Check Mii Out now lighting up Wiis

by Alisha Karabinus { Nov 11th 2007 at 8:27PM }

It's Sunday, and as promised, the Check Mii Out Channel is now available for download on Wiis everywhere. It's pretty straightforward from first glance: you choose a Mii to represent your Wii, and it will be labeled your "Mii Artisan." It looks like you can only choose one Mii Artisan per console, so families who do a lot of Mii creation might have to fight it out (may we recommend a steel cage match?). Once you've designated the Mii who is in charge, you can get rolling with the real meat of the channel.

There's the regular submission process, in which you can select any of your Miis for upload and critique. You assign them initials, as well as a "specialty," which can include anything from cooking to comedy, or our personal favorite, writing. They join a parade (viewing options include regional and worldwide) of other Miis. When viewing Miis already submitted, you can choose to see them in motion, with a variety of silly poses (some of which we've captured for you after the break), or you can scroll through columns of static Miis.

Also in full effect is the contest feature. Currently, there's only one contest listed, and judging was not yet available. It's unknown as yet if that means no one's entered, or if it just means each contest has to be open for a certain period before you can view the competition. Right now, the listed challenge is for a capless Mario. We know a lot of you have Mario Miis hanging around, so if they're chillin' without hats, you might want to submit them. If not, get to work!

As of this time, there weren't a lot of Miis up, and just the one contest, but it seems likely that the popularity feature will soon fill up with a variety of Miis from around the world. Even now, there's a good selection, and we have to admit, it's pretty cute to get an idea (in cartoon form) of who else is using the channel already. Overall, there just doesn't seem like a lot to the Check Mii Out Channel beyond a few occasional moments of diversion, but the contests might offer a nice challenge for those who have run out of ideas for new Miis. We also know a lot of people who just love Miis, so surely, this new feature will have more than a few fans.

Miis on parade

I am so bee-yoo-ti-ful!

Hmmm, so many to choose from!

J.R. looks pretty nice!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Tags: check-mii-out, joystiqfeatures, mii

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

thenewkasanova @ Nov 11th 2007 9:19PM

I expected almost nothing from this channel, and it managed to disappoint me. Why the initials? Without the names, it is not half as fun to see all the different miis. All of them just look like random Miis, I was expecting Marios and such.

I hate to troll, but this is just sad. Hopefully with more participation it will improve.

danny. (fdf.) @ Nov 11th 2007 9:19PM

...and it sucks :(

I wasn't expecting much, but this is terrible.

Eric @ Nov 11th 2007 9:27PM

I don't have a blue light yet... it usually comes on at 1am, for the obvious "middle-of-the-night-blast-of-light" effect that makes me think of aliens.

student @ Nov 11th 2007 9:28PM

so... it's a random generator of miis? If I wanted miis like these, I could have just spent 20 minutes on the wii making lots of generic people.

I had hoped they'd divide them into categories like "video game characters" "tv characters" "famous people" making it easy to sift through the masses.

AndrewNeo @ Nov 11th 2007 9:50PM

This is actually kind of creepy. About 5 minutes ago I noticed my Wii's light starting to flash. I was just about to close my browser and check my Wii before I saw this article! Well, at least now I know what it is!

Joe H @ Nov 11th 2007 10:04PM

I definitely agree with the first post.

The contests section seems like it could be fun though.

4sakenaiden @ Nov 11th 2007 10:05PM

eh, I'm not complaining TOO much. Just got some decent mii's of Walter Sobchak (Big Lebowski), Michael Jackson, and Jack Black. I think it will get a little better the more and more decent mii's are posted. Then again, the channel can only do so much.

I also agree with whats been said thus far:

a) the abbreviations SUCK
b) throw out some damn categories, nintendo

Dopple Boppler @ Nov 11th 2007 10:17PM

Actually I really like it. When I checked it was full of Mario and Star Wars characters. Heck, there was even a Frog suit Luigi; even I hadn't ever thought about that before. Then again I'm a sucker for the Miis, so what can I say.

DeadPlasmaCell @ Nov 11th 2007 10:17PM

Come on now guys, The thing just went up, give it some time to get goin!

Alisha Karabinus @ Nov 11th 2007 10:21PM

I agree that I was disappointed to see initials instead of names... but I bet we can all guess why Nintendo made that decision. You just KNOW there would have been a lot of Miis with questionable names, and they like to avoid controversy.

Categories would have been nice, though.

Undead Priest @ Nov 11th 2007 10:35PM

It's a fun little channel, I think.

But I agree, more than one "Artisan" should be represented, and Mii categories would be great.

The contest themes should bring about some nice variations in creativity. :)

Fist Drark @ Nov 11th 2007 10:45PM

I second DeadPlasmaCell's motion that the channel should be given more than a few hours before being so harshly criticized (especially since it's free..). I say at least give it a week (if not a month) to kick in. Personally, I'm quite pleased with it. I've definitely seen some very creative Miis which I never would've thought to make. I also like that when viewing Worldwide you can see the countries from which the Miis were created.

