Topic: No Plans For a DVD-Playing Wii

[famicomplicated]

Nintendo wants to focus on manufacturing the current model for now.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=16255

 During a stockholders meeting held on the 27th, the long talked about DVD-enabled Wii was discussed. Nintendo’s company president, Satoru Iwata, stated that they need to concentrate on producing as many of the current model as possible before thinking about a second iteration.    

The possibility of a DVD-movie playing Wii was first mentioned before the console first launched, but Nintendo later decided against the idea. The company stated back in September 2006 that the Wii would not have DVD functionality in order to keep costs down and because most people already own DVD players.    

Other news from the stockholders meeting concerned the DS TV receiver. Also known as the OneSeg Tuner, the device was previously only available online but will go to retail this July hoping to meet a wider audience.    

Importers beware, the OneSeg signal is specific to Japanese mobile devices such as mobile phones, and therefore will not operate in the US/Europe.

[Morari]

Does anyone even care? You can go buy a good DVD player for about $50. Most people seem satisfied enough with the $20 models down at Big Lots. I already have a DVD player under every television in my house and have for years and years. No one cares.

The DS television tuner sound interesting though. I had something similar for my Game Gear oh-so long ago.

[Nick DiMola]

I don't really care for a DVD playing Wii, but it is definitely something that should've been included from the start; but that dead horse has been beaten enough.

[DAaaMan64]

Let's think about Wii's in different colors instead.

[D_Average]

How about a Wii that plays CD's?!  That would be AWESOME!!!

[KDR_11k]

Didn't they say something about a DVD dongle before the Wii launched? Meh, no loss IMO.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Target sells a $40 RCA upscaling 1080p HDMI 0-trans fat DVD player.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Sad, at least a dozen people will be disappointed.

[AV]

Why couldn't they just do a DVD MOVIE channel?

Of Course you have to pay for it, like $15 or so.

In that channel it would have the codecs and such to allow DVD movie playing and have the DVD  player program.

Wii DOES use DVD for Games for God Sake it really shouldn't take a hardware update to let it happen software should work just as well

[MarioAllStar]

It's one of those polish-related features that aren't really a selling-point, but appreciated by the user when he finds it. That is, Nintendo wouldn't sell many more Wii systems by saying it has a DVD-player where you can navigate menus with the pointer (like with PC DVD playing software), but it would still be a neat part of a larger package.

I would have used the feature a couple times, since the TV cabinet in my room is too full to have a DVD player installed, but it's not that big of a deal.

[BranDonk Kong]

The Wii *CAN* already play DVDs, but it *DOES NOT*, at least not by any official support from Nintendo. Wii discs are DVDs, the only difference is the filesystem used, and the encryption. A DVD is a DVD is a DVD. But anyway, who cares?

[Morari]

I would have used the feature a couple times, since the TV cabinet in my room is too full to have a DVD player installed, but it's not that big of a deal.

You're kidding, right? Cheap-P DVD players are significantly smaller than even the Wii. Larger, more highend players aren't even the much bigger, jut slightly wider. Anyway, dedicated machines always work better, whether it's a CD player or a DVD player.

[Kairon]

Also, my DVD player has a VHS slot. The Wii can't do that now can it?

[MarioAllStar]

You're kidding, right? Cheap-P DVD players are significantly smaller than even the Wii. Larger, more highend players aren't even the much bigger, jut slightly wider. Anyway, dedicated machines always work better, whether it's a CD player or a DVD player.

Alright, I'll clarify. Of the DVD players I own, all are too large (and would be used too infrequently) to justify the space they would occupy and the hassle of having additional video cables running to my already-maxed-out TV (i.e., all inputs are in use). Because I stated that I would only use the feature a couple times if it were present, the difference in quality is a non-issue.

Honestly, if I only want to watch a DVD in my bed room once in a blue moon, any occupancy of space is not worth it. I'd rather wait for the living room to become available.

[king of snake]

Do you think they left this out to reduce customer service calls/repairs? I mean, if people watched dvd's in addition to playing games all the time, that's more wear and tear on the system. And I'm guessing the disc would spin a lot more during a movie than during typical gameplay. Perhaps they didn't know how it would hold up over time with heavy usage.

[Morari]

Alright, I'll clarify. Of the DVD players I own, all are too large (and would be used too infrequently) to justify the space they would occupy and the hassle of having additional video cables running to my already-maxed-out TV (i.e., all inputs are in use). Because I stated that I would only use the feature a couple times if it were present, the difference in quality is a non-issue.

Honestly, if I only want to watch a DVD in my bed room once in a blue moon, any occupancy of space is not worth it. I'd rather wait for the living room to become available.

Consider it clarified! As for the additional cables, I've always found that using an A/V selector is good, regardless of how few devices you have. Of course, I have everything running with component cables (and s-video before that) which are in even higher demand than composite plugs on televisions. None of my audio jacks are taken though... that all runs to my stereo receiver.

[nickmitch]

Target sells a $40 RCA upscaling 1080p HDMI 0-trans fat DVD player.

Expect More. Pay Less.

Side note; if the Wii played DVDs, that would've been great for me. I don't have a player in college, and Mac speakers suck. However, these speakers that I got for free are pretty sweet, even though I had to go home and use the AC adapter from a house phone.

[Morari]

I don't have a player in college, and Mac speakers suck.

Just the speakers?

[Plugabugz]

I personally would prefer to run a £20 DVD player into the ground than a £179 multi-function system.

[Shift Key]

if people watched dvd's in addition to playing games all the time, that's more wear and tear on the system. And I'm guessing the disc would spin a lot more during a movie than during typical gameplay. Perhaps they didn't know how it would hold up over time with heavy usage.

The only drive-related issue I've had in several DVD players and game systems is on my PS2 - it was a known issue relating to the laser going out of focus, and it affected DVD movies (and I don't think it affected all PS2 games, just those on DVDs).

In terms of wear and tear the important forces are not how much the disc spins, but the torque required to start the disc spinning and positioning the laser to read the correct parts of the disc. And you're more likely to be changing directions on a game disc than on a movie disc (unless you like skipping chapters backwards over and over) depending on how data is arranged on the discs (music files stored separate to graphics files, graphics files stored separated to game logic).

In theory, I don't see a difference between someone playing a lot of games and someone playing a lot of movies on a DVD drive. In theory. Communism works. In theory.

[UncleBob]

Question - Has anyone within the Homebrew community managed to "hack" the Wii to play DVD movies?

I think this would answer the question as to if Nintendo could release a DVD Channel or not.