If you are receiving the “Unable to initialize network” error when launching the Homebrew Browser application from the Homebrew Channel, press the Home key to return to the Homebrew Channel, wait for the globe icon in the lower-right corner of the screen to stop blinking and remain solid, and launch the Homebrew Browser again.

The globe icon in the Homebrew Channel indicates the network connection status. If the icon is blinking, the Wii is still trying to establish a network connection. If the icon is lit and solid, the Wii has established a network connection.

If the globe icon continues blinking after 30 seconds or if it is grayed out, check your Wii’s network connection settings.

A friend of mine is selling some of his old hardware. Among the phat l00t available were two video capture devices: the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-350 and the WinTV-PVR-USB2. Since both allow for recording from RCA inputs (read: video game consoles), I decided to purchase both.

After I pick up the items and install the WinTV-PVR-350 in my desktop computer, I plan to record videos of rare and import console games, including Puyo Puyo Box for the Playstation, Super Puzzle Fighter II X for the Dreamcast, undub versions of Persona 3 FES and Persona 4 for the Playstation 2, and Tatsunoko v. Capcom for the Wii. When I record the videos, I plan to upload them to my YouTube channel.

I don’t know when I’ll be traveling to pick up the items, but it will likely be around late May or early June. Watch this site for further updates.

Unreal Tournament 3 shipped with a campaign mode that was pretty meh if played alone, but much more fun if played with friends. Unfortunately, configuring one’s router to allow hosting of online co-op campaign games can be frustratingly complex. Epic has provided no official documentation on the subject, so UT3 owners have been left to figure out which ports to forward for themselves.

There are already several great guides with instructions on discovering your computer’s IP address, changing your router’s configuration, and forwarding ports, so I won’t cover that in this article.

You could place your computer in your router’s DMZ, but that opens all ports on the computer to the Internet and presents a serious security risk.

Instead, here’s a list of UDP ports (not TCP) you’ll need to forward to get online co-op campaign play working:

• 6500
• 7777
• 8767
• 9989
• 13000
• 49152-65535

I need to conduct further tests to determine whether all ports listed need to be forwarded to allow for online co-op campaign play, but I have personally tested these settings and they work for me when no other configurations I found during my long search worked.