Ubisoft, in collaboration with Thrustmaster, released the images of which will be first peripheral for Wii:the steering wheel; developed by an external company.

This wii pheripheral is a compatible steering wheel with the control functions of title GT Series. However, this peripheral will also be compatible with other titles, like Monster 4×4: World Circuit, Excites Truck, Cars and the phases of conduction of Sponge Bob SquarePants: Creature from the krusty Krab.

source: IGN

Tags: Ubisoft, Thrustmaster, peripheral for Wii, steering wheel

    

IB published a press release about the Nintendo Wii CPU Broadway, and it states that the cpu is 20% more power-efficient than the gekko cpu, and that it has begun shipping processor chips.

IBM Corp. says it has begun shipping processor chips for Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s forthcoming video game console, to be called Wii.

“(Nintendo statement) The first chips are in our possession. Today’s milestone marks the final stage of our drive to reach both core and nontraditional gamers with an inviting, inclusive and remarkable gaming experience.”

IBM only says the chip is 20 percent more power-efficient than the first game chip it began making for Nintendo in 1999, which was called Gekko.

“Both the Nintendo Wii and the Sony PS3 are generational changes,” said analyst Charles King with Pund-IT Research in Hayward, Calif. “They are going to be the latest and the greatest. They are what we will see probably as the next steps for computer gaming for the next five to 10 years.”

Source

    

This are a list of some Nintendo Wii Accessories from GameStop

• Wii Controller Glove 9.99
• Wii G-Pak Travel Case 29.99
• Wii Game Wallet 9.99
• Wii HD Premium Component Cable 59.99
• Wii Memory SD 1.0GB 59.99
• Wii Memory SD 512MB 39.99
• Wii S-Video Premium AV Cable 39.99
• Wii Sling Bag 29.99
• Wii Storage & Protection 1.0GB Kit

GameStop

Tags: Nintendo Wii Accessories

    

IGN have learned from various development studios that Nintendo refuse to release Wi-Fi connection libraries for the Wii until early 2007. This means that no third party launch title will have online features, unless they have been provided with the online kit

Tags: Nintendo, Wi-Fi connection libraries, online features

    

The domain wii.com in the past was property of Willamette Industries, now nintendo is the legal owner of the wii.com domain.

Registrar of Record: TUCOWS, INC.
Record last updated on 14-Aug-2006.
Record expires on 10-Aug-2010.
Record created on 11-Aug-1994.

Domain servers in listed order:
NOA3DNS-E.NINTENDO.COM 192.195.204.8
NOA3DNS-W.NINTENDO.COM 205.166.76.8

Wii.com Whois

    

Nintendo Life got an interview with Berit Hanson from Opera to talk about Opera Wii , below is the interview:

Why do you think Nintendo chose Opera for their Wii browser? There are a lot of browsers out there, and some are more popular than Opera?
Opera is experienced in porting to many different devices and mobile phone platforms. We have long been a provider of full Web browser to a variety of devices, allowing users to access the entire Internet despite potential limitations of smaller device. Opera also features unique rendering technology. This means that if you are surfing the Web on your TV, Opera will not appear as it does on a PC. It will adapt the content of the page to suit the size of the screen. These capabilities, in addition to the speed and reliability of the browser, made Opera a natural choice for the Wii.

How long have you had to develop the Opera software for the Wii?
We have followed Nintendo’s development schedule for this project, but are unable to say more.

What web standards will the browser support? The DS browser don’t support Flash or PDF, what about the Wii browser?
Opera for Wii will support all the same Web standards that are included in Opera 9 for PCs and Macs. This desktop beta version is available now at this link: http://www.opera.com/download/index.dml?ver=9.0b This version does include Javascript. Whether plug-ins such as Flash will be supported in Opera on Wii has not yet been announced. Stay tuned!

Will the browser be customisable? Will we see skins and “widgets” like in the PC version?
Nintendo isn’t ready to discuss if there will be any user customization allowed for Opera on Wii. Opera’s desktop browser is highly customizable and “skinnable”. We have announced that Opera Widgets will be available on devices and it would be cool to see them on Wii.

What functions will the Wii controller have? Will it act as the mouse pointer? Are we able to scroll or type using the functionality of the Wiimote?
We aim to make a browsing experience that leverages the intuitive capabilities of the Wii remote. Opera for desktop PCs has the built in mouse gesture-based navigation, but how this might be available and mapped to the Wii remote hasn’t yet been revealed by Nintendo.

Will Opera for Wii support tabbed browsing and bookmarks? And will we be able to have personalised bookmarks, so that each family member can have their own profile?
Yes, Opera for Wii will include bookmarks. But Nintendo and Opera have not yet revealed specifics on the unique browser features on the Wii. More will be announced as the Wii launch approaches.

