Wii Channels (updated 2/14/07)

[Pcenginefx]

This thread is for discussion about current or upcoming Wii Channels.

Currently available channels:
Disc Channel (where you can start Wii or GC games)
Mii Channel (where you can create your personalized Mii characters)
Wii Shop Channel (where you can purchase and download additional channels or VC games)
Photo Channel (where you can browse photos from your SD card)
Forecast Channel (released 12.20.06 - check real-time weather for your area or the world)
Internet Channel Beta (released 12.22.06 - browse the Internet on your Wii)
News Channel (released 1.26.07 - browse news from around the world)
Everybody Votes Channel (released 2.13.07 - Vote for various polls)

Upcoming channels:
None officially announced.

[Keranu]

I checked out the Forecast Channel today (I have been waiting for this ever since I got the system!) and it's pretty damn rad! THANK YOU VERY MUCH for telling me the date for the Internet Channel Beta, I can't believe it comes in only two more days! Maybe that's the surprise Regee mentioned in his interview with MTV that would come before Christmas.

[grahf]

Yeah, the forcast channel is awesome. The forcast and photo channels are really basic, but they are quick and simple to use. Just the sort of thing you'd want on your tv.

[Keranu]

I wouldn't consider the forecast channel to necessarily be basic, considering you can zoom in and out all over the world and look at forecasts of many cities .

[grahf]

I'll agree on that. What I mainly thinking of is the lack of dopplar radar, and other stuff that 99% of people dont care about. Im not saying its basic in a bad way, I think its just perfect.

The photo channel could use a few minor changes, but im still happy with it as is.

[Keranu]

I'll agree on that. What I mainly thinking of is the lack of dopplar radar, and other stuff that 99% of people dont care about. Im not saying its basic in a bad way, I think its just perfect.

Ahh ok, wasn't sure you were meaning stuff like that. It's certainly a fun program to play with.

[grahf]

Is it just me, or is it fun to just grab the globe and try spinning it as fast as possible?

[Keranu]

Is it just me, or is it fun to just grab the globe and try spinning it as fast as possible?

You're not alone  . That's the really fun part about it. Another fun thing I like to do is play "tag around the world" with a friend by having to chase our cursors around and pressing the A button to squeeze the other person's cursor. Yeah we're lame like that, but we do it for any Wii menu . It's our homage to the great Ralph Baer.

[rolins]

Aww man I gotta get me Wii.

That forecast channel seems interesting, is it anything like Google Earth?

What about browsing the the internet? How do input web addresses w/o a keyboard?

[Keranu]

The Forecast Channel is a lot like Google Earth and it was the first thing I thought of when I saw a preview video for it online before. You can do extreme zooms in and out of the world, shift the aerial view, and rotate the world in a fashion very similar to Google Earth.

The internet channel isn't out yet (one more day!), but from what I've seen on preview videos, when you click any typing bar, a window will pop up with a keyboard and you click on the letters/numbers/symbols that you want to type. I wonder if you can plug in a USB keyboard into the Wii and use it for stuff like that?

[grahf]

Unfortunatly people have already tried usb keyboards with nosuccess. But, im hoping they do support them in the future. The Wii has bluetooth also, so hopefully its possible to have bluetooth keyboard support in the future. Its really not that bad inputting text with the pointer, but you wont be typing out long message board posts. Probably

[Odonadon]

Unfortunatly people have already tried usb keyboards with nosuccess. But, im hoping they do support them in the future. The Wii has bluetooth also, so hopefully its possible to have bluetooth keyboard support in the future. Its really not that bad inputting text with the pointer, but you wont be typing out long message board posts. Probably

I bet after a successful month or two of the Internet channel the big N will release a wireless keyboard.

OD

[Keranu]

I used the internet channel today and it's pretty awesome. It's cool to finally play those flash games on wiicade.com with the Wiimote. It's also great for just normal web browsing, though some sites (like mine) it can be hard to read the text. I hope this is fixed in the full version as well with a bug I found.

[Odonadon]

The News Channel went live today - I'm impressed.  I only wish I could see more local news as apposed to strictly the Reuters and associated press stuff.  However, the news that is there is pretty good and the viewing options are impressive allowing you to quickly and easily change the font size with the click of the +/- buttons.  Not to mention it's all free.  Good on ya big N!

OD

[grahf]

Yeah, im loving the news channel. To be honest, i just love that damn globe. Its awesome being able to "roll around" and see different stacks of news in different places. I was expecting it to be pretty generic, but its actually kinda fun to use since they stuck with the globe.