Wii homebrew possibilities and realities

Over at The Pensive Gamer, there’s a newbie-friendly article that simply discusses the potential of mass-market homebrew for the Wii. That article raised a lot of interesting points, so we made this article as a response, throwing in our take on the matter.

As you will see, one argument for Wii homebrew centers around Opera, the cross-platform web browser. But we have to remember that there are other avenues for Wii homebrew, too. (The Internet Channel, the Wii’s version of the Opera browser, is currently in the free beta phase. You can download the browser and try it for free.)

This article you’re reading now is the short version. To read the full version, click on the “Full Article” link below. We’ll cover the following points:

• Web-based games for Wii owners to visit using Opera is something the average Adobe Flash hobbyist can get into. Now!
• The future is not so bright for mass-market downloadable homebrew applications.
• Is security is an issue?

Conclusion: Wii homebrew is a reality. Here’s our conclusion (you can read The Pensive Gamer if you want to see their conclusion). We have this outline of what’s happening and what will eventually happen. See if you agree or disagree.

• Web-based homebrew makers. Web-based Flash and JavaScript homebrew games are already a reality… (Continued in the Full Article.)
• No official support? Based on the lack of homebrew-friendly statements from Nintendo, it looks like Nintendo won’t be supporting mass-market homebrew sharing or swapping via the Wii… (Continued in the Full Article.)
• Hacks and exploits. Finally, people will continue to push GameCube homebrew on the Wii. They will make modchips that allow GameCube homebrew and copied (and pirated) games to play. They will look for more hacks and exploits. Because the only things we can be sure of are death, taxes, and homebrew.

Read our full article after the Jump. Click on the “Full Article” link below and see if you agree or disagree with our points.

Over at The Pensive Gamer, there’s a newbie-friendly article that simply discusses the potential of mass-market homebrew for the Wii. That article raised a lot of interesting points, so we made this article as a response, throwing in our take on the matter.

As you will see, one argument for Wii homebrew centers around Opera, the cross-platform web browser. But we have to remember that there are other avenues for Wii homebrew, too.

Before we discuss what their article said, let’s review what Opera is. Opera was first released to the public in 1996, and a new version was released regularly. Now, Opera has grown into a powerful “software suite” – a collection of application software that function together to allow web surfing, email, contact management, chat, and so on. Opera v9.10, for example, has an integrated “anti-phishing” filter to prevent users from being scammed.

So it wasn’t a big surprise that Nintendo chose Norway-based Opera Software ASA to make an Opera browser for the Wii (Nintendo had earlier asked Opera to make a browser for the Nintendo DS; the browser uses the dual screens for zooming and browsing and is available in Europe and Japan, but there is no mention of a US release date). Perhaps Nintendo was impressed by the fact that Opera was a browser of choice for mobile phones, PDAs, and smartphones.

The Internet Channel, the Wii’s version of the Opera browser, is currently in the free beta phase. You can download the browser and try it for free. By the way, we’d like to add that even without homebrew, Opera is sure to keep adding special features that can only be accessed by the Wii: more gaming news, featured My Opera community gamers and gaming groups, forum links, and info on Nintendo products. And the interface is pretty (it’s not a big deal, but it certainly sweetens the offer).

The future is bright for web-based Wii homebrew. How will the Internet Channel contribute to homebrew possibilities? One clear answer is web-based Wii homebrew.

People continue explore ways for the Wii remote to be mapped to JavaScript and Flash, so Flash games and other games and applications that work with the Wiimote are already happening.

For example, you can visit Viidelectrix and play their games on your Wii. Viidelectrix is part of the Homestar Runner enterprise, so it’s not really homebrew, but you get our point:

• Web-based games for Wii owners to visit using Opera is something the average Adobe Flash hobbyist can get into. Now!

The future is not so bright for mass-market downloadable homebrew applications. Web-based Flash games is one thing, but legal homebrew to download through an official “Homebrew Channel” or other gaming Wii Channel is another thing entirely. And it looks like Nintendo isn’t encouraging that kind of homebrew.

You might remember Hudson’s John Lee basically saying that Nintendo will allow “independent developers” to make new downloadable content (for what has been dubbed the “Games Channel”), but the Pensive Gamer article says this probably doesn’t mean that Nintendo will allow amateur or homebrew developers to get into the game.

Does this mean Hudson is OK as an independent developer, Orb’s MyCasting is OK, Videlectrix is OK, but the average QJ homebrewer is not OK? Well, it certainly looks like there’s a reluctance on the part of Nintendo or on the part of professional developers to open the floodgates to homebrewers.

Maybe they’re scared to lose control of the direction the market is heading? Or maybe they want to take things slow. Or maybe they think “homebrew” and piracy are too closely related (GameCube homebrew on the Wii, for example, allows emulation). After all, managing change is part of business strategy.

Although that shouldn’t stop non-professional and semi-professional developers from being interested. IUAV’s Homebrew Wii Workshop is a good example of people tinkering with the Wii.

Is security is an issue? Security is always an issue when you’re online, but this issue isn’t unique to the Wii. All web browsers have security strengths and weaknesses – so any device that connects to the Internet (like the device you’re using to read this article) opens itself up to attack.

BUT! BUT! But an attack may never happen if the malicious code meant to brick your hardware can’t find any security holes. And Nintendo and Opera are always watching out for security issues – and any issues will no doubt be quickly solved by a patch you can download from Opera.

For the most part, most of us can rest easy as long as we’re not careless: as The Pensive Gamer said, “I don’t expect too many to do their online banking via their Wii.”

Conclusion: Wii homebrew is a reality. Here’s our conclusion (you can read The Pensive Gamer if you want to see their conclusion). We have this outline of what’s happening and what will eventually happen. See if you agree or disagree.

• Web-based homebrew makers. Web-based Flash and JavaScript homebrew games are already a reality. This species of Wii homebrew will continue to grow in number, because more professionals and amateurs will make their own Wiimote games.
• Web-based homebrew fans. Meanwhile, gamers who enjoy going online to play free casual games on their PC or Mac browser will do the same thing on their Wiis. This should help generate positive encouragement so more homebrew developers will join the scene.
• No official support? Based on the lack of homebrew-friendly statements from Nintendo, it looks like Nintendo won’t be supporting mass-market homebrew sharing or swapping via the Wii. Nintendo may launch the so-called “Games Channel” for new content from “independent developers” (to supplement their Virtual Console), but it currently seems that amateur games won’t be officially welcomed any time soon.
• Hacks and exploits. Finally, people will continue to push GameCube homebrew on the Wii. They will make modchips that allow GameCube homebrew and copied (and pirated) games to play. They will look for more hacks and exploits. Because the only things we can be sure of are death, taxes, and homebrew.