Nintendo Channel now available @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on May 07, 2008

News: Nintendo's news channels on all things Nintendo has finally come to America.

The Nintendo Channel, Nintendo's new portal for Wii game reviews, streaming videos, sortable release lists for upcoming Wii and DS titles and downloadable DS demos that the Wii can wirelessly send to your DS should be making the blue update light flash on your Wii. The Wii service was originally scheduled to launch on May 12, but Nintendo has pushed it out the door a few days early. The Nintendo Channel is available as a free download on the Wii Shop Channel.

As promised, the new channel includes plenty of streaming video (searchable by title, platform, genre, and a slew of other options). This database covers most of the DS and Wii games released since the Wii launched in 2006, but there are some notable gaps (Guitar Hero III being a big one). It should also be noted that the release date lists only includes games that will be released in the next two weeks.

The review section is also a tad different than I imagined. The Nintendo Channel only gives you the option to rate the game on a slider scale and then say what your gender and age are. The Recommemndation Mode also gives you the option to say if the game is more suited for casual or hardcore players and if the game is more suited for singleplayer or multiplayer play. There doesn't appear to be any way to see how many votes were cast for a game in any of the categories (but I'm sure Nintendo knows).

Finally, there's the DS Download Service, a repository for demos for Nintendo's double screened handheld. As with the DS Download Stations in the store, these demos will only stay on your DS until you shut the system off. The current slate of demos includes:

Brain Age 2

Flash Focus

Crosswords DS

Jam Sessions

Rayman Raving Rabbids 2

Cooking Mama 2

Disney Friends

Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword

These demos will no doubt be updated in the future, although no schedule was given.

All in all, I'd say the Nintendo Channel (along with the Mario Kart Channel) is an important towards increasing Nintendo's presence in online gaming and community features. While we may never see a Nintendo Live, the company has turned a corner with the Nintendo Channel.