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PlaySega without having to PaySega

by JC Fletcher { Oct 12th 2009 at 10:00PM }

Sega's casual games portal PlaySega has just added Genesis classics to its lineup. If, like us, your attention has yet to turn to the browser-based service since its December launch, now would be a good time to check it out.

N-Europe reports that you can access a free 10-day trial of the paid "VIP" service now, which allows you to play, in addition to the collection of free games, those that are normally behind a pay wall -- like all the Genesis games, including Sonic the Hedgehog, which also includes (get ready to freak out) a level editor.

If you like the service and then sign up for a three-month ($14.95) subscription, Sega will send you one of the Saturn-style USB controllers seen here. Just don't sign up for the controller and forget you've subscribed, or you'll end up paying a lot more than you wanted to.

Wii Internet Channel now free, with updated Flash [update]

by JC Fletcher { Sep 1st 2009 at 10:59AM }

Nintendo just dropped the price of the Wii Opera browser in Japan and PAL markets to nothing, its original "price" during the system's launch, when the browser was in beta. VOOKS photographed the Wii message that announced the price drop, which also revealed that the version of Flash used in the Wii browser has been updated from Flash 7 to Flash Lite 3.1-- which should make the Internet Channel much more useful. Users who paid 500 Wii Points for the browser will receive a refund of sorts in October -- a credit that can be used on any NES game.

In Japan, the same refund offer applies, and Nintendo is providing more opportunities for free Virtual Console games. Since early this year, Nintendo of Japan has offered 500-point bonuses to Wii owners for helping others get online. Starting October 21, Nintendo will expand this program with new rewards: those who achieve "Helper Meister 10" status (by helping 10 others connect) will gain access to every Nintendo-published Famicom game. "Helper Meister 20" will unlock all Virtual Console games on every platform! That should get people going door to door.

Update: The Internet Channel is now free in North America, and the NES Virtual Console download credit will be extended to those who purchased the browser in the region.

Doom, Heretic and Hexen: Now gibbing demons in-browser

by Griffin McElroy { May 21st 2009 at 3:30PM }

Hey, how's it going? Having a nice day? Got a busy schedule, huh? Lots of work to do, right? We're sorry to hear that -- see, here's how we see the next week or so playing out:

You'll fire up this recent, spot-on Flash port of Doom, Heretic and Hexen.
You'll play them until you're about to starve to death.
You'll eat.
You'll repeat steps 2 and 3 until, regrettably, you forget to do step 3.

Seriously, folks -- a Newgrounds Flash aficionado (simply named "Mike") has created one of the most accurate, free-est ports of three of id's gibbiest shooters (or wand-ers, in Heretic and Hexen's case). We highly suggest checking them out.

[Via Rock Paper Shotgun]

DSiCade brings free games to your DSi browser

by David Hinkle { Apr 27th 2009 at 10:25AM }

If you're like us, then you've probably been enjoying Dr Mario Express and trying to find a place where you can enjoy WarioWare Snapped. And that's probably where your free 1,000 DSi points went, so how else can you enjoy free games on your DSi? Enter DSiCade.com.

DSiCade allows you to play games on your DSi through its browser, as well as chat with other members on the site through the Shout Box! feature. The site itself is kind of bare bones at the moment, with only Missile Command and Simon Says clones available to play, but based on how well these games play, we'd say you should keep an eye on the site. We're no Simon, but we say that this will be a great destination for your DSi's browser in the future -- when there's more content on offer.

[Via Pocketgamer]

Play classic Sierra adventures for free -- with multiplayer

by JC Fletcher { Apr 22nd 2009 at 11:48AM }

Hopefully this gets to you before the inevitable cease-and-desist: right now, a site called Sarien (named after the antagonists in the original Space Quest) is offering a selection of vintage Sierra adventure games, playable right in your browser. If you've never known Leisure Suit Larry to be anything but a terrible minigame collection, you can check out the real game here, along with Police Quest, The Black Cauldron, and the first two wonderful Space Quest games.

