Wii Opera Browser Free Once Again

In a surprising move, it seems that Nintendo has begun to push Wii Internet use with a few initiatives meant to get the little white console online.

The Wii’s Opera-powered Internet browser is now available once again for free to download.  If you weren’t able to download the Internet Channel during its free initial release (between December 2, 2006 and July 30, 2007), then you had to pay 500 Wii Points for the software, up until today.

Being the Wii enthusiast that I am, I had naturally downloaded the Opera browser as soon at it debuted, saving myself a hefty 500 Wii Points.  But this also meant that I was unable to verify today’s announcement lest I wipe my Wii’s internal memory clean.  So instead I called up a fellow Wii owner who picked up his system after July 30, 2007, and sure enough, he confirmed that the Internet Channel is now free to download.

But that’s not all.  It seems that if you previously downloaded the browser for the 500 Wii-point fee, Nintendo wants to make it up to you by offering a free NES game via the Virtual Console in October.  This is great news in addition to the fact that the Opera browser has now been upgraded to support Adobe Flash.

But, as with their black Wii which has yet to debut in the U.S., Japanese customers seem to be getting the best deal due to their exclusive promotion that rewards them with a special “Help Master” title and access to the full NES, SNES and N64 library.  I could sure go for that program.