Chances are you've heard a lot about the Nintendo Wii's many parts: it's unique motion sensing controller, it's digital distribution of game content for multiple classic system for a myriad of different publishers, it's promise of backwards compatibility and it's line -up of promising games. But the one thing that really hasn't been focused on is the user interface. That part of the Wii is aptly called the Wii Channel Menu, and it will serve as the focal point and gateway for everything gamers want to do on this next-generation Nintendo console.

The Wii console's interface will serve up its content with a series of "channels" that offer a myriad of activities - from community, entertainment, gaming and even weather to photo and multimedia data storage. These channels are designed to work seamlessly so both novice and expert users should have no trouble navigating through the entire system. When Wii owners turn on their systems for the very first time, the Wii Channel Menu will be the first screen shown. From this starting point players will be able to quickly navigate to other channels with ease.

One of the most important channels for gamers will be the Disc Channel. This channel allows users to play either Wii game discs or their entire library of Nintendo GameCube discs out of the box. So if you want to play Super Mario Kart Double Dash or Zelda: Wind Waker, you still can with no problems. Whatever game you desire will be playable from this point and the interface is very straightforward and easy to understand.

One of the more creative channels is the Mii Channel. This is where gamers can create fun caricatured portraits (or avatars) that can then be used as characters across a variety of Wii software. What's nice about these portraits is that they can be stored in a user's Wii Remote and taken to a friend's house to play on another Wii console. Each member of the family can have his or her Wii Remote personalized with a caricature.

The Photo Channel allows users to take digital pictures stored on an SD memory card and display them on their television screens. Users also can manipulate the photos in a variety of fun and creative ways, such as zooming or creating mosaics, puzzles or slide shows. They can draw, add stamps, and copy and paste. They also can change the "mood" of photos by brightening them, converting them to monochrome, inverting the color or changing them to stark black and white. Users can even add an MP3 tune to their slide shows. It provides a fun and easy outlet for people to edit their digital pictures. Users also can send their pictures to other Wii consoles by attaching a photo to the Wii Message Board.

As you have probably guessed by its name, the Forecast Channel gives users who have connected their Wii console to the Internet access to free local weather forecasts just a few seconds after turning on the Wii console. The WiiConnect24 service automatically updates local weather information. Users can view forecasts for cities around the world on a 3-D globe.