I just checked it there a few hours ago. :)

It`s pretty awesome. You can rotate a virtual globe and zoom in to a certain region or city and check the weather there.

So yeah, three thumbs up! :D

Ceefax for the win.

It would be neat if the weather channel lets you zoom in/pick out a particular state or country, and view almost every city the state or country has to offer. Instead, we have to zoom in a lot to find spots that aren't so well-known. :(

It would be neat if the weather channel lets you zoom in/pick out a particular state or country, and view almost every city the state or country has to offer. Instead, we have to zoom in a lot to find spots that aren't so well-known. :(


True but i can only assume that future updates will add to the current content.

The Forecast Channel is pretty awesome. Now it gives me an excuse to play the Wii.

BTW - No naked Dutch people :( .

True but i can only assume that future updates will add to the current content.
Hopefully, since apparently Nintendo gets those images from NASA itself. I would expect something with more detail.

The Forecast Channel is pretty awesome. Now it gives me an excuse to play the Wii.

I hear the weather game is off the hook (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/12/20).

haha

Hopefully, since apparently Nintendo gets those images from NASA itself. I would expect something with more detail.

Yeah, me too. Something at a higher resolution and detail also. ;(

I like the cartoony-ish look for the map. Makes it feel lighter. And more fun to look at.

So, you guys make fun of me because I can surf the net on the PS3, yet you guys jump for joy because you can check the weather on a Wii? You guys are so gay.

So, you guys make fun of me because I can surf the net on the PS3, yet you guys jump for joy because you can check the weather on a Wii? You guys are so gay.

You're just jealous because the weather game is a Wii exclusive.

It's RAINING IN SHANGHAI.

Dude, one could check the weather on the PS3 through the internet. Again, another silly Nintendo gimmick.

And you can browse the internet a computer, so I guess that makes having internet access on a PS3 a "silly Sony gimmick."

Dude, one could check the weather on the PS3 through the internet. Again, another silly Nintendo gimmick.

I'm going to take a little time out here to explain the Forecast Channel as an idea in Nintendo's overall marketing strategy. The Wii, like the DS, is aimed towards a larger market; specifically, markets that would not consider video games. The first step was to make an innovative control system. Wii Sports demonstrated this; I showed my mum Wii Bowling (mum used to go bowling all the time, but it was too expensive for her to keep up), and she loved it. If it can get my mum into gaming (she generally is worried that I spend a lot of money on expensive toys), then it is an achievement.

The Wii is also meant to be somewhat of an antithesis to the 'Media Center'; it is more of a 'Family Center' around the TV. Features like personalized Miis, the notepad that makes your console a virtual fridge, being able to give your kids 'Wii Point Allowance'; and the Forecast Channel (and the forthcoming News Channel, and yes, even the Internet Channel) are all part of this. They want to make information easily accessible from one place. To an extent, they're bringing the internet to those who might not be entrenched in it yet; grandparents, soccer mums. The weather channel allows a family to enjoy a game of Wii Tennis together, before checking the weather to see if it's going to be sunny enough to have a picnic.

In summary, this feature is not aimed at you, the hardcore gamer. It is aimed at precisely the opposite market, in order to get more sales. I don't find anything 'gimmicky' about good marketing strategy.

the notepad that makes your console a virtual fridge,

What is this?

As for the weather channel thingie, I think it's awesome. I doubt that I count as the "hardcore gamer" but I don't count as the person yet to be won over either. But basically I think it's awesome in the way I think it's awesome when there are rocks to sit on instead of park benches, or when I happen to find a random stick in the woods that looks like some kind of neat shaman stick, or when I find some comic online with art that is so good I don't care if the story sucks.

It's not necessary, and it's not going to make a significant difference to me... but I love the fact that it's there.

What is this?

It's the Wii Message Board. You can leave messages on it for other family members or whatever, with a Mii attached. So you could leave a message for someone and, assuming they check the board regularly, get it, kinda like leaving a message on the fridge.


find a random stick in the woods that looks like some kind of neat shaman stick,

Oh man, I totally love finding sticks like that.