

[@arthurvasey]

The very earliest “TV games” - and we’re talking about the mid to late 70s here - came with six games, but only four could be played - tennis, football, squash and solo (one player squash - the only one player game available) - they also had two shooting games - skeet - like clay pigeon shooting - and target - the large square moved around the screen and - presumably - disappeared if you hit it right - no matter which one you bought, the pistol required for the shooting games was an “optional extra” - though no shops actually sold them - the games were unplayable because you couldn’t buy the pistol!

[@jadenidontknow4025]

I have some theories on why the date codes didn't make sense at all on the components. 1. Maybe the Console's Shell was from a 2008 console and somehow, components from a 2006-2007 console were put into that 2008 shell from another Wii. 2. Maybe it was a mistake on Nintendo's part. I got no further ideas for this one I would love to see some feedback or other theories in the comments.

[@Aelitaa4]

That tune from intro... I was sure I heard it somewhere First thought: no, it can't be... I checked the description Not only it was what I was initially thinking but from a channel that I'd not expect here It's nice to hear Pegasus accent in this video, especially the one from one of greatest Polish creators Good video dude, keep it up :)

[@bipferret]

Never knew the Wii had a startup disc, that's just wild. You've earned yourself a new subscriber, nice video!

[@ScumSookar]

Yiff in Hell.

[@jgsh8062]

It's so sad Bushing never got to see the startup disc.

[@minervoionni36]

I just found your channel through your Flipnote video when I was just going through a bunch of Flipnote videos and I really like your channel. Good content you make. :)

[@Sraur]

Thanks for the video f4mi. You're content is entertaining, and it's always enjoyable. You're awesome! :)

[@poupdujour]

This is great, definitely stuff I want to learn about but too lazy to know where to begin

[@MiguelRodriguez-gm6ip]

every time you upload a video it brightens my day, thank you fami!

[@JuanesChiwirosky]

Good research, I had no idea of the existence of the wii startup disc before watching this

[@cheplays2482]

New subscriber here. the ending to this video was very heartwarming and I could really tell you're passionate about the topics you cover. I'm going through the process of watching all of your content thus far, and I am really enjoying it! Really hope to see more from you in the future.

[@aldonetpro]

That startup disk is now a trophy in a nintendo's desk an enployee may have

[@Amy_Dunn]

This just reminded me of a recent move I had a few years ago, and I opened up a box from the back of a closet that hadn't been opened in at least a decade, and one of the treasures inside was a Wii Netflix disc. Lmao!

[@Noahdaz]

Great video and wildly underrated channel!

[@remmycarl29587]

I just wanted to learn about the wii, you didn't have to make me cry with that ending.

[@AlbertValo]

thank you for blessing my day

[@JinjoJinjoJinjo]

Didn't expect to want to cry by watching the ending of this video but here I am

[@TheCelloLady]

Got mine almost 3 years after release. Best gift ever

[@ABrokenTV]

So glad the algorithm led me to you and your videos. :D

[@czechtea3613]

Wonderful video. This feels like Scott the Woz episode. Keep it up!

[@injeolmi6]

why, the Wii has a surprisingly rich history! Thank youuu!

[@Ascension721]

Hearing his passing teared me up

[@Seven7601]

5:45 You should have added Moon Men to this spot

[@TaelythTheCat]

Every time I hear your intro all I can think is "Like a good neighbor state farm is there." lmao

[@randomcrap7682]

for those who don't have time to watch i'll sum it up. so if you had an early wii it came with the start up disc instead of wii sports and when you turned on the wii it said "oops! you have to put the CD UP YOUR A-" and you would put it in then the wii worked.

[@Pepino_spaghett]

1:38 an error has occurred turn the power off and refer to the instruction booklet for further information

[@SmoggyLambGG]

_bonk!_ "...And there goes the tennis racquet! I didn't have it on all the way!"

[@igemily]

I love this. Thank you, KZbin algorithm.

[@kingpog9399]

what a fun game! i hope it gets ported to the swich!

