Wii weather channel finally launches

We're all still without full Wii Opera browser (Nintendo dropped a line today to say it was coming this week though, on the 22nd), and the Wii news channel ain't working either, but at least we've finally got weather. As you might expect there's not a ton to see here, but aside from telling the weather it does have a pretty fly Google Earth style globe rotate-and-drag thing going on. Click on for a few pictures of the weather channel you're sure to grab first thing when you get home to your Wii tonight.

We love that the Wii IR bar shows up in our camera. Seriously, what's up with that?

Draggin' down to SoCal.

Ok, the best part of this is dragging over the Pacific to Asia and checking out the weather in Tokyo and Pyongyang. We'll let you guys discover what that's like yourselves.

[hUm @ Dec 19th 2006 11:49AM]

yeah, it's cold in SF

[Alex @ Dec 19th 2006 11:49AM]

Sweet, now when I want to see what's happening outside, all I have do is turn on my HDTV, wait for it to power up, switch input to the wii, turn on the wii, wait for it to get to the main interface, and select wii weather channel.

[Tech^Cellfish @ Dec 19th 2006 11:52AM]

Why do you turn it off?

And the Logitech universal remotes make all you say go much faster than picking up the newspaper and get yesterdays forecast and news.

[DeShaun @ Dec 19th 2006 2:27PM]

For me, if I really wanted to check the weather, and I were playing Wii, this would be pretty good. My console is on the opposite end of the house from my computer. I don't have cable TV service so I wouldn't be checking the weather channel.

What I do wonder, however, is whether this will be faster to start than say, going to weather.com as a favorite in the opera browser. I would imagine yes, just because of the click and drag/pan controls of the globe, but I'm just putting it out there.

[Alex @ Dec 19th 2006 11:56AM]

I don't, I put it in standby mode.

[jagster @ Dec 19th 2006 1:23PM]

Newspaper? What year is this? Try weather.com. I have at least 3 computers on in my house at any given time. I can get the weather in a couple seconds. Wii is not the choice I would use.

[Matt B @ Dec 19th 2006 11:55AM]

This is great for those who have broadband, but no cable service or computer.

Possible conversation with wii players:

Dude 1: Dude, let's go get a bite to eat. Can you believe we've been playing for 2 days straight?
Dude 2: Nah man, crazy. Ok, let me check the weather.
*Sounds of swooshing and clicks*
Dude 2: I don't know man, it's sunny and 75 degrees.
Dude 1: True, let's order in.
*Sounds of swooshing continues*

[Tom Gabriele @ Dec 19th 2006 12:00PM]

one more reason to get a wii

[Bob @ Dec 19th 2006 12:07PM]

it's freezing in san jose.

[David @ Dec 19th 2006 12:09PM]

digital cameras can see IR :)

[Kiteless @ Dec 19th 2006 12:32PM]

Yeah. Digital Cameras and camcorders are extra sensitive to IR, unlike our eyes. If you have a remote control turn your digital camera on and pount the controller at it, press a button and you should see a red blinking light. Look at it with your eyes and you see nothing. Nifty.

-K

[vc @ Dec 19th 2006 12:14PM]

Wait - so what's this got to do with videogames? Isn't the Wii supposed to be a game machine? Why launch a half-assed weather channel?

[Alice Unchaind @ Dec 19th 2006 12:28PM]

VC - laughing my ASS off! my thought exactly!

[Long T. @ Dec 19th 2006 2:33PM]

Nintendo has several games that actually use live time and weather data like in Animal Crossing. I suspect this is an extension of that functionality. Since games are already going to use it, why not take the framework and blow it out into a whole separate channel?

Seems like a good idea to me.

[Kevin @ Dec 19th 2006 12:29PM]

Are those state names supposed to be alphabetized? Last time I sang the state song it went...
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas...

[teodoro @ Dec 19th 2006 12:46PM]

It's in order of hick populations, least likely to own a wii come first.

