Nintendo has just announced that it is making the Wii Internet Channel FREE to all users across all territories. Nice one, top one, sorted etc.

Why is this significant? Well, something for nothing is always a good thing – particularly when it’s from a company not known for giving stuff away. It’s also noteworthy because the Opera browser-powered Internet Channel used to cost 500 Wii Points (£3.50-ish) to download. However now such cost barriers have been torn asunder the entire world-wide web is yours to wander at will – gratis, free and for nothing. Just as it should have been in the first place, of course.

In a similarly generous double-bonus Nintendo has a nice surprise for those of you who already bought the ability to browse. Your rosy-cheeked eagerness will be rewarded with a FREE NES game to download from the Virtual Console. You won’t be able to do so until October and the game must be worth 500 Wii Points, in order to match your initial investment. Otherwise the job, as they say, is a good ‘un. See www.nintendo.co.uk for more details.