Nintendo Launches Forecast Channel, Lists Release Date for Opera

Nintendo updated the Wii last night, and while doing so, opened up a new channel. The Wii Forecast Channel opened last night, allowing users to check the weather around the world. This new channel is powered by Weathernews.com and joins the other current channels: News, Internet and Shop. So far, the Shop and Weather channels are the only ones that actually work, but Nintendo also announced that Opera will be available for download on December 22nd, making the Internet channel active.

According to Nintendo, the Internet channel will be free to download through June 2007, afterwards it will cost around $5. Opera on the Wii gives console users something look forward to, as it offers a fairly robust feature set, going as far as including Flash support. Gamasutra spoke with Scott Hendrick, executive VP over devices at Opera, and this is what he had to say about the new Wii support:

“Our software brings the power and reach of the Internet to the hottest video game system available. Wii’s unique interface adds a new dimension to our browser, making it a useful tool that the whole family will enjoy operating with ease.”

It’s going to be a fairly merry Christmas for any Wii owners that want to use their TVs as browsers. With the PS3 and the Wii having web browsers built in, we’re one step closer to full integration of home and Internet. Just don’t let your computer control the pod bay doors… trust me on this one.

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