Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Proof that Japan gets everything awesome -- including first dibs on new releases, Super Famicom Classic Controllers, and giant mechas piloted by bratty kids -- the island country's Minna no Nintendo Channel (Everybody's Nintendo Channel) has started to post student-developed games in its DS downloads section.

For those of you unfamiliar with these titles, Nintendo hosts a 10-month seminar every year in which 40 students take courses on programming and game design, eventually working in teams to develop small DS games to be featured through download stations in Japan. This year's batch consisted of four different titles, including Wakerai no Heya Tsuzuki, a Hotel Dusk-styled horror adventure, and Nan de Momo Koko Yasan, a touchscreen coloring game.

Wakerai no Heya Tsuzuki has already been posted on the Japan-only (for now) Minna no Nintendo Channel, available for free until April 22nd. Presumably, the other three student-developed titles will be set up with a similar arrangement in the coming weeks. Though we doubt Nintendo of America will bring these Japanese releases over when it finally releases Everybody's Nintendo Channel in the states, at this point, we would be happy just to have the dang channel! It has been almost five months since the channel debuted in Japan!

We might not be able to try out Everybody's Nintendo Channel just yet -- not while it's only available to Japanese Wiis -- but we can live vicariously through Chris Kohler's video walkthrough with his Japanese console. The Wired blogger takes us through the streaming movies, showing off the picture-in-picture feature with which you can keep a video playing while browsing through other trailers and commercials.

Chris then goes on to detail the several different ways you can look up information and suggestions on "every game coming out for any Nintendo system in Japan." Of course, there's also a demonstration on the new channel's most anticipated feature -- downloading game demos to your Nintendo DS. The clip cuts off abruptly just after the Tamagotchi code makes it to his handheld, but are you really that anxious to see how Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop 3 plays?

WiiFolder also has some direct-screen footage if you're interested in seeing the channel downloaded and hearing its music. Check it out past the break!

The latest Wii channel popped up in Japan tonight without warning, ready to serve videos and demos. The Minna no Nintendo Channel (Everybody's Nintendo Channel) is the DS demo channel we've heard about, but also includes Wii videos, releases lists (uh-oh!) and the capability to recommend games you own to Wii friends. These recommendations are also collected en masse to be tabulated in December.

The channel currently offers just a few DS downloads, including demos of some training games and a patch for the Japanese version of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. The demos stream from Nintendo rather than being saved, and are accessed on the DS via Download Play. The video section offers trailers and commercials for new and recent games, including Wii Fit. According to NeoGAF's john tv, the videos keep playing in a corner if you exit the video menu. Check NeoGAF for frequently-updated impressions from the international gadflies who post there. Really, it sounds like the current content is less enthralling than the promise of future content.

[Via NeoGAF]