While Nintendo may have successfully competed in the game console market with its higly successful Wii game console, it is however lagging behind rivals Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 when it comes to diverging into other services and features aside from video gaming. Â Playstation 3 has blu-ray movie playback capabilities as well as online connectivity through the Playstation Network while the Xbox has a high-definition movie store and also an online chat facility. And yes, both the PS3 and Xbox also have Netflix service.
So, playing catch-up with its rivals, Nintendo is about to announce that it will soon be adding Netflix service to its Wii console to enable video streaming, according to a report from the NYT. The new Nintendo Wii feature will allow Netflix subscribers to choose from a catalog of older movies and TV Shows through their Nintendoo Wii and watch them immediately on their connected TV.
When the new feature goes live, Nintendo Wii owners using broadband Internet connection at home and who have been subscribe to Netflix’s DVD-by-mail service for the last 9 months can use the new service without incurring any additional cost. But before Nintendo Wii users can watch the moviews, they will have to use a free software disc from Netflix which they need to put into their consoles.
This maybe a rather crude way of introducing video streaming capabilities to its Wii console, but Nintendo certainly knows that there is a growing demand for such capabilities as the market rivalry dictates them to do so. It may not be as good as the video streaming and video playback capabilities of its rival, but it is nonetheless a step in the right direction.
Perhaps, someday Nintendo will also come up with a new Wii version. A Blu-ray capable Nintendo Wii perhaps?
Originally posted on January 13, 2010 @ 5:10 pm