WiiPlayer optimizes iPlayer for Wii

by Chris Greenhough on Jun 6th 2008 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.

WiiPlayer

[Via Tech Digest]

Source

Tags: bbc, britain, british-broadcasting-corporation, browser, entertainment, great-britain, hack, internet-channel, iplayer, media, opera, television, telly, tv, uk

Reader Comments (5)

that's wonderful!

is what i'd say if i could access this stuff in the US.

I dont have a pc or an internet connection, so I find this service useful.

Why aren't you using it to watch Doctor Who? Still, looks good. I always have to zoom in to watch Doctor Who. It could do with fullscreen.

Yeah, I'd definitely use this to watch Doctor Who or Torchwood...but now that I've got BBC America, maybe it doesn't matter as much.

Mostly, I just think it'd be nice to have so it would entice other US-based networks (i.e. CBS, NBC...) to start up similar services, as they have already done on their respective websites.