iiWitness

The initial version of Wii's Opera browser became available late in 2006. They followed up with the full version of the browser in April 2007. Since then many webpages have adapted themselves for Wii users and a recent web based game for Live Free or Die Hard was even designed with the Wii in mind. Today, Opera Software warned Wii owners that the free grace period for its Internet Channel browser will end on July 1st.

Owners can download the final software version now at no cost for the life of the system.

The Wii Internet Channel is a full web browswer that supports Flash, YouTube and Google Video, and web content with Wii-enhanced controls.

While still primative, you can set up your own Wii Channel Homepage here at iiWitness. Again, it's simple now but lots of nice features are being tested.

Other non-gaming channels for the console include the Everybody Votes Channel, Mii Channel, and News Channel.

Nintendo's Wii has held mass appeal at retail to rank as the best-selling new home console in 2007. Top titles include Wii Play, Mario Party 8, and the bundled Wii Sports.

This week, Nintendo briefly overtook Sony in market capitalization as its stock soared in overseas trading.

Nintendo expects to ship 14 million Wii units by Mar. 2008.