[@osinternals]

i agree, Wii need Nintendon't to port Wii system menu 1.0 and the wii startup disk to the switch

[@loober95]

fun fact: i got the european WII startup disc

[@darthgamer9861]

strange thing is, I don’t remember having to setup my Wii, and I’m the one who opened it up and set it up. maybe I’m crazy

[@k.y5171]

Me on 3AM: yeah this is probably the best thing to do right now

[@0JayDoubleU]

🤣🤣 "Please insert Girdr" love it

[@Thewaterspirit57]

“New and upcoming TONSIL” Oh accents… you add soo many good flavours to the world, but also mess up words in the process :)

[@kcj1993]

It's amazing that so many people were busting for a Wii in 2006

[@sgcs]

thanks youtube for recommending me this channel I love it

[@JossCard42]

I got my Wii at launch. I saved my paper route money and had a pre-order for over a year. I was number 9 out of 10 consoles the store received at launch and then no one could get one for two years straight

[@parkerginnalt2502]

It's sad that Bushing died over 6 years ago. RIP.

[@Sacren365]

I wonder if the pressing z on the GameCube controller thing was to test with funny/ special startup sounds.

[@NyxTheNerd]

Your videos honestly remind me of the kinda stuff Nick Robinson puts out. _I love it._

[@SenranKaguraFan1227]

Get this, this video along with the other 2 are now on Wii Room (Wii no Ma)

[@luigifreak3456]

I love obscure gaming facts that no one really cares about, and I'm glad this was recommended to me

[@mypondd]

Got a wii because I was friends with a gamestop employee. Loved the thing!

[@Lua64]

man i hate it when my wii shits itself

[@2bittommy]

I remember the Wii launch day so well!!! I was working at GameStop that day and we had someone bring in a Wii for trade in, hours after it had launched! The dead giveaway was the Wii and all the accessories were in that foam packing that they use in the box 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ it was totally STOLEN!! my manager still told us to take the trade, and no mention of calling the authorities. Worse part was, we weren’t able to buy it 😅😢😂 the policy for Wii at the time was they had to be refurbed because they had internal storage. Crazy story!! 🤣🤣😊

[@awesomemercerdude]

So you can’t play Wii games on 1.0U… But can you play GameCube?

[@quedtion_marks_kirby_modding]

Hardware wise the wii is a gamecube with more ram and bluethoot.

[@ihavenoideas5844]

​@@quedtion_marks_kirby_moddingNot to mention another CPU and internal storage

[@quedtion_marks_kirby_modding]

@@ihavenoideas5844 Ye. The cpu was still 32 bit power pc, just better, no?

[@ihavenoideas5844]

@@quedtion_marks_kirby_modding The main CPU, yeah. It's the same thing, just overclocked The Wii has a 2nd CPU, an ARM926EJ-S that controls the I/O, nicknamed the Starlet

[@LULZx0r]

Great video, dawg 💯

[@jerhumejerhume3173]

My Wii was stolen by an old friend and everytime I see a video about the Nintendo Wii my heart hurts really bad and I begin to panic. My mother got it for us when I was a child and I remember the struggle and how hard she tried just to make me happy.

[@lupinoh]

Just found you, that's an amazing video

[@iDrinkRadium]

Does anyone know the name of the song used at 1:41 ?

[@mikemoss6045]

Cheers to anyone who kept those consoles, sitting on some serious coin.

[@pezzi3277]

nice vidéo ! But please where can I find the video at 4:53 please ?

[@someidiot4311]

6:25 oh em gee is that a dell poweredge r710 6 bay?

[@renakunisaki]

RIP bushing.

[@AllThoughts3rased]

It's interesting that something like the Wii had a startup disc that you install like Windows

[@night-x6793]

I didn't get a wii until 2008 which I'm not surprised why I never got this menu and yes I still have it to this because of the Virtual Console games I have on it.

[@carlitos_2player]

I think i remember getting this error on my PAL wii when i was just a little kid, my brother told me that he had the start up disk and possibly installed the wii menu by himself.

[@keisuketakahasi4584]

1:28 poofesure still does it today