+ WOO more catchy music! :3

Fist Drark @ Nov 11th 2007 10:48PM

Oh yes, and the "Call Friends" feature is very nice. Try it if you haven't yet.

flameofdoom666 @ Nov 11th 2007 11:03PM

I just saved 40 Mii's!

Some people are so cleaver!

For a free channel, not bad! I love the contest- I hope my Mario wins! haha

Daniel @ Nov 11th 2007 11:44PM

This new channel is awesome! I love the vote/contest thing and the Miis are so clever. It would be nice to have categories and more than one artisan but at the same time it's still really awesome!

troy @ Nov 11th 2007 11:37PM

Very nice, liked the shifting animated backgrounds. Found some really cool miis: Leonard Nimoy, Jack Black, Princess Zelda: and Uploaded 10 of my own. Our household made our fictional mii 'PrincsPlaya' our artesian since she can represent us both. We uploaded Michael Scott from the Office, Prison Mike, Dwight, Phylis, and John Lennon and Yoko, Young Paul McCartney, Young George Harrison and a couple of others. Can't wait to see how they get voted on and the like!

...Jan... @ Nov 11th 2007 11:45PM

- Eh...at the moment, this seems like a once a weeker. Just like the Everybody Votes Channel. It's not that I don't like it, it's that, it's not an exciting turn on everyday sort of thing.
- The thing that annoys me is the lack of a ticker. It should stream the current contest on the channel icon just like the News, Weather, and Vote channels.

Qwikstreet @ Nov 12th 2007 12:04AM

I was able to download this channel before i got the message from nintendo. my clock is still an hour fast. wonder if that allowed me access to it.

John @ Nov 11th 2007 11:50PM

Anyone else notice the ??? (question marks) channel that shows up under channel management after downloading this?
wii settings-> data management -> channel management

NvM @ Nov 11th 2007 11:56PM

It's alright.
I wish that there would be more contests(but that comes with time) since it was kinda funny having a need to make a hatless mario.

But I uploaded my Ackbar, Wario, and Leonidas Miis.

Archibold @ Nov 11th 2007 11:58PM

It seems like it has the potential to be decent. I love the kaleidoscope effect.

However, I am already annoyed at all the repeated characters (done exactly the same way). If you copied someone else, don't post the Mii online. I saw about four Bowsers in the two minutes I was on, all identical.

Also, "Mario without his cap on"?!? What kind of contest is that. Besides, Nintendo has to know that there are no options on the Mii channel to make a decent Mario.

HawthorneKitty @ Nov 12th 2007 12:12AM

I love this new channel. Good job Nintendo.

Spekkio @ Nov 12th 2007 12:31AM

I was pleasantly surprised by the creativity of some folks, but I do agree that there's a lot of needless repeats. A lot of people like making Jesus into a Mii, for one thing. The initials are annoying, too.

I posted four: Jay (Silent Bob's hetero life mate), Steve Jobs, Kyle Gass (Jack Black's partner in Tenacious D) and Lewis Black.

jceggbert5 @ Nov 12th 2007 1:26PM

Yo john.....

The ???? channel has been there since the 3.1 update

Damian G. @ Nov 12th 2007 1:03AM

"21. I was able to download this channel before i got the message from nintendo. my clock is still an hour fast. wonder if that allowed me access to it.

Posted at 12:04AM on Nov 12th 2007 by Qwikstreet"

Nope, similar thing happened to me, and my clock is correct.

Kai Cherry @ Nov 12th 2007 1:38AM

Cool! My wife made a Steve Jobs too...Will be neat to see them all.

Jay @ Nov 12th 2007 10:29AM

A lot of folks are blasting the abbreviations, but I looked at the positive side of things. The abbreviations turned it into a game, trying to figure out what each Mii was.

My girlfriend and I just spent like 2 hours messing around with this channel, so it can't be as bad as the people on digg are making it out to be. I wouldn't even have digged the article, had I known it was only opening the channel to further bashing.

ares041086 @ Nov 12th 2007 2:56AM

I wish there were full names because sometimes guessing what these miis are suppose to be is hard as !@#$.

http://www.ares04.com

ChooseAndWatch @ Nov 12th 2007 3:45AM

Wow this is lame.

ashylarry @ Nov 12th 2007 4:50AM

The initials are to keep the majority retard population from flooding the service with profanity. Genius decision, imo.

mentalsticks @ Nov 12th 2007 6:08AM

any MiiLFs around?

Anastazius @ Nov 12th 2007 8:21AM

With regards to the need for initials to avoid questionable Mii names, who else laughed at the "F.U." Mii whose face looked like an asshole?

See? The Wii does bring out the creative side in people...

akatsuki @ Nov 12th 2007 1:26PM

Nintendo's online efforts continue to be beyond pathetic. I love my Wii, but end up spending a lot more time on the 360 just because of multiplayer...

timmy @ Nov 12th 2007 9:39AM

I went through 20 pages of random Mii's last night, and 4% of them were Hitler.

kevin @ Nov 12th 2007 9:56AM

Well, this sucks.
I had my Wii in for service a few months ago, and they sent me a new one with all of my Miis transfered over. None of them can be used as the Artisan because "they've been sent to you by another user". I couldn't even open the channel until I made a brand new Mii. What a massive, massive oversight on Nintendo's part.

