We get the feeling that the Wii browser game scene is about to get awesome, thanks to Wiicade, who were already agents of Wii browser awesomeness. Their new Application Programmer Interface allows Flash developers to easily make use of every button on the Wiimote in their Flash games, even allowing multiple simultaneous button presses while the pointer is in use.
In addition, Wiimote buttons can be mapped to keyboard keys, for PC-based testing and play. We're a little bit interested in the possible Flash-based applications that a simple API will encourage, but we're about the games!
What existing Flash games would you like to see ported to the Wii? What new homebrew opportunities do you see opening up here? Either tell us in the comments or get started!
[Update 1: the Wiicade API folks updated their example image for proper button placement, and we have updated accordingly.]
[Via press release]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-28-2007 @ 10:12AM
Graham said...
Am I wrong, or did they decide to map the + key to the - button and vice versa?
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2-28-2007 @ 11:04AM
Steve said...
This is the key to homebrew on the Wii. Forget about hacking the Wii to play games on burned discs. Flash games can be made by nearly anyone, and now that you can map all of the remote's buttons to keyboard keys, there are tons of games that can be developed and distributed for free. This is great news.
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2-28-2007 @ 11:47AM
Dan S said...
Alien Hominid
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2-28-2007 @ 11:47AM
Adam said...
Check out wiioptimized.com if you want an address bar for your wii browser, it also has a bookmark for wiicade.
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2-28-2007 @ 2:06PM
hvnlysoldr said...
I agree with Steve. Why go to the trouble of hacking the Wii anymore? How many more people know how to build Flash games? Just build with Flash and host it on a site. It would also be seemingly more legitimate than hacking and modding. It's relatively hard to open up the machine and mess around with it without permanent damage not covered by the warranty. And it would still need fiddling around to get the settings right. While it's relatively simple to open an address and start playing a Flash game.
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2-28-2007 @ 2:24PM
Quetzalcoatl said...
What nintendo needs to do is to open the flash spec to make custom channels, that way you won't have to get online to play flash games. you can save them on your sd cards and play them from there...
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2-28-2007 @ 3:42PM
WhatIsThatThing said...
If Stinkoman 20X6 were a Wii game...that would just be awesome. And it's possible too, since it was made by the fine Brothers Chaps, creator of Homestar Runner, and as you may remember, the "Viidelectrix" games.
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2-28-2007 @ 3:42PM
WhatIsThatThing said...
And by Wii game, I mean "Wii-optimized game".
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2-28-2007 @ 4:10PM
Zachary Hinchliffe said...
Definitely. I will second this guy.
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3-01-2007 @ 2:50AM
dville said...
free wii points via amazon.com http://sternclips.blogspot.com/2007/02/free-wii-points-via-amazon.html
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3-01-2007 @ 3:48AM
smart said...
Thank you..for this info
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3-01-2007 @ 7:39AM
Adam 13 said...
This is excellent, though in reply to the person who asked why anyone would carry on following the other path to homebrew, Flash games written with this API can use the pointing/button-pressing functionality but not the motion-sensing or other additional hardware features of the Wii - if I understand correctly!
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3-01-2007 @ 9:15AM
Adam said...
If you want to use the Wiimote motion sensor etc in Flash *on your desktop* (i.e. no Wii required) take a look the work going on @ www.fwiidom.org
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3-01-2007 @ 12:23PM
Ed said...
They don't have access to some of the advanced features yet, like x y z accellerometers, vibrate, Wiimote sound, and lights. There are some hacks floating around for accesing these, so eventually things could be really sweet. The other problem is the crappy Opera browser with a navigation bar that takes up too much room, that must be removed!
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