Comments on: Wii TV: Stuff of TV producers' nightmares?

Nintendo is bringing television to the Wii in Japan and striking fear in the hearts of TV networks.

[slcagnina]

It sounds like a terrific idea, until you realize they have to produce -- really produce, compelling entertainment. A network's worth. It's a boardroom dream, but turning it into reality is beyond difficult.

Look at established networks -- how much compelling programing can they muster with their money and experience? This will not work.

[Sam Papelbon]

the article says 'produced for nintendo', not 'produced by nintendo', so they may not have to actually make the shows themselves, just find a studio willing to help. not all that different from a second-party game developer.

as for the programming, the type of shows talked about don't really sound that difficult to produce. we've probably all seen our fair share of the old nintendo cartoons and there's really no place for them to go but up. they could probably even get by with just re-airing some of the classic shows for the nostalgia factor. quiz and cooking shows require next to nothing. random trivia and recipes are easy to come by. educational programming would be the only real difficult thing in the list, because (i'm not sure about the situation in japan) there's a lot of competition and i can imagine a number of parents being leery about trusting a video game company with teaching their kids.

[Penguinisto]

Folks - a question: what makes this any different from an On-Demand video feature at the local cable company?

[kojacked]

It's different because it's original programming and not just time-shifted programming that you get on VOD.

[gopnick]

As long as the Wii doesn't handle HD, you won't see me using it for anything more than casual gaming.

[3rdalbum]

I have what most people would term "slow broadband". Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a way to have the Nintendo Channel buffer more than just a few seconds of video, so I get lots of stopping and starting. If Nintendo gets the content right for their new general-purpose TV channel, AND allows user-directed buffering (like on Youtube and other Flash video sites) then they could really be onto something.