In an interview with the Seattle Times, Nintendo of America President Reggie-Fils Aime left open the possibility of selling Wii U consoles through cable providers.
While this might seem pretty far-fetched, it's well-known that Nintendo is hoping for big things from its Nintendo TVii service, which aims to combine Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu Plus, and TiVo all into one centralized service. And although Reggie asserts that Nintendo is a game company first and foremost, the interview touched upon the possibility of selling Wii U consoles through cable TV providers.
Seattle Times: Will you sell this system through Comcast or other TV partners?
Reggie: It's certainly possible.
Seattle Times: Why didn't you just buy TiVo and go the whole DVR route?
Reggie: That's not what we do.
This strategy, which provides a service or product for a subsidized cost by requiring owners to sign contracts, is nothing new of course. Apple has been very successful with their line of phones, which they provide for a fraction of the price if you sign a two-year contract. Granted, we haven't seen Nintendo do anything like this before, but gaming stalwart Microsoft provided a similar service with their Xbox 360, which was sold at a heavily discounted price in return for subscribing to multiple years of their Xbox Live Gold service.
[source seattletimes.com]
Comments 21
Whoa. This could change the way I watch TV... FOREVER.
I sure hope so. I don't wanna miss out on my favorite channels: Hub, Cartoon Network, Disney XD, or my favorite shows: Transformers Prime, Tron Uprising, and Star Wars:The Clone Wars.
"It's certainly possible."
Loosely translated - it's certainly possible the world could end on Dec 21, 2012 so go run up your credit card debt today.
It's also certainly possible Kid Icarus Uprising will come to the Wii U, and GCN games will be downloadable on the eShop, and a million other things that'll eventually disappoint us for some reason or another.
Really I don't care, it's a video gaming console, and I don't care nor will I probably use it.
They could have renamed it "Tiivo."
"Seattle Times: Why didn't you just buy TiVo and go the whole DVR route?"
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha... okay, I'm done. :3
Will it work with TWC? I only have TWC...
hmm i see some probs with with cable/satellite i mean they have there own tech like stopping commercials, recording shows etc etc just cuz wii u has hulu and the others doesnt mean it could fit right in =S i man if the wii u did or later on had apps that could do stuff like that then i see why cable companies could sell them too
The Wii U works with Amazon Instant Video? That's a nice feature, especially since I have a season or two on their service...
I could see this working since the goal is to get Wii U into as many homes as possible. Many people who will want Wii U will also subscribe to say, Comcast. They want Wii U and they already subscribe to Comcast, the Wii U is "cheaper" through Comcast so its a win-win situation.
By "cheaper" I mean the plan they need to subscribe to might be more than if they stuck to their current one and saved for the Wii U.
Not news. That's not Reggie "hinting at things", that's being evasive because he either doesn't know the company's full plans in that area or doesn't want to rule it out. Nintendo has already partnered with other companies in the past in similar fashion (See the Panasonic Q) so it's not impossible they could work with cable companies down the road. And that's basically all he said.
Doubt it. But optimism never hurt anyone...right?
As much as i like this TVii idea, i'm a bit sick of hearing about it because I live in Australia, and of course I will be getting a Wii U, but it seems it will be a console that will sit under my TV with so much more potential than what is being provided by Nintendo Australia.
We'll see Reggie! Once it becomes talk of the town that is! (I hope it does rule).
I'm pleasantly surprised at how aggressive Nintendo is being in marketing their new products. This move would rapidly expand the Wii U install base and strengthen their name recognition amongst non-gamers. Not bad.
Oh Reggie...
I'm surprised they've never tried this before. It's not the same now but if anyone could've got their console into a sky+ box they wouldve won that generation.
If I was nintendo I would licence the wii u to be put into TiVo, Sky, Bluray players and PCs. As long as the provider still had to pay nintendo the licence fee much like with the Gamecube DVD player then everyone is a winner.
Failing that, I'd like the gamepad to control my tivo because the Tivo remote is ugly
The entire interview is well worth a read. Reggie's a smooth customer, he is...
And yet it can't play DVDs. At least without a software modification.
I love how in the picture, Reggie looks like he's just about to spit tobacco.
There aren't enough Wii U's to fill all the pre-orders, where will they find the stock to supply cable companies??
No. I am not interested in contracts. When Nintendo did the BSX(Satellaview) games, they partnered w/ St. Giga. You had to get the tuners from St. Giga outright, or for a monthly fee. (So,) Nintendo has done this before. The service was ended in '99/2000 for a variety of reasons. In the past few weeks, when/e I've read about Miiverse, & Nintendo's currently supposed stance about it featuring in future consoles, I immediately though about the BSX/Satellaview. I really don't think it will follow to the next console gen, although it might. I feel likewise, about this. Btw, anyone interested in the video on Youtube about the Satellaview. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDVxSm-_iM4
Edit: Btw, if Nintendo is going to start marketing w/ contracts, then as far as I am concerned, they have started to lose me, as a customer. It will only be a matter of time, before contract-customers get treatment that non-contractual customers don't get. It's easy to see why; as a co., Nintendo stands to make more profit off those who contract, rather than those who don't.
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