Next, TV Guide makes its way to the Wii
By Tim Conneally | Published March 10, 2008, 4:43 PM
Gemstar's G-Guide interactive program guide, the company's Asian market equivalent of the TV Guide Channel will be coming to the Nintendo Wii, with no launch date yet determined.
G-Guide has found its way onto practically every platform in the Japanese market: DVRs, TVs, Mobile phones, and online. This marks the first example of Gemstar's IPG making its way into a video game console.
Gemstar's program guides are approaching saturation point. Last week, Gemstar announced its G-Guide will continue to be licensed to Mitsubishi for inclusion in all new TVs and DVRs, adding to its repertoire of licensees which already includes most major Japanese TV manufacturers.
While there is no word yet as to whether the Wii-based version will be an online complement to the existing web-based G-Guide or if it is software-based, a further statement from Gemstar and/or Nintendo to BetaNews is pending.
Preliminary reviews of the "Television no Tomo Channel G Guide" suggest that the Wii controller can be configured to act as an all-in-one remote, with commands sent to the software through an IR connection between the sensor bar and the user's existing set top box. This raises a host of technical questions, which hopefully Nintendo will be able to answer soon.
Now if they would just offer a Standalone Recorder... A nintendo Wii Tivo!! Its not hard to envision this concept. The Wii has some real potential with its channels system.
I already tested TVersity (for my files) and Hulu (for feeds) services through the Wii Internet browser channel... Works like a dream. This was a natural extension. Now to integrate the TV feed from your cable box and allow some time s***ing ability with the Wii, maybe a future HD option? boy that would be nice...
Wii TV seems like a good option from japan, but I think that is basically just ads and stuff... not TV feeds.
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|It's not the remote. The remote is simply a camera. The IR bar flashes the code, which bounces off a mirror, wall or window somewhere in the room that the TV picks up.
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|This article is a little behind the times. The TV service has already launched for the Wii in Japan. A quick YouTube search reveals several videos of the Wii TV channel in action.
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