Let’s face it: YouTube is uber cool, but it sort of sucks when viewed using the Wii Internet Channel. Zoom in, zoom out .. switch fullscreen …wait … wait some more. And I can never hit that pokey little Pause button with the Wiimote pointer. TV isn’t supposed to be too interactive, and when I’m vegging out on the couch I don’t want to have to mess around with all that just to view each short video comfortably.

Enter Moowee.tv and StumbleVideo; two YouTube-powered video sites that specifically optimise their pages for viewing on the Wii.

StumbleVideo allows you to watch random videos from defined catergories (eg Animation, Dancing, Politics, Cats) and rate them with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down. Videos can be expanded to take up most of the screen, and while you can’t choose exactly which video clip to watch, StumbleVideo claims that it learns you preferences over time and tries to give you more of what you like. This makes it much like ‘real’ TV … just choose a channel and watch whatever is on.

Probably my favorite is Moowee.tv. On the whole it is similar to StumbleVideo, with themed channels, a fullscreen option and an “Add to Favorites” button, but the custom Flash interface has been designed to be especially Wii friendly. The Pause, Volume and clip position slider are much bigger and easier to hit with the Wiimote pointer (unlike the default YouTube buttons used by StumbleVideo). Moowee.tv also allows you to choose which clip to watch by providing a thumbnail list in the left sidebar, so you can quickly skip to something in the channel you want to see. If you don’t press anything, and the channel just runs the clips in order. And you sit on the couch munching your snacks, vegging.

One problem I’ve noticed with watching any Flash video on the Wii is that many hang and refuse to play any further after 10 - 12 mins … this can be pretty disappointing. Maybe this is some memory limitation, or maybe it is related to this reported Flash player bug on the Wii. If this bug does turn out to be an exploit for running homebrew games on the Wii, I bet Nintendo will fix it fast … which is nice for those of use watching Flash videos, but bad for Wii homebrew.

Anyhow, the best way to get an idea how these great services work is to try ‘em out ….

• Moowee.tv
• StumbleVideo

(There are probably more Wii friendly YouTube-frontends out there, but these are the best two I’ve found. Feel free to post any I’ve missed in the comments !)