Wii for Web

At the Cafe we own a Wii. The thing really is fun, in fact, it’s so fun we’re considering keeping the patrons usage TIMED so that everyone gets a chance to use it. The free Wii Sports pack, particularly the Bowling, is the big hit here, as is YouTube on the Wii. Yes, the Wii streams video and audio.

So it was a natural to see how the Wii does with browsing the Internet. Frankly, it works just great. Nintendo has released it’s final version of it’s Internet for Wii and we like it. You can sit back with a latte, browse the net, and watch it on your TV. A few years ago this was possible of course, but, not nearly as useful, primarily due to lack of content. But now with more streaming video, audio and yes news and features, such as Beck’s Cafe, browsing and using the net from your couch isn’t such a weird idea.

We think the Wii will do a few things to change life as we know it on the planet - or at least the game console buying planet. First, the whole virtual reality part of gaming and entertainment is now very accessible to Jane Doe. It’ll take some fancy programming, good marketing, and some inexpensive hardware but, predicted here, a virtual reality setup for Wii shouldn’t be more than 12 months away. The Wii’s revolutionary motion sensing technology makes it possible. And, not too long ago, one of Beck’s Cafe’s writers helped develop micro-screens for eyeglasses (think a computer screen on the inside of your sunglasses). Put those together and you may be running from PacMan rather than just playing him on the screen!

Over at GigaOM, Wagner James Au has his own thoughts on what the Wii will do in his article, “Wii will remake the web?” here’s some of his thoughts to tease you to go read the whole article:

…according to a recent Merrill-Lynch study, by 2011, an astounding 30% of American households will own a Wii. If that estimate holds up (and given the Wii’s still-thundering sales figures, there’s no reason to doubt it), about one out of every three U.S. homes will soon have a new kind of Web browser sitting in their living room.

One in Three…think about those numbers Mr. and Mrs. Marketeer! Oh and how about this?

The obvious immediate objection, or course, is “who’s going to browse the Web without a keyboard?” The most obvious immediate answer: the very young, who already send text messages over their cellphones

If it was as easy to use the Wii controller as it is a keyboard, why wouldn’t you just chose the easy option? From our experience at the Cafe, about 10% of the time, patrons chose to use the Wii over the computers we have installed for surfing and email. Interesting huh? We thought so.

Look out, there are changes coming in the way we reach the internet which has become highly necessary to much of the world to get information and to communicate. And it’s not all through the PC. Is it any wonder Intel, Microsoft and everyone else is vying for the living room now?