Nintendo has made its Wii Internet Channel free to all. Here's the full release, but it says it all in the title really:
By connecting Wii to the internet, you are opening your living room up to a world of possibilities! The Wii-specialised web browser enables people to connect wirelessly to the internet to surf the internet, do their internet shopping and even watch online catch-up TV services via their console.
The fast-booting internet browser will create a new relationship between the family, the TV, and the internet. This Channel uses the full internet browser from Opera Software, which also supports Adobe Flash.
Surfing the web with the Wii Remote is simple for the whole family. It lets you zoom in on areas of interest with ease and browse your favourite websites at leisure.
The Wii Internet Channel previously required 500 Wii Points. For those Wii owners who have already spent 500 Wii Points on the Wii Internet Channel, Nintendo will be offering a NES title from Virtual Console worth 500 Wii Points and will be launched in late October.
Further details on how to get the channel will be announced on the Wii Message Board and on the Nintendo website.
Good thing people who did pay will be reimbursed too.
That was the first thing that sprung to mind as I was reading it. Paying for it was a bit daft tbh. Especially as people who could actually get a console earlier on had it for free.
Having to pay for something extra because you could not get one due to short supplies would have been rather annoying.
well confused i have had this since virtually day 1 and it was free then. never use it as it's opera and painfully slow, just like the wii. Never use any consols for the internet as I prefer my pc or laptop. In fact the whole consol is a complete waste of time in my books. I have installed the homebrew channel to try and make more use of it with a 120gig usb hdd drive attached to run my games off and all emu’s. The drivel that is on this machine when you start playing some full price titles is a joke as are the graphics on most games. Take a look at the conduit if you don’t agree
The DSi's browser is tolerable, so shouldn't the Wii's be as good or better? I might download it just to try it out. It should have stayed free from launch anyway.
Sorry, I forgot that SD cards are given away for free and have infinite storage space these days.
You can get a 2GB one for about a fiver, and that's more than enough for the Wii, considering the file sizes involved. It's hardly breaking the bank now is it.
And as most digital cameras use SD cards, there's every chance people might have a spare one, just like I did...
I'm so bored of my wii that I reckon I'll sell it in the next couple of weeks. I wonder how many other people feel the same.
I'd say 60-70% of people do feel that way (From what i've gathered in my own experiences) but there will be 30-40% who are die hard fans that will stick with Nintendo no matter what crap they release...
As for the article...Hasn't it ALWAYS been free? I've had it since release and have never paid for it (Or used it for that matter...). I found it very slow and very very bad to use. The pointer works well but lots of sites don't work on it, like video enable sites. I also found that ANY sites with pop ups are a no no and considering so many sites have pop ups it's a problem that needs to be adressed. The problem is that it doesn't have tabs or new windows when a pop up occurs so it will take up the whole page and not let you view the page that you wanted to see in the first place...Grrr. Rubbish.
Saying that, I hardly use the PS3 browser anyway. Let's face it, the majority of people who buy broadband have a PC/laptop anyway, not many would buy BB JUST to play games...
I'm so bored of my wii that I reckon I'll sell it in the next couple of weeks. I wonder how many other people feel the same.
I'd say 60-70% of people do feel that way (From what i've gathered in my own experiences) but there will be 30-40% who are die hard fans that will stick with Nintendo no matter what crap they release...
Amazing made up numbers. You're seriously going to suggest that over 30million owners (i.e. 60-70%) are ready to sell their console in the next couple of weeks?
Opera Wii was free for a week or so back at launch, but was put up for money after that. I got it right away, because I'm a big Opera fan anyway.
But I agree, browsers on consoles are usually a waste of time since most people switch them on to play games. I guess if you don't have any other web-enabled machine then maybe it'd be used a little more regularly, but these days that's a rare situation.
The call me diehard. Or someone who actually has a broader taste in games than whats in the top ten in Asda this week.
