Nintendo Wii Fanboy

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.

Oh, good, another one of those vague, confusing rumors we love so well! Infendo is reporting that the latest issue of Nintendo Power reveals a downloadable Wii Shop version of the Commodore 64 classic Impossible Mission. Infendo seemed to think that the Wii Shop version would be the same as the DS remake. However, the resulting NeoGAF thread made the situation seem a lot less clear.

Apparently, publisher System 3 also plans to release a retail disc of Impossible Mission. It would be kind of weird to release the same game on disc and the Wii Shop, right? But it would also be weird to release the exact same game for Wii and DS. After all, the DS is not the PSP. So, with no real information to go on, let's do some speculatin'! Here are all the possibilities we can think of:

1. The same game is coming out for both the Wii and DS. Unlikely.
2. The DS game will be downloadable on the Wii, and will release concurrently with a separate Wii version.
3. The DS and Wii remakes will be separate and accompanied by a Virtual Console release of the C64 original. This seems more plausible.
4. LIES!

Nintendo has a job listing on their web site for what seems like one of the coolest jobs ever: Wii Shop Channel Coordinator. You'd be in charge of, among other things, "Coordinat(ing) the production of Wii Shop Channel content, including Virtual Console and other digitally distributed titles."

Naturally, we want one of our readers to get this job. Specifically, we want a Virtually Overlooked fan to get this job. We'd apply ourselves, but we have a Sacred Duty to keep our faithful audience informed. Plus, you know, qualifications.

[Via Game|Life]

What does Nintendo Europe do to follow up Ocarina of Time? Throw a few more side-scrolling titles onto the Virtual Console, of course! At this point, we're starting to think that the VC's subtitle should be something like: All the side-scrolling fun you'll ever need!

If all the shooty/fighty games aren't quite your style, there's a little variety, too. Four games -- not a bad week!

Available in Europe on this fine Friday:

• Bio-hazard Battle (Sega Mega Drive) - 800 Wii points
• Chew-Man-Fu (TurboGrafx) - 600 Wii points
• Streets of Rage (Sega Mega Drive) - 800 Wii points
• Sword of Vermillion (Sega Mega Drive) - 800 Wii points

Most of the online functions of the Wii will not be ready when we start bringing the consoles home this weekend. According to a recent press release, the forecast channel will debut on December 20, while the news channel will debut next year, in late January. The shopping channel will be up and running, however, with twelve Virtual Console titles ready on launch day. The Virtual Console will be updated every Monday with new content, though the release did not specify if that would begin November 20, or the following Monday -- not that we have long to wait until we find out.

The press release included no information about the forthcoming Opera browser other than that it would be downloaded to the console via the Wii Shop channel.

[Via Joystiq]

The new interface of the Nintendo Wii is organized into "channels", each containing different services and functions. The English version of wii.com gives a nice summary of the initial channels. Here's what they do:

• The Disc channel is simply for playing games based off of optical media, i.e. Wii or Gamecube discs. Nothing fancy here.
• The Mii channel allows a player to create his or her own digital avatar. These avatars will most likely be your online "identity", but will also appear in certain software, such as Wii Sports.
• The Photo channel is a channel that allows you to view and share digital photos and movies from an external source. The Wii also contains an iPhoto-like functionality, allowing you to touch up, alter, and distort your photos to your heart's content.
• The Forecast channel will give you a look at local weather. You can also zoom out in a very Google Earth-esque fashion, and view data for pretty much anywhere in the world.
• The News channel is for, well, news. Various topics will be broken down into topical categories for your viewing pleasure. Remember, this and the weather service are free of charge.
• The Wii Shop channel is, as expected, the online marketplace for the Wii. You'll mainly be in here buying games for the Virtual Console, but you can also purchase Opera's web browser and whatever else Nintendo decides to charge. Hopefully, extra multiplayer maps and the like will remain free, but we suppose that's up to the publisher.
• The Virtual Console channels are the channels that allow you to play games from any of the various systems supported: NES, SNES, N64, Sega Genesis, and the TurboGrafx-16.
  
• The Internet channel allows one to surf the internet. However, this is not free; an Opera browser must be purchased for a currently unknown price. However, the browser supports Adobe Flash, AJAX software, and essentially every feature a major browser should; it's a nice step up from the DS version.
• The Message Board channel allows users to post messages on various boards, and send messages or photos directly to PCs or cell phones. This is also the service through which games will be updated and patched.

And there you have it! Looks like we're gonna be doing some hardcore channel surfing when the Wii hits the streets.