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Wii Weather Channel Up, Browser Coming
Nintendo's console has been out almost exactly a month, and the company is now rolling out some of the system's additional features. As you are reading this, your Wii should already be capable of giving you the weather forecast. Additionally, this Friday a trial version of the web browser should become available. From the Pro-G article: "The fully featured Opera web browser for the Wii was intended to be available for the launch of the console. Sadly it wasn't, but the good news is that you'll only have to wait until Friday to get a taster of what it can do. A trial version of the Wii Opera web browser will be available for free from December 22. The final version of the Opera browser will be released at the end of March 2007 and will be free for all Wii owners until the end of June 2007. After this date, anyone who hasn't already downloaded the browser will have to pay 500 Wii Points."
...the fact that I STILL HAVE TO TYPE EVERYTHING WITH THE !@#$%@#%^#$^&E$%& CLICKY THINGY???
Why in the world can't I plug my USB keyboard in it and type?
WHY, GOD, WHY???
"Christ what a design! I could eat a handful of iron filings and PUKE a better emergency pump than that!"
How does this work, can you store the browser on the console itself and switch to it at anytime? Or do you have to pop out your favorite game and then pop in a browser disc? Just curious.
;-)
By the way, if anyone wants to buy me a Wii for my birthday coming up in February, you can send it to:
Suso
101 W. Kirkwood Ave., #008B
Bloomington, IN 47404
Thanks.
You just look out the windows.
Even for people who don't get their hands on a Wii until later next year, $5 is a bargain for Opera. It's a great browser and a great price seeing all the extra considerations and functionality that has to be programmed in to work well on the Wii at 480i/p. I remember spending more than that on a copy before they went free.
My only question is, how is Nintendo going to block users from playing emulated games via the web? That could seriously hurt Virtual Console game sales if someone can figures out all the logistics behind getting the remote to work correctly through the web browser.
Wise men say, "Forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza."
But I think you'll probably have to pop out of your game to the OS, though you shouldn't have to eject the disk. On the games I've played, you can exit a game and get back to the main screen with the home button and a dialog box.
The Wii has 512 MB of internal flash memory. The browser is stored there and can be run from the main menu.
At the risk of feeding the troll:
The Wii has a certain amount of built-in flash memory, enough to store several VC games, Wii Save Games, and yes, even a web browser. You may also expand this to your liking by adding in a standard SD card.
No need to swap disk like we all did with the Dreamcast.
-Buddy of DoQ
Its stored internally, and no you don't have to take the disc out to use the browser. It also looks like there functionality is there to pause a game and do stuff like this while its paused. The function doesn't exist currently, but it seems possible based upon the GUI structure.
How exactly does Nintendo justify paying for a browser? I don't own the console, but I would expect that if web browsing is a feature/portal to finding other Nintendo goodness they'd want you to have it for free (post summer 2007 ;) ). Is it a licensing issue, and if so why not use an OSS browser platform? Am I missing something?
I just booted up the Wii to give the weater channel a shot, and while I'm not sure about its everyday usefulness, it is definitely designed well. You can view the weather for today, tomorrow, or get a five day forecast. The thing that I really like is the globe menu. It basically presents you with a globe, which you can spin around with the wiimote, and view the weather anywhere in the world. Again, while I doubt I will ever really use this, its just plain fun to whip the earth around with the wiimote.
Like anyone with a Wii will ever want to go outside.
Great, and very well designed!
:-)
Now, when do we get Google Earth?
sig:- (wit >= sarcasm)
- John
That's nice, but I'd still like some popular VC games. Why can't we have Super Mario Bros? Why can't we have RC Racer? Etc, etc, etc. I love my Wii to death, but it irritates me that won't give us some of the AAA titles.
WiiTalk doesn't exist, but I would love to see video chat capabilities added to the Wii. You already have a TV for the video and sound, the network connection for the data, so all that is left is keypad support and webcam support. Maybe they need to team up with Google, Jabber, or Skype - basically any company who can connect beyond their own network.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
The built-in 512MB memory can currently store something like EVERY VC game available, and about 2000 blocks of save game memory (the typical game so far using about 4). since a formatted 512 SD card shows up as a little less than 4000 blocks, I'm assuming its 'blocks' are counted in megabits.
This is where I get my recommended daily allowance of "Foot in Mouth."