You'd be a mug to sell your wii this week anyway, especially if you've modded it. not only is the Prime trilogy out. But Murumasa. which i say rates as one of the most beautiful games on any system this gen.
I've been on and off with my Wii, haven't really played it for long period since the release of Mario Kart Wii, but I'm sure upcoming titles like MPT, Silent Hill, Tats vs Cap, and Murumasa will change that.
@WHERESMYMONKEY - Surely most people who own Wii's (who are proper gamers not casual pick up players) would have played all the Metroid Prime games before? Most Nintendo diehards would have played the first two on GC many years ago. I can't see it being that appealing to them to re-play them with Wii controls, especially due to the long stretches of exploratory tedium involved in Echoes. I dunno, maybe they would but I don't see it as anything to hold on to the Wii for. Muramasa however does look really nice.
I think the Wii browser is actually pretty good for what it is. I've watched BBC iPlayer on it and that works fine. Most sites I look at are pretty usable and quite fast to load. Obviously having it in SD means it's not very sharp but zooming is pretty intuitive. All round, it's really not bad for a freebie.
I'm so bored of my wii that I reckon I'll sell it in the next couple of weeks. I wonder how many other people feel the same.
Hardly, given the imminent arrival of Cursed Mountain, Tatsunoko vs Capcom, Muramasa, Darkside Chronicles, Dead Space Extraction, Silent Hill:Shattered Memories, Mini Ninjas, Metroid Trilogy, New Super Mario Bros, Boy and his Blob and others. - That's more than enough to keep me amused until the likes of Monster Hunter Tri, No More Heroes 2, Metroidther M, FF:Crystal Bearers, Sin and Punishment 2, Red Steel 2, Galaxy 2 and Fragile are released next year. - If you are bored of, or are expecting to be bored of the Wii in the coming months, then I pity you and your taste in games.
Cursed Mountain, Tatsunoko vs Capcom, Muramasa, Darkside Chronicles, Dead Space Extraction, Silent Hill:Shattered Memories, Mini Ninjas, Metroid Trilogy, New Super Mario Bros, Boy and his Blob and others. - That's more than enough to keep me amused until the likes of Monster Hunter Tri, No More Heroes 2, Metroidther M, FF:Crystal Bearers, Sin and Punishment 2, Red Steel 2, Galaxy 2 and Fragile...
I guess that's the difference between me and you...You are obviously a diehard Nintendo fan because frankly I've never even HEARD of those games let alone get excited about them coming out...
To be honest out of that list of games I probably only interested in New SMB, Galaxy 2 and maybe other M...The others sound like obscure japanese RPGs or the next Conduit...
I like to think I have a good all round taste in games but theres no denying it, a lot of people are getting bored with the Wii and the sales slide and the dissapointing sales of 'killer' games like Madworld, Animal Crossing, Wii Music, No more heros, Little Kings Story and punch out paints a clear picture...
P.S. BTW, I am not attacking those games as such (cause some of those are great games) just highlighting the dissapointing sales...
Yeah, as we all know, it's high sales that make something great...
That logic of course means the Wii is the best console this generation.
By the way, some of those games you've listed there with 'disappointing sales' have sold millions of copies, and have outsold games like LittleBigPlanet and Killzone 2, again, using the logic of most sales = best that you're using, that would make them better games, yet I certainly wouldn't agree with it.
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i have had this since virtually day 1 and it was free then. never use it as it's opera and painfully slow, just like the wii. Never use any consols for the internet as I prefer my pc or laptop. In fact the whole consol is a complete waste of time in my books. I have installed the homebrew channel to try and make more use of it with a 120gig usb hdd drive attached to run my games off and all emu’s. The drivel that is on this machine when you start playing some full price titles is a joke as are the graphics on most games. Take a look at the conduit if you don’t agree 
ther M, FF:Crystal Bearers, Sin and Punishment 2, Red Steel 2, Galaxy 2 and Fragile are released next year. - If you are bored of, or are expecting to be bored of the Wii in the coming months, then I pity you and your taste in games.