As if a free, simple interface for enjoying these games weren't enough, Sarien adds a bizarre twist: (optional) multiplayer. When you go into a game, you'll be surrounded by identical avatars, all playing their own adventures. You can watch them explore and type commands (that's right, typing), or you can provide tips to your fellow players. It can be pretty disorienting to adventure game fans (and creators) but once you get used to the crowd, it's an interesting variation on these old games.

[Via What They Play, Offworld]

Ask Joystiq Nintendo: Donkey Kong Generation Gap Edition

by JC Fletcher { Apr 16th 2009 at 8:00PM }

This week in Ask Joystiq Nintendo, unfortunately, is all about stuff that just isn't going to happen. The DS might have gotten a browser update with the DSi, but the update wasn't in the area people really wanted.

In the process of discussing your questions (which you can send to us by email at asknintendo AT joystiq DOT com!), we also reveal that I am a fossil.

Continued →

Ask Joystiq Nintendo: Interwebs Edition

by JC Fletcher { Apr 9th 2009 at 6:00PM }

This week in Ask Joystiq Nintendo, we deal mostly with issues relating to the DS and the Internet -- how to get online with a DS system, and interfacing with the Internet once you get there. We also start the Countdown to New DSi Colors, for the benefit of those of you who are somehow unsatisfied with the blue DSi (or the Gyakuten Kenji white DSi).

Do you have a question for the sages experts dudes at Joystiq Nintendo? Simply email your query to asknintendo AT joystiq DOT com, and we will stare at it until an answer becomes apparent!

Continued →

DS browser vs. DSi browser

by JC Fletcher { Feb 23rd 2009 at 10:00AM }

Back in the days when the DSi was young (November), Eric demonstrated how slowly the system's browser operated, documenting the agonizing process of trying to read DS Fanboy on the device. Agonizing only in that it took a long time, we must clarify -- reading any incarnation of our site is a soothing and life-affirming experience, of course. But how much more or less agonizing is the process on the DSi browser than on the DS/DS Lite Opera browser? DotEd of the Opera N+ blog did a comparative speed test to find out.

According to science (i.e. the one test seen in the video after the break), the DSi's browser loads the New York Times site much quicker than the DS Lite version; even better, it loads the text first, so you can read even while images are coming in. The browser on the DSi will end up getting a lot more use than the other one (on account of being free and not requiring two separate cartridges), so it's kind of nice that it actually works better.

Gallery: Nintendo DSi

[Thanks, Fernando!]

Continued →

Report: PS3 leads Wii ... in web browsing

by Randy Nelson { Jan 2nd 2009 at 10:30PM }

If you've ever wondered "Does anyone actually browse the web on consoles?," Market Share has an answer for you: yes, but not very many people. The firm reports that .04% of all web browsing is performed on PS3, compared to the .01% of Wii, the only other current-gen console with a browser.

Of course, PS3's browser is built-in; Wii's particular version of Opera costs 500 Wii Points ($5) and, well, people have to seek it out among the other WiiWare offerings. So, tell us, are you reading Joystiq on a console, and if so, which one?

[Via Edge Online]

More people browse the net on PS3 than Wii

by David Hinkle { Jan 2nd 2009 at 3:31PM }

According to a business statistics group, Market Share, the PS3 delivers more web traffic than the much more popular Wii. Stats put the PS3 at a 0.04 share of the overall internet market, with the Wii trailing behind at 0.01. With more Wii consoles out there than PS3s, and a superior method of browsing (controller vs. Wiimote, Wiimote wins), we're a tad bit shocked.

Of course, one must take into account the fact that the Wii's web browser is no longer free. For a large part of the console's first year on the market it was, so that likely has a lot to do with how many folks are using their console to surf the web. The PS3's browser has always been absolutely free.

