Very soon, in Japan at least, Wii owners will be on the receiving end of an ambiguous video on demand service.
The details today are sparse, to say the least, but here’s what we know courtesy of Japan Today:
Nintendo said it would develop original programming which Wii users could access via the Internet and watch on their television. It is considering videos for both free and fees. […] “Nintendo and Dentsu shall use the environment surrounding the Wii so that living rooms with Wii-ready TVs would become more of a fun area for communication among families and friends,” the firms said in a joint statement.
The service is scheduled to go live in 2009. Deployment beyond Japan could happen depending on the program’s success or failure.
Thoughts?
Sounds like a good idea.
The more options to enjoy the Wii, the better.
I wonder, what will be the free content and what will be the pay content? I would stick the the 360 for HD movie downloads for sure, especially ewith nio hard drive and streaming only on the Wii.
Hope it catches on in Japan!
all content will be digitally distributed in the future. not sure that nintendo developed programming is a pull, but this moves them closer to the excellent netflix deal MS has and Sony is unwisely skeptical of.
They already have this in Japan for the DS. It's an accesory that picks up Japanese TV signals and allows you to watch TV. Our Asian brethren get all of the goods.
Personally, I'd rather them focus on innovating in the games space (like new genres, unique games), but I suppose this is part of their whole "Blue Ocean" strategy…they are obviously banking so power to 'em.
lite, that's not what this is. its not picking up TV signals. its for streaming videos that will be exclusive to wii, mainly manga cartoons.