Nintendo launches TV Guide Channel in Japan, enables Wiimote to control TV

Posted Mar 4th 2008 11:05AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment

For Wii owners not located in Japan, get ready to weep. Why? Because users in the aforementioned nation now have access to an incredibly fascinating new channel and you, well, don't. Details on the TV Guide Channel are still a bit fuzzy (read: lost in machine translation), but based on what we've pieced together, users can surf through shows on the EPG, share their favorites with friends, see how popular a program is (using demographic data, too) and even receive an e-mail / SMS alert 30 minutes prior to a flagged show's start time. Best of all, however, is the ability to use your Wiimote as a television remote. You heard right -- owners can use their Wii controller (via the sensor bar) to dictate volume, switch channels and flip back and forth between their shows and the TV Guide Channel. Now, how long must the rest of the free world wait? Check out the gallery for a few more looks at what you're (probably) missing out on.