Wii Video Service to Hit Other Regions Soon

by Pedro Hernandez - May 3, 2009, 12:30 pm EDT
Total comments: 10 Source: Gamasutra

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata details the recently released service while confirming its release in other regions.

On May 1 Nintendo made the new Wii no Ma channel available for Japanese fans. As we detailed a few days ago, Wii no Ma is a new video download service featuring video and services from various Japanese companies, as well as a DSi option that lets gamers download videos off the Wii channel and play them on their DSi.

Satoru Iwata confirmed on the eve of its Japanese release that the channel will “expand to other regions”. Release dates weren’t mentioned.

The executive hopes that its user friendly presentation - one that features Miis interacting in a tea room - makes the service more compelling than those found on the PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

"Broadly defined, Wii no Ma is a service which delivers video to the consumer, funded by ads," Iwata said. "It's meant to be enjoyed by the whole family without taking up to much [of their] energy."

Talkback

Mop it upMay 03, 2009

With things like Netflix offer video streaming on the PC, I wonder if this will attract any attention? I guess it will depend on what the price is. The only advantage I can see over Neflix is that it allows the movies to be easily watched on a television rather than a PC monitor.

NWR_pap64Pedro Hernandez, Contributing WriterMay 03, 2009

What I am curious about is what partners Nintendo will get for the US version of the channel. Right now Wii no Ma is VERY Japan, offering services, videos and features that appeal to the Japanese market. Even the tea room them could be changed to a living room with a widescreen TV in other areas.

I was thinking that Netflix could be a good partner, but it seems they are interested on doing their own thing.

Mop it upMay 03, 2009

Quote from: pap64

I was thinking that Netflix could be a good partner, but it seems they are interested on doing their own thing.

How about BlockBuster? Their business has suffered as a result of Netflix's popularity and this might be a way for them to retaliate.

Ian SaneMay 04, 2009

What are the current videos like? Is this is the sort of thing that would attract any interest in North America at all? I'd say anything less than movies or TV shows will go nowhere. They can't be novelty videos. We're got YouTube for that. It has to be a real service or I just can't imagine it going anywhere.

And isn't this the EXACT sort of thing that Nintendo used to crap on Sony for? This has nothing to do with videogames at all. Nintendo used to be utterly against anything of the sort. Nintendo, don't let this be your UMD.

EasyCureMay 04, 2009

Quote from: Ian

I think the reason they'd "crap on Sony" and whoever is because they do this sorta thing right out the gate. It's not like Nintendo hasn't done this sorta thing before.

Their stance has always been to make a gaming machine, then if they choose to include extras later on, they do so