Wii Internet Channel now supports Flash!

Good news developers! As a followup to my earlier (rather short) post regarding future Flash support for the Wii, it seems as though my hopes have come true (mostly).

I recently was able to get my Wii connected to the internet again, when I stumbled upon a notice that the Internet Channel had a new update available. Curious, I prowled the web for any information regarding this new update. Sadly, I found no official source, however the Internet Channel's Wikipedia page state:

"In addition it updated Flash Player to Adobe Flash Lite 3.1 which corresponds to a full implementation of Adobe Flash version 8 with certain features of Flash 9." -- Footnote: The Wii Browser now Identifies its self as "AFL 9,1,122,0" to Flash applications as can be seen by visiting
http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/155/tn_15507.html in the Wii Browser.

So, Flash Lite, that is a great start on Nintendo's part. Sadly, it doesn't contain the fancy 3d features of Flash 10 or even the Vector class I love so, but it is a start.

For people wanting to start developing in FlashLite, it is basically like regular ActionScript, but 'stripped down' missing several libraries. If I can find some time I'll try to track down a list of what classes FlashLite is lacking.

Until then, here are some helpful links for aspiring FlashLite developers:
Adobe's FlashLite FAQ - http://www.adobe.com/products/flashlite/faq/
Adobe's "Getting Started With FlashLite 2.x and 3.0" - http://livedocs.adobe.com/flashlite/3.0/docs/help.html?content=Part4_API_Ref_1.html
And of course, my favorite, the Language Reference, can be found on that same page as listed above.


Also, as a final note, here are a last few Wii/Flash links I have yet to look into which look (at least two of them) promising:

WiiFlash (http://wiiflash.bytearray.org/)
Connects directly to the WiiMote using your computer's BlueTooth connection, and accesses it from Flash through your localhost address. Pretty smart. :) That would be a great workaround for many features not currently available natively in Flash. I seem to be getting "Security Sandbox" errors, but it seems like it's working for other people. Not sure if it works in online games, though.

WiiCade API (http://wiicade.com/home.aspx)
There is supposed to be some sort of support for which allows you to use the "arrow buttons" on the Wiimote as if they were the WASD keys on the keyboard. I'm not sure how they pull it off, and current games look quite crappy and cheap. If anyone has any experience in using this API, please comment.

Wii Opera SDK (http://wiioperasdk.com/)
It looks like a thirteen year old who just learnt how to use FrontPage developed the site, so I can't help but be a little suspicious. I have no earthly idea what kind of support this has, so again, any outside comments are appreciated.

Flash 9+ for the Wii? [And more links + praise for FireFox]

FireFox, and its glorious offline tabs

Since I have a 45 minute commute to and from work (and luckily, I'm rarely the one driving), and at work I have no time to read up on blogs and sites, when I get to work and during my breaks, I find something interesting or try to find the solution to some problem that has been bugging me.

Then, instead of reading the post or blog (which usually ends up being pretty long and not worth spending my precious break time on) I open it in a tab in FireFox. Often, I'll notice an interesting title in the sidebar, which leads to another post, so I open it in another tab to read later. This process repeats several times during the day.

Finally, when I leave work, I have 40 different tabs containing all sorts of interesting information. The problem is, when I get home from work, I am to tired to stare at a screen, trying to comprehend with a blurry mind what some see as a clear solution to one of my problems. So the next day I go to work, still holding those 40 tabs, ready to be read. But during break, I accumulate even more!

So then you get to the point I am at now; 6 windows and 87 tabs (exactly, according to FireFox). And when you think you are all set to go, Windows XP decides to restart the computer and apply all those updates he thinks is so very important. [Tears hair from head, wanting to explode]

Thank goodness for the built in Session Restore feature. I don't know what I would do without FireFox, even though I believe that the programmers at Microsoft put in some sort of bug system that targets FireFox, hoping that internet users will switch over to the new and improved Internet Explorer [plays fanfare] .... not happening. FireFox is my friend, and I will never be unfaithful.

Enough about FireFox, on with the links!

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Math.getProbability(Nintendo.Wii + Adobe.Flash));

I was Googling around, searching for any hope that Wii's built in browser might support might some day support Flash 9 or 10 (more specifically, AS3). That way, I wouldn't have to find an oldschool coder to convert my complex and likely sloppy code to slow, inefficient AS2.

I stumbled across this link, which brings a little hope to my heart, but sadly I can't verfiy the aucenticity of the information. I really hope so, but I wouldn't guarantee anything. It doesn't say anything about adding support for the browser, but it will allow Flash Developers to create games for WiiWare without having to learn a new language. :D

http://nintendo.joystiq.com/2009/03/13/cave-story-dev-nintendo-opens-wii-to-flash-development/

Now the big question is, will WiiWare development be open to anyone, or just people who pay an outrageous price for the WiiSDK and have a full fledged corporation where the proprietary information can be stored securely?

If anyone can verify this information with hard, cold evidence, please leave a comment or email me.

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An important announcement from Developers woldwide:
Do you see the ads at the bottom of the page? Click them.

Most developers work for free, and the only money they earn is from advertisement income. It doesn't cost you a penny to click the link, and usually, you might find some pretty good deals or learn about a new neat site.

So give those developers a chance! Help keep free software... FREE!

CLICK THE ADS! (of other developers)

-- A message from your local department of coders.


So I encourage everyone, right now. Put down what you are doing. Stop thinking about how tired you are getting off this site. Next time you are on someone's site, show some appreciation, and click. Enjoy the great deals you find from clicking the ads, and deep inward satisfaction that you are putting food in my belly and getting me (legal people, read: others) through college. :)

Ads can actually be quite beneficial. For example, I recently clicked a link for an RTS game, and I'm actually enjoying it. (No, I won't give out the site address unless I get paid to advertise it)

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More links to come once I get some sleep... Work tomorrow as well... Ugh...