DailyTech - Opera Free for Wii

Submit News

Gadgets Opera Free for Wii
Marcus Yam (Blog) - September 27, 2006 10:34 AM

15 comment(s) - last by Randalllind.. on Sep 29 at 7:44 AM

That is, until July 2007

We found out back in May that Opera would be the web browser of choice for Nintendo’s Wii. Opera today announced a little early-adopter’s bonus, as the web browser will be free of charge as a temporary promotion for all Wii users until June 2007.

From July 2007 onwards, users will have to purchase the Opera browser using “Wii points,” which is the currency used to purchase additional downloadable software onto the console. Nintendo and Opera have an already-established working relationship with the Nintendo DS web browser.

Nintendo’s Wii is set for a November 19 release in the United States at a price of $249. There will be roughly 30 first-party titles available at launch priced at under $50 each. It has also come to our attention that one million Wiis will be available for the North American launch.

Comments

Threshold

Username
Password
remember me

This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled

Cost?

By ZeeStorm on 9/27/2006 11:12:31 AM , Rating: 1

This is interesting. I didn't think they would actually charge people to use a web browser on a console. Does anybody know the cost equivalency in USD after July?

Does this also mean that we can expect to see keyboard/mouse support? I'm not necessarily interested in ditching my computer over the Wii for something like this. However, showing off a YouTube video on a 52" tv to a large size party does sound quite entertaining...

RE: Cost?

By NotAok on 9/27/2006 11:26:59 AM , Rating: 2

I never thought about browsing the internet via a console until you said that... Now I'm actually interested in it. Sure it may not be something you use a lot, but if it's cheap enough I think I'd sign up just for those special ocassions.

Parent

RE: Cost?

By LtFarva on 9/27/2006 11:30:43 AM , Rating: 2

I'm assuming the browser will be under $35, but I heard a rumor that it will only be $10. Then again, it is a rumor so I wouldn't count on it.

But actually, I was under the impression that if you download it for free before July, you have it for free for as long as you keep it on your console. It's an incentive for early purchasers. Correct?

Parent

RE: Cost?

By Xavian on 9/27/2006 3:35:03 PM , Rating: 2

Correct, IGN has confirmed this with Nintendo.

The Opera Browser if downloaded before the date of July 2007 will be permanantly yours for that Wii console.

Parent

RE: Cost?

By Saist on 9/27/2006 12:13:44 PM , Rating: 3

well, I think the charge stems from Opera more than from Nintendo. Nintendo's already tried the whole browsing on a console thing before (SNES Satellite / N64 phone modem), and decided a different approach this time. Rather than building and maintaining their own browser using Gecko/XLRunner source (Like what Sony does), or building their own browser from scratch, simply license a browser for the console and let somebody else deal with the headaches of maintaing a program to surf the web. That really only leaves two choices. Microsoft with IE, and Opera.

Now, on the part of Microsoft, their current released browser (IE6) is easily the worst computer application ever written. You'll see a lot of stories written about how many vulnerabilities there are between IE and Firefox now, but many of those publishing those vulnerabilities will clam up in a heartbeat when you ask about the severity of the bugs.

IE7, while a lot better, wasn't exactly designed for... "mobile" applications.

Then there is IE on PocketPC. That gives a whole new meaning to jacked up.

On the other side of Opera though, you have one of, if not the most technical, excellent browsers. It's already capable of passing Acid2 test. The difference is that Opera also has a focus on the mobile market. They've been building a browser for years that can surf the web on tiny tiny tiny screens. They've also been working with limited system specs as well.

Considering that the Wii is only tagged to render in 480p, this means that most users will probably be in 640*480 or 720*480. That's... not a big screen.

Okay, lets presume that there is a software over-ride at some point that lets the Wii do 720p or 1080p in 2D mode. (keep in mind that your Radeon 8500 can do a 1280x720 screen, you just can forget running 3D in that resolution). Great, fine. That solves the resolution problem.

But what about launch? What about all those TV's out there that simply can't do anything over 480? what about the massive amount of TV's locked into composite or S-video?

okay, kinda getting off the point here.

Anyways, so, Opera was the logical, if only choice, for Nintendo to approach for a browser. However, Opera /charges/ for their Mobile products : http://www.opera.com/products/devices/

Sure, the Opera 9 browser for PC's is free to download. But, the Device versions are not. So, it's not really Nintendo's choice about whether or not consumers are charged for the browser. That's how Opera does things in the device space.

