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Wii to get new TV channel
Author: Joe MartinPublished: 5th January 2009
Nintendo is apparently readying to launch a new TV channel for the Wii, dubbed Wiinoma.
The news originated from The Times newspaper, that also states the new channel will be called Wiinoma.
Wiinoma will apparently focus on providing family-friendly TV content to Wii users, including cartoons, cookery shows and educational documentaries. Nintendo is also said to be investigating how to feature Brain Training style quizzes on the channel.
According to The Times the content will be provided exclusively by a company called Dentsu, the biggest advertising agency in Japan. That obviously indicates that the channel will be heavily based around Nintendo products and that it will launch in Japan first - so, no surprises there then.
Wiinoma will apparently launch in Nintendo's home territory by Spring this year, with Nintendo currently considering an international roll-out depending on how successful the launch proves. Don't worry though - by Spring the UK and US will finally get hold of the new DSi handheld, which is already available in Japan, naturally.
Wiinoma will be freely available at launch, but may include some paid-for content after launch.
Do you watch TV through a console or home PC, or do you prefer to do things the old fashioned way? Let us know in the forums.
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My son who is six, prefers Tivo over all else:). However, there are shows on Hulu that Tivo doesn't have access to, so he enjoys watching these shows on the computer.
One day I tried to get my son to watch a show via the Opera browser on the Wii. The browser is clumsy and the navigation is quite time consuming. Finally after about 10 minutes of watching, he requested we watch something on the PC instead. I realized that interface and navigation are important even (especially) to a child.
Once you're into a Wii game, the interface and navigation are top notch, but Nintendo gets caught up in it's own red tape i.e. 5 seconds of reminding you to wear the wrist strap, press A/B buttons to continue, press A to continue etc. Wii Fit is even worse, where it recommends combing two exercises yet won't allow you to click on them without going back to the main menu and re-navigating to them.
So, when Nintendo announces they are going to offer Wiinoma and will control the content you get to watch, that sounds a bit disappointing to me. I believe Nintendo doesn't want to just extend internet videos to the home, but they want to tie families and friends who are spread out across the country to a virtual living room.
It's all a nice idea and worth pursuing, but don't shut out the existing video content that's out there. There are a lot of people who would like to find a convenient way to get internet content to the TV. Wii could really do this. They could make Wiinoma a gateway to Hulu, Youtube, Amazon etc. and could also offer their specific family oriented environment within the same interface.
The key is to get the majority of wii users compelled enough to want to turn on their Wii in order to watch TV. By doing this, Nintendo will gain users who like to game AND users who like to watch TV.