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It looks like web browsing on the Wii is about to get a whole lot more interesting, as an entirely unofficial Wii Opera SDK has now been released to the general public, opening up the possibility for all sorts of browser-based games, among other things. What’s more, the SDK allows developers with the necessary know-how to take full advantage of the Wiimote, including the ability to detect the remote’s distance from the sensor bar, along with any button presses, and movement along the Z-axis. That makes things like the familiar-looking “2 Play Ship Demo” pictured above fully playable using the Wiimote, as well as more basic things like drawing and 3D rotation. Those looking to get started on a homebrew game of their own can hit up the read link below for the necessary files, while the rest of us can try out a handful of ready made demos at the same link.

New firmware update
- Gift-giving ability for Wii Shop Channel
- New icon
- New launch page

Wii Photo Channel Update (Optional)
- allows you to choose your own photo as the Channel icon.
- Removes mp3 support
- Adds acc support

Wii Virtual Console Update
-Pokémon Snap (1000 Wii Points) with the ability to send your photos.

The BBFC’s refusal to certify Manhunt 2 is overturned by the Video Appeals Committee.

Rockstar has won its fight to overturn the BBFC’s decision to refuse Manhunt 2 classification.

The Video Appeals Committee voted four to three in Rockstar’s favour, leaving the BBFC to either classify the game or appeal the Committee’s decision at the High Court in pursuit of maintaining the ban. “We won’t make a decision until we’ve seen the full printed judgment, which we’re expecting this week,” said Sue Clark, spokesperson for the BBFC talking to GamesIndustry.biz.

Rockstar has not yet signaled its plans for publishing the game in the UK. The publisher did respond to the decision with the following statement: “We are committed to making great interactive entertainment, while also marketing our products responsibly and supporting an effective rating system.”

Rockstar continued, “we are pleased that the decision of the VAC has recognised that Manhunt 2 is well within the bounds established by other 18+ rated entertainment.”

It’s the news that our most loyal members have been waiting for, and today we are happy to announce that we can finally unveil the eagerly awaited Wii Points Card Shop!

The Wii Points Card Shop is the place where Club Nintendo members can swap Stars for Wii Points Cards. These cards contain a code that you can enter in the Wii Shop Channel on your Wii. This will add Wii Points to your Wii Shop Channel account, which you can spend on such items as games for Virtual Console or Wii Software.

In order to make use of the Wii Points Card Shop you need to link your Club Nintendo account to your Wii Shop Channel account. You can read instructions on how to do this below, as well as in the Wii Points Card Shop FAQ.

Once you have made this connection, all you have to do is login, select the Wii Points Card denomination of your choice and press the ‘Purchase’ button to receive your Wii Points Card code. Please note that we currently allow a maximum of two Wii Points Cards to be purchased per day by any individual. If you reached the daily limit, please come back tomorrow.

We would like to thank our members for their patience, and hope you will enjoy this Club Nintendo benefit! If you’re not a Club Nintendo member yet, click here for more information on becoming a member.

How do I link my Club Nintendo account to my Wii Shop Channel account?

• When you have a Club Nintendo account and your Wii console is connected to the Internet, go to the Wii Shop Channel from the Wii Menu.
• Once you are connected to the Wii Shop Channel, select ‘Start Shopping.’
• On the next screen, select ‘Settings’.
• On the Settings Screen, point your Wii Remote at the Club Nintendo logo and press the A Button in order to link your Club Nintendo account.
• You will then be asked to enter the email address and password that you normally use to log into your Club Nintendo account.
• Once you entered your details, select ‘Link.’
• When the link has been established you will get a confirmation message. Select ‘OK’.

Your Club Nintendo Membership is now linked to your Wii Shop Channel account.

Nintendo has said that the Virtual Console service for Wii has so far generated JPY 3.5 billion (USD 33 million / EUR 22.3 million/ UK 16 million) for the company.

Shinji Hatano, licensing director for Nintendo, revealed the figure during a recent press conference to mark a collaboration with NTT for broadband internet access for the home console, reports IGN.

