Wii Internet Channel and Nintendo DS/DSi Browser Homebrew

I have a new widget out that is compatible with the Wii. It can be found here. The widget demonstrates some of the features of the Wii Opera SDK so that developers can see what is possible to add into their Internet Channel games. The widget is a scaled down version of the General Wii Remote Demo at http://wiioperasdk.com/.

It auto-detects if the user if on a computer or a Wii and determines if a Wii Remote is facing the screen or not. It then displays positional and button press data. The Wii Opera SDK can also read Nunchuk button presses, but the Internet Channel does not support the Nunchuk for the primary Wii Remote, so that detection has been dropped.

I have two more widgets available, but I'm waiting on Opera to allow Wii usage for them. They can be found here (3D Mesh Demo) and here (Raycasting demo).

I've been working hard on version 2.0 of the Wii Opera SDK and thought I'd share preview demo at http://hullbreachonline.com/sdk/shooting.html. This demo is a shooting game that makes use of several of the upcoming features of the SDK, including real-time lighting, backface culling, mesh importing, mesh merging, and 3D explosions. To play the game, simply click the spinning object to shoot an arrow at it. The game tallies hits and misses for the duration of play.

During this upcoming week, the new version of the Wii Opera SDK will be released at http://hullbreachonline.com/sdk along with a mesh gallery where developers will be able to import and export premade 3D models or create their own for incorporation into homebrew Internet Channel games. This entire gallery will be rateable by members of the website, and anyone will be able to download the files for projects.

The Wii Opera SDK has been tweaked to pull more speed from the 3D math and the drawing functions. Many of the demos for the SDK are now faster as well. As for HullBreach: Large amounts of code have been reordered, cleaned-up, and condensed, making the game about 15% faster than before! Enjoy the speed boosts.

Today marks an historic day in the realm of gaming: The first MMO RPG for Nintendo's Wii! HullBreach Online, the futuristic space-shooter MMO RPG built for the Wii's Internet Channel, has seen an open beta release today. The RPG brings together gamers on both the Wii and on the Opera desktop into one massive environment, using a dual control scheme that allows both a Wii Remote and a standard keyboard.

HullBreach lets players take on the role of starship pilots on campaigns to explore space, take on missions, and interact with the sights of the galaxy. This beta release allows players to make hyperspace jumps through more than 500 sectors in space, each with a potentially endless number of locations for completing missions, surveys, and trades. In future releases and the eventual final release, players will also be able to chat and trade with each other, battle, interact with NPCs, upgrade and purchase ships, and more!

HullBreach sets the bar for graphics possible on the Internet Channel by using the canvas object, which allows graphics comparable to the SuperNES (SuperFX Chip included) at speeds greater than that of Adobe Flash. The game makes extensive use of the Wii Opera SDK, a popular JavaScript software library which allows for 3D graphics with texture-mapping, Wii Remote interaction, and multiuser communication.

To warp into the universe of HullBreach now, create a free account at http://hullbreachonline.com.

-Daniel Gump

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The Wii Opera SDK has been revamped to add an estimated 15% to 30% to the speed of all graphics. This was achieved with a rewrite on much of the Javascript code to optimize it for Opera's pre-compiling on pageload. If you are a developer of software using the SDK, be sure to download the newest version for your projects.

A quick note for developers: The method in class ThreeD called "Hidden" have been renamed to "GetHidden". It's a minor change, but please be aware of it.