Flying controllers aside, video game console maker Nintendo’s got another thing going for it: older players as well as and younger players.

Wooing the first time gamer – presumably a parent with a teenager in the house with Nintendo’s Wii console – has inspired Nintendo to create online services that have nothing to do with games, like its new weather channel.

The Forecast Channel, launched on Wednesday, lets users locate weather reports for just about any city on the planet by using the motion sensing controller to point at a screen map.

Upcoming is a News Channel that is expected to be launched some time next year, following the test launch of an Internet Channel that lets users browse the Internet using the Opera browser. A full version of the browser will be available in March. Nintendo will start charging for the browser by June.

“Gaming is our first priority,” Nintendo spokeswoman Beth Llewelyn says. “Some of these other activities were designed to draw people to the console.”

Links to Engadget and Gizmodo’s coverage.

(Photo: YouTube via Gizmodo)