Home button

On the Nintendo 3DS.

The Home Button refers to a recessed, circular button for the Wii Remote, the Wii Classic Controller, and the Wii U GamePad, or a rectangular button beneath the touch screen on the Nintendo 3DS. Its color depends on the that of the controller. The Home Button does not have any specific gameplay function; instead, it is used to access the console's Home menu while suspending the currently-running software. Within Brawl and Smash 4, there are certain cases where the Home menu cannot be accessed, primarily in modes involving Wi-Fi, as well as during loading sequences.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

On the Wii, the Home Button opens the HOME Menu, which allows the player to either restart the game, go back to the Wii Menu to play another game, or to modify settings of the Wii Remote; the lattermost property is important in tournaments, as the use of wireless controllers requires players to need to resync and desync controllers to and from the console.

While Melee can be run on the Wii because of its built-in backwards compatibility with the Nintendo GameCube, one cannot access the Home menu while playing GameCube software.

In Super Smash Bros. 4

On the Wii U and 3DS, pressing the Home Button again suspends software, but it now sends players to the standard Home Menu of either console; from here, it is possible to use some multitasking applications, as well as manually close the game.

On the Nintendo 3DS, features in the Home menu include changing the operating system's visual theme, seeing registered friends as online or offline, drawing notes for future reference, seeing notifications sent from Nintendo or specific software, accessing the Internet via a web browser, and accessing Miiverse. Due to the high amount of RAM required to run Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, users cannot use the Internet Browser or Miiverse during gameplay, unless one uses a New Nintendo 3DS, which features more RAM than the 3DS, 3DS XL, and 2DS, and can run these applications when Smash 4 is being played. This means that only players with a New 3DS can post screenshots of the game to Miiverse in the middle of the match, but you can still upload saved screenshots to Miiverse on both the New 3DS and the normal 3DS. All other functions, however, can still be used with the regular 3DS while Smash 4 is being played.

On the Wii U, the Home menu can be used to pair controllers such as Wii Remotes and enable or disable rumble, view online or offline friends, access Miiverse and the Nintendo eShop, browse the Internet, see notifications, check on the status of downloads, and check the instruction manual of the software currently in use. It was also possible for Japanese and North American users to watch television programs - but that service has now ended.

Gallery

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  The Home Button on the Wii Remote

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  On the Wii U GamePad