I got up late this morning. I was so pissed. I am rushing around collecting a PSP for music (about all I use it for) and a charger because a copy to the memory stick took too long last night. Got everything ready. I'm late I'm late. Quick "what am I missing" and I notice a blue light. A Glowing blue light. It's the wii.
Don't ask me why, but the wii flashing a blue glowing light is an amazing thing. It looks friendly, and personally I'm happy to see that. It just has a visual appeal that beats anything I've seen in other consoles.
Very cool. Nintendo has taken the "Lunchbox" of Gamecube, and made it into a stylish Wii product.
Although about the Wii specifically, I'm still hoping they'll add USB harddrive and Keyboard support in an OS update.
Being able to browse the web to look-up TV listings was half of the reason I bought the wii. (The other half was the VC, wii-sports is just a bonus.) I have OTA NTSC and ATSC so no cable/sat box that I can use to see what is on. I use titantv on the computer, but that site might be too busy for 480i. Does anyone have suggestions for websites (or scripts I can run on my webserver) that would do the trick?
Article is from a UK website...is this for NA as well?
It runs off the internal flash memory (512MB).
Though it would probably be rather slow, it'd be great if you could 'alt+tab' into and out of Opera to check gamefaqs for the next part of the quest or level. Kind of like flipping from World of Warcraft to thottbot to get the cords for the next objective.
This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
As I've remarked before, the really exciting thing about the inclusion of Opera in the Wii is that it includes Flash support. That means that you can use the Wiimote to play mouse-only Flash games.
Opera is already installed on every Wii (it's used to power the Wii Shop Channel), but to access other websites you have to use DNS redirection hacks... On Friday you'll be able to use it freely. Meanwhile, wiicade.com is a website dedicated to developing/promoting Flash games explicitly designed to be played on the Wii.
When I moderate, I only use "-1, Overrated". That way, I never get meta-moderated!
I don't remember where I read this, but I think the virtual console games support suspend mode. The article had screenshots, too. Pretty screenshots.
And free email! Don't forget email! You too can have w[somereallylongnumber]@wii.com!
:D Weather is very nice feature and I can't wait for the webbrowser.
Actually, I think it all is rather good
Monkeyboi
Ok, I find it odd that, at 9:08 am, it's giving me the results from the 6:00 pm observations (instead of, perhaps, the 6:00am-12:00am forecast, or better yet the 9:00 am observations or some such)... hence, it's telling me that it's nighttime. (It also does so by showing a full moon, even though the moon is nearly new.)
It's FUN playing with the globe! You can let go while you're spinning it, and it'll keep moving. You can also view the world either from top-down, or a side projection view, or in-between (in 6 increments).
They have The South Pole! Ok, despite where they put the icon, it's probably McMurdo's conditions. But it's still cool!
I wonder why and how they're limiting their observation stations. For instance, Silicon Valley workers may be surprised that there's no listings for Sunnyvale, even though it's in every other weather reporting program (because of Moffett Field).
It's still fun playing with the globe.
Why does it download the message to tell you that you can get the weather patch, but not the patch?
It's 9:15am and it still is showing me the 6:00 pm observations, even though the NWS releases observations every hour. Odd, that. If you go to Weathernews, Inc.'s website, their flash applet on the front page seems to be using old observations for San Francisco, at least (although the webcam at their SF office is up-to-date!).
Spinny globe WHEE!
Today's Play History: Forecast Channel: 00:17 / Forecast Channel: 00:06 / Total Play Time: 00:23
But can they load software developed without the case-by-case authorization of the console maker, such as software developed by amateurs or by smaller companies?
But don't most in-browser emulators use Sun's Java technology, which Opera software on non-PC platforms tends not to support? And aren't a lot of those sites just clones of the NES games? For instance, N-Blox lets you play a game with nearly the same rules as NES Tetris, but it can't be made to play any other NES game without a rewrite.
This is now the second generation of consoles where gaming companies have talked about convergence. The idea being that your gaming console will be the platform for your news, weather, web surfing and entertainment - all in one little box with their brand on it.
Isn't it funny how the cheapest console on the market, branded generation 1.5 by many, comes the closest to getting it right?
