

By Joel Luther.
Wednesday, 5. March 2008, 20:09:05
update, japan, wii, tv
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Announced in 2007 at the Nintendo Conference in Japan, the TV Guide channel for the Wii has now been released in Japan. The channel, whose title is roughly translated as "TV Friend", allows you to connect to the Internet and download television programming information. You can view the listings, highlight or rate interesting programs, send a message to friends with TV information, have alerts sent to you via mobile device or e-mail when your favorite shows are on, and even use you Wii Remote as a universal televison remote.
The most interesting part of the new channel for me is the television remote feature. This allows you change channels, adjust the volume, and switch between live broadcasting and the TV Friend Channel. The technology used to achieve this is very interesting. Apparently, the Wii sensor bar emits IR light which reflects off a wall and then hits the IR port on your TV. Nice.
Unfortunately, there are currently no plans to bring this channel to American or European Wii consoles. Maybe if it's successful in Japan...
Thanks to Yeeliberto for the heads up.


By Joel Luther.
Monday, 12. November 2007, 01:41:01
out, mii, channels, lutherjw
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Announced at this year's E3, the Check Mii Out channel is now live. The newest channel is available for free in the WiiWare section of the Wii Shop Channel.
Check Mii Out allows you to show off your various Mii creations, download new ones, participate in contests, and vote on other Mii creations. "It's yet another way that we're building fun, interactive communities of Wii owners without charging them extra for the privilege," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications.
The first Mii contest is already live: create Mario without his cap.
Be sure to let us know and/or send us a picture if you're participating!Check it out. (See what I did there?)
'Read More' for the official press release from earlier this week.
Read more...



By .ed.
Friday, 1. December 2006, 17:09:48
.ed, launch, channels, wii
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Quick update:
- Wii Weather Forecast Channel goes live December 20th, 2006
- Wii News Broadcast Channel goes live January 27th, 2007
Added to the countdowns, Chuck!


By .ed.
Thursday, 14. September 2006, 19:24:01
.ed, wii, channels
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The Disc channel is simply for playing games based off of optical media, i.e. Wii or Gamecube discs. Nothing fancy here.
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The Mii channel allows a player to create his or her own digital avatar. These avatars will most likely be your online "identity", but will also appear in certain software, such as Wii Sports.
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The Photo channel is a channel that allows you to view and share digital photos and movies from an external source. The Wii also contains an iPhoto-like functionality, allowing you to touch up, alter, and distort your photos to your heart's content.
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The Forecast channel will give you a look at local weather. You can also zoom out in a very Google Earth-esque fashion, and view data for pretty much anywhere in the world.
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The News channel is for, well, news. Various topics will be broken down into topical categories for your viewing pleasure. Remember, this and the weather service are free of charge.
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The Wii Shop channel is, as expected, the online marketplace for the Wii. You'll mainly be in here buying games for the Virtual Console, but you can also purchase Opera's web browser and whatever else Nintendo decides to charge. Hopefully, extra multiplayer maps and the like will remain free, but we suppose that's up to the publisher.
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The Virtual Console channels are the channels that allow you to play games from any of the various systems supported: NES, SNES, N64, Sega Genesis, and the TurboGrafx-16.
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The Internet channel allows one to surf the internet. However, this is not free; an Opera browser must be purchased for a currently unknown price. However, the browser supports Adobe Flash, AJAX software, and essentially every feature a major browser should; it's a nice step up from the DS version.
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The Message Board channel allows users to post messages on various boards, and send messages or photos directly to PCs or cell phones. This is also the service through which games will be updated and patched.
What is your favorite channel?For me, it's gotta be the Mii channel... I am in LOVE with this idea!
Thanks WiiFanboy