Wii Warm Up: The Internet Channel and You

by JC Fletcher { Jun 13th 2008 at 8:00AM }

The Internet Channel sits there in the Wii Menu with all the other loser channels (as in, all the ones that aren't River City Ransom), just waiting to accidentally be opened when you try to open River City Ransom. Or ... do you use the thing? We know you're not using it to watch TV shows on Hulu, unfortunately, because we tried. We're region-locked out of the BBC iPlayer, as well.

If you are actively Channeling some Internet through your Wii, what are you using it for? Occasional email checking? Obsessive awesome Wii blog checking? Italian Spiderman?

Tags: internet-channel, opera

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

mrshl @ Jun 13th 2008 8:14AM

Actually, I'm in the U.S., and Hulu doesn't work with our version of the Opera browser. At least it didn't when I last tried. But I would watch Hulu if I could. :)

Matt @ Jun 13th 2008 8:26AM

I really wish they'd update the flash capability in Opera Wii, since one of my favorite uses is watching VC videos from VC-Reviews before buying them. The youtube ones work fine, but the other half are G4-something-or-other and don't work.

Julien @ Jun 13th 2008 9:18AM

PLEASE NINTENDO, UPDATE FLASH !!!!!!!!!

Mr Khan @ Jun 13th 2008 1:04PM

Again, that's not up to Nintendo, it's up to Adobe to start playing nice

Andreas @ Jun 13th 2008 8:31AM

Wiicade.com + Youtube.com

The only problem is speed in flash. I'm not sure if it's possible, but somehow increasing the speed in flash would make the Wiicade games ALOT better + watching Youtubevideos in fullscreen without any kind of lag would be truly awesome.

Roto13 @ Jun 13th 2008 1:11PM

You can just really zoom in on YouTube videos. :P

guttertalk @ Jun 13th 2008 8:33AM

I use it in occasionally to read the VC and Wiiware reviews. I'll also turn to it at night, especially when everyone is asleep and when nothing is on tv, to read a few sites and blogs I have bookmarked that read well with the Wii Opera browser (and this site isn't one of those, which seems odd).

I used to play some of the online games for the Wii, but some of those just weren't that good or the controls seemed spotty.

For me, the Mii Channel, Everyone Votes, the Weather channels are all so useless that I removed them to make way for Wiiware.

Burcrim @ Jun 13th 2008 8:34AM

I use it to access Orb and then watch downloaded shows streamed from my PC on my huge Plasma!

Ian @ Jun 13th 2008 9:03AM

finetune.com/wii
I'm listening to it right now.

nastysquar3d @ Jun 13th 2008 9:12AM

I've used Finetune a couple of times on the Wii.

It pales in comparison to Pandora but Pandora doesn't work on the Wii. IF Pandora would work on the Wii I'd use the internet channel ALL THE TIME.

jEns @ Jun 13th 2008 8:42AM

i was using opera initially to check email, do a little youtube...but man it's a PITA to use that browser...very anti-wii...now i just whip out my iPhone and use Safari to do quick internet tasks.

j.

meist3r @ Jun 13th 2008 8:39AM

Since every (video) application that was interesting to me has switched to a newer version of flash and won't work anymore the channel is pretty much useless. The only thing I use it for is when I want to look at something that I can access by clicks only and don't want to boot my computer for it (not what you think Youporn doesn't work :/). The USB keyboard support added something new for about 30 seconds until I realized that now I could access non-working sites faster ... great. Navigation is pretty good but the popup handling is horrible. And it needs tabbed browsing badly.

To make a long story short: If they don't bring out a flash update and a more customizable version of the thing I will probably never use it again. It's ridiculous that clearing cookies is hidden in one of the menus and the only searches are Google and Yahoo, I would like to define some custom searches. Opera itself is a good browser but the Wii version doesn't live up to that.

Iain K. MacLeod @ Jun 13th 2008 8:42AM

I use it to check gmail, google reader and twitter when our computer is tied up. I also ordered food through Swiss Chalet once. I find that bookmarking mobile versions of sites makes the experience a little better. It is always nice to watch YouTube clips on the TV once and awhile as well.

Donald @ Jun 13th 2008 1:14PM

Pretty much the same thing here, right down to the Swiss Chalet ordering.

