Give the gift of Virtual Console games by updating your Wii.
A new Wii firmware update is now available from Nintendo. The update can be downloaded via the Wii Settings menu.
The new firmware, version 3.1, lets Wii owners purchase Virtual Console games for friends in a Wii owner's Wii Address Book. The "Gift" option appears next to the "Download" button on a VC game purchase page. The price of a gifted VC game is the same as one you would buy for yourself.
If you choose to gift a game, you will be asked to select a friend from your Address Book to receive it. If you select a friend that already owns the game, you will not be able to send them the game again. A message appears stating that a friend could not recieve the game because they already have it, or possibly because they are in a different region than you.
Also new for this update, Nintendo has included an option in the Wii Shop Channel Settings area (speaking of which, the Shop Channel has a new icon) that will allow people to turn off the ability to receive gifts, if they so choose. If someone attempts to give a gift to someone that has this option turned on, they will receive the same generic message as if they were giving a game to someone that already owned it.
Nintendo is also taking the update opportunity to remind everyone about the Photo Channel update that adds AAC music support, among other things, at the expense of removing MP3 support. The Photo Channel 1.1 update is optional, but can be downloaded from the Wii Ware section of the Wii Shop Channel should you choose to get the new version.
