And Nintendo declared, “Let Wii owners surf the web for free”

Nintendo’s latest announcement is going to make a lot of Wii owners very happy. The Internet Channel, which previously cost 500 Wii Points/$5 from the Wii Shop Channel, is now free. If you’ve got a Wii and it’s hooked up to the internet, you can hop on today and pick up the channel at no cost to you. You can then use said Internet Channel to browse online at your leisure. The company has decided to take this action to help make the Wii an even more invaluable part of its users lives.

If you’re one of the people who paid 500 Wii Points for the Internet Channel, you’re probably feeling a bit cheated right now. After all, you paid $5 for a service everyone else gets for free. Well, Nintendo wants to, and is going to, make it up to you. At the end of October, 2009, Nintendo is going to offer people who paid for the Internet Channel a free NES Virtual Console game from the Wii Shop Channel. You can choose whatever 500 Wii Point NES game you’d like.

This isn’t the first time the Internet Channel has been free. Before July 2007, the channel was a free download to promote the Wii’s launch. And now, it’s a free download once again.

I know what I’m going to download the second I get home. I’m not sure how often I’ll really use the Internet Channel, but it’s free! It could come in handy, especially if you want to check something quick but don’t want to go to the trouble of starting up your computer. If you’ve got a Wii and it’s hooked up to the internet, you should take Nintendo up on this offer too!

Read [Wii Blog] Also Read [Kotaku]