Will the browser be sold as a separate item, like it is for the DS? If so, is it possible to “install” the browser rather than having to swap in the optical disc?
The Opera browser is saved to the Flash ROM on the Wii console, and does not require a separate memory card as Opera for DS does. The browser can be launched in only a few seconds, immediately delivering a great user experience.

What version of Opera is the browser based on? 8.5 or 9.0 ?
Opera 9

Will it support music and video? Will it be possible to stream videos and music?
We are unable to comment on this at this time.

Comparing to a PC display, roughly what resolution will Wii use for browsing?
All we can say at this time is that the user interface for Opera on Wii will be customized to better suit a living room environment. For example, fonts will be larger and the user interface will be simplified so that the Web is easier to view and use from a distance while navigating with the Wii remote.

Will it launch with the Wii?
As mentioned before, Opera will not be sold separately on a game cartridge for Wii. We would like all Wii users to be able to use Opera to surf the Internet. The details of how exactly Opera will be available for browsing within Wii have not yet been announced by Nintendo.

How hard was it to develop the Wii version compared to the PC and the DS version?
There were no major challenges during our development of the Wii browser, since Opera has experience with porting to many different devices and mobile phone platforms. The biggest challenge has been to create the best “living room” Web experience, leveraging the unique capabilities of Wii. Opera has worked closely with Nintendo to achieve a breakthrough experience, especially in terms of incorporating the revolutionary Wii remote into the browsing experience.

Do you think Wii will see more applications? Are you planning on developing anything else for Wii?
Opera is very excited to be working on the Wii project, and we hope to continue to improve the Wii browsing experience by utilizing Opera’s unique capabilities. We would also love to see some interaction between the Wii and the DS browsers, but Nintendo has not announced any plans to do so yet. More info will come as the launch approaches.

Tags: Opera Wii, Wii browser, Wiimote, Nintendo

    

IGN released the first images of the Nintendo Wii Development Kit

Tags: Nintendo Wii Development Kit

    

The producers of the Nintendo Wii’s main memory , Mosys, have confirmed several details of the console’s main memory, performance and shipping date in a recent webcast discussing 2nd quarter financial results.

Among the different topics discussed was some Wii information, particularly on the main memory the console will use:

• The Wii will be using 1T-SRAM as previously confirmed in May, R version.
• 1T-SRAM-R includes transparent error correction, that’s useful to correct any memory errors during operation and is accomplished without adding any silicon area or cost to the unit.
• 90nm process.
• NEC is shipping chips at the end of Q2 2006.
• For the Wii, MoSys is getting 50-70% of royalties per unit over the GameCube due to increased volume.

Tags: Nintendo Wii, main memory, Mosys, 1T-SRAM

    

Maxconsole published new nintendo wii specs that where sended to them by an anonymous Wii Developer

The Wii Hardware

• Nintendo Wii’s ‘Broadway’ CPU operates at 729MHZ with a maximum bandwith of 1.9gbyte/sec.
• Nintendo Wii’s ‘HollyWood’ GPU is clocked at 243MHZ, the internal memory of it includes 3mb of embedded graphics memory and 24megabytes of high speed main memory.
• 64megabytes of GDDR3 (MEM2) as the external main memory. Just like the internal memory, it can be accessed from the CPU and GPU with a maximum bandwidth of 4gbytes/sec and can also store programs in the MEM2.
• The GPU of the Wii is identical to the GC’s but it is on average 1.5X faster.

Wii’s Optical Disc Drive

• Opitcal Disc Drive (ODD) supports single and dual layer Wii disks, discs eject with software or button and the maximum read speed is the equivalent of DVDx6.
• Two main disc types supported the single sided 12cm single sided 4.7gb and the double sided 8.51 GB. Nintendo GC discs also supported. Some of the capacity of the discs are used by the system and games can not use full disc space.
• Inserting a disc will start the Wii console, even if it was already in an off state. Pressing the eject button will change the console to an on state to take out the disc also.

Wii General Overview

• An optional wired LAN adapter that connects to a USB port is in the pipeline for users who do not possess a wireless LAN set-up currently.
• Internal non-removable 512MB flash memory used to storage game save data and downloadable content thus eliminating the Need for a memory card.
• Both Wii discs and Gamecube discs can be played via an intelligent mode swap. When running in GC mode, the Wii’s CPU and GPU will lower to the respective speeds of the GC and some of the MEM2 functions as ARAM.
• Software development environment is an upgrade to the ‘Dolphin SDK’ used with the GC; the same libraries are used so developers can get up to scratch easily as well as the possibility of ports being easier.
• The following interfaces are included with the Wii; SD card slot, Wireless controller, two USB 2.0 ports, wireless LAN, 4x GC controller ports, 2x GC memory card slots and an AV multi output jack (only an analog jack).
• Supports Wii disks (one sided 12cm) and GC discs (one sided 8cm) and console auto switches depends on what disk is inserted
• More than just the Nunchaku is planned as an extension. GC peripherals such as DK bongos can be used in both Wii and GC modes.
• Three power status, on, off and unplugged. To prevent mistaken turn offs, the power button must be held for about a second.