Garu @ Jun 13th 2008 9:08AM

I've used it to check this very web site and watch David Hinkle's VC Monday Madness videos.

Evil Bastard @ Jun 13th 2008 9:21AM

I just fired up the channel this morning to see if I could listen to Sirius on my Wii. Alas the current version of Opera is not supported. I hope they upgrade the Opera browser to 9.5 soon.

Eternityx @ Jun 13th 2008 9:23AM

I use the internet channel once every 6 months when I get bored and start looking at all the channels for no reason. Yes even the weather and news channel..

PS: Beat No More Heroes..the real ending was interesting....

igorponweed @ Jun 13th 2008 9:32AM

The Strongbad Zone! Your Head a Splode!

Alexisonfire @ Jun 13th 2008 10:28AM

I use it a LOT actually. It is rare in my house for the computer to be open, so I usually end up just using the wii if I have to check something up on Gamefaqs or I want to watch something on youtube.

It's also a godsend when your sick and bedridden and you have nothing to do. Watched a movie and two television series on Youtube during that week.

Sisyphus @ Jun 13th 2008 10:53AM

I'm not interested in it unless it's free.

jan_halmes @ Jun 13th 2008 11:05AM

I used the internet channel all the time, just to watch Youtube in my living room with friends.

Sonic_13 @ Jun 13th 2008 11:32AM

I, unfortunately, don't use it very often. If it had updated Flash (which, from what I hear, is Adobe's fault - not Nintendo's) I would use it a lot more to watch shows online. Because it doesn't, I've only used it to show off a few YouTube videos in the past few months.

I would really love it if I could somehow watch Netflix movies via the Internet Channel...

SyNNeR6x3 @ Jun 13th 2008 12:27PM

I use the Internet Channel everyday... Our house rarely has a PC open, so I use it to read blogs , check myspace , e-mail etc...

I hate Opera and everything to do with it ... it's clunky memory hogging browser with too many unnecessary features that no one will use (ie. Opera Widgets SUCK!) Also the browser sucks worse as it does not play nice with others therefore is not a good browser for developers to work on. I could go on and on...

I wish Nintendo would go with their gut and just update the Internet Channel with Mozilla Firefox 3 (Out this Tuesday by the way) or even just "MiniMo" ( a Mobile version of the Mozilla Browser) Also a Flash update would be effing spectacular.

Oh, how I crave a external Hard Drive... all in all the Internet Channel "COULD" be one of the coolest features on the Wii ... but unless some changes are made it will be quickly forgotten like the "Metroid Preview Channel"

Sam @ Jun 13th 2008 1:03PM

what some people don't realize is its not that easy. I doubt Mozilla is going to drop everything and make a version of the browser and I KNOW Nintendo won't do it, and the flash version is old because it was all that adobe would give them rights to without coughing up huge amounts of cash on a regular basis, but that's not possible for Nintendo, because everyone knows Miyamotos' money pool can't be any shallower than 12ft.

Rocketboy @ Jun 13th 2008 3:01PM

Ya, huh?

Opera a memory hog?
What? You're joking, right??!?!?!

Features that nobody use?
Yes I find opera widgets pointless as well, but that pales in comparison with the number of add-ins for Firefox.
Oh, and a lot of the features that "nobody uses" were copied in Firefox.

Does not play well with others?
Yes, it does not always read in the borked tags that IE and Mozilla/Firefox use. Who's fault is that? IE/Mozilla for trying to make their own version of HTML, or Opera for going with what's considered standard?

I think you should be hanging out at FirefoxFanBoy. They might be more willing to take your line of carp.

Cody Cardarelli @ Jun 13th 2008 11:54AM

Alas, this is my only form of web browsing right now.

I've been sans computer since october.

Hooray for being poor!

Mr Khan @ Jun 13th 2008 1:07PM

It's been sadly neglected since i got my laptop, as one of the only things it was used for was as a second PC, of sorts, back when we only had the desktop, so its really no longer needed

Nathan Strutz @ Jun 13th 2008 1:56PM

I've been using it recently, I guess because my kids keep using my PC. I love Google Reader, but it needs a little more loving care from Google to avoid out-of-memory issues. The biggest problem, however, is the flash support. Sorry, version 7 is 2, nearly 3 versions behind Adobe's current one. Update that, please!

