Ping wii-isti

So, under pressure from the missus, who wanted the wii fitness thing
she'd seen, and hinted such just before her birthday, we're now the
proud owners of a wii console.

So far we've mucked about with the supplied 'Sports' package as well
as the 'Fitness' stuff, and I've got it talking to the wi-fi router
for its news and weather channels.

So what else can it do? I'm sure it's possible, but how would I go
about using it as a normal internet browser, or even, less likely,
accessing usenet.

And will it read & write to standard windows USB-connected devices,
like memory sticks and hard drives?

What about playing DVDs? Seems like it ought to work, but I put one in
and nothing happened.

And what else that I haven't yet thought of can I think about doing?

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

Easy, just wait for Wii Linux to be ready (http://www.wiili.org/), then
use pan, slrn, Thunderbird, whatever you want. I'm sure you can have it
up and running after a couple of years' effort.

WAYTTD? It will read images and video on an SD card inserted into the
slot.

You need to mod it and install special software.
http://www.google.com/search?q=wii+dvd+player

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?

--
TD
1991 VFR400R NC30 (black and red)
2001 ZX-9R (red and black)
1999 M5 (neither black nor red)
Missing: SOB, Unreliable Italian exotica, Lardy tourer (but 9R is near enough)

 

For web access, go into the Wii Shop channel and download the Internet
channel (modified opera browser) - its about £3.50 and it's usable,
though far from a substitute for a PC. As to Usenet, forget it.
Completely impractical.

No idea, never tried.

No idea, never tried. Do you not have a proper DVD player under the tv
already?

Guitar Hero III and Mario Kart Wii. Both excellent.

It's a games console, not an all-in-one media centre.

--
ogden

sv650 (sold)
gsxr750 (coming soon)
rgv250

 

play games much better than Wii Sports. Anything with the word "Mario"
in the title is good.

IIRC, the web client isn't installed as a default, go to the Wii Shop
Channel/WiiWare and download the "Internet channel". I'm not aware of
a Usenet client for it, but there's always groups.google.

no idea.

nope. The optical drive in the Wii is not a DVD reader.

get bored with it pretty quickly and go back to playing the 360. At
least, that's what worked for me.

 

Oh? What is it?

--
TD
1991 VFR400R NC30 (black and red)
2001 ZX-9R (red and black)
1999 M5 (neither black nor red)
Missing: SOB, Unreliable Italian exotica, Lardy tourer (but 9R is near enough)

 

It's a Nintendo Optical Disk player. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_optical_discs

I did see your link to getting it to play DVDs, but why would you
bother?

Does anyone really have a Wii, but no other device for playing DVDs?

 

Please tell me you're joking. You are joking, right?

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

If I had to guess as somebody who might, it would probably be Bruce.

 

Thought as much.

Sure, but the downstairs TV is scart-limited (just 2, plus video-in)
so if I could get away without it it'd be much easier.

You've not seen me being scathing about this sort of thing then? I may
not be Eric Clapton, but I have real guitars and the ability to use
them.

<wiki's>

No ta, not my cup of tea at all.

By 'what else' I was really meaning non-games stuff.

Why not?
--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

Heh. Only three at the last count, plus the laptops, of course.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

Yeah, I'll do that then.

I don't currently have a personal home PC (well, there's the old
Pentium <1> machine, but that doesn't even have a USB port) but save
stuff to external hard drives via my work laptop. The ability to
download/manage/display it without the work machine might be useful.
And yeah, I do know how cheap proper cimputer are these days, but I
just CBA, OK?

Sure, but sadly my laptop won't (it's borked for >1gB cards, it
seems).

<shudder>

Thanks for the reply, anyway.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

not in the slightest.

 

But but but, they're all children's games, innit!

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

I have the same problem - one socket used for the freeview box, the
other for a switchbox that handles my PC, the Wii/PS2 and DVD player.

So? I've got real motorcycles and a car but I still enjoy TT superbikes
and Mario Kart.

Why should it be? Do you buy a kettle and expect it to make toast too?

--
ogden

sv650 (sold)
gsxr750 (coming soon)
rgv250

 

well, they're certainly rated as being suitable for children.

They're also bloody good fun, particularly in multi-player mode.

 

Well I always like to try and find the limits of any appliance I buy,
so I'd certainly try to find out if it could, yes.

So, clearly it can't do much else, easily, apart from playing games,
so anyone recommend any more cerebral games for it? Oh, and are there
any freely-available downloads, or do they all have to be bought and
paid for?


--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

I'd speculate that there might be ways to make a Wii make toast, though
probably only once.

 

Yep, me too. SWMBO had a 'need' for one, so she went out and splurged
on it.

We played it a couple of times, and it's been in the box since then.

Much like my PS2.

I think the PSP gets the most use by me. It's just 'there', boots
quickly, and there's no farting around with the TV.

P.

 

I won one once in a competition. I think I've played it once. I did buy
the NFL game for it that I keep meaning to try.

I have one of those too. I've played it a couple more times than the
Wii..

I'm not really a games-console person.

Phil.

 

Zelda[1] and the latter.

What darsy said about Mario rings true. Behind the cartoony look, are
games with incredible depth and playability. Don't judge a book by its
cover etc. You might find http://www.gamespot.com useful - some of the
best reviews I've read. See http://tinyurl.com/48gbv2 for their
top-rated Wii games.

Remember it will also play Gamecube games, and as I've said here
recently, /that/ was one of the most underrated consoles ever, and games
for it can now be bought for pennies as idiots clamour to have the
latest thing. <g> http://tinyurl.com/4zekb5

There don't seem to be many must-have native Wii titles yet, which I
think is because software designers are still trying to work out how to
get the best out of the controller. But I've always said quality is
more important than quantity - the PS2 has thousands of games but 99%
are shit so who cares?

[1] Possibly the greatest gaming saga of all time.

--
TD
1991 VFR400R NC30 (black and red)
2001 ZX-9R (red and black)
1999 M5 (neither black nor red)
Missing: SOB, Unreliable Italian exotica, Lardy tourer (but 9R is near enough)