14 DAY TRIAL // There was a time when consoles were only used to play videogames. But now all the big console manufacturers seem pretty determined to eliminate the PC from the life of players by bringing as much functionality as possible to their devices.
The most recent move comes from Nintendo, which has announced that the Wii Internet Channel is now freely available to all those interested in using it. In case you are wondering, the Wii Internet Channel is the weird name that the Japanese company has given to the Opera 9.0 version specifically designed to work on the Wii and then modified even more in order to also work on the Nintendo DS handheld.
Initially, the Internet browser was free back in 2007 but after a while, Nintendo jacked up the price to 500 Wii Points. Those who have used their money to get the application can now look forward to getting one videogame for free from Nintendo. Expect to get something from the Virtual Console service or from WiiWare.
In a nice move, the Wii Internet Channel has also been updated so that it can use Flash Lite 3.1, which basically means that those who browse on the Nintendo home console are able to view content from YouTube and some other video sharing sites. More complex applications, like Netflix and Hulu, which deliver copyrighted content, will not be available.
Nintendo's move could, as far fetched as it might seems, be an attack towards the Xbox 360, which remains the only gaming console of the current generation that does not have a basic free web browsing capacity at the moment. The free Internet application might be the opening gambit in an effort from Nintendo to make sure that the price cuts, which both Microsoft and Sony have made do not affect the popularity of its console.