Wii News Channel first impressions

Mike Bantick
Saturday, 27 January 2007 04:32

Opinion and Analysis

Associated Press has a two-year contract with Nintendo to provide content. If you are in North America or Europe this may not be an issue, but I am keen to see how the content for the rest of the world works out.  There is plenty to read, but how long the stories remain available, and how often new content is posted, will be interesting to keep an eye on.

Not sure about the technical aspects of this idea, but it would be fantastic to have the option for some video content associated with news stories.  As I was spinning around the globe selecting stories, I couldn't help thinking that I get similar content, and it is easier to check the digital or traditional physical Newspaper and leave the Wii for a session of Wii Play later on.

The Wii is the best entertainment console for delivering this type of service; the Wii-mote is the closest to a keyboard/mouse interface and the presentation is clean and clear, making accessing the content simple. It would be great if, on that Wii home screen, the News channel could display a "breaking news" style icon to compel a user to jump onto the channel.
 
As it stands at the moment, I see the News Channel as a "nice to have" (especially for free - apart from data download) but not compelling feature.  This is the same statement you could say about Weather channel on the Wii, but taken as a whole, the Wii concept is a winner and provides a convenient further option in today's fast paced information age.