In addition to bringing the WiiWare service Stateside in May, Nintendo will import the already released in Japan Nintendo Channel, a service which allows for downloadable Nintendo DS game demos, commercials, interviews and trailers for Wii software. In addition, Game|Life reports, Wii owners will be able to add reviews of WiiWare releases and receive recommendations on software purchases. Before we run out of channel space, we hope that Nintendo will launch the Channel Channel. More details on the newest channel at Wired.
Everybody's Nintendo Channel Broadcasting On U.S. Wiis Next Month
5:40 PM on Wed Apr 23 2008
By Michael McWhertor
1,934 views
46 comments












Comments
I can't wait for this. :)
I really hope that, what with the user submitted reviews and such, that this service takes off and people actually use it. It'll help a bit with bringing down shovelware sales and helping kickass games like No More Heroes, Zack and Wiki, etc. sell more units, and make more people happy.
This is actually pretty awesome.
And I haven't used awesome in a sentence with Wii for a very long time.
Bring it on!
@Fatass of Kickassness: And I'm pretty sure it's not just WiiWare reviews that the Nintendo channel supports, because the Japanese version released months ago supports reviews for retail Wii games.
Now I won't have to lug my lazy butt over to a store to get some DS Demo action in.
the wiiware reviews decision is dumb. Have you guys been at gamestop.com? it turns into a game hater vs lover forum "aww dont listen to him hes a faggot this game is gud." "nu uh dont listen to him he gets raped by his dad every night hes a fag this game sucks"
Thats what this will end up being. that or dumbass reviews by some dumbass owners. I prefer a demo, but nintendo doesnt believe in hard drives.
About time.
Rather than a channel channel, it would be nice if they'd let us delete useless bullshit like the photo channel, news, and weather channels, none of which I will ever fucking use.
[i31.tinypic.com] @KnaveX: Knowing Nintendo, I doubt that'll fly.
Woo can't wait.
@Fatass of Kickassness:
lol I've noticed that for the past week. Looks like we're commenting without knowing what its about
@Fatass of Kickassness:
He has a point though, a majority of people aren't good amateurs reviewers and couldn't hold a coherent thought if they even wanted too.
Any good review would be hard to discern from that of a fanboy (anything Nintendo = God) or a hater (anything Nintendo = Devil).
If Nintendo were to preview these reviews that would make the trust even lower, as Nintendo would delete not only the offensive reviews but also the ones that don't portray them lightly.
@KnaveX: I know, which is really weird, cuz this isn't Joystiq.
Not to beat a dead horse, but facts are facts and, at this point, if I want to be able to save progress in Wii games, I can't put anything else on my system's drive. It's as simple as that.
I'm really not sure how Nintendo expects to be able to roll out all these new channels on us at this point. Even if you only add up the free stuff they've given out so far, space is getting pretty tight.
I have like...200 blocks left on my system. Brawl's save file takes up 120 alone.
it's about time. now, they should add some demos, as i might have bought a second wii game by now if they had some demos to get me excited. nintendo, listen up, the demo thing the other guys do works...
Sounds good, I never have my ds with me at stores to download demos. As for reviews, I dunno. I don't really care what some random person has to say about games, but if you can just vote for scores that'd be real nice.
Finally. At least both things are coming out at the same time.
Amateur reviews suck on public websites where fanboys rate a game super low because it's not on their system, and the others super high to compensate.
If it's a Wii only feature that shouldn't be an issue...no reason to rate games super high and hopefully not too many Wii owners hate their own system.
gee no european release date
@BenKenobi88: Fanboys are not only restricted to hardware. I've met a lot of software fanboys (see: Halo 3, SSBB, COD4, etc, etc).
@dowingba:
I've got over a thousand. Conserve moar.
This is neat and all, but why the heck is Nintendo SO stubborn about refusing to release demos for their consoles? (not including the DS apparently) I would have gladly subscribed to Nintendo power last-gen to get Gamecube demo discs. I worked in retail and was able to snag some of the in-store ones to take home and, other than the STUPID time limit, they were awesome and convinced me to buy Viewtiful Joe, RE4, and others.
I'm pretty sure you don't write a review it just show nice little pie charts on how long you played the game and a number score you gave it.
