A Skeptical Gaming Exclusive! You heard it here first!
A source close to the Wii Opera project , as they ve wished to be identified, has given yours truly a little bit of info on what you ll be able to expect from the trial version of the Opera browser that s being made available to Wii owners this Friday.
For starters, the most important thing is that trial is really just a nice way of saying beta . While Opera has delivered some stable builds to Nintendo to try and get the browser released in time for the Wii system launch, Nintendo has rejected all of them due to Quality Assurance concerns. At the same time, Nintendo has been pushing Opera to get the software released, since the browser was promised as part of the initial system launch.
With no final build in site, Opera instead offered up this trial version of the software. It s not the full and complete experience you ll get in March think of this as Diet Opera, or Opera Lite.
Several key features are expected to be nerfed from the trial build.
Most notably, full Javascript support. From what we ve heard, part of the Opera Wii Browser QA issue is that several areas in the Wii s architecture can be exploited through Javascript, and Nintendo wants Opera to patch that before any release. Nintendo s so worried about potential violations and exposures of the Wii software, they re playing it safe.
Remember that mysterious that was going to make enhancements to the Wii Shop channel? It turns out that was to block a tiny little workaround, where . And the Wii Shop Channel is, essentially, just a web browser.
Other things you ll notice with the trial version: Flash may not work correctly. It appears that Opera is custom building their Flash plug-ins to limit the security exposures that the plug-in presents. And while that s great from a control standpoint, it s expected to cause some compatibility issues.
You ll have problems accessing some sites that utilize Flash.
Widget support is being hurriedly rushed in a desperate attempt to get it included in the Wii Browser on Friday, but it s not expected to be made available. Support for the Ajax technology is expected to work fine, however.
The final version of the Opera Wii browser is expected to be made available in the last week of March. Nintendo has put their foot down on the software release. They want this made available to Wii owners, pronto.
Youtube has, apparently, been a big focus for development. The developers have claimed they re trying to make the experience flawless for both 4:3 and 16:9
Theoretically, the browser resolution is set to something near 550 x 460.
But beyond that you re not going to see a lot of great stuff here in the trial software, and it ll earn that trial moniker quite easily.
In fact, this is less of a trial and more of an Open Beta . It s your chance to test out the software for Nintendo and Opera. You re going to have problems with sites, because the rendering of some sites will play havoc with the Wii Opera Browser
Frankly, this concerns me.
Because if there are this many problems now how much worse will the software be in March, when it releases?
From what we ve heard, part of the Opera Wii Browser QA issue is that several exposures in the Wii s architecture can be exposed through Javascript, and Nintendo wants Opera to patch that before any release.
As much as I d like to get a browser on my Wii I d rather wait for them to get it right.
If there is a problem and a worm or other malicious code gets set to your Wii removing it could be a very big problem.
Theoretically, the browser resolution is set to something near 550 x 460.
And this bothers me also.
Can t they get it at least close to 640 480 and standard. Will it be possible to plug a USB keyboard into the Wii, and use it with the web browser? Would make things like Email a lot easier.
Right now, Nintendo has no plans for a USB keyboard.
My hope? Rather than a USB keyboard, they offer a Keyboard attachment for the Wiimote, to keep it relatively wireless.
I call bullshit.
From digg: Can someone explain to me how these two sentences make any sense in the same article?
Support for the Ajax technology is expected to work fine, however.
Several key features are expected to be nerfed from the trial build. Most notably, full Javascript support. Right now, Nintendo has no plans for a USB keyboard.
My hope? Rather than a USB keyboard, they offer a Keyboard attachment for the Wiimote, to keep it relatively wireless.
or a bluetooth keyboard maybe?
From digg: Can someone explain to me how these two sentences make any sense in the same article?
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