Games are purchased using the proprietary Wii Points system where 100 points are equal to $1.00 USD. Currently Wii Points may be purchased directly from the Wii Shop Channel through a MasterCard of Visa in increments of 1000 ($10), 2000 ($20), 3000 ($30), or 5000 ($50) points; or from any number of retailers throughout the world in the form of Wii Points Cards.

100 Points is Equal to:

• 1.00 USD in the USA
• 1.20 CAD in Canada
• 100 JPY in Japan
• 1.00 EUR in the Eurozone
• 0.70 GBP in the UK (online)
• 1000.00 CLP in Chile
• 9.2 SEK in Sweden
• 1.90 SGD in Singapore
• 1000 KRW in South Korea

Club Nintendo in Europe also offers Wii Points in exchange for stars, which are received from registering games and consoles on the official website.

Gifting Feature

On December 10, 2007, a feature that allows users to gift a game to another person was implemented. The user can select a title, a gifting option, and then a message. The recipient can then accept and download the game, after which the recipient is required to send a thank you note.

If the gift is not accepted or downloaded within 45 days, or if the recipient already has that game, then the Wii Points are returned.

Virtual Console

Virtual Console controller

The Virtual Console is a place for users to download classic games from a variety of different classic gaming consoles. Currently, there are over 250 games available. All of the games are in emulated form, meaning they are perfect replicas. Only one game has been modified; Pokémon Snap allows users to take in-game pictures and send them to friends via the Wii Message Board. New games are added every Monday in the United States.

Some games have been updated to fix problems in the game. Only four games have required an update, and users who have previously downloaded the game can download the update free of charge. These four games are Military Madness, Star Fox 64, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, (in North America and Europe), and Mario Kart 64 (in Europe and Australia).

Import titles are available in both North America and Europe. These import titles are games that were not available in the respective country before their release on the Virtual Console. These games usually cost 100 or 200 Wii Points more, usually due to some translation work.

Consoles Available on the Virtual Console

• NES/Famicom - 500 Wii Points
• Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear - 500 Wii Points
• Commodore 64 (Europe only) - 500 Wii Points
• TurboGrafx-16/PC-Engine - 600 Wii Points
• TurboGrafx-CD/PC-Engine CD-ROM - 800 Wii Points
• Sega Genesis/Sega Mega Drive - 800 Wii Points
• SNES/Super Famicom - 800 Wii Points
• Neo-Geo - 900 Wii Points
• Nintendo 64 - 1000 Wii Points

WiiWare

Dr. Mario Online Rx, a WiiWare game

WiiWare is Nintendo's digital distribution service for new and original games developed for the Wii. WiiWare was launched on March 25, 2008 in Japan, May 12, 2008 in North America, And May 20, 2008 in Europe and Australia. The games in this feature are priced between 500 and 1500 points.

Some games feature Pay and Play, a system in which additional downloadable content can be bought and downloaded for a small amount of points (usually under 500 Wii Points).

New WiiWare games are added each week along with Virtual Console games.