Weather Forecast Channel

Where I am in upstate NY Wii's weather channel is always at least 10 to 12 hrs. behind. Which makes it pretty useless.

I noticed that on day 1, but figured it was only becuase it was new. Sigh. How they let it get that way beats me. I have a meteorology degree, so another reason I would like it to be good. lol

Sometimes if you get out and get back in again it will update again and be more accurate but I agree the weather channel is not useful for current readings yet.

Mine is usually not more then 3-4 hours old, but then again, I barely check it once a week. Just not an important feature to me. But I do agree that they should get it right if they are going to do it.

Well, I usually check this for the weekly forecast as opposed to the current weather, and that's not going to change that much in 5 hours. Still, it would be nice if they could find a more timely weather provider so as to make the current weather information more accurate. People have been complaining about this pretty widely, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Nintendo crack the whip on the current provider or kick them to the curb entirely.

On the bright side, the News channel updates very frequently.

I haven't had a problem with the accuracy of the forecasts, but do agree it could update more often. My biggest complaint is I wish you could click and get a detailed text forecast. A picture of a cloud and a temperature doesn't tell you much.

Otherwise, I do really like their interface for the forecast channel and news channel. It's obvious that Nintendo has a Human Factors team on board doing this stuff. It's so nice to see it when a company "gets" Human Factors, as opposed to the crap put out by companies that don't.

Yeah, these are things that could be easily fixed in a future upgrade. Add more detailed (text) forecast info and more timely updates (obviously possible because the News channel manages it) and you'd have an essentially perfect application. Would also be awesome if the system actually gave you weather warnings while you were playing games, but I don't think that's possible.

One little thing I would like: More sound effects. I love the rain and thunder sounds. Would be neat if they had maybe sleighbells for snow, a gusty sound for wind, a foghorn for fog/mist, etc.


Were you an industrial engineering major?

No, I was a Human Factors Engineering (Psychology) major.

And yes, as you probably guessed, I'm a professional Human Factors Engineer, hence the handle, "chiguy".

Ah, okay. I just generally associate talk about human factors with industrial engineers. I was an editor at Industrial Engineer magazine for three years and my wife majored in it.

I majored in English.

I'm glad I found this old thread. I was beginning to think the server for weather data had just recently gone wacky. It tells me its raining when we haven't been above freezing for more than 1 week. Reported current conditions are approx. +15 degrees from actual. The 5 day outlook is also wrong. I wish it was going to be that warm!

Wow it's still messed up this long after they started having that channel? lol

Yeah, since my last posts in this thread I've gotten an Xbox 360 and a PS3 and it really served to highlight just how poorly Nintendo handles the online experience. Some of their initial ideas were sound, but the implementation has been extremely weak. Content updates on the weather, news, etc. channels are so untimely and shallow that they are rendered useless. And online multiplayer on the system is still a joke.

Say what you will (and in many cases, it's true), but the multiplayer for COD:MW Reflex is STELLAR!!! Missing voice chat, the 5 DLC maps & limited to 10 players instead of 16 - but otherwise, it's all there.

Still, easily the best online shooter for Wii. Have spent many hours already playing online & am ranking up nicely (DBL XP Points all last week!!). Game visuals run smoother (pretty much a solid 30 fps) in multiplayer - single player mode has some minor frame jumps here & there. Friend Codes are still part of it all, but can say firsthand that finding 7-9 more random players has been easy every time. Seems like every Wii owner that has bought this game so far is playing the crap out of it (Nintendo Channel recommendation data also states this).

EA Sports online for Wii is also solid, mainly due to EA using their own servers, thereby eliminating Friend Codes & replacing them w/ screen names (whihc can be searched by name). EA Online is as close as Wii gets to 360/PS3-level online play, at least in terms of finding & connecting w/ others. Kind of wish EA gave up some server real estate for RB2 Wii to utilize.

Guitar Hero 5 & Band Hero also have very "next gen" online elements in the Wii editions. Games log online @ boot up, stay online for the duration of play & also ditched Friend Codes (in this case, your Wii console code is what you use). Add SDHC support & track importation from previous GH games...voila, a even playing field (save for graphics) all around.

Yes, Wii is limited a bit by Nintendo's mode of operation, particularly w/ online. Clever devs, however, have found ways to wring as much good out of it as possible.