CorCAD @ Nov 12th 2007 9:02PM

the "CALL FRIENDS" button is the best part. I found one Jesus Christ and looked at his profile, clicked "call friends", and POW 50 more Jesus'. My wife and I spent all night picking our favorites that way.

Phoenix Hawk @ Nov 12th 2007 11:10AM

I tried it out last night - Found the Chicken Little Mii to be funny.

Spekkio @ Nov 12th 2007 12:24PM

@33: Yeah, there is a certain element of guessing to it, and I admit that can be fun.

Kai Cherry @ Nov 12th 2007 3:52PM

Sigh.

Look, I *know* you 18-24 year olds JUST DON'T GET it, so...again...

Some people just don't think profanity is entertaining. They aren't necessarily "kids" or "kiddie" (I'm 38, actually)...they aren't prudes...

They just want to relax and have fun after a hard day's work.

Just reading the comments on digg (a site I haven't been to in months. I remembered why after my brief foray there) makes it CRYSTAL CLEAR why the submitted Mii's have initials; "mature" kids would abuse the system and it would make it worse.

Sure, Nintendo could spend the money to have 24 hour staff to constantly monitor the messages and complaints...or they could just design the abuse potential away.

Any Mii you grab off there you can name what you wish anyway, so...there ya go.

Its a whole "bigger picture" sort of thing. I got rid of my Xbox 360 *because of Live*...I made the mistake one too many times of having the sound come thru the tv and having to endure a barrage of profanity and racial slurs.

That's just not FUN. It isn't, not for the vast majority of Nintendo's customers...or people with a bit of taste and home training.

Check Mii Out is what it is. And there is more of this..."unsatisfying crap" yet to come. Its no going to change. The numbers pretty much speak for themselves. Its what (other) people want.

Sell your Wii. Ninty's already got your money, anyway, and I am *certain* there is someone out there willing to give ya cash for it. :)

Chris Mear @ Nov 13th 2007 9:16AM

Interesting... in the UK, the 'Check Mii Out' channel is called the 'Mii Contest' channel. I wonder if they thought we'd be offended by 'check me out' or what.

Frank @ Nov 13th 2007 3:46PM

The Jack Black Mii and many of the other Miis on the Check Mii Out channel were originally created by Brandon Erickson. You can find some of his other Mii designs here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandonerickson/

Or, you can find his Miis on the Check Mii Out channel using the following Mii codes.

Chuck Norris 8406-4599-2449
Bruce Lee 7199-3418-6319
Robert De Niro 3337-6513-3617
Ryan Seacrest 3096-5494-6803
Ashlee Simpson (pre-surgery) 5458-9832-6755
Ashlee Simpson (post-surgery) 6687-1356-1751
George Clooney 5420-9933-1277
Tom Cruise 6485-0750-6085
Jack Nicholson 7288-1373-4722
Bruce Campbell 3442-6217-5740
Christopher Walken 5393-0018-0456
Jennifer Connelly 0684-0067-0596
Gary Busey 5039-0995-7702
Kristen Bell 8188-1305-7617
Katie Holmes 2558-0428-4104
Penelope Cruz 0351-1679-6937
Pai-Mei 5094-1810-4917
Uma Thurman 2467-3878-7694
Leonardo DiCaprio 5334-9024-5079
Michael Jackson (pre-surgery) 1324-2672-2662
Michael Jackson (post-surgery) 4756-5084-7394
Daryl Hannah 8151-8653-5951
David Carradine 2301-1913-6297
Vivica A. Fox 4806-1320-0706
Snoop Dogg 5362-3593-7010
Lucy Liu 5660-3200-8337
Chiaki Kuriyama 3362-0304-3559
Mark Hamill (aka Luke Skywalker) 4934-8078-4230
Jack Black 7718-2658-8050
Kyle Gass 4812-5072-7185
Samuel L. Jackson 2344-1434-8394
Alec Guinness (aka Obi-Wan) 7344-2916-8394
David Boreanaz (aka Angel) 0222-1721-0451
Sarah Michelle Gellar (aka Buffy) 4624-9226-5470
Tony Danza 2606-2774-8906
Paris Hilton 5085-4544-5097
Bruce Springsteen 3261-5746-1213
Crispin Glover 1906-2743-6847
Ingrid Bergman 5043-5482-0043
Humphrey Bogart 1135-0493-1628
Brandon Erickson (Mii artist) 4759-9271-4703
Orson Welles 4741-0184-0675
Jon Stewart 1907-2417-7486

MiiMaster101 @ Jan 20th 2008 9:59PM

i hate when people copy mii's- it pisses me off. i saw some mii's today that were original ideas and they were PERFECT. here's the numbers if you want:
Rick Ross- 2952-3853-3907
THE GODFATHER- 6735-8363-5354
Gretchen(from recess)- 4253-7282-1122
Rosie O'Donell- 6673-0341-4868
Trisha takanawa(family guy)- 9586-1061-7428