Final Version of Wii Opera Browser is out

[Megadrive1988]

Do a Wii system update - if you get an error ( I did a few times ) keep trying.

Then goto Wii Shop Channel, goto Wii Ware and download the Internet Channel again, the final version will replace the trial version. Yes, it's free, until end of June.

Much improved scrolling and zooming.

 

[one]

Gamespot
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6168949.html

The final version of the Wii browser will be a free download through June 30. After that time, it will cost new users 500 Wii Points ($5) to get the program.

 

[Rainbow Man]

I coulsd run the system update but after that the wii shop channel refused to work. I guess the servers were overcrowded or something but Nintendo really should make that system more reliable.

There's no way to abort the login process other than hold down the system power button for several seconds. The console ignores all button presses. The remote Home button does not work and the system's reset button does not work either. Even the reomte's power button does not work.

It just sits there forever (or so it seems anyway it must have been 10+ minutes for me) with that circle/ball spinning round and round.

So in addition to beefing up serveer capacity they need to add a return to menu option if there's a problem with the net conneciton or whatever.

The Wii's menu system is overall rather unpolished and not very consistent from channel to channel. Buttons look different and sit in different places on screen. That's not good design and makes me disappointed in Nintendo.

Peace.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

how is internet browsing at 480p? im curious

 

[Ty]

how is internet browsing at 480p? im curious

Brutal. The Wiimote makes up for some of that since scrolling is easier (hold down a button and adjust the angle of the remote) but it's a pain. They really should have supported 720p.

 

[Rainbow Man]

Funny tidbit:
Nintendo's own Wii site is automatically bookmarked in the browser. Surfing over there gave me a flash out of memory error..!

Pretty brutal memory use if 88MB isn't enough for the browser itself and ONE single lousy page.
Peace.

 

[Capeta]

If they can make Opera work on the DS with so little RAM I can't understand why the Wii version is so limited...480p? Ok...

 

[Rolf N]

how is internet browsing at 480p? im curious

The low res really holds it back. Opera can zoom pages like no other browser but there's only so much you can do in 480 lines. Text gets either fuzzy or too big to fit much information on screen.
What I really don't understand is why the Wii version doesn't use the "fit to window width" feature they are using for small screen rendering. It would basically shrink images to fit the width and reflow all text, so that you can have nice big font sizes without having to scroll horizontally.

The browser also uses dithering for everything, which wouldn't be an issue for just images, but it's very annoying if you have a dithering pattern all over a constant-color page background.

The controls and useability are just fine though. You scroll either with the d-pad or in a more "analog" fashion by pressing the trigger button and then "pulling" the page in the direction you want to go. Zoom is mapped directly onto the + and - buttons on the Wiimote. There's a nice on-screen keyboard for filling out forms and entering URLs, and there are bookmarks that are shown in a gallery view with page thumbnails. Very slick that.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

If they can make Opera work on the DS with so little RAM I can't understand why the Wii version is so limited...480p? Ok...

DS doesn't have Flash support does it? Or a lot of other media support, so basically it loads text and pictures and that's it.

 

[Diamond.G]

The low res really holds it back. Opera can zoom pages like no other browser but there's only so much you can do in 480 lines. Text gets either fuzzy or too big to fit much information on screen.

FYI, Safari and IE7 can also do pretty cool web page zooming.


So after June 30th to get the browser you will have to pay? Is there no way someone could host the files needed to install the browser?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

So after June 30th to get the browser you will have to pay? Is there no way someone could host the files needed to install the browser?

If you're a software pirate, yes. It's a commercial product. Presumably Nintendo pay good money for Opera on Wii. They can choose to give it away free for existing and early customers, and then charge for it. Just because something is given away free, doesn't make it public domain, and it'd be no more legal to redistribute Opera Wii for free after June 30th (or whenever Ninty charge for it) than it would be to redistribute Mario Galaxies for free.

 

[Capeta]

$5 is nothing so I don't see what the big deal is, the poor functionality of the browser is whats worrying.

 

[Rainbow Man]

So after June 30th to get the browser you will have to pay?

Yes but only very little. Roughly the equivalent of a meal at a fast-food restaurant or so.

Is there no way someone could host the files needed to install the browser?

I don't think that ius possible. Neverminfd the legality (or lack thereof) of doing so. I don't think the wii would speak to anything but Nintendo's own servers and they probably uyse encryption and stuff to stop people from doing what you suggest.

Besides the browser will be so cheap anyway that if you could afford the wii in the first place why would you need to pirate the browser?

Peace.

 

[Diamond.G]

Oh no I don't wanna pirate the browser. I was just curious. Is there a way to say get FF on the Wii?

 

[Rainbow Man]

If you use the homebrew hack on youir Wii you can boot Linux in Gamecube mode and (slowly) run Firefox that way I believe.

But I don't think the browsing experience would be helped by the lack of memory and slowness of ht emain CPU in Gamecube mode.

Besides how would you control your mouse pointer and enter text etc? Using joypads for stuff like that is always substandard.. Even the Wii pointer is only sort of OK really compared to a real mousre..Peace.

 

[Rainbow Man]

ACTUALLY.. What we need - or so I think - is a thread that lists Wii friendly webasites.

It should preferably be a sticky and preferably NO discussion noise at all.

Just listings of wevbsites and a short description of what they're good for..

I'd love something like that.
Peace.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

$5 is nothing so I don't see what the big deal is, the poor functionality of the browser is whats worrying.

Poor is a bit of a overstatement I think. i havnt got the new version yet but the old version works fine for me. Sure reading text is a bitch with sites that use a small unless you zoom in wich usually screws up the layout but for the rest its pretty decent. Watching youtube is neat and you can actually input text at a halfdecent speed. Not that I see anybody using its Wii for forum browsing/chatting because a keyboard just works a 100 times faster. Thats the whole point with consolebrowsers too I think. Why use them if you have a pc? youtube and stuff like that is about the only thing you can use it for because you can sit on the couch.