Nintendo: no DVD, BD playback for Wii U
Not Invented Here
Nintendo's next-gen console, the Wii U, will, like its predecessor, have no DVD playback capabilities. It won't play Blu-ray Discs, either.
Ninty boss Satoru Iwata confirmed the news during a Nintendo Q&A session following E3 last week.
He said: "The reason for that is that we feel that enough people already have devices that are capable of playing DVDs and Blu-ray, such that it didn't warrant the cost involved to build that functionality into the Wii U console because of the patents related to those technologies."
Proprietary all the way
In an interview with Kotaku, Nintendo designer Katsuya Eguchi confirmed the Wii U will use a proprietary high-density optical disc format. These supposedly pack 25GB of storage capacity, the same as a single-layer BD.
Considering Nintendo appears to be pushing the Wii U as the ultimate entertainment hub for consumer's living rooms, the exclusion of standardised formats might not be such a wise one. Still, it didn't do the Wii any harm, despite the many calls for DVD playback functionality.
Has Iwata got a point - perhaps he thinks we'll all be downloading HD movies by the time the Wii U appears - or is Nintendo simply cost-cutting? Let us know what you think below. ®
COMMENTS
Netflix?
Maybe when there's a global movie streaming system this would make sense. Currently in the UK the delivery method for movies involves putting DVDs in envelopes and posting them.
Packet loss is a real bitch on that system.
still
But once it arrives you can watch it as many times as you like until you mistake the shiny disc for a beermat. The capacity, speed, reliability and reach of streaming needs to be improved a wee bit to huge pipes, ludicrous speed, won't break and everywhere before streaming will replace hard media.
iplayer st-u-ttttt-rrrrrs at the moment where I am, I tried streaming a film off xbox live and that was unwatchable and took an age to start. If I want to watch Mary Poppins it should take no longer to start when downloading than the time it takes me to get the DVD off the rack and skip to the player
I think the guy is on the level
If you were ever going to get a DVD player, you already have one. Blu-ray will, in all likelihood be the last physical disk system for movies; netflix and On-Demand systems are in explosive growth. Iwata wants to put a console forward into that market, and can either sell to the market now (expensively) or prepare for the market of 2, 3 or 5 years time, and do it cheaply.
prop. discs make piracy harder (though it'll still happen), and avoid nintendo paying out patent rights to other companies, something which its never been keen on to start with. most families I know, as their kids moved rapidly out of the "lets play jump around games with mum and dad" to "mum and dad suck, imma mope in my room" have used their Wiis less and less as gaming hubs and more and more as netflix boxen, and it seem Iwata is looking forward and preparing for changes to come.
yes, seriously. I dont see any obvious flaws in the logic or the method.
Oh Steve, I thought you'd have a 360...
But seriously, the Wii U is /extremely/ likely to have specs surpassing that of the PS3 or the Xbox 360. But then, that's not really a challenge, seeing as those consoles are 5-6 years old.
I agree with the Nintendo man....
A games console for playing games, a film player [dvd or BD] for films.
This has always been the point of Nintendo and Sega, who are sadly no longer with us. But, with MS and Sony trying to be a Jack of All Trades, there is a room for a good value, cracking good, rip roaring games console!!
Just hope the price point is not too mental..!!