Now, the question that I have for Opera and Nintendo is if Opera decided to give the Wii browser out for free until 2007 because they succeeded so well with giving the desktop browser out for free.

Or, on the other hand, if Nintendo told Opera, you need to give it out for free, nobody in your target market is going to want to pay for a browser. Keep in mind, Nintendo's already tried to sell a browser twice to the natural gamer demographic, and didn't fare so well either time.

As far as the cost goes, sory, not sure what it will be.

Parent

RE: Cost?

By mforce on 9/27/06, Rating: 0

RE: Cost?

By mino on 9/27/2006 1:24:53 PM , Rating: 2

Opera has flash-plugin included in the _standard_ installation since Opera6.

Whether you like it or not, Opera is a browser of choice for so caled "devices" period.

Parent

RE: Cost?

By Saist on 9/27/2006 5:53:34 PM , Rating: 2

This is from Opera's site here: http://www.opera.com/pressreleases/en/2006/09/26/

quote:
With support for Flash and AJAX-based content such as Google maps, Wii users will benefit from a feature-rich Internet experience that is uniquely customized for the Wii. Opera for Wii boasts the same complete standards support as the Opera 9 Desktop browser, and includes the added functionality of "Zoom" and "Bookmarks". The Wii remote control will also be an integral part of browsing, allowing users to intuitively control the Web with their Wii remotes.

So yes, Opera on the Wii does support Flash. Also, I'm not so sure it's accurate that Adobe is having problems with Flash on Linux either. Emmy Huang has talked about it before here : http://weblogs.macromedia.com/emmy/ and Mike Melanso over here : http://blogs.adobe.com/penguin.swf/

Looks more like a "dependancy hell" issue than an issue with the program or the porting to the distrobution. At least that's my view of it.

Anyways, the Wii definantly does not run Windows. Nintendo is not a licensee of Microsoft products. There is some question about what the Wii does run. There are some who state that like the Playstation3, it is a Linux based device. There are others who state that it's an off shoot of IBM's AIX Unix. And I've seen statements that it's a home grown OS. Couldn't tell you what it actually uses though. My bet is a Modified version of the *nix type OS the Gamecube used.

Parent

So...

By BioRebel on 9/27/2006 12:26:44 PM , Rating: 2

Does this mean I'll be able to use it for free TILL July 2007? Or that anyone who gets it before then wil have it forever for free?

RE: So...

By ChugokuOtaku on 9/27/2006 12:52:09 PM , Rating: 2

until the console dies/becomes obsolete

Parent

RE: So...

By Xavian on 9/27/2006 3:38:38 PM , Rating: 2

indeed, if you download it before July 2007 it is yours permanantly on that perticular console.

Parent

Wii is 480P

By psychobriggsy on 9/27/2006 11:24:09 AM , Rating: 2

Wii is 480P, although whether that is 640x480 or 853x480 is a point of contention amongst various websites - seems the Wii might have non-anamorphic widescreen display (i.e., square pixels).

That's kinda reasonable for a TV web browsing experience, although many websites require 1024 pixels horizontally these days. Opera's pretty good at reformatting however.

OTOH, whilst the Wii might only have the power to do games in 480P, it might support 2D usage at a higher resolution, e.g., 720P. That'd be a nice feature, and I'm sure the graphics hardware could support it. That'd make web browsing positively pleasant if you had a HDTV. Then again if you have a HDTV you'll have a '360 or PS3, and a fairly decent PC too I'm sure - the Wii's always-on aspect would be appealing still.

RE: Wii is 480P

By therealnickdanger on 9/27/2006 11:48:40 AM , Rating: 2

If I remember the breakdown of the GameCube's "Flipper" chip, its spec sheet said it could render in 720p, but Nintendo chose not to get behind it with game support. Even the component cables to enable 480p are difficult to find...

I tried web-browsing at 640x480... *barf* You really need at LEAST 600 horizontal lines to make it worthwhile.

Parent

RE: Wii is 480P

By Hemipower on 9/27/06, Rating: -1

Why do you want to surf on a console?

By Randalllind on 9/29/2006 7:44:06 AM , Rating: 2

Don't you buy it to play games? Why would a person want to surf the web on a game console?

"What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders." -- Michael Dell, after being asked what to do with Apple Computer in 1997