A recent customer survey from online DVD vendors Netflix suggests that the company may be expanding their service to Nintendo Wii owners in the future.
The subscription-based service, available to Xbox 360 owners since late November, would "offer its members the ability to watch movies & TV episodes instantly on their TV via their Nintendo Wii, choosing from a library of over 12,000 choices". In addition to a standard monthly subscription, such a system would hypothetically require the one-time purchase of a "Netflix Instant Streaming Disc" that would need to be placed in the Wii whenever users wanted to access the service.
Netflix has been a huge hit with Xbox owners and with a larger install base and a faster rate of sales the Wii seems to be the next logical direction in which to take the service. That being said, the Wii is dwarfed by the 360, PS3 and even some set top boxes in terms of hardware and output resolution, so it's hard to say whether hardcore movie buffs would shell out for such a feature. The need for a dedicated disc is understandable given the Wii's meagre specs but nonetheless disappointing - is it really too much to ask for a Netflix Channel?
We'll have more coverage here at Nintendo Life as the situation develops, so stay tuned!
[source engadget.com]
Comments (5)
Without HD capabilities this seems a bit pointless. Also on the crappy 512k broadband connection my village gets streaming would never work!
Maybe there will be some kind of audience for this service, but it won't be me!
Hey, what with the upcoming storage "solution" announcement from Nintendo, maybe they could make something that'll allow this service to go ahead. I can't see why this could go wrong, but what would be ideal would be a free version of Hulu for NA Wii owners, and versions of BBC iPlayer, itvPlayer and the like for us here in the UK as channels.
Movies are a good idea, though, and I'd like to see how it would work.
I have to agree with Dazza, its a very poor device for watching movies, 480p if your lucky, no digital audio - essentially its not even as good as most £40 DVD players - without storage aswell, it's a turkey of an idea.
That would be cool! Isn't the Wii getting a TV streaming service?
It would make my parents happy...
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