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Wii TV guide launches

Japanese Wii owners get programme-planning tool, and the ability to use the Wii Remote with their televisions.

Since the Wii's launch, Nintendo has been pushing out nongaming features to gamers via the Wii's channels, letting users check the weather, cast votes on a wide range of mundane subjects, and even get onto the Internet to check e-mail.

Now, in Japan at least, Wii owners have one more thing to do with their Wiis when not keeping fit or guiding plumbers through space; the TV No Tomo service is now live. This new, free, downloadable Wii channel not only allows for the viewing of TV schedules for the week ahead, but also allows for bookmarking of upcoming shows using Miis to mark out personal preferences. If you have an enabled Internet connection for your Wii, then this bookmarking can be taken one step further: The new channels allow online sharing of viewing information between friends and for the automatic reminders to be sent via e-mail or text message.

When the TV guide channel is running, the Wii Remote will also function as a basic TV remote that can change channels and volume.

The software is available in Japan now for free download via the Wii shopping channel.

Unlike Sony's upcoming PlayTV service, there will be no option to record programming for later viewing or pause live broadcasts due to the Wii's limited hardware. Likewise, no tuning capabilities are to be included, given that the service is entirely software-based.

When the service was publicly discussed at the Dow Jones Consumer Technology Innovations Conference last year, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Amie said there were no plans to expand the service to North America, and Nintendo UK has confirmed today that it currently has no plans to roll out the service in that region.

91 Comments

  • rockstar_88

    Posted Mar 5, 2008 11:54 pm GMT

    Ummm...it only gets better?

  • Pipchase

    Posted Mar 5, 2008 11:39 pm GMT

    Everyday it seems more and more folks are becoming aware of the Wii's shortcomings. No voice chat???? No true friends list or any smooth way to communicate with them???? These are things that nintendo has hustled there way past most consumers with a mask of innovation which is the controller. I said it once I'll say it again. Serious gamers purchase the Wii for the niche titles they have always played thru the years. Mario, Zelda, Metroid etc. If you purchased this machine thinking that it will become your main gaming experience you have been fooled. I bought it for those first party titles that nintendo does very well. I did not purchase it thinking that it will sustain my core gaming needs. I'm not a fanboy I own all machines I simply see the wii for what it is. I see the Wii staying on top for a while but unless nintendo gets there act together with third party support and a better online model then it will to me be a failure in a lot of gamers eyes.

  • nintendoboy16

    Posted Mar 5, 2008 1:57 pm GMT

    Sweet, Wii Remote TV series. Not sweet, Only in Japan and no US and England plans, and I was about to wait for a downloadable channel to bookmark times for Heroes, Inuyasha, or Naruto.

  • Fake_Sketch

    Posted Mar 5, 2008 11:57 am GMT

    very lame... I feel shame for liking nintendo in the past

  • 09231991

    Posted Mar 5, 2008 11:28 am GMT

    @ SURFDUDEBOY,

    Gamespot also had a list of upcoming titles and the only ones they are waiting for is Brawl and Mario Kart Wii. Pretty pathetic if you ask me to only be hyped for two games for one system in a year. Man, Its times like this I'm glad I own a 360 and PS3.

  • skee_uk

    Posted Mar 5, 2008 10:03 am GMT

    another stupid waste of a wii channel slot

  • Asurael

    Posted Mar 5, 2008 9:03 am GMT

    Even if they released that here, it wouldnt work -_- *sigh*

  • kavadias1981

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 11:26 pm GMT

    I wish they would release it in the UK.

  • jivemaster

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 10:58 pm GMT

    I find this to be a pretty useless feature. How about DVD playback instead?

  • Merl57

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 10:29 pm GMT

    um why? must be legal reasons. I think this is a good idea for us to use too.

  • stncldrwg

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 7:50 pm GMT

    I really hate that it seems like Japan gets everything, but everyone else doesn't. I'm sorry if I sound like a crybaby, but its how I feel.

  • mariokart64fan

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 7:44 pm GMT

    i would like a music or video channel similar to youtube

  • Impulse_Drive

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 7:28 pm GMT

    by the time something actually useful comes to the wii channel all the spaces will be filled with useless channels such as this, they should input a channel that is useful to people when not playing games.

  • mjc0961

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 7:13 pm GMT

    Yawn. I already have a digital recorder in my cable box, which has a guide and is a lot more useful than this channel could ever be. How about some news on the Nintendo For All channel coming to the US? I want some DS demos, dammit.

  • syncmaster150

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 6:49 pm GMT

    Useless channels. They should be fixing the starfox64 bugs i've been mad about for the past 9 months. And isn't there a TV schedule in all cable and sat tvs?

  • gnbfd

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 6:33 pm GMT

    TiVo anyone?

  • gin_rummy89

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 6:09 pm GMT

    I love the wii but this seems kinda lame

  • 100percentgamer

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 6:00 pm GMT

    well it seems pretty pointless but not realy seeing how u can bookmark one of ur "shows" im not seeing wats so bad...but its pointless for u tivo fans o btw did u tivo fans pop ur eyes out yet =P !!??

  • mhder

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 3:59 pm GMT

    Some products/ideas a good for certain regions. Some products/ideas are meant for certain people. Just people you don't want or need it, it doesn't make something crap. Grow up.

  • runstalker

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 3:38 pm GMT

    The Wii is still far too poorly equipped, in terms of best-case-scenario hardware spec, to be much of a multimedia machine. So it provides guide services like this for other technologies it is incapable of delivering. It's a neat idea, but I think most NA people use programmable DVRs that make it easy to check schedules and record, and instead of just knowing what's on, you actually know what station number it's being shown on in your region. No surprise that this Wii channel isn't on a priority list for the US and UK.

