Opera Web Browser "BETA" is nerfed?

To get you caught up here's the latest on the Wii Opera Browser...

Nintendo announced that a BETA of the Opera browser will be availible for download from the Wii Shop for FREE starting on December 22nd.

This was very exciting news, because there are lots of cool and fun flash projects in development that are hoping to take advantage on the Wii's onscreen and pointing abilities to create their own content.

Some examples of sites that are being developed for the Wii include:

WiiCR
Flash based media player

WiiFii
Wii Menu for Flash Games

WiiX
Javascript based Wii Menu system

Other Flash game sites that may work with Wii (Source: X-Scene)
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/games/wii/
http://wiicade.com/
http://www.wii2d.com/

Katamari Damacy clone
http://www.gamesforwork.com/games/swf/katamari.swf

http://www.homestarrunner.com


Now for the bad news. A site called Skeptical Gaming has posted an article which reads:

"A source close to the Wii Opera project", as they've wished to be identified, has given yours truly a little bit of info on what you'll be able to expect from the trial version of the Opera browser that's being made available to Wii owners this Friday.

...

Several key features are expected to be nerfed from the trial build. Most notably, full Javascript support. From what we've heard, part of the Opera Wii Browser QA issue is that several areas in the Wii's architecture can be exploited through Javascript, and Nintendo wants Opera to patch that before any release. Nintendo's so worried about potential violations and exposures of the Wii software, they're playing it safe.

...

Other things you'll notice with the trial version: Flash may not work correctly. It appears that Opera is custom building their Flash plug-ins to limit the security exposures that the plug-in presents. And while that's great from a control standpoint, it's expected to cause some compatibility issues. You'll have problems accessing some sites that utilize Flash.

Widget support is being hurriedly rushed in a desperate attempt to get it included in the Wii Browser on Friday, but it's not expected to be made available. Support for the Ajax technology is expected to work fine, however.

Source: Skeptical Gaming

You can also read more comments on the subject over on digg

Most people are calling this guy out saing it's BS. The article says there is no Javascript, but it fully supports AJAX?! Some things don't add up, so for now all we can do is wait and see what Nintendo delivers to us in the next few days... Check back soon for a full update on the capabilities of the Wii Web Browser once it has been released!

UPDATE: It has been reported that the browser has been released in Europe and Australia, but not in the United States yet. Most people are confirming that it is a full browser, supports flash, ajax/javascript, loads youtube perfectly, and even passes the acid2 browser test.

Other Features / Limitations:
Opera can only store up to 21 bookmarks
Flash Player 7 - [ Your Player Version: WII 7,0,70,0 | Operating System: Nintendo Wii | Debug Player: No | Video Encoder: No] (thx linFox)

This is great news! Stay tuned for a full update later.