Now that the Wii has brought TV web browsing to millions of homes, web services are tripping all over themselves to make sure they're fully compatible with the Wii's Opera browser. The latest organization to trip is the BBC, which announced today that its iPlayer catch-up service will allow UK Wii owners to stream programs through the system directly onto their TVs.

The program, which goes into beta today, is simply a Wii-optimized version of the BBC's existing iPlayer catch-up service, which last month served 17.2 million episodes of programs such as Torchwood, Doctor Who and Top Gear, among dozens of others. The service will only be available to UK citizens and does require the 500 Wii Point purchase of the Internet channel, but a BBC info. page says the organization is hoping "to be able to get iPlayer on Wii without this purchase being needed."

[Thanks to everybody who sent this in]

Everywhere you look, it seems there's news of some real life business jumping into the virtual world of Second Life. Car companies, HR firms, clothing makers; you name it, it was being sold on the virtual frontier. But, as PRI's Marketplace reported earlier this week, many businesses are having trouble turning their virtual storefronts into real money.

Despite the relatively low overhead costs of operating a Second Life business, companies like Starwood Hotels, AOL and Wells Fargo have been leaving their digital outposts in recent months. The problem of marketing to avatars was effectively summarized by reporter Janet Babin as "too many 7-foot-tall winged creatures flying around with no need for American Apparel's cotton T-shirts."

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal is covering a Second Life banking scandal that could rival the sub-prime mortgage crisis for SL citizens. It seems some questionable banking schemes has led Linden Labs to shut down over a dozen virtual banks, causing a run on funds over the past few weeks. Makes us glad we kept our Linden Dollars under the virtual mattress.

Read - Business exodus on Marketplace
Read - Banking scandal on Wall Street Journal

GameTrailers, GameVideos, YouTube ... it's not like we're hurting for ways to watch video game clips online these days. So today's public beta launch of WeGame.com might seem a little redundant. But there are a few reasons we like this new little site.

For one, the site is focused on entertaining gameplay videos and machinima, not gameplay-free promotional "trailers" or gamers cursing about NES games. For another, it comes with a simple, free tool for easily recording video from 22 popular PC games and uploading it to the site. And with $500,000 in venture capital funding, according to CrunchBase, this isn't some fly-by-night operation.

The beta already has some entertaining clips -- we particularly liked the automotive zombie melee and the clip of heavy firepower in Portal. All we need now is a way to record console performances, then we'll be golden. WeGame staff ... get on it!

Nintendo is anticipating that its WiiWare service is going to be huge. So huge, in fact, that they're doing their best to make sure Japanese gamers have the internet muscle to handle it. Reuters reports that Nintendo is partnering with broadband provider Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp, in order to promote and increase the use of high-speed, fiber-optic internet connections in the country.

The partnership involves NTT offering a reduced-rate internet package aimed at Wii owners, as well as Nintendo and NTT co-running call centers intended to assist users with the setup of both their fiber-optic connections, and their Nintendo Wiis. Both parties clearly benefit from this association, as NTT knows that the Wii can easily be an incentive for households to pick up fiber-optics, just as much as Nintendo knows that customer experience with the WiiWare service will improve with faster internet service.

Pop quiz time: You're a video game manufacturer with an insanely loyal fan base that has joined together to turn your official online forums into a vibrant, thriving Internet community. What do you do? Answer: If you're Nintendo, you shut down those forums and leave their future up in the air during a site redesign.

A cryptic message on the NSider Forums main page today announced that the message boards have been disabled "indefinitely" pending a complete overhaul of the entire Nintendo.com site. Nintendo says that the future of the forums past that redesign is "uncertain" and that the existing posts will be taken down after a week of availability in read-only format.

In the meantime, Nintendo suggests users who want to continue talking about the company should consider "starting their own Nintendo discussion sites." Sounds good to us. After all, why should a big company like Nintendo have to incur the cost of hosting, promoting and moderating a community of fans devoted to talking about their products when the fans can do it themselves?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

A forum member at NeoGAF recently posted impressions of the Opera DS browser just released in the US. Some early rumors suggested this version would support both Flash and Java, features missing in the Japanese and European releases. Unfortunately the rumors turned out to be nothing more than wishful thinking and the U.S. browser is just as crippled as the others.

The browsing interface is intuitive (and snazzy if you ask us), with handwriting recognition, bookmarks, and excellent use of both screens. With image loading turned on it takes upwards of a minute to load most web pages. Not exactly our idea of a good time. The verdict: excellent for quick on-the-go info-checks, but with so many other devices offering web access these days, the DS browser doesn't offer anything revolutionary.

We're not really that big on the whole web browsing on a gaming system thing -- the home computer does a fine job for most of our 'net surfing needs. There must be some people out there who disagree though, because a recent press release from sci-fi eBook provider NextGenBooks reveals that "over half of its traffic coming from Nintendo Wii, DS and Sony PS3 and PSP users."

Perhaps this isn't too surprising, given that the site offers optimized versions of its free eBooks for all four systems (and the site's overall traffic doesn't even cause a blip on monitoring sites like Alexa). Still, the explosion of game-system-browser-friendly versions of everything from YouTube to Virgin Radio to porn sites seems to show that at least some people think the surfing-on-a-system audience is going to be big big big.

Do you use your favorite game console for web browsing? Are you perhaps reading this on your favorite system right now? Or do you think the web is meant for computers?

