Nintendo Offers Wii Internet Channel Free

[Inneverate]

This isn't about selling the console. The majority of Wii owners do not have their system connected to the internet. This isn't surprising since the system is being bought by a lot of people who are not very tech-savvy. Meanwhile Nintendo would prefer people be connected because it allows them to send out firmware updates and reach out through the Nintendo channel. Making the browser free is a move intended to increase the value of having your system connected to the internet, which in turn encourages people to hook it up, or at least call a friend or relative that can hook it up for them.

Logic has no place in anti-Nintendo journalism. Get out with this heresy

 

[AkJay]

Oh Nintendo, your so cute when you try to tempt me into buying your product. And for the record, I'm not buying a Wii until they bring out Dunt Hunt WITH the Lazer Zapper AND orignal graphics.

Dunt Hunt sounds like an incredibly fun and. . interesting game. .

 

[mightyfoo69]

um... idk whether to be mad or to be happy... i will get a free NES game... but that 500 points... actually thats a good deal lol

 

[Et3rnalLegend64]

Lucky I got the channel when it was free. I don't play my Wii much though unless my friends come over for Brawl. I should get my copy of Metroid and Okami back.

 

[Lukeje]

and I was one of the smart ones who got the internet channel when it was free before this.

Ah... that would explain it. I never realised they were charging for it. I added it ages ago too...

 

[j0z]

Why did they charge for it in the first place? Opera is free on all other platforms, and Sony offers a free (if somewhat underpowered) browser for free. But hey, all the Wii owners either gets a free webbrowser for free or a free game.

 

[DrunkWithPower]

Oh Nintendo, your so cute when you try to tempt me into buying your product. And for the record, I'm not buying a Wii until they bring out Dunt Hunt WITH the Lazer Zapper AND orignal graphics.

Dunt Hunt sounds like an incredibly fun and. . interesting game. .

It's a classic.

 

[KDR_11k]

well, shouldn't that feature been free from the begenning?
until one can shove a keyboard in the bottom of the remote, gonna still use the PC to surf.

You can plug a keyboard into the USB ports of the machine, the Internet Channel supports it AFAIK.

This isn't about selling the console. The majority of Wii owners do not have their system connected to the internet. This isn't surprising since the system is being bought by a lot of people who are not very tech-savvy. Meanwhile Nintendo would prefer people be connected because it allows them to send out firmware updates and reach out through the Nintendo channel. Making the browser free is a move intended to increase the value of having your system connected to the internet, which in turn encourages people to hook it up, or at least call a friend or relative that can hook it up for them.

That and once you're online you can spend money on downloadables. AFAIK they even have a reward program for Japanese users who help other Wii owners get online, 500 points for everyone you help, full access to the first party NES VC library when you help 10 and full access to the first party SNES and N64 libraries for 20.

Why did they charge for it in the first place? Opera is free on all other platforms, and Sony offers a free (if somewhat underpowered) browser for free. But hey, all the Wii owners either gets a free webbrowser for free or a free game.

AFAIK Opera isn't free for embedded platforms, at least for the device manufacturers (Opera makes most of their money by licensing the cellphone browser) so they probably wanted to avoid paying license fees for copies that aren't being used. Now they're deciding that the license fee is less important than getting the Wiis online so they make it free.

 

[SMOKEMNHALO2001]

well, shouldn't that feature been free from the begenning?
until one can shove a keyboard in the bottom of the remote, gonna still use the PC to surf.

It was free in the beginning.

 

[Aardvark Soup]

Well, a free NES game is pretty sweet. There are quite some 8-bit titles I still want to try out and this is a perfect oppurtunity for that.

 

[Steve the Pocket]

Have they at least upgraded the Flash Player to 8 yet? I heard it still doesn't support Flash-based video sites.

 

[CrystalShadow]

well, shouldn't that feature been free from the begenning?
until one can shove a keyboard in the bottom of the remote, gonna still use the PC to surf.

Technically, the Wii has supported USB keyboards since... Oh, about 10 firmware revisions ago...
(Take a look at the back of the console to spot the USB ports.)

Have they at least upgraded the Flash Player to 8 yet? I heard it still doesn't support Flash-based video sites.

Yep. I spotted this update from the message on my Wii. It was done at the same time they made the browser free.

Not that it's much use... Sure, Flash Video sites work now. sort of the problem is, any video content of any appreciable length could easily exceed the amount of memory in the system.

Opera on Wii kind of sucks.
I say that despite using Opera on my PC. - There really isn't any comparison between the two though. They're not even close to similar in all but the most subtle details.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

I already have this channel on my Wii from a few years ago, and I don't remember ever paying for it? Or is this something else?