Nintendo to shut down Wii channels around the world
The Wii's news, weather, and other channels will be retired in the U.S. and other countries on June 28.
Wii users can soon wave goodbye to a host of services currently available through the game console.
Come June 28, Nintendo will pull the plug on five channels in the U.S., Australia, and other countries, specifically the Forecast Channel, the News Channel, the Everybody Votes Channel, the Nintendo Channel, and the Check Mii Out Channel.
Channels due to disappear in Japan include the the News Channel, the Weather Channel, the Digicam Print Channel, Everyone's Nintendo Channel, the Everyone Votes Channel, and the Mii Contest Channel.
Additionally, Wii users will lose the ability to exchange data with their Wii friends via the WiiConnect24 feature, Nintendo said today in a notice on its Japanese and Australian Web sites.
A few of these channels are available to all Wii owners, while others exist only in certain countries. Nintendo noted that other channels, such as Wii Shop Channel, would be spared the ax.
Just why is Nintendo giving these channels the boot? A company spokesperson offered two reasons to CNET.
The channels have been around for more than six years but currently have a "very low participation rate." Nintendo also plans to focus more of its development efforts on a higher level of services for the Wii U and other products, which means some of the existing Wii services had to be discontinued.
Updated 4/13 5:45 a.m. PT with response from Nintendo.