In a survey among Wii owners and their feelings towards the Wii’s online-enabled features, Nikkei Digital Media found out exactly how popular some of those channels are. The survey found that 4 in every 5 Japanese Wii owners use the Forecast Channel, the Wii Shop Channel, and Wii’s build in mailing/messenger system. Not a bad ratio.
Our friends at GoNintendo may be surprised that so many people use these features such as the Forecast Channel, but it’s quite simple. Nintendo knows Japan better than we do (and better than they know us), and you’d have to expect that if Nintendo knew it wouldn’t be a hit in Japan, it wouldn’t have been included in the Wii at all. If the online components were designed to satisfy Westerners, I’m pretty sure North America, Europe, and Australia would all be playing Mario Strikers Charged this week without the Friend Code system…
