Revolutionary: Changing Channels
Every Tuesday, Mike Sylvester brings you REVOLUTIONARY, a look at the wide world of Wii possibilities.
With the release of the 3.0 system update and the Metroid Prime 3 preview, it became evident that there are plenty more possibilities to be explored in the ongoing development of the Wii's channel interface. Based on what we've seen so far, I'd like to postulate on what more they could potentially deliver.
It took a long while for Metroid Prime 3's hype train to leave the depot, but when it finally got moving, it was with a force that could knock Superman on his duff. With no more warning than the inviting blue pulse of our disc slots, we were treated to a system update that enabled RSS-like updates to the News and Weather channels, and also introduced a few game preview features centered around Samus' next adventure. Streaming video, an interactive puzzle of sorts, and now we're starting to feel like we're on a promotional website -- only it's a directly-accessible channel dedicated to a new game!
Of course, we should expect to see preview channels spring up for many future titles, but the question is which games, and what type of content will the previews consist of? Super Mario Galaxy and Smash Brothers Brawl seem likely candidates, but lesser known titles like Battalion Wars 2, and 3rd party games like Dewey's Adventure or Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles should also be considered for this treatment.
Videos are a great start, and non-challenging, unrewarding puzzles less so, but the big thing that most people really want is a playable demo. After all, Nintendo is using the preview to market a game to people that already own the Wii, many of whom may not be familiar with anything outside of Wii Sports and mini-game compendia. Nintendo's theme for E3'06 was "Playing is believing." They should hold firm to that motto and find some way to deliver demos, be it through preview channels or some other means of distribution.
For a period in the GBA's life, Nintendo distributed children's television shows on cartridges, and a few years ago Nintendo started an animation studio. Their investments have indicated a desire to break into other forms of media, and with streaming video as an option, perhaps we'll see new channels spring up for TV shows or Nintendo-produced movies. A one-time fee of a few hundred Wii points gets you the channel, and you can watch from a selection of shows at your leisure. Or how about a YouTube channel? All the content featured on YouTube is already in the process of being converted to the AVC format, which we know now that the Wii supports.
You know, for kids!
Sports fans could have channels for their favorite sports, with realtime news tickers scrolling across the load screen, and game info inside the channel. This would be a great place to mirror the types of content found in Nintendo Power magazines, but with the enhancements of interactive multimedia. There have already been rumors of the Nintendo Power back catalog being offered up through the Wii Shop.
We have no doubt that Nintendo has plenty of interesting ideas that they're building into channels. And there's bound to be plenty of surprises and novel concepts for entertainment. Leave a comment to tell us what you think they might have planned, and what you hope to see in future channels.
