When you woke up this morning, the Wii's disc drive was glowing blue signifying a new message had come in. Upon looking at that message, you read:

quote

Nintendo would like to announce the launch of the new Nintendo Channel, which is now available as a free download in the Wii Shop Channel.
The channel was supposed to be released on Friday, but went live today. In Japan, this went my the moniker of the Everyone's Nintendo Channel (Minna no Nintendo Channel), first announced through the Fall Press Conference.

The functions provided by the channel are the following:
  • Watch game commercials and trailers
  • Make recommendations based on games you have played
  • Search for titles based on others' recommendations
  • Download demos for your DS

    As of right now, there are 41 videos available for viewing on the Nintendo Channel, including Info Videos for games like Super Mario Galaxy, Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii, Professor Layton and more.

    Upon start, the channel will ask if you want to receive commercial messages about games, and also if you want to anonymously send information about games you've played on your Wii to Nintendo for marketing purposes.

    In its game database, the Nintendo Channel currently holds 59 Wii games, 105 DS games, and 212 Virtual Console games. 264 of those games have videos associated with them, with not all of them included in the aforementioned 41 videos you are shown at startup. While the entire library is not represented, most of the recent and top games are showcased and available. If you have the Internet Channel, you can click on a purchase link inside game profiles to directly buy the games you were browsing from various online retailers. For Virtual Console and presumably WiiWare games, the channel will direct you to the Wii Shop Channel.

    If you agree to send anonymous data to Nintendo, you are granted access to the DS Download Service, where you can download demos or additional data to your Nintendo DS via the DS Download Play feature on your DS.

    The demos currently available are the following:
  • Brain Age 2
  • Flash Focus
  • Crosswords DS
  • Jam Sessions
  • Rayman Raving Rabbids 2
  • Cooking Mama 2: Dinner With Friends
  • Disney Friends
  • Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword

    Also another interesting tidbit is the "What's WiiWare?" video available for viewing. The video gives insight to possible/probable launch titles for Nintendo's WiiWare service which launches on May 12th:
  • LostWinds
  • Dr. Mario Online RX
  • Defend Your Castle
  • Critter Round-Up
  • Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King

    Stay tuned to this channel for a wealth of videos and information about your favorite Wii, DS, WiiWare, and Virtual Console games.

    Check the official site for the Nintendo Channel here.

    [Image Credit: Nintendo Wii Fanboy]

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    Most recently commented on by on May 10, 2008
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    • 0
      Xenctuary May 7, 08
      Awesome! It's a shame it's taken so long, but great to have it all the same. Now Nintendo Europe need to get a move on!

      • 0
        Nurio May 7, 08
        This does sound awesome! it sucks not having WI-FI.
    • 0
      Gotenks May 7, 08
      I like the channel.

      Been on it for a bit with the stuff. Haven't tried the DS download stuff yet though.
    • 0
      Twisted May 7, 08
      I just finished playing Cooking Mama. Lol.

      It's a cool channel. Hopefully more stuff will come onto it.
    • 0
      Razentsu May 7, 08
      I need to get my WiFi up now...
      • 0
        Stainless May 8, 08
        Me too I've tried for a bit but I'm still having trouble with it >.
    • 0
      Zeon I May 8, 08
      I got the message to update for this at 4:00 in the *bleep*ing morning. God know it could of waited a bit.

      Now, 10 Hours later, I like the Channel.
    • -1
      Final Blade May 8, 08
      So can the Wii play the demo of Dragon Sword?

      Never mind
    • 1
      bbb7002004 May 8, 08
      I've tried out Ninja Gaiden a Jam Secessions so far. NG was about what I expected it to be, and Jam Secession actually seems like it would be pretty fun to mess around with. I'll probably try out Cooking Mama or Crossword DS when I get more time.

      I just wonder how often the will update this channel?
      • 0
        Twisted May 8, 08
        Yeah, Ninja Gaiden was pretty fun. Jam Sessions was cool too, I actually liked how it plays. I never thought it would be good.
    • 0
      tornjinx May 8, 08
      Wow, Nintendo is on the ball right now. This looks great, I think I will go ahead and download it when I get on my Wii. I specially like the DS Download option, and the ability to send in info for games.
    • 0
      Remino52 May 9, 08
      I was suprised as soon as I saw this.
    • 0
      Chad May 10, 08
      It is alright from what I've seen. I don't have a DS, so I can't use the DS download section. I just can't wait for the WiiWare to come out.
    • 0
      Final Blade May 10, 08
      Why did i get a negative thumb down?
      I made a mistake and said my bad. Jesus at least say whats wrong with it.
    • 0
      xegaldis May 10, 08
      When do us europeans get it? ):

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