Topic: Wii + DVD Confirmed (again)?

[UncleBob]

http://techforums.nintendo.com/nins/board/message?board.id=wii_tech&thread.id=3482

NoA_Tech_Tyrone writes:

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Of course, Nintendo still plans on releasing a DVD capable version of the Wii sometime in the future, but at this time there is only one Wii model.

[Pale]

This is interesting.  This kind of stuff makes me glad I bought a PS3.  Now I have a kick ass dvd/blu-ray player so I won't be tempted to re-buy a Wii.  =P

[nitsu niflheim]

Don't need another DVD player, besides if I had a Wii capable DVD player, it wold probably just wear the system down quicker because if DVD watching usage.

[Crimm]

I have something like 57 DVD-playing devices.  I think my chair can even play em.  I think they should just focus on getting production up and costs (and price) down.

[Chozo Ghost]

I wouldn't want my Wii to play DVDs anyway, because if I used it as a DVD player it would just wear out the drive faster. You can get DVD players at walmart and other places for like $20, so why would you want to kill your $250 Wii by playing DVDs on it?

[NeoThunder]

I can't see how playing DVD movies would wear a drive out any faster than playing games on it

[DAaaMan64]

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Originally posted by: NeoThunder
I can't see how playing DVD movies would wear a drive out any faster than playing games on it

You'd be using it more often.

[Chozo Ghost]

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Originally posted by: DAaaMan64

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Originally posted by: NeoThunder
I can't see how playing DVD movies would wear a drive out any faster than playing games on it

You'd be using it more often.

Exactly. It is a given that dvd drives will wear out eventually, but the more you use it the faster it will wear out. That's why it is better to save your gaming console for actual gaming only.

[Kairon]

Yeah, the DVD playing capability was genius for the PS2, but the Wii would gain almost nothing from the function. Not to mention a standalone DVD player would have more features and better usage anyways.

[UltimatePartyBear]

There's also the issue of constant angular velocity vs. constant linear velocity.  DVD and CD players change the speed at which the disc spins to maintain a constant data rate (that's CLV).  Drives that have to do a lot of seeking, such as the one in the Wii, just spin at a constant speed (CAV) because it would kill seek times to have to speed up or slow down the rotation, which results in different data rates depending on which part of the disc you're reading from.  I really wouldn't be surprised if the drive in the Wