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Nintendo Releases Wii Browser For Free, Updates Flash

Posted by Soulskill on from the price-is-right dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Nintendo has released an update for the Wii Internet Channel (a version of the Opera browser). It is now a free download (if you already paid for it, you get a free NES game), and finally supports Flash 9 content after being limited to Flash 7 ever since it was launched in late 2006."

26 of 163 comments (clear)

  1. I hope the sensor bar can deploy airbags... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...because you'll need them with all the crashing that browser is going to do. Every browser that runs Flash 9 and up without some sort of isolation or sandbox crashes frequently. I hope it doesn't hard lock the console.

    1. Re:I hope the sensor bar can deploy airbags... by eric_brissette · · Score: 2, Informative

      I believe that I read in the update notes that the new browser is using Flash Lite 3.1, which is like Flash 8 only... lite-er?. At any rate, my first (and only) attempt to load Pandora caused the browser to lock up solid.

    2. Re:I hope the sensor bar can deploy airbags... by RoverDaddy · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well it won't happen here. Most slashdotters have no idea how to manipulate a SWF.

      --
      RETURN without GOSUB in line 1050
  2. Finally useful... by Max+Romantschuk · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...for watching videos on YouTube?

    Haven't even bothered to install the browser so far, my wife's netbook runs circles around a Wii for couch surfing.

    Actually I'm genuinely curious: Who uses the Wii browser and for what?

    --
    .: Max Romantschuk :: http://max.romantschuk.fi/
    1. Re:Finally useful... by interkin3tic · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It's just like every other feature that is included for free: you don't think you'll ever use it, but once or twice when you actually do you realize it was totally worth the zero dollars you paid for it. I have it because for some reason it was free when they first offered it. I mainly use it for three things

      1. I am playing a game on the 360, need to check gamefaqs for a hint or something, and the computer is being used or I don't feel like bringing the laptop in
      2. -ahem- websites that I don't want to view on my computer, for a variety of reasons
      3. The wii happens to be on and I don't want to start a game but am bored

    2. Re:Finally useful... by hcpxvi · · Score: 5, Funny

      PC ownership in the Far East is much lower than in our decadent Westron cultures.
      Indeed, the Shire, Bree and what is left of Arnor have saturation computer ownership and ubiquitous WiFi. Mordor, OTOH, is stuck on DOS 5.0 and 33k modems since the recent collapse of political power in that region.

    3. Re:Finally useful... by ciderVisor · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Who uses the Wii browser and for what?

      We use it to watch web-based videos on the living room telly. That means YouTube, BBC iPlayer, etc. You can also play Flash games on the Wii; YetiSports Albatross Overload is a favourite with us. It can also be useful for the eternal question of "Oh, what's that actor's name, and what else was he in ?"

      --
      Squirrel!
    4. Re:Finally useful... by richy+freeway · · Score: 3, Informative

      I just use a wireless USB Logitech keyboard I had lying around. No need to buy a specific Wii keyboard.

    5. Re:Finally useful... by WWWWolf · · Score: 3, Informative

      ...for watching videos on YouTube?

      Haven't even bothered to install the browser so far, my wife's netbook runs circles around a Wii for couch surfing.

      Actually I'm genuinely curious: Who uses the Wii browser and for what?

      YouTube works wonderfully, though YouTube seems to serve pretty low-res videos at the moment (I don't think Wii has the processor power to decode HD videos anyway). So it works, but doesn't look exactly glorious - but still pretty watchable if you squint just right. And in this version, based on cursory testing, the YouTube XL fullscreen mode finally seems to work at tolerable framerate - it used to work nicely in non-fullscreen, but went sluggish in fullscreen. (Incidentally, Flash 7 for Linux suffered from the same problem but they fixed it in newer versions...)

      And I've mostly been using the Internet Channel for watching streaming video and HomestarRunner stuff, quickly checking game guides, and occasionally posting to identi.ca. It's not the fastest browser around and goes sluggish on JavaScript-heavy pages like Slashdot (then again, so does my Athlon XP 3000+ desktop.) And there's no AdBlock to alleviate these things. And of course, I haven't figured out how to set up the USB keyboard layout to non-US layouts, but that's a minor problem. All in all, it does most of the stuff I'd expect from a set-top box browser just fine.

    6. Re:Finally useful... by tomhudson · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Weather channel. Since I leave mine on all the time (unlike the other consoles, the Wii is a power miser, 18 watts peak draw during a game, as opposed to 250 watts), it's quick and easy to get my local weather.

      Or if I need something more up-to-date, open the wii opera browser and go to the latest official forecast, which is updated quicker.

    7. Re:Finally useful... by keytoe · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Since I leave mine on all the time

      You can leave it on, but be sure you don't leave a disk in the drive. It'll spin constantly and the drives simply are not rated for that much wear and tear. I left mine on (since they imply you should with the presence of all those spiffy channels on the main menu) but didn't think to pull out the disks. 1.5 years later, I'm dumping $70 on a new optical drive that you can really only get from Nintendo.

      --

      Culture is more than commerce

  3. http://www.youtube.com/xl by IYagami · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://www.youtube.com/xl is an easy way to access youtube content from your wii

    Works perfectly in mine with the OLDER version of the internet channel

  4. Re:The Wii is on the way down by pat+sajak · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't know about that... Remember when the Wii was the "cheap" system? Now we have a $200 xbox and a $300 ps3, both half their original launch prices. But the Wii has actually gone up from $269 to $279 (inflation?). (Canadian prices) There's a reason the other guys are aggressively lowering their prices...

  5. Re:The Wii is on the way down by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Wii have one, and ot be honest, wiifit is the only game worth playing - mostly because the developers have not followed the UI standards, and generally followed the same look and feel. The result is that the games appear badly implemented.

    It may be that Nintendo do not supply guidelines in writing, but if the develoeprs had actually used a Wii before writing ther games, wii would not be faced with the POS tha is our limited choice. Several times we have gone out to buy games for a party or other excuse, and come back wiht dross because we felt obliged to buy *something*. Honestly, the Wii market is desperate for any new game that is playable.

    I remain in home of a multi-player World Mapouka Championship, but I am not hlding my breath. (It it was released, I might end up holding some other part of my anatomy :-)

    --
    Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
  6. Re:hahah finally :) by master5o1 · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's got USB keyboard support for that.

    --
    signature is pants
  7. I should have waited by DanTheManMS · · Score: 2, Informative

    My apartment roommates and I just set up a Wii in our common living area 2 days ago, and I was the one to shell out the $10 to buy the browser (leaving us with 500 points left we don't really plan to use at the moment). Had I waited a few more days, we could have gotten it for free. Curses.

    Meh, at least there's a slight compensation =/

    Regarding Youtube, we tried watching some videos but I found the framerate to be very laggy, especially in the full-screen mode. I didn't do extensive testing of YoutubeXL vs standard Youtube site, so I don't know the full extent of this issue, but I'm hoping it improves with this upgrade.

  8. Re:The Wii is on the way down by cgenman · · Score: 3, Informative

    Wii Fit Plus
    Wii Sports Resort
    Muramasa: The Demon Blade
    Red Steel 2
    New Super Mario Brothers
    Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
    + a bunch of 360 ports that probably won't be as good.
    + a bunch of sports games that are better on the Wii thanks to the Wii Motion Plus.

    Post Christmas there is:
    Mario Galaxy 2
    Metroid: Other M
    No More Heroes 2
    + a bunch of 360 ports that probably won't be as good.

    --
    The ______ Agenda
  9. Wiibserver? by damburger · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Anyone know if there are any plans to merge Unite into the version of Opera that ships for the Wii? It would be quite interesting if every Wii owner had a lego-brick server in their lounge..

    --
    If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
  10. 42" browsing? by jonaskoelker · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Actually I'm genuinely curious: Who uses the Wii browser and for what?

    Browsing the web on a very bright 42" monitor is kinda' cool :)

    With a wiimote, it means you'll have neither of: a hot laptop on your ball sack; or a desk between the couch and your TV.

    1. Re:42" browsing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      1) "If you can afford X, then you can afford Y" is always a bad argument.

      2) Your solution is a pain in the ass, not nearly as intuitive.

      3) The Wii's screen resolution is just fine for most pages, and if it isn't you can zoom out or scroll left and right.

  11. Re:Does it work with Hulu? by nixkuroi · · Score: 2, Informative

    HuluDoesn't appear to work at all. I visited Hulu.com and only got a black screen with all videos. It's possible I didn't wait long enough for their player to load, but Youtube.com/xl comes up right away.

  12. !Flash 9 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I am (unfortunately) a Flash dev.

    The new Internet Channel supports Flash Lite 3, not Flash 9. Flash Lite 3 supports all the ActionScript Virtual Machine 1 (AVM1) content that will run on or before Flash 9. However, it does not support AVM2 content -- that is, content created with ActionScript 3 or Flex. ActionScript 3 was released with Flash 9. I don't know of any Flash 9 content that isn't written using AS3/AVM2 -- if you're trying to be backwards compatible (say, you're a corporation, and every 0.01% penetration counts) you're gonna code in Flash 7 or 8 anyway.

    This opens up a bunch of content written with Flash 8, but it still means you're not going to able to use, say, the vast majority of games on Kongregate or YouTube HD. Besides that, the browser has so little memory available to it that any "high end" Flash content is off-limits anyway. This update really doesn't do much for me.

  13. Not Flash 9 content ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Although the updated Internet Channel identifies itself as a v9 Flash Player, it is actually still incapable of playing what anyone considers 'Flash 9 content' such as applications that use Adobe's Flex framework (or indeed anything that needs ActionScript 3).
    It's really 'Flash Lite 3.1' as explained at http://www.adobe.com/products/flashlite/faq/

    1. Re:Not Flash 9 content ! by Khyber · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If the software advertises itself as Flash 9, it better fucking be flash 9. Plain and simple.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    2. Re:Not Flash 9 content ! by Ash-Fox · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If the software advertises itself as Flash 9, it better fucking be flash 9

      Or what? You'll send death threats?

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
  14. Re:The Wii is on the way down by Minwee · · Score: 3, Informative

    There's a reason the other guys are aggressively lowering their prices...

    Yes, there certainly is.