Why Nintendo got rid of menu music
The music from the Wii's menus is iconic - the Wii Shop Channel theme, the Mii Maker theme. But with the Switch and the Switch 2 consoles, Nintendo got RID of these menu themes - all you hear on the Switch home screen is silence. So in this video, we'll explore the history of Nintendo's menu music. We'll look at early examples of menu themes, how the Wii's iconic soundtrack came to be, and why Nintendo got rid of menu music with the Switch and Switch 2. PATREON - / thomasgamedocs BLUESKY - https://thomasgamedocs.bsky.social SOURCES Toru Minegishi 2006 interview https://web.archive.org/web/200806141... Nintendo 2008 GDC Wii Menu talk https://gdcvault.com/play/426/Plannin... Koichi Kawamoto 2025 interview https://www.polygon.com/nintendo-swit... Nintendo 2018 UI talk https://nintendosoup.com/nintendo-swi... https://nintendoeverything.com/ninten... https://x.com/6d6f636869/status/10321... https://cedec.cesa.or.jp/2018/session... Kazumi Totaka 2020 interview https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-... Iwata Asks - Wii Channels https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interv... CREDITS • Nintendo 64 Disk Drive (1999) Nintendo 64DD "no disk inserted" animation • Game Boy Advance Startup HD GBA startup animation • Game Boy startup screen [HD] Gameboy startup animation • BS-X The Town Whose Name Was Stolen Satellaview OS video 1 • The Town Whose Name Was Stolen - Satellavi... Satellaview OS video 2 • (2001) Gamecube Pre Launch party in New ... GameCube news footage • 2 October 2009 Wii Shop Channel footage Wii Shop Channel footage • 20 Minutes of Nintendo Wii Menu Music (Aut... Wii Menu footage • Nintendo Switch 2 - System Music - First T... Switch 2 setup music • 10 Minutes of Nintendo DSi Menu Music (Aut... DSi Menu footage • Gamecube Menu Walkthrough GameCube OS tour • My Wii U Menu Wii U Menu footage CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 0:45 Part 1: No menu, no music 2:51 Part 2: What does a menu sound like? 6:27 Part 3: The sound of the Wii 11:59 Part 4: Silence 18:15 Outro
