Why is there no way to download and/or display/listen to music, videos, and photos? They're very simple features but they could add so much to the Wii U. Playing custom music during games would be very nice, especially since I now have a very nice sound system hooked up to my TV. I would also love to view video files on the Wii U, since YouTube sucks on it. I'm a filmmaker so watching my videos on the big screen is nice, but I don't really like hooking up my computer to it. This is literally the only reason I still use my PS3.
Having more media features on the Wii U would certainly make it much more attractive in my opinion. Even the photo channel on the original Wii had some of these features, so I don't understand why it's not present on the Wii U.
On a side thought, having apps on the Wii U (similar to a tablet/phone) would be pretty cool too, and could be a substitute for this lack of media-playing software....but that could be a whole different topic entirely.
Does anyone else feel like the Wii U lacks in media features?! It can't be just me...right..?
The Wii U is very anti-multimedia (it doesn't even play DVDs and audio CDs); unless all you care about is Netflix, other video streaming services, and Youtube. Sony and Microsoft has always embraced multimedia while Nintendo seems to only care about games. Why can't I have my cake and eat it too?
3DS has mp3 playback. I could see Nintendo possibly updating the OS for this. Most of the people that want this sort of thing already went with the Xbox One or PS4. Those systems don't have an SD card port, though.
Qwest
3DS Friend Code: 4253-3737-8064 | Nintendo Network ID: Children
Since the 3DS is capable of doing most of the things you just mentioned, it seems Nintendo doesn't think those features are necessary for a home console... in particular the idea of "apps" is actually quite prevalent on 3DS.
If you run a Plex Media Server on your computer you can view all kinds of things via HTML5 on the web browser (this includes things that I can't normally view on WiiU, like Crunchyroll). It works quite great! Doesn't seem to work for music though (probably because it doesn't transcode audio to what WiiU expects...WiiU has meh support for music via HTML5, but video works quite great). I think you can do pictures as well, though I've not tried it. I'd be surprised if it didn't work though, clearly WiiU does fine with JPGs and such.
If you run a Plex Media Server on your computer you can view all kinds of things via HTML5 on the web browser (this includes things that I can't normally view on WiiU, like Crunchyroll). It works quite great! Doesn't seem to work for music though (probably because it doesn't transcode audio to what WiiU expects...WiiU has meh support for music via HTML5, but video works quite great). I think you can do pictures as well, though I've not tried it. I'd be surprised if it didn't work though, clearly WiiU does fine with JPGs and such.
Oh cool, thanks! I'll look into that
I really do Nintendo does update the Wii U to have some of the 3DS's features, and perhaps even vice versa. It can only make the console better!...well hopefully
The Wii U does lack media features (in fact that has been a major complaint for almost all Nintendo consoles). In terms of disk media, it is because they do not want to pay per-unit royalties to companies for licenses to the people who hold the copyrights, trademarks, patents on DVD and Blu-Ray technology. Due to the way licensing is done we will most likely never see our existing Wii U's being able to play DVDs and Blu-Rays.
In terms, of apps that play your own content off of an external HD or SD card, these are possible; but Nintendo most likely does not want to spend the resources to make it (they did not even develop the web browser for the Wii U by themselves, it was make as a partnership between Nintendo and a company in Ottawa, Canada (I forgot their name exactly but I remember reading a press release by both companies that the browser was mostly developed by them). Of course, Nintendo could take VLC (which much like Webkit used in their browser is open source), but again they would have to optimize it for Wii U, and VLC (and similar open source alternatives) do come with legal constraints in certain which Nintendo would like to avoid at all costs.
So can Nintendo make H.264 based media centre app with the ability to also Mp3s and AACs for Wii U? Yes, they can.
Should they make such an app? Yes they should because it will get more people to use their console which might lead to them also using to make purchases from Nintendo through eShop or play games; essentially it will help increase exposure. Also, in my opinion, the Gamecube would have been more successful if it came with a standard DVD player with the ability to playback videos; but that is in the past.
Will they do such a thing? Based on their history, they will not do it because they are a bit stubborn when it comes to outright adding media playback features to their system, beyond third party streaming apps (it is amazing we even got such a good web browser in the Wii U; but you will see that the reasoning behind making the web-browser more media capable was so that people could watch walkthroughs on the internet without quitting their game; so the actual reasoning had to do with more gameplay than people enjoying videos on the web on their couch) .
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Topic: Wii U Media Center?
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