  • IKKF

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 3:24 pm GMT

    I bet Nintendo just thought "People like Wii. People like TV... Are you thinking what I'm thinking?..."

  • pokemon_rox

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 3:02 pm GMT

    Everybody's Nintendo Channel is top Priority

  • xcollector

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 2:32 pm GMT

    We are still waiting for that Everybody's Nintendo channel. It is going to be a long while before this new channel makes it over here; if it does.

  • ajalogan

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 2:27 pm GMT

    Oh and smooth81_basic, people are complaining because this is Nintendo software and we expect them not to waste their development time on weak stuff like this when there are a host of issues that most everyone agrees need to be addressed. So to your own argument about third party developers not being innovative then I'm sure you'll be fair and hold Ninty to the same standard when they wate time developing worthless stuff like this...

  • Agreb91

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 2:23 pm GMT

    It sounds cool. I think Nintendo should bring it to the UK and to America.

  • ajalogan

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 2:22 pm GMT

    Sounds stupid... and I have the Wii and like it. About as exciting as adding a calculator channel! WOW!

  • grant4500neo

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 1:47 pm GMT

    *waits for it to be US available*

  • Rurouni_Fung

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 1:43 pm GMT

    I could of used this. I'm browsing TV, not knowing what's on, when my Wii starts flasshing, I check why, and it tells me a show is on that I bookmarked a whole week back.

  • xblane

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 1:30 pm GMT

    One thing I hate about living in Australia... you don't even get included in broad sweeping statements about whether or not a product will be released in your region.... not that this would really change the world

  • SURFDUDEBOY

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 1:29 pm GMT

    i agree with klugenbeel. Nintendo is passing alot of crap!, here's A list of the most recent games 2 come out : http://www.gamespot.com/reviews.html?type=reviews&platform=1031&mode=all&sort=post_date&dlx_type=all&sortdir=asc

  • Dr_Corndog

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 1:27 pm GMT

    Very nice...but not nearly as nice as online voice chat, or even real text chat, in Wii games. I wish they'd put some of their resources on that.

  • DIMANICUS

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 1:07 pm GMT

    No Wii service can replace my TV guide purchase weekly, sorry.

  • smooth81_basic

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 1:06 pm GMT

    I don't see what all the fuss is about. It's interesting in theory - but it's not coming state-side anyways. So, what're you all complaining about? Anyone here complaining about putting "better online gaming" functions into the Wii shouldn't even own a Wii. Nintendo doesn't copy anybody. If you like pointless-mindless FPS frag-fests, then continue to play on XBL or PSN. While I do want more innovative games, I can't fault Nintendo for that. The hardware is there - it's the 3rd party developers fault for not trying that hard. And, yes, I'd rather have that Demo Channel long before this one. But, we're not going to see it here in the 'States, so, again - what is everybody complaining for??

  • destrozz

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 1:01 pm GMT

    this is something that I won't use its useless if you have a tivo

  • Leick3

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 12:52 pm GMT

    sorry but with all the great ideas for wii channels this is one of the worst, why did they do it?

  • peeweeshift

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 12:45 pm GMT

    itll be a flop knowing nintendo. barebones and barely integration is all i can say. home sounds better than this and i only saw beta.

  • nate1222

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 12:44 pm GMT

    I like the Wii, but this is pointless. It'd flop stateside.

  • ea_goodandy

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 12:38 pm GMT

    Wow, the comments are stupid on this. Don't you guys think Nintendo had all this planned out way before release? With it being a million dollar industry, they'd have to be stupid not to. You idiots amaze me. You giggle because it's a coincidence and you don't think that they planned this. Heh.

  • rose_please posted Mar 4, 2008 12:27 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    rose_please

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 12:27 pm GMT (hide)

    "Unlike Sony's upcoming PlayTV service, there will be no option to record programming for later viewing or pause live broadcasts due to the Wii's limited hardware." HAHAHA

  • joebetcher

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 12:12 pm GMT

    Probably won't waste the space on my hard drive for this.

  • ghost867

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 12:08 pm GMT

    Lol, the Wiimote is finally going to be used as what it's always looked like: a remote. Too funny.

  • hobobski

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 11:54 am GMT

    Kinda pointless. That's what I have to say.
    I have cable-including a remote and a channel guide.
    Why should I care? I don't.
    Goodbye

  • fauljosh

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 11:42 am GMT

    Kind of pointless. Most cable and sattelite boxes already have a built in program guide. I like that they're coming up with new ideas but let's see some stuff that people want and that they'll actually use!

  • Shtinky

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 11:41 am GMT

    In robot voice: Oh noez. Nintendo copied Sony.

  • darkspineslayer

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 11:41 am GMT

    great...now how about less shovelware and more quality games like we all know your cablible of nintendo

  • DJDarkChakram

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 11:32 am GMT

    Ugh!! Are we ever going to see that channel where we can download Wii and DS demos?? Another channel that is useless.

  • PlasmaBeam44

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 11:18 am GMT

    I really hope the Wii isn't going down the path of the PSP.

  • 09231991

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 11:12 am GMT

    carljohnson3456, I agree. I hope that Nintendo is not thinking that these are wowing us over because its not. These tiny, insignificant little useless things Nintendo is adding to the Wii is pretty much a waste of time when there are other things they can provide. This year, XBL and PSN are getting a ton of new features to make their online experiences even better than they are now. When Nintendo releases these useless Wii channels, Then basically it just shows how little they know of online entertainment.

  • Calverz

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 11:10 am GMT

    Pretty pointless really without recording.

  • icantfaint

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 10:57 am GMT

    this would be cool if the wii had a hard drive and acted like a PVR...otherwise, meh. the choppy media center you can set up with orb is good enough for me.

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