Hey man, you don’t owe us an explanation. Times are tough, so maybe you just don’t have the 500 Wii points (that is, five bucks) to get in on the Wii Internet Channel, and you missed the free launch event way back in 2006. Well, you’re in for a treat: effective immediately, Wii owners can download the thing, free of charge, in perpetuity. And if you already shelled out the bones? Don’t worry — starting at the end of October, consumers who have previously exchanged 500 Wii Points to download the Internet Channel will get one NES game of their choice (of the same value) from Virtual Console. But that ain’t all — the Internet Channel has got a little upgrade in the form of Adobe Flash Lite 3.1, just the thing for all your YouTube needs. Hit the read link to get started.

This shouldn’t really come as too much of a surprise, but anyone wanting to enjoy Twitter and Facebook on Xbox Live will have to pony up for Gold member subscription, the same premium prerequisite currently needed for Netflix Instant Watch and pretty much all online gaming. Silver membership will be given a “free trial,” but exactly what limitations that entails, or if they’ll be an option to “upgrade” to the full version, is anyone’s guess.  Read more over here at Joystiq.

For World of Warcraft players deadly serious about account security, Blizzard has released the Battle.net Mobile Authenticator for the iPhone. No need to carry a keychain ever again!

The free iPhone app is now available for download through the iTunes App Store, giving World of Warcraft players peace of mind with the power of a unique identifying code. No longer will someone be able to log into your WoW account to see who you’re cybering with on your personal time.

It works just like the already-released keychain version, but without the need for unique hardware. All that’s required is a simple download and a quick change to your Battle.net account.

If you don’t have an iPhone, an iPod Touch with a working wi-fi connection will do. Expect Blizzard to offer a similar Mobile Authenticator for other mobile platforms and providers at some point in the future.

Battle.net Mobile Authenticator Now Available [World of Warcraft]
Battle.net Mobile Authenticator [iTunes]

Have any plans for the weekend? Yeah, I’m talking to you. If not, here’s a suggestion: how’s about some online Capture-the-Flag action (or Deathmatch action, whatever floats your boat) on Unreal Tournament III Black. Oh, and it’s free. OK, so it’s for the PC only and doesn’t apply to the PlayStation 3, but it’s still a pretty cool deal and it’s something to do.

Whether or not you have the game, it’s all good. The free weekend includes the game, the Titan Pack expansion, and the 2.0 patch. Now, all you have to do is sign up for a Steam account, which is also free, and you are good to go.

After the entire weekend hullabaloo dies down, Unreal Tournament III Black will be available on Steam at a 40 percent discount, costing around 12 bucks, and will remain so, right up until March 15.

In the meantime, go frag some people online tonight. Go ahead. Frag the hell outta them.

Check this Link the free deal is good till Midnight March 8th, 2009

What’s that, Xbox Silver members? Come again? Sorry, we Gold members had a hard time hearing you from the private Gold Member hydrofoil. Oh, you want a taste? A taste of the suite life? Well, ask and ye shall receive.

What’s that? Oh! The sweet life! Sorry, the Bellini machine is making a terrible racket. Listen, we know you want a taste of Gold, and we think we might have something worked out for you, a little something we and Microsoft are calling “Friendship is Free.” For the next month, you’ll have free multiplayer access to A Kingdom for Keflings, Aegis Wing, Bomberman Live, Hardwood Hearts, Hardwood Spades, UNO, Small Arms and Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix.

We know, we know, we’re being too generous. Our mothers tell us it’s a fault in our character, but we like to think of it as just paying it forward.

A new Firefox extension called Pirates of the Amazon lets users download movies, games, TV shows, and MP3s free of charge by cross referencing Amazon’s product pages with torrent files from the Pirate Bay.

If the content can be found on the Pirate Bay’s search index it shows up as a “Download 4 Free” link on the top of the Amazon product page. This links directly to the hosted .torrent tracker file, letting the user avoid having to make a purchase from Amazon in place of acquiring it illegally via BitTorrent.

The extension developer’s site, along with the link to download the software is currently offline. The extension made the front page of Digg a few hours ago, which is likely what took the site out (not legal intervention). I’ve contacted Amazon to see if the company is making any efforts to block the extension but have not heard back yet. As it stands, the extension still works, albeit without the “Download 4 Free” thumbnail, which is hosted on the developer’s servers.

As blog Torrentfreak notes, this is a really bad time for such an extension. Piracy continues to be a huge problem for movies, music albums, and PC games. Amazon’s online MP3 store is one of the least expensive places to legally purchase DRM-free music, and this extension manages to make it that much simpler to pirate. It also coincides with a time of year when online retailers are getting an increase in traffic due to holiday sales.

That said, anyone who knows how to pirate content probably did not need this to continue their habit.

A similar add-on is available for IMDB users from Userscripts.org that cross references movie titles with torrent sites to find copies of films online. Despite its clear lean toward piracy, I’d argue that one of its more useful features it is to track down subtitle files, which can provide translations in smaller countries where the content might be legally available but not localized.

Below is a demo of how the extension works. Expect the developer’s site, along with the download links to be back up later today.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Publishing juggernaut Activision recently partnered up with the United Service Organization, a non-profit group whose sole purpose is to boost the morale of those currently serving in the armed forces, to give the gift of gaming to a bunch of people who have really earned it. At a launch event for Call of Duty: World at War at a Washington D.C. GameStop, customers will be able to play the title online with active servicemen and servicewomen — in addition, for every copy of World at War purchased at the event, Activision will donate $10 to the USO. On top of all that, Activision will also donate $100,000 worth of Guitar Hero III to military bases across the globe.

-Source

Okay, so they may not be the greatest games ever published, but the U.S. Air Force is serving up the full versions of three Midway PC titles – and they are absolutely free:

• The Suffering
• Area-51
• Rise &  Fall:  Civilizations at War

It’s undoubtedly part of the USAF’s recruitment effort, since the download site links over to Do Something Amazing, the flyboys’ marketing presence on the web.

And, hey, including Area-51 in an Air Force promo is kinda creepy and cool at the same time, no? Somebody at HQ  has a sense of humor.

Given the volume of f-bombs and uninformed hate speech overheard during, oh, every game played over Xbox Live ever, we have to question if some of the service’s subscribers aren’t actually 5th graders. Anyway.

You can prove yourself better — and smarter — than them on Wednesday, when THQ and Blitz Arcade launch Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader: Make the Grade on XBLA. The quiz game will be priced at 1200 ($15). Failing to prove you’re smarter than a 5th grader will cost you your pride.

This week’s Arcade update also includes a new multiplayer map for Marble Blast Ultra (including its own Achievement) for the low, low price of nothing. (It’s free!)