To coincide with the release of the full version of the Opera browser for the Wii, My Opera has opened a page dedicated to video game news and reviews. The community-based site aims to pull together anyone interested in gaming, not just those who can (and have) beat Quake with their eyes closed. Although the introduction focuses on Wii gaming, My Opera Games will feature news and articles covering all major consoles, handhelds, PC games, and even the Mac.

Nintendo's official U.S. Wii website recently featured a translated discussion with the Internet Channel's development team in Japan. Working closely with Opera Software, the group crafted the trial version of the Opera Wii browser and are still fine-tuning it for the official release in April. Based on user feedback, a number of improvements have been made to make Wii surfing easier and faster:

• Auto-hide toolbar
• Display cursors from multiple Wii remotes (though only Player 1 can actually click)
• Favorites page immediately accessible
• Improved website compatibility
• Improved zoom leaves text crisp at all levels
• New and better scroll interface
• Search button on the toolbar
• Start up time decreased by 5 seconds
• URL text (www and com) easily accessible

The better zoom and auto-hide toolbar should free up screen real estate, one of our chief complains with the browser. Unfortunately Flash or Java support enhancements weren't mentioned.

[Via Digg]

Almost a year after its release in Japan and nine months after the same in Europe, Nintendo is finally sending the Opera DS browser to North America on June 4. Although it lacks Flash, video, sound and PDF support (yikes!), the package includes full stylus control as well as handwriting recognition. You can create bookmarks and display images, but forget about saving sexy pictures of Anna Kournikova to your DS. It's definitely a gimped way to surf the web, but reports say it's a generally smooth experience. The browser retails for roughly $32 in Japan and $52 in Europe, but no pricing has been mentioned for the North American release.

What do you do when you can't get a Wii? You stare at pictures of it. Nintendo's hardware shortage has likely encouraged a startling boost in web traffic for the company. According to data from Nielsen & NetRatings, Nintendo.com's unique visitor count reached 2.08 million in January, up 82% from last year's count.

The numbers were enough to trump both PlayStation.com (1.55 million uniques) and Xbox.com (1.5 million uniques) -- and land Nintendo.com in seventh place among the top computer hardware manufacturer sites. Nintendo also recorded the third longest browsing time per visit at 19 minutes and 29 seconds. Despite Nintendo's web growth, Apple.com proved it was still the destination for lustful consumers, recording 43.51 million unique visitors, who averaged 79 minutes and 25 seconds of perusing. It's called the iPhone.

[Via Gamasutra]

The year 2006 was full of politicians and special interests protecting children from the evils of gaming -- but what about protecting adults from the children of the internet? In this recording (absolutely, positively NSFW!) an apparent 11-year-old named Hobbs says some of the most funny/disturbing/cringe inducing things during a World of Warcraft raid. Your initial instinct will be to think it's all fake, but over the 52 minutes worth of audio the realization that it's all real starts to bubble up as a possibility. The adults find Hobbs amusing at the beginning, but the novelty wanes by the end with people saying they'll quit the guild if he joins.

It's moments like this where an age restricted guild might be in order, especially when they start messing with Hobbs and talk about sending the kid pornography. As gaming continues its demographic spread, what can adults do to protect themselves from dealing with children? Do you automatically leave a game on Xbox Live once you hear the shrill voice of a 10-year-old? Would you pay extra to have an "adults only" section on Xbox Live? Parents buy children their consoles, games and allow them to roam free on the internet; maybe it's time to protect adults who just want to have a good time.

WiiNintendo.net is assembling a thorough guide for all y'all web designers interested in tailoring your sites for Wii's Opera browser. The initial entry reveals that the Wii Shop Channel displays at 608x456 pixels, although the browser will be capable of displaying in 640x480 resolution. If you want to be consistent with Nintendo's apparent tastes, make sure your site scales properly to the 608-pixel width.

The guide also provides samples of Nintendo's choice of buttons, information about the Wii font, and some Javascript and CSS files. Future guide updates will focus on Javascript performance, Flash, sound, cursors, Wiimote buttons, zooming, selecting, and Wii standards. The next update is scheduled for later today.

Problem: Your gaming room is on the opposite end of the house from your wireless router, making wireless connections for your Wii intermittent at best.

Possible solutions:

1. Use the ethernet connection dongle and run miles of ethernet cable throughout the house.
2. Redo your entire house to move the system and router closer together.
   
3. Crack open your Wii and add a big-ass wireless antenna.

The folks at InformIt.com decided on option 3, and lay out step-by-step instructions for you to do the same. The procedure is not for the faint of heart, requiring you to physically remove the Wii's wireless card and drilling a hole in the case to fit the new antenna.

Surprisingly, their test results didn't show a huge increase in wireless strength with the grafted antenna, but the authors theorize that a stronger antenna cable will produce better results. Sounds a little risky considering all the work required, but it definitely beats redesigning the house.

Nothing like cutting it close! Thursday morning, just hours before campers came in from the cold to collect their PS3s, Sony launched their highly anticipated PlayStation Network in North America. Similarly, just hours before the Wii goes on sale at midnight launches around the country (like official events in New York City and Los Angeles), the console's online component has exhibited the first signs of life. Sure, there's no multiplayer yet (no games support it), but we did enable the WiiConnect24 service, which has been dormant until now, before heading over to the Wii Shop to get our retro gaming on. A video of the Wii's connection and update process is embedded after the break.