The Wii Control System

• The Wii controller features; Direct Pointing Device, Three axis accelerometer, Wii power button (remotely turn console on/off), buttons, wireless connectivity, indicator LED’s, rumble, battery powered (two AA alkaline batteries) and ability to connect extension unit.
• The Wii controller supports three types of operations; by itself, with a nunchuk extension or with a classic controller. Classic controllers will ship to developers during August 2006.
• The SYNCHRO button on the Wii controller exchanges wireless ID numbers when pressed at the same time as SYNCRHO on the Wii console. Wireless communications are only possible with consoles which have been authenticated.
• The rumble motor can be turned on and off and the intensity can be changed.
• The Wii remote has a pointer for fine movements as well as a motion sensor +/- 3.4G suitable for larger body movements, the nunchuk attachment has a sensor of +/- 2G
• The sensor bar must be placed above or below a TV set, the pointer measures coordinates between the ends of the bar which are about 20cm apart.
• The Wii remote has four status, disconnected, communicating, establishing connection and pairing wait status.
• The pointer can measure co-ordinates within bounds of rectangle centered upon the sensor bar, thus it can also measure points beyond the screen. It also responds to strong light sources, windows, fluorescent lamps, fireplaces, mirrors etc.
• Due to players hands shaking while holding the controller, a ring buffer allows a precise direction to be created to hold and average accelerator samples.

Wii Broadway CPU

Broadway is Wii’s CPU. Broadway functionality and specifications are as follows.

• Operating speed: 729 MHz
• Bus to main memory: 243 MHz, 64 bits (maximum bandwidth: 1.9 gigabytes/sec)
• 32-kilobyte 8-way set-associative L1 instruction cache
• 32-kilobyte 8-way set-associative L1 data cache (can set up 16-kilobyte data scratch pad)
• Superscalar microprocessor with six execution units (floating-point unit, branching unit, system register unit, load/store unit, two integer units)
• DMA unit (15-entry DMA request queue) used by 16-kilobyte data scratch pad
• Write-gather buffer for writing graphics command lists to the graphics chip
• Onboard 256-kilobyte 2-way set-associative L2 integrated cache
• Two, 32-bit integer units (IU)
• One floating point unit (FPU) (supports single precision (32-bit) and double precision (64-bit))
• The FPU supports paired single floating point (FP/PS)
• The FPU supports paired single multiply add (ps_madd). Most FP/PS instructions can be issued in each cycle and completed in three cycles.
• Fixed-point to floating-point conversion can be performed at the same time as FPU register load and store, with no loss in performance.
• The branch unit supports static branch prediction and dynamic branch prediction.
• When an instruction is stalled on data, the next instruction can be issued and executed.
• All instructions maintain program logic and will complete in the correct program order.
• Supports three L2 cache fetch modes: 32-Byte, 64-Byte, and 128-Byte.

Supports these bus pipeline depth levels: level 2, level 3, and level 4.
Reference Information: Broadway is upward compatible with Nintendo GameCube’s CPU (Gekko).

Wii Hollywood GPU

Hollywood is a system LSI composed of a GPU and internal main memory (MEM1). Hollywood is clocked at 243 MHz. Its internal memory consists of 3 megabytes of embedded graphics memory and 24 megabytes of high speed main memory.

Hollywood includes the following.

• Graphics processing unit (with 3 megabytes of eDRAM)
• Audio DSP
• I/O Bridge
• 24 megabytes of internal main memory
• Internal main memory operates at 486 MHz.
• Maximum bandwidth between Hollywood and internal main memory: 3.9 gigabytes per second
• Possible to locate a program here

Reference Information: Hollywood is similar to Nintendo GameCube’s Flipper and Splash components.

Wii External Main Memory (MEM2)

Wii uses 64 megabytes of GDDR3 (MEM2) as external main memory. Like internal main memory, MEM2 can be accessed directly from Broadway and the GPU at high speed and has a peak bandwidth of 4 gigabytes/sec. Programs can also be placed in MEM2.

Tags: nintendo wii specs, Wii Developer, Wii Hardware, Wii’s Optical Disc, Wii Control System, Wii Broadway CPU, Wii Hollywood GPU, Wii External Main Memory

    

We have seen in different videos two kinds of wiimotes, some wireless and some wired, well the wired wiimotes were connected to the nintendo wii console, the image shows a wiimote without the batteries

Tags: wiimote, nintendo wii, batteries