@niacin: WORD! I need a release date for this. My Wii is just collecting dust otherwise. Well it will be until payday, then everyone else will want to use it for Wii Fit.
@Klaymen: Nintendo doesn't throw money or time away to make demos. C'mon now, this is old news. Unlike their counterparts, Microsoft and Sony, Nintendo doesn't have money to just throw away into making separate demos for their games. They've been in this business the longest and have figured out that the returns don't always equal out to profits.
@ZinkO: The Game (the kind you just lost): Well it's not up to me to make things smaller.
By the way, the 200 blocks (or whatever) isn't just the free channels, obviously. I also have a ton of VC games that I refuse to get rid of.
Look at it this way: sure, I can always delete games and then redownload them for free, etc. But what happens years down the road? In 10 or 20 years, I highly doubt Nintendo will still let me redownload these games on this system. As I still play the NES 20 years later, I expect to still play the Wii 20 years later.
If I have 1.5x as many games as my system can hold. Logically that means 20 years later that .5 will be lost forever.
Anyway I'm definitely beating a dead horse at this point. If this channel turns out to be worth it I guess I'll ...sigh... make room for it.
Let this be a lesson to Nintendo so maybe on their next system they put a bit more internal storage than the 360 has RAM.
Perfect timing. I can't get online until next month, so I will have good stuff waiting for me.
@Jenstar: Haven't you heard?
[gonintendo.com]
Sweet.
speaking of channel space...
why do i have an empty on on my wii menu?
no matter what channel i add, or virtual console title i download, nothing goes there.
it's the slot right under the photo channel, and it still irks me to this day.
Downloading DS demos in my living room so as to not look like a 28 year old creepazoid in Target = Amazing.
"In addition to bringing the WiiWare service Stateside in May, Nintendo will import the already released in Japan Nintendo Channel..."
It really should be "export" not "import", since Nintendo is based in Japan. Unless you want to say "Nintendo of America will import..."
(I'm sorry, it was bothering me, 'kay?)
@dowingba:
They will likely setup a transfer service to transfer games to the next console. Also you have the SD card option remember?
@snowlock:
You do know you can drag channels to different spaces right?
@Jenstar:
Demos are optional not mandatory. Also bad demos can kill the sales of a good game. Demos should be done after release so the demo can be properly designed and bug tested. Properly designed meaning it gives you a good overview often a tutorial level or original level that gives a good idea about the game. Forcing demos or the need to have a demo prior to release often results in a bug ridden demo that is often of one of the most awfull late in game levels that turns off tons of buyers of the game.
@Jenstar: That's an interesting bit of logic...except for the fact that they do make demos. Nintendo released demo discs regularly that contained demos for (as I mentioned) RE4, Viewtiful Joe, as well as other games like Metroid Prime, and many others that I can't remember off the top of my head. However these discs were crippled by a time restraint (so kids wouldn't camp on the in-store kiosks). Remove the time restraint and you've got a perfectly good Nintendo demo disc.
@Klaymen: I totally agree about the demos. I hated the timers on the Masterpiece games in SMBB. I mean, 30 seconds for Donkey Kong? That's not even enough time to get through half a level! They should have just let you play at least one level or make a timer for 15-30 minutes for a game like Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Well, it's pretty much impossible to change the system. Hope that they learn from their mistakes & incorporate their knowledge in a new game.
@Yetanotheruninspiredscreename:
can you only do that if you have one page filled? cause I dont and cant figure out how to drag them around
Neato!
I can't wait. The interface looks great!
@juliopalio: hold A and B at the same time while your pointer is over the channel, and you can drag it. Keep in mind you can't drag the Disc channel, so don't bother trying.
@Fatass of Kickassness: Do you know if the reviews are text-based or is it simply a 5 star thing or a slider thing...
Nice, Nintendo! NICE!
Yay, more useless crap. How about you set a proper online gaming channel and get rid of those ridiculous friend codes. SD cards aren't good solution to a missing harddrive. Im not going back to the memeory card throw back SD cards when all the space runs out on my Wii.
@Yetanotheruninspiredscreename:
of course i didn't know that, since you took this long to tell me.
still, why didn't they just fall into order without me having to fiddle with them.
i have pretty much downloaded them in the order i wanted them to appear anyway.
how about wii game demos????!!!!!!????!!!!!!? ds is nice but wii games should be priority!!!!!
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