Shop online with Wii Shop Channel music via new browser add-on

Shop online with Wii Shop Channel music

Those who remember the Wii and its digital store – the Wii Shop channel – remember its catchy music loop. Now you can shop online with Wii Shop Channel music via a new browser add-on.

The new Wii Shop Channel Music extension is an add-on by Corbin Davenport, and it’s available for either Firefox or Google Chrome browsers. Once you get the add-on installed on your browser, if you go to your preferred digital peddler you’ll be graced with that catchy music loop.

Curiously, you can shop online with Wii Shop Channel music when browsing online stores like Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy – but GameStop doesn’t trigger the music. I started going on a quest to see what Corbin added to the list of “stores” and what didn’t make the cut. Ebay also triggers the music, as does Target.

What’s even stranger is that none of the browser equivalents to the console stores from PlayStation, Xbox, and not even Nintendo trigger the music. You can naturally toggle the music on quite easily via the extension’s settings, but this is meant to run seamlessly in the background like you’re browsing the Wii shop itself.

You can also switch the music that plays in the extension from the default Wii Shop Channel music to the also excellent DSi shop music, as well as the 3DS eShop and even the Wii U eShop.

It’s kind of sad that the previous generation of handhelds with the 3DS and even Sony’s PlayStation Vita had store theme music, but the Switch currently does not. Perhaps the age-old tradition of playing cheap-sounding background music to encourage you to buy things while shopping in Japan is coming to an end.

Davenport noted he wants to add more features to the extension but is quite happy with it for now – perhaps we’ll get more digital stores added to the roster to make online shopping a little less depressing in our corporate dystopia.

This is Niche Culture. In this column, we regularly cover anime, geek culture, and things related to video games. Please leave feedback and let us know if there’s something you want us to cover!


About

Owner and Publisher at Niche Gamer and Nicchiban. Outlaw fighting for a better game industry.


Where'd our comments go? Subscribe to become a member to get commenting access and true free speech!