The Internet Channel for the Wii, powered by Opera, has arrived.

I started writing this post with it, but after the title and the first sentence, I realized it would take forever. Typing short things with the on-screen keyboard and the Wiimote is fine, but I wasn’t about to start making links and everything else with it.

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Have you had one of your Wiimote straps break yet?

If not, great, but if you have, as have many other poor, unfortunate people out there, then fear not, you don’t have to go through some cumbersome replacement procedure.

In fact, all you have to do is fill out this simple Wii Remote Wrist Strap Replacement Request Form over at Nintendo’s support site. Make sure you have your Wii handy when doing so, as you will need to enter your system’s serial number. It’s on one of the stickers on the bottom of the unit. I already ordered 2 replacement straps since one of mine already snapped and the other I no longer trust.

As you can see, the newer strap is thicker and, hopefully, safer than the old one.

If you’re just not feeling the love for the pain white straps, though, you can always get yourself a “custom” strap.

With a little sticker fun from DecalGirl.com you can transform your shiny new Wii System into the iconic classic grey and black of the original NES. 

It’s a little nit-picky, but i wish the sticker configuration would have been set up so that the disc would slide into the area the door port area that was on the original system. Don’t get me wrong, this is a *great* idea, and these decals will be purchased as soon as I have a Wii System to call my own. 

Decal Girl also carries additional decals to transform your remote and nunchuck as well.

Yes, a Power Glove. It was the ultimate accessory for the NES, regardless of its relative uselessness.

I’d have given my right arm for one at the time. And I didn’t even see that movie until much later.

Anyway, some industrious geek married an old Power Glove with a new Wiimote. The results are pretty damn cool.

ArsTechnica reports on market research from iSuppli on the breakdown of how much a PlayStation 3 console really costs to make.  The results are quite astonishing!

“Describing the PS3 as an “engineering masterpiece,” iSuppli estimates that the more expensive $599 console costs $840.35 to build, leaving Sony with a $241.35 loss on each console. The picture is worse for the cheaper, $499 version. Sony takes a hit of $306.85 per $499 console sold, due primarily to the lack of any substantial savings from the hardware differences between the two versions of the PS3. For instance, the 40GB difference in hard drive space between the two versions of the PS3 only saves Sony $11 and omitting 802.11b/g on the cheaper console only saves Sony an additional $15.50.”

For those who love charts, here is the full breakdown from iSuppli:

Hoping to pick up a Wii on the 19th? You might need a bit of help.

Wiiloaded has written a short but thorough guide to finding a Wii that might be of help. It offers specific information about how different stores will be handling the release and also more general tips on how you might get your gnarled gamer’s hands on one of these babies before the holidays.

Although, if you just want one to sell it on eBay or something, then you can shove the Wiimote where the infrared don’t shine.

That deaf, dumb and blind kid may soon need part way with his beloved bumpers, buzzers and bells if Global VR has their way with their new digital pinball machine, that replaces all the ramps, paddles and levels of the classic pinball machine with a plasma monitor for the play table, an LCD screen that keeps track of the score and digital amplification for sound.

The initial machine that will be released features six classic tables from William and Bally - Attack from Mars, Medieval Madness, F-14 Tomcat, Strikes and Spares, Sorcerer and Xenon. Additional tables will be released in the future and be sold as upgrades.

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