A Wii Bit of New News
Ok, so we all know the big stuff; $250 on November 19th packed with Wii Sports. First-party games at $50. An extra WiiWand/Nunchuck at $60 (ouch!!). No DVD movie support. One color choice (for now). New game footage. Digging a bit deeper into press releases I found some other interesting bits I haven’t seen elsewhere so here goes.
The default menu screen is known as the Wii Menu (video here). From here you select what you want to do. Here’s the official breakdown on the choices and my candid comments:
Disc Channel: This channel allows users to play either Wii game discs or the entire library of Nintendo GameCube™ discs.
[Confirmed no DVD movie playback. Not a big deal really.]
Mii™ Channel: Fun caricatured portraits created in this channel can be used as characters across a variety of Wii software. Portraits can be stored in a user’s Wii Remote and taken to a friend’s house to play on another Wii console. Each member of the family can have his or her Wii Remote personalized with a caricature.
[Creating caricatures looks like a fun diversion but how many games will these little avatars fit into? Watch It]
Photo Channel: This channel allows users to take digital pictures stored on an SD memory card and display them on their television screens. Users also can manipulate the photos in a variety of fun and creative ways, such as zooming or creating mosaics, puzzles or slide shows. They can draw, add stamps, and copy and paste. They also can change the “mood” of photos by brightening them, converting them to monochrome, inverting the color or changing them to stark black and white. Users can even add an MP3 tune to their slide shows. It provides a fun and easy outlet for people to edit their digital pictures. Users also can send their pictures to other Wii consoles by attaching a photo to the Wii Message Board.
[Aimed directly at Grandma and Grandpa and those older folks who live at the photo kiosks in the grocery store. There’s not much room on an SD card to really archive your non-gaming life but once again it looks like a fun pasttime while waiting for new games. Sharing and sending photos may be fun as well.]
Forecast Channel: Users who have connected their Wii console to the Internet can access free local weather forecasts just a few seconds after turning on the Wii console. The WiiConnect24™ service automatically updates local weather information. Users can view forecasts for cities around the world on a 3-D globe.
[The video of this looks more intuitive than any AccuRadar weather forecast I’ve ever seen. You can spin the globe around, Google Earth style, zoom in on cities and see a familiar sun or umbrella icon. Another feature aimed at the older set who prefer to keep up with the world outside of Zelda.]
News Channel: Users can access breaking news with the touch of a button. When connected to the Internet, the WiiConnect24 service automatically updates this free channel and organizes it in a variety of topical categories. Users can see where news is happening by viewing the location of news stories on a 3-D globe.
[Hmmm, world news as filtered by Nintendo? Ummm, I’d rather trust Fox News. The viewer does do some cool text justification when zooming in and out though (watch here)]
Wii Shop Channel: This is where users go to buy Wii Points or redeem them to download classic video games to the Virtual Console™. Users also can use points to download the Opera browser used in the Internet Channel.
[This is where it gets interesting. Already you can see the greed; charging for the internet browser. Sure, it’s free ’til next summer but what else are they going to charge for, a ‘Launch Game’ button?]
Internet Channel: This channel dramatically changes the relationship between a user’s home, the television and the Internet. Users download the Opera browser with Wii Points. Then they can surf the Internet right from the comfort of their couch. They can do quick research while watching a television program. Or book travel plans and shop during commercials. The service is compatible with Macromedia Flash.
[I like it. I’m connected to the internet 24/7 with the Wii and can use a relatively intuitive wireless pointer to punch in URL’s from the comfort of my couch. With Flash support we may even be able to load up Newgrounds and play some games.]
Wii Message Board: Forget hand-scrawled notes tacked to the refrigerator door. Users can leave messages for other family members on a calendar-based message board. They also can use WiiConnect24 to send messages to people outside the home as well. Even better, people can trade photos and text messages with cell phone users. The service also allows for incoming messages targeted at software, such as a new map or weapon for a game. Games can constantly be updated, thereby extending their playability.
[Really interesting stuff here! The calendar/planner is a nice touch but what really blew my mind was the cell phone connection. That beats Microsoft’s Xbox Live Anywhere out of the box. How useful/reliable it’ll be has yet to be seen but for once a Nintendo console is jam-packed with hip features. And bring on those random game add-ons!!]
Beyond the menu system there are a few other tidbits. Wii discs can be single or dual layered. Not sure if that’s new news or not but developers shouldn’t have to worry about disc space like in the GameCube days.
We knew the Wii would come packed with a wireless connection (IEEE802.11) but it has been revealed that it also has two USB slots for a LAN adapter (among other peripherals). Oh, and it can connect to the DS too, in case you forgot.
Miyamoto had mentioned at one point that the Virtual Console could conceivably run homebrew software. According to the official press release, plans are in the works. “It also will be home to new games conceived by indie developers whose creativity is larger than their budgets.” Personally, I’d much rather pay for an indie game than yet another incarnation of Super Mario Bros.
I hope I didn’t just regurgitate a bunch of old news but like a good belch after a delicious meal, at least it tastes just as good the second time.