[DeShaun @ Dec 19th 2006 2:27PM]

That's because...you know what? I don't know. I was going to say that they could be arranged alphabetically by abbreviation, which would explain Alaska preceding Alabama (AK vs. AL) but then...District of Columbia?? Confusion.

[TVGenius @ Dec 19th 2006 1:09PM]

Kevin... they're alphabetized by abbreviation.

And on those maps... is that all they show? No medium sized cities (like Yuma)? Or can you at least get the data for cities that don't show on the map?

[Gordy @ Dec 19th 2006 2:00PM]

Yep, where I'm from, DC comes before AK...NOT!

That's weird.

[Stakker @ Dec 19th 2006 1:58PM]

TVGenius: Zoom in and more cities show up. But I don't know if that image in maximum zoom yet or not. (And can't check since my gf is playing Zelda right now :-)

[Justin Fleming @ Dec 19th 2006 4:55PM]

Not all that weird; DC isn't a state, so it makes sense that it's separate.

[Hayden Stewart @ Dec 19th 2006 2:29PM]

It would be neat if eventually they had animated radar coverage on the globe at some point.

[Alex @ Dec 19th 2006 2:38PM]

Question is where to get WII in a first place... ^_^

[Matt M. @ Dec 19th 2006 7:20PM]

Yea, I feel for you Alex. Ive tried to find one everywhere. NO luck :-(

[SOCOMRAIDER @ Dec 20th 2006 6:41AM]

In Minneapolis you can find one in about an hour. If one store doesn't have them, drive to another. If by chance that store doesn't have it, the next store will for sure. I've seen them all over. I've even seen a couple of PS3s, which some of my family bought to sell on eBay (which is stupid, because they don't do sell like they did during launch - $1,500-3,000).

[Alex @ Dec 19th 2006 2:40PM]

By the way does anyone knows if you get WII from Europe will it work in US?

[JD @ Dec 19th 2006 2:54PM]

Alex - just about anywhere. They've been on the shelves pretty consistently for the past week or two at the local wal-marts in my part of the midwest.

[Christy @ Dec 19th 2006 3:26PM]

I'm probably the only one who thinks this, but I love it. I check the weather in the morning by turning on NY1, and now I don't have to wait 10 minutes if I turn on the TV at 9:02.

[GJP303 @ Dec 19th 2006 5:25PM]

I don't have a wii, but if someone takes photos of my area i would love it. I dont feel like going to weather.com or watching the news or looking at a widget. Plus the interface is cooler than all of those i listed.

[nVidiot @ Dec 19th 2006 7:08PM]

Pretty cool.. one of those "why not" type deals.

As long as it has a five-day forcast or something.

[kev @ Dec 19th 2006 8:36PM]

I wonder if Nintendo will take this opportunity to run broadcasts and even charge people for TV over IP...

YouTube

[kev @ Dec 19th 2006 8:37PM]

Bah, stupid tag checker:

YouTube &heart; Wii (let's see if the heart comes out)

[Rodents @ Dec 19th 2006 8:54PM]

someone said its cold in san fran? heck naw, i wish it were 50 something here, its 20 right now.. it's not terribly cold but it is quite literally below freezing

[schimmi @ Dec 19th 2006 10:18PM]

are you saying that 55 is cold? i'd be wearing a short sleaved t shirt and pants, in fact, it's about 40 out and thats what im wearing

[Reverend Bernie @ Dec 20th 2006 2:07AM]

This made me think of THE killer Wii app: Google Earth!

[Robert @ Dec 20th 2006 1:41PM]

Re: Photo 2; this update will only take a Wii second.

[cacadodo666 @ Dec 21st 2006 2:56AM]

when i zoom in,....i can't see beach bunnies in hawaii...but i could if i had a PS3 since the grafix are l3373r.....

[Luis @ Dec 21st 2006 10:42PM]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/12/20