Overall, I think it's great.

I've been considering upgrading my grandma-in-law's old WebTV to a Wii (USB keyboard + WiFi at the assisted living home). Not that I can find a wii in a store anyway. They actually have a Wii there, for public use. They mostly just play bowling.

Earnest @ Jun 13th 2008 2:07PM

I use the Internet Channel to listen to music with Finetune, watch videos on Youtube, check my voicemail on Grandcentral, and to access a lot of my personal media with Orb. Having an updated version of flash would extend the usability of the Internet Channel, but so would encouraging people to optimize their sites for Wii usage. For example, a Wii-specific version of Grandcentral would be awesome. I'm thinking of producing a webseries later this year and having a version of the show and site specially optimized for Wii.

CaptainBoosh @ Jun 13th 2008 6:11PM

Use it all the time. Check all the fanboy sites (like this one) without turning on the computer.

If all I want is to read a little news and not really get any work done, faster to do it on the Wii than the PC.

But need better Flash support for Christ's sake. Not everything is on YouTube (Angry Video Game Nerd's newer stuff).

Jeff in PDX @ Sep 24th 2008 4:50PM

Porn.

I mean whatelse is there to do on the internet?

unrealto @ Jun 13th 2008 10:06PM

man, i thought i was the only one! :D
My PC happens to be in a very open area, while my wii is fit snuggly into my room..... Internet Channel+Night = hentai :o

Daniel Ferguson @ Jun 14th 2008 12:08AM

i use the internet channel for finetune and for Stumbleupon video. It has wii controls built in.

Where are you guys finding porn the wii can play? All I've been able to use for porn is pictures... and that's not as fun...

averxd @ Jun 15th 2008 2:33AM

everything even porn/hentai(mostly myspace) i dont really like being on the computer allday and i can just lay n my bed and watch youtube. maybe if were lucky homebrew will come out with an internet that has a better flas player

Atlantis1982 @ Jun 14th 2008 7:11AM

Actually, I am using it right now for internet exploring and YouTube viewing. By far one of my favorite Wii channels, next to the Shopping Channel. :)

Tyler @ Jun 14th 2008 5:19PM

Yeah, I use it a couple times a week. I'll check out youtube videos, do some basic searching and wikipedia lookups too.

Julian @ Jun 21st 2008 3:55AM

Regarding Rocketboy's statements about Opera:

Honestly, you probably haven't done your reasearch. Your biased opinion(I'm assuming you're using Opera) is heavily outweighing your ability to consider the other factors; Yes, Opera is a memory hog. So is Firefox. Last time I checked, both fully start up at around 50MB, and if you don't have a lot of RAM, that is a hog. It is easily compared to Internet Explorer's ability to start up quickly, using about 10-20MB. That's because it's so fluffy and lightweight; also, consider the fact that it is always running (It's pretty much an internet version of your normal Windows Explorer)

And the part regarding unable to play well with others: There is nothing wrong with the coding for Opera, nor Firefox, nor Internet Explorer. Opera doesn't want to set the "Standard" for internet html, it is trying to create a more efficient way of browsing the internet. Companies code their html for a certain browser, and usually they get lazy and use Internet Explorer(It's relatively quick and doesn't take much time). Firefox and Opera are both doing their own thing, and internet websites try to work hard to be compatible with ALL browsers.

I'm not saying Opera is bad, or Firefox is better. Or whatever.

And to make sure my comment is related to the subject:

IBlah, I mainly got the internet channel to watch YouTube videos fullscreen(which is kinda bad quality on a 37" tube TV haha) and possibly watch porn.. Though, neither are enjoyable at the moment. ):

austin_ace @ Jun 21st 2008 12:48PM

what's with everybody and pc's...macs r waaaay better!

Jotky @ Jun 24th 2008 7:18PM

I downloaded the internet channel so that I could access my music collection off of my external hard drive on my computer. I use eJukebox and bought a Logitech wireless to connect to the speakers. I have a televised picture of the song, how long it runs, a search engine feature, and I use the Wii as my remote control! I love it.