How many of you use your Wii to cruise the seedy backstreets of this intertron we all know and love?

Internet Channel updating next month with WiiSpeak support, tabs, huge buttons

by JC Fletcher { Nov 11th 2008 at 4:22PM }

The Internet Channel will finally receive a significant update next month, according to GameReactor Magazine. We haven't been able to find the exact location of this item in GameReactor, so we're currently relying on GoNintendo's summary.

The new version will support the WiiSpeak microphone in some unknown capacity. It will finally allow tabbed browsing in the form of an exceptionally wacky Tab Cube, each side of which shows a tab. It'll also include the ability to check your Wii messages from inside the browser interface. On top of that, the browser has been updated with big, ugly navigation buttons.

The new browser will probably be a free update for current Internet Channel owners, and 500 points for everyone else.

Nintendo DSi: The Unboxening and Impressioning

by Eric Caoili { Nov 7th 2008 at 12:30PM }

Yes, several other outlets have already posted their unboxing photos and first impressions of the Nintendo DSi, but we've put together our own article documenting the imported system's arrival, as we have a few new things that we can share with you, those things being:

Photos of a cat stalking the box while we unearthed the DSi
Surprises that we didn't expect with the DSi
Video of us trying to load DS Fanboy on the DSi's new Browser
Video of DSi Sound's 14 music visualizers
Music from a renowned Wu-tang Clan rapper

All of that, past the post break!

Continued →

DS Daily: Browsing

by Alisha Karabinus { Oct 19th 2008 at 10:30AM }

Thanks to the DS homebrew community, you can enjoy at least one rudimentary web browser, and thanks to Nintendo, you can enjoy ... well, one official rudimentary browser. Come the time of the DSi, a browser will be included, and web browsing will just become a part of the DS experience.

Or will it? Not only was the official browser not very engaging, but we just never felt much need for net-surfing from the DS. Does that appeal to you?

WiiPlayer optimizes iPlayer for Wii

by Chris Greenhough { Jun 6th 2008 at 2:00PM }

It still puzzles us that the BBC was so keen to make its (admittedly excellent and very popular) iPlayer catch-up service compatible with the Wii. Are there really that many Wii owners out there with internet-ready PCs who would opt to use the service on the Wii's slightly clunky Opera browser? Why not just use your PC to watch the latest editions of Gavin & Stacey and The Apprentice? You know: the one you're using to read these words, right at this very second?

Not only that, but the iPlayer on the Wii is hardly user-friendly. Text is so small that it's almost unreadable, loading times are hardly ideal, and the low resolution of the Wii's browser makes navigation awkward. Cue the intervention of WiiPlayer, a hacked version of the iPlayer that has been optimized for Nintendo's console, and is now available for use at http://defaced.co.uk/wiiplayer.

It won't work on your PC, and it goes without saying you'll still have to reside in the UK to use this, but WiiPlayer does do a sterling job, replacing the iPlayer's teensy text and browser-taxing layout with pleasingly chunky, Wiimote-friendly icons and a cleaner, less cluttered appearance.

Gallery: WiiPlayer

[Via Tech Digest]

Free Wi-Fi for DS no more at North American McDonald's now

by David Hinkle { May 28th 2008 at 6:00PM }

Personally, we can't remember the last time we were in a McDonald's, so this news comes as, uh, well ... news to us. You see, the partnership between McDonald's and Wayport actually expired back in November of last year. Canadians are also up the same creek without a paddle, as the deal with Fatport also expired. This is not to say you can't still get online at McDonald's, it'll just take a bit more for you to get online with your DS.

Apparently, using the DS Opera Browser or a wi-fi dongle with a laptop will still allow you to get your DS online. But, as one might imagine, these alternatives aren't the best. Unless you go with the second choice, you won't even be able to enjoy a game online. Oh well, if it forces you to get wireless internet in your home, it can't be all that bad of a thing, right?