It's Official - Wii's U.S. Nintendo Channel, Forecast Channel, News Channel & more taken offline.

The message you get now when trying to access the Nintendo Channel.

Coffee Beans
If you have read stories around here over the last few years, chances are you have probably seen my data report stories on Wii games. I would gather information from the Wii's Nintendo Channel, and then create images with the reported play-time on games that showed things like average times played and total hours played. You can even read a data report I did on the Everybody Votes Channel, HERE.

Well, as of now, the Nintendo Channel (seen above), Forecast Channel, News Channel, Everybody Votes Channel, and Check Mii Out Channel have been taken offline on the Wii, to never return again. Perhaps Nintendo will release a News and Weather app on the Wii U, but I doubt they will ever release a Nintendo Channel app that shows play-times of Wii U and Wii games, because that data could provide hints of sales numbers for games as well.

You can see the how the other Wii Channels now appear if you attempt to visit them, in the image below.

Click to enlarge

Caffeinated Thoughts
I have used the Nintendo Channel almost weekly, for the last 3+ years. Even weeks and months when I didn't post data reports, I would record the data for my records (data nerd). Seeing the Nintendo Channel services discontinued is the biggest disappointment for me out of all the Wii Channels discontinued. There were some newer Wii games I was hoping to get to report on, like Pandora's Tower, but due to the Nintendo Channel service being stopped that data will now most likely never be known.

While we used the Forecast Channel, Everybody Votes Channel, Check Mii Out Channel, and News Channel, none of them were used anywhere near as much as the Nintendo Channel in our house, and some of them hadn't been used regularly in years.

The Nintendo Channel was by far my favorite Wii Channel and not just because of the data, but also because Nintendo started things like Nintendo Week on it and it provided a good way to watch trailers of new games coming out as well.

Questions
Did any of you use a Wii Channel (or two) regularly, and perhaps will be disappointed now that these Wii Channel services have been discontinued?

Did all of you know that the Wii Channels in the U.S./Western market were being taken offline? I didn't see any sites really report on them being discontinued in the U.S., but I did see it mentioned for Europe and Japan.

FPS Friday! How much has Red Steel 2 been played? Official U.S. Nintendo Channel data report.

Coffee Beans
Last May, we looked at how many hours had been reported playing Red Steel 2 by U.S. Wii owners, with more than 2 years' worth of data reported.

Red Steel 2 was released as a Wii exclusive on March 23, 2010 in the U.S., and can still be found to buy, new or used, on many different sites. If you own a Wii, or even Wii U, and are interested in Red Steel 2, you should know the game requires a Wii MotionPlus accessory to play though. As for content to be aware of, Red Steel 2 received an ESRB rating of "TEEN" for "Animated Blood, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence".

A description for the game on the Nintendo Channel says, "Embody a lonesome fighter, a man of few words with a shaded past full of mystery. Face various, and increasingly strong, enemies and defeat challenging bosses in epic and intense fights. Visit a remote mixed metropolis in the middle of the American desert, where Eastern and Western culture have been smashed together: Caldera."

About how many U.S. Wii owners have game-play data reported for Red Steel 2 through the Nintendo Channel, and how many hours have they reported playing the game since it released over 3 years ago? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!

Nintendo's U.S. Wii U TV advertising. Marketing genius, or marketing failure?

Coffee Beans
There are now four official Wii U commercials for the United States. There is the official "Wii U Advertising Campaign Launch Video", which is the only one minute Wii U commercial so far; and New Super Mario Bros. U, Nintendo Land, and SiNG Party each have their own 30 second commercial.

The U.S. Wii U commercials have received mixed reactions from fans, and for various reasons: the music, the presentation, the information (or lack thereof). The video above is the slightly updated version of my original updated version of Nintendo's "Wii U Advertising Campaign Launch Video", that Nintendo of America revealed last Thursday.

Do the U.S. Wii U commercials do a good enough job at addressing the fact that the Wii U is a brand new console, with a brand new controller? Will the way that each U.S. commercial is worded be a genius marketing strategy, or a marketing failure? Brew yourself some coffee and hit the jump to take a look at the commercials, and specifically listen to the way the Wii U is talked about in each commercial.

Nintendo's U.S. Wii U Commercials, and updated Coffee "Launch Video" version

Coffee Beans
This past Thursday, November 1st, Nintendo showed its first Wii U launch video produced for the United States. They released a New Super Mario Bros. U commercial and a SiNG Party commercial, both Wii U games, last week as well.

The official launch video has received very mixed reactions. Some Nintendo fans think it's okay, and that it will do okay with multiple viewings. Others think it's pretty bad at conveying what the Wii U is and what the Wii U is about, and aren't fans of the music chosen for it.

If you missed the new Wii U launch video an commercials last week for the U.S., brew yourself some coffee and hit the jump to see them below, as well as my updated version of the first official "Wii U Advertising Campaign Launch Video"!