According to Nintendo, 7.8 million items have been downloaded over the service, which offers old games from Nintendo and other publisher’s back catalogues, priced between EUR 5 and EUR 10.

Nintendo is showing signs of moving a up a gear in the online department as it teams up with Japanese telecoms provider, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT), to promote Wii’s online capabilities in Japan.

The firm is regarded as the trailing party against Microsoft and Sony when it comes to online integration and gaming, but this new deal is part of Nintendo’s effort to boost the Wii’s online service, in preparation for the launch of WiiWare (Wii Software over here) - a new game download service - next year.

NTT will offer discounted internet start up packages and set-up help for Wii users, in the hope of utilising the Wii’s fast-growing user base to help boost the penetration of its fibre optic internet service.

NTT East senior exec VP, Tetsuo Koga, said: “I hope our fibre-optic service becomes as popular as the Wii. I think we have won a powerful ally to hit our target to boost fibre-optic subscribers to 20 million by the year ending March 2011.”

By RACHEL KONRAD REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) — A top Nintendo Co. executive said holiday sales of the Wii game consoles have gotten off to a “fantastic start” but warned Tuesday that Wiis would be scarce through the end of the year.

Nintendo sold 350,000 Wiis in the U.S. last week, when many stores were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, compared with 300,000 the previous week in the U.S.

It was unclear if last week’s sales broke a Nintendo record. During one eight-day period in late November 2006, when the Wii debuted, consumers throughout the U.S., Canada and Latin America purchased more than 600,000 units sold.

The company is on track to sell 17.5 million Wiis in the fiscal year ending March 31. Last fall, Nintendo executives predicted they would sell 14.5 million Wiis.

They were producing roughly 1.2 million units per month at the time.

Nintendo has ramped up production to about 1.8 million per month, but its manufacturers cannot increase production again, said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime, who spent Friday and Saturday spot-checking Wii supplies at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Best Buy Co., GameStop Corp., Target Corp. and Toys “R” Us Inc. stores in Erie, Pa., and Redmond, Wash.

“I couldn’t find a single Wii system on the shelves — literally as I was walking into a Wal-Mart at 11 a.m., someone was walking out with the last one,” Fils-Aime said in an interview at the company’s new Redwood City office. “Consumers are buying every game we can put into the system.”

Fils-Aime predicted a new sales record the week before Christmas, despite being “very concerned” about the U.S. economy and the rising price of gasoline. About 40 percent of Wii sales have been in North America and Latin America, while 35 percent were in Asia, primarily Japan, and the rest came from Europe and the Middle East.

He dismissed speculation online that the Kyoto, Japan-based company — maker of Pokemon and Super Mario games — is deliberately constraining supply of the $250 console to generate buzz.

“A shortage benefits no one,” he said. “We’re disappointed. This was all about how we didn’t accurately estimate demand. We need to be more bullish about the potential for the Wii.”

Unlike consoles with joysticks that players operate with their thumbs, the Wii responds to the user moving a wand-like wireless controller strapped to a wrist.

Wii games including tennis and bowling appeal to children, parents, hardcore gamers and even senior citizens.

Sony Corp.’s top-line PlayStation model, with an 80-gigabyte hard drive, costs $499 in the U.S., down from the original price of $599. A new low-end model with a 40-gigabyte drive will go on sale Nov. 2 for $399.

Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 costs $350 in the U.S.

The Wii has been a tremendous boost for Nintendo.

In the quarter ended Sept. 30, it more than doubled its sales to $6.1 billion from a year earlier, when the Wii had not yet launched.

Nintendo has sold 5.5 million Wiis in the U.S. since the console went on sale.

(This version CORRECTS comparison data, which is for broader geographic region than the U.S.)

The Wii is on an absolute charge in the US, as Nintendo reveals that an astonishing 650,000 consoles were sold in just the first two weeks of November.

In what Nintendo says will be the best month of sales since the console launched in November last year, the company sold 300,000 units on the first week of November, and an even more staggering 350,000 last week.

According to IGN, NOA name taker Reggie Fils-Aime “couldn’t find a single Wii system on the shelves”, after a weekend of spot-checking in major retailers. “Literally as I was walking into a Wal-Mart at 11 a.m., someone was walking out with the last one,” he said.

