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Yahoo has [launched a new "portal" site for Nintendo's Wii][1] console that brings together Flickr photos, del.icio.us links, Yahoo MyWeb, Yahoo Games, and more. According to Variety, this is only [the first of many Yahoo sites][2] which will revolve around various popular brands.
If the Wii offering is any indicator, these sites should prove popular with fans of the represented brands.
Yahoo's Wii site is chock full of geeky fan goodness with everything from flickr photos showing people hooking up their new Wii, to del.icio.us links with various tips, sites and sale prices, to panel with questions and answers from the ever-growing Yahoo! Answers.
The design of the site is clean and simple, something Yahoo seems to be getting better at and it unifies the many diverse offerings that Yahoo often has a hard time bringing together in a cohesive way.
The buyers guide for instance, integrates Yahoo Shopping, EBay Auctions and Yahoo maps to create a nice one-stop destination for anyone looking to purchase a Wii (never mind that every retailer lists the Wii as out of stock).
Of course the primary focus is on content from Yahoo's offerings, which leaves the Video section for instance, a bit lacking, I imagine users would be better served by aggregating YouTube Video rather than relying on Yahoo's paltry offerings, but I don't image that will be happening any time soon.
What's interesting about the Wii portal and future plans is that Yahoo isn't asking permission or partnering with the brand companies in anyway. Yahoo says they hope brand companies will want to work with and support the Yahoo sites, but as Vince Broady, head of entertainment, games and youth properties at Yahoo, tells Variety, "we don't believe we have to have the participation of the brand owners."
If you're a fan of Nintendo's new Wii console you'll enjoy Yahoo's new site, and it will be interesting to see where this brand-universe strategy takes Yahoo.
[1]: http://wii.yahoo.com/
[2]: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117954662.html?categoryid=18&cs=1&nid=2570
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