Hey Wii fans! Are you jealous of the built-in media functions of the PS3 and 360? Want to be able to stream music, movies, and hardcore porn straight from your home computer? Well, there’s a great solution for you, and it even works on occasion!
Orb is a free program that hosts a web server on your computer, with the ability to stream image, video, and music files to other networked devices. Once you have it installed, and are registered for an Orb account, you can then sign in through their website.
The cool part about Orb is that it is customized to work with the Wii Opera browser. Upon log-in, you’ll instantly recognize the interface as a cheap knock-off of Windows Media Center. Only this time around, your arms get tired navigating the menus.
Speaking of which, voyaging through the interface can be a pain . Since it is just using a web browser, the delay between two pages can be anywhere from 1-5 seconds. Also, there are no helpful sort functions. If you have hundreds of files to sift through, then the search feature will be your best bet. Aren’t you always looking for an excuse to use that cute Wii on-screen keyboard?
The music and video player is a flash application, which seems to hold up okay. The videos are re-encoded to MPEG-2 on the fly. This means significant picture degradation, and an increased amount of resources. This is probably necessary, due to both the Wii’s graphics capabilities, and it’s wireless connection. Streaming any large video files over Wi-Fi can cause a lot of buffer issues. If I didn’t have such a shitty TV, I would be whining a lot more.
Orb also has collected a plethora of Flash games, a few of which actually work with the controller. 2 Many Bugs is extremely addicting using the Wiimote. Sorting by Flash version can help you find good ones, but it’s not a solid method. The problem occurs when a game asks you to ‘Press Spacebar to Shoot”.
Additional features you’ll never use include a webcam viewer, a slew of crap InternetTV channels, an RSS aggregate, and a built-in Easy Bake Oven. Simply shove a 50-watt light bulb into your Wii’s expansion slot, and you can have actual warm cupcakes in 20 minutes! Frosting not included.
Final conclusion - if all you have is a Wii, it serves you right to use this software. It’s your own damn fault for buying a console that, as far as utility is concerned, could replace your pet rock.
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9 responses so far ↓
1 RAGNAROCK // Feb 28, 2008 at 5:39 pm
might as well use it because the only resent gen-console is the wii(the only cheap console there was so had to buy it)
2 ajnokia // Feb 29, 2008 at 10:09 am
This also works with the PS3 but the PS3 has a media player. But if you want to listen to internet radio or stream stuff from your computer its pretty darn good
3 Youlikeyams // Feb 29, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Tversity is better for straight, direct streaming. Choose that for a PS3.
4 Vluhd // Feb 29, 2008 at 1:05 pm
nicely worded, all in all i think we can just conclude the wii sucks, end of story.
5 Manuva // Feb 29, 2008 at 1:10 pm
I have a Wii to play games on it. Don’t be shocked.
6 Joshthegreat // Mar 4, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Haha! ‘Semi-functional’
7 Nascar Sucks // Mar 4, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Hmm…about 12 months late on this story guys, nice try.
8 gvdeggdvdsbd // Mar 8, 2008 at 9:43 pm
This websitesucks
9 hardcore porn // Apr 2, 2008 at 9:38 pm
[...] online.http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23476367-5001026,00.html?from=public_rssTurn your Wii into a Semi-Functional Media PlayerHey Wii fans! Are you jealous of the built-in media functions of the PS3 and 360? Want to be able to [...]
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