Sad news in the world of gaming today, as UK retailer GAME have announced that they will be closing 127 of their iconic high street retail outlets over the next 3 years. The company has blamed increased competition from supermarkets and the internet, and will be reducing the number of shops from 677 locations across the UK to 550. The decision was made after profits dropped 28% over the previous year.

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BBC News have announced today that, due to the huge popularity of their online video service iPlayer with the UK's 6 million Wii owners, they will soon be releasing a dedicated player for the console. The downloadable channel will install directly to the Wii's home screen and will allow users to bypass the web browser and view on-demand TV programmes directly throught their TV and home entertainment system.

The BBC have announced that the new channel will also support radio, with some unique animations and visualisations, and will utilise the Wii Remote's vibration feedback in some capacity. Of course, HDTV owners will probably benefit from a component video cable for the best possible picture quality while using the service.

The dedicated channel is a response to user complaints about the original browser-based interface, and is available from the Wii Shop Channel on November 18th. It is only available to users with a broadband connection in the UK.