Nintendo is currently producing 1.8 million Wii consoles per month, but shortages continue regardless. Despite that, Nintendo is looking forward to what could be a record-breaking month.

Yesterday Nintendo released the highly anticipated Wii Zapper, a shooting accessory for the Wii Console. The Wii Zapper gains it’s controls by users snapping in the Wii Remote and Nunchuck into designated spots. With the Wii Zapper coming in just around $20… it seems well worth the price.

Included in the box with the Wii Zapper is “Links Crossbow Training“. The box gives the following description of the game…

Take aim and blast bull’s-eyes with a squeeze of the trigger, then test your skill against moving targets. Once you know the basics, defend Link against an onslaught of enemies, or use the control stick to track your targets through the world of the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. With the Wii Zapper in your hands, you’ll be a master marksman in no time!

When I first saw images of the Wii Zapper, I thought this would be awesome for “horror” games… much like the classic “House of the Dead” arcade game. I mean if you’ve played Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles or seen the trailer you know that game has that look and feel. Also, they’ve recently announced that House of the Dead franchise will be releasing a title for the Nintendo Wii. So get some practice in - you’ll soon have hoards of zombies to kill.

Much like Wii Sports, Links Crossbow Training comes in a paper case. Personally, I can’t stand this… call me old fashioned, but I prefer the plastic DVD cases. The good folks over at TheCoverProject.net are their to help with this matter. They have a “custom cover” designed specifically for the game.

A chronic shortage of Nintendo’s popular Wii console could mean disappointment for those putting it at the top of their Christmas list.

The BBC has learned that high street retailers are struggling to keep up with demand for the console, which has been in short supply for months.

Websites such as Wii-consoles.co.uk have been set up to help shoppers find out when stock becomes available.

Nintendo said it was “doing everything possible” to keep up with demand.

Its push to fill the shelves in time for Christmas will see it ship an extra 3.5 million consoles globally. It is not known how many extra consoles will make it to UK shelves.

In April Nintendo estimated a yearly shipment of 14m units, but that has now been raised to 17.5m.

Despite this, the gaming giant admitted that not everyone who wants one is guaranteed a Wii this Christmas.

“The demand for Wii hardware globally has been unprecedented and higher than Nintendo could ever have anticipated,” said a spokeswoman.

“Nintendo is now in a position in which seasonality demand trends are being broken, therefore the demand for Wii hardware is constant throughout the whole year globally. Due to this phenomenon it is possible that the demand for Wii hardware may outstrip supply,” she said.

Slow trickle

From the high street, the message is very similar.

“Although we’re receiving regular deliveries from Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft and getting the products onto the shelves as fast as we can - it’s possible that demand will outstrip supplies on some products, for example the Nintendo Wii, which has been hugely popular all through the year,” read a statement from high street gaming specialist Game.

“We’re posting daily updates on our website at www.game.co.uk/stock to give customers the latest news on availability, and will continue to do everything possible to help our customers find the consoles they want.”

Woolworths said that it was receiving a “slow trickle of stock every week” and also advised customers to keep an eye on their website.

“The Nintendo Wii consoles have proved extremely popular with our customers and have been flying off the shelves whenever we get new stock in,” said a spokeswoman.

Website meltdown

As a result of the huge demand, prices are beginning to be hiked, especially among smaller retailers with larger retailers bundling the console with several games.

“It is very hard to buy a Wii console now without two or three games bundled in with it, which can push the price up to around the £300 mark,” said Darren McKillop, the man behind Wii-consoles.co.uk.

Mr McKillop said that when stock did come in retailers were struggling to cope with the flood of traffic on their websites.

“In some cases their ordering systems let them down and they end up taking orders for stock they don’t have and yesterday a major online retailer announced they had the Wii in stock and their website suffered a virtual meltdown as half the country tried to buy a Wii from them,” he said.

Wii-consoles.co.uk had seen a five-fold increase in traffic since the last Wii shortages at the beginning of the year, said Mr McKillop.

He predicted the stock shortages would last well into the new year.