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Ninetndo Wii Now Touts Online News

by Randy Mears

Nintendo is betting that the user base for its Wii video game console will include more than just hardcore gamers. The Wii News Channel will be fed by The Associated Press and will be accessible, free of charge, to Internet connected Wii consoles.

An interactive map interface will allow Wii News Channel users to navigate the news with their Wiimote (Wii’s wireless motion sensitive controller). We shouldn’t be too surprised if other video game consoles, like Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, decide to up-the-ante as well. For the future game console consumer, leap-frog may be the biggest game going! And that may be a very good thing.

Published Friday, January 26, 2007 7:43 PM

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Comments

Posted by ed5adm1n Friday, January 26, 2007 7:56 PM

This is all well and good, in theory. However, the original Wii systems had a software error and you have to send it back in and get a replacement Wii. You then have to configure your wireless internet for all of the services to work properly. Even with the updated software and the wireless internet working, the news service still isn't working. All of the services would be great if it worked right out of the box.

Posted by mrclo Saturday, January 27, 2007 2:06 AM

I agree with ed5adm1n in that it will be great if all the services work out the box (PNP). I also count his as one of the lucky ones... I've been waiting on a Wii to hit a local store since November. Nintindo needs to get a lot better at putting their product on the store selfs.

Posted by John Fowler Monday, January 29, 2007 4:48 PM

The way gaming systems have been marketed over the past few years, the company sells the console at a loss, expecting to make a big profit when it sells the games themselves. If they start adding too many non-gaming free things, there's a chance people will buy the consoles just for the "extras" and never buy any games at all. That would have a big effect on their pricing methodology.

Posted by Anon Monday, January 29, 2007 8:53 PM

It's actually been widely reported that Nintendo sells each Wii console at a profit, so buying a Wii for the free extras might not be such a bad thing after all.

Posted by John Fowler Tuesday, January 30, 2007 11:06 PM

I stand corrected. That's what I get for commenting without researching the issue first. Here's one article that discusses the difference between Nintendo's strategy and Sony/Microsoft's: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6157690.html

So now, the issue is, if the other video game consoles want to try to match what Nintendo can afford to do, they may need to revisit their own pricing strategies.