What I want is a thumbpad that hooks firmly into the nunchuck port of the wiimote. Something a little larger than the treo keypad is all I want. I would pay ... oh, say $70 for such a device.
there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
No, if you're reading this, you can try running the Wii update. And cry as the progress bar advances twenty pixels and freezes for an hour. And listen to that damned annoying update beep. They must have a server bank of a dozen 386's on dial-up somewhere in Japan hosting all of this. And the worst part is, there's no cancel button. So if you want to stop the "update" and actually USE your Wii, you have to do what the on screen instructions tell you not to do - turn the power off. Fucking brilliant, Nintendo.
A large chunk of the built-in memory appears to be firmware, as a fresh-out-of-the-box Wii only has about 2160 blocks available.
Great! Now I don't have to look outside to know the weather. :P
The Wii console's browser is not free; you need $5 to buy it plus $500 on eBay to buy the console to run it.
PLAYSTATION 3, on the other hand, is no longer under a severe shortage. Many people in the last PS3 article here on Slashdot reported being able to find it on store shelves, and online auction prices have fallen to within $100 of retail. On Yahoo! Auctions, I see three PS3 consoles whose Buy It Now price is listed as $550 + $50 S&H with 5 hours left as I post this.
No but you do have to swap blocks. If you're going to save a VC game to the external memory - don't expect to play it. If your primary ram then is full (why else would you buy extra memory in the first place?), then you have to (a) backup a different game to the external card (b) erase it from primary memory (c) copy the card-saved VC game to primary memory where now you can play it.
Fucking simple - Wii - it's for casual gamers!
How can amateurs develop Flash games without using Adobe Flash software, which many developers who are between school and work cannot afford?
It also gives the UV for my home here in NZ as '2' while the local TV n ews has been at '11' all week (ozone hole at the height of the summer evil)
Hmm... They managed to scrape together enough time and money to get a Wii.
Just because you can, does not mean you should.
I've never understood this mentality in consoles. It has a CD-ROM, we should make it play CDs (so I can get tinny TV quality sound from my television?) It has a DVD-Rom, so it should play DVDs (with gold-lessly horrible picture quality and no 5.1) It hooks to the Internet and so...
These kinds of tack-ons have never seemed useful. I suppose that if you can only afford to buy one thing a year, it makes sense to combine, but I don't want to surf the web at a cartoon resolution. At least add quality features. (Guilty: I havent' seen if the new Opera will "zoom out" on the Wii)
In other news, Scion has figured that as long as the car's engine is going to get hot, they shall include a griddle for making pancakes. Also, the new Shick razor will come with a recipie book since it can be used to peel vegetables. (etc.)
I read that as BOWSER coming. I was picturing a cartoon weathermap of Mario Land and the weather girl using a baton to point out Bowser. It was cute.
You just look out the windows.
...
Reminds me of the "Weather Log" (or sometimes the "Weather Rock")
If it's wet, it's raining.
If it's white on top, it's snowing.
If it has a shadow, it's sunny.
If it doesn't have a shadow, it's cloudy.
etc.
Even though I do want other specific titles to be released (and the sooner the better) some of the VC titles would simply be overlooked if they dropped all their big guns first. Currently there are 3-4 games coming out every week, and I'm happy with that pace. Also if you haven't played Gunstar Heroes yet, you are doing yourself a dis-service. If you liked 'Contra', Gunstar Heroes is Hella fun.
I'm curious to see how Flash games will run on the Wii given that Flash can make even a decent machine bog down. Of course, a lot of it is dependent on how efficient the code is but Flash itself is far from ideal as a programming language. It still seems not to use any hardware acceleration, although that might be irrelevant given that the Wii is a completely different platform.
I'm curious to see, however, Flash handles the Wii remote and how its buttons get mapped in Flash. The only solution is to have the buttons mapped to any key on a keyboard. There is something out there that allows a controller to be used with Flash, but I don't think it would ever work with the Wii. Also, if I'm not mistaken Flash still only supports the left mouse button. It's cool if they get it working, but I foresee quite a few issues. Of course, not having used a Wii myself I may be overreacting about this.
There are some great flash games out there that put even some commercial software to shame. That's one thing that struck me in particular about some of what's available for the DS; they look like nothing but a collection of glorifed Flash games.
And free email! Don't forget email! You too can have w[somereallylongnumber]@wii.com!
...
Free email? This is the first I've heard of that! Man, guess I have to reset my wireless to 1 or 11 then
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
My Xbox can show me the weather, youtube, movie trailers, and it can play just about every classic video game for the NES, SNES, Genesis, etc.
I think it's reserved space for the firmware/updates/channels to use temporarily as a cache/download point/whatever. A 2GB SD card added to the system has almost 20000 blocks, so a completely free 512mb card would be about 5000 meaning about half is reserved.
Opera does still charge for their browser. Opera for the desktop is free, but Opera 'for devices' (IE: Cell phone, PDA, etc...) is still a pay for product, and that's what this is. Until June Nintendo is paying for it as a promotion, but after that users who want it need to pay Opera.
Though I don't see this as being a desktop replacement for most web browsing, I can see myself using this browser for specific purposes. How about getting stuck in a game, then jumping to Gamefaqs? Or The WiiArcade done up in flash? Strongbad Email? I personally will watch the prior 'Heroes' episodes I missed from NBC.com on it simply because my couch beats my computer chair every time.
I just got my Wii last night, and was up until almost 2:30 this morning playing around with it. I didn't go to bed until I'd played Wii Sports, updated the software, downloaded/played Bomberman '93, and checked out every feature the Wii had to offer.
I woke up bleary-eyed this morning, stumbled through the living room, and saw the light. Being the kind of geek who actually reads manuals, I knew what it was and fired the machine right back up to see what was new. I played with the Weather Forecast Channel, then since the remote was already in my had did a few rounds of boxing and tennis before starting to get ready for work.
I didn't get to work until 11:30, and have spent most of the day reading Wii stuff online. I am *not* productive today!
Boundless Expansion, Self-Transformation, Dynamic Optimism, Intelligent Technology, Spontaneous Order- BEST DO IT SO!
This is a worthless add-in. When someone wants to know the weather (while at home), they are supposed to not use the 3G phone in their pocket, not use the many weather channels or weather crawlers on the TV (which must be on to use the wii), not use their computer which exists for sure since they have highspeed, but instead boot up and the wii instead? Waste of dev money. Makes me wasted man-hours like this is what made TP so very delayed.
Objectivity.
I agree that it's likely reserved, but not just for temporary storage. (kind of like how the 360 reserves 7 gig of the 20 available). After downloading and installing the "Weather Channel" update this morning, I had the exact same number of blocks available.
is there anything missing in the trial version? Or are they just calling the first release a "trial"?
I have a few Bluetooth keyboards kicking around, any chance I'll be able to connect them to my Wii when I get it?
No need to bother with that - if you're staying within "reach" of internet connectivity, just delete the game. When you've got the space available later, just download it again - your purchase is associated with your specific console and you can re-download later for free.
(and yes, there is apparently the ability for Nintendo customer services to transfer that to another unit in the event that yours dies and can't be repaired)
Can you explain to me why a Genesis game like Gunstar Heroes takes up 98 blocks? I haven't been able to figure out why VC games are so big. I'm beginning to suspect that they do not simply have VC emulators for each system, but that when you download the game, you're also downloading the emulator for that system, cause there is no way that an old Genesis game is 98 Mb.
just some guy
98 blocks is more like 9.8Mb, not 98 Mb. However, 9.8 Mb for Genesis might still be big enough to include the emulator, or part of it.
After 3 days without programming, life becomes meaningless
- The Tao of Programming
Clever signature text goes here.
I made a correction to your post, I think that's what you meant to say. I do see where you are coming from, but I don't see this so much as a 'One lump sum charge' to Nintendo. As with everything that involves Wii points, you pay Nintendo. Nintendo gets a cut of everything for the distribution (IE: they are the publisher), but Opera would get paid per download much like Sega gets paid per download for any of their Genesis games.
Nintendo still calls the shots. If you visit Opera's forums and ask, all they can say is "it's up to Nintendo", "ask Nintendo", etc.
Clever signature text goes here.
I apologize for not pointing out that I was referring to a Meijer store in Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA. Sony avoids shortages by delaying the release in other territories. This also gives Sony time to localize the PLAYSTATION 3 user interface to the numerous languages of continental Europe, where the number of customers per language area is much less than it is in Japan or North America.
I just updated the Weather Channel yesterday, and started having graphic problems.
I was wondering if anyone had had anything similar?
Using D-SUB cables (progressive HD) I get these wierd black lines that look like digital noise running down the center and left of my screen, always in the same possition. They're most noticeable on the main wii page, but I've seen little flickerings even in my games (Made in Wario, etc). Has anyone else had this problem?
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Nothing can be done before the tremendous power!
RabidComics
Oh, so it came free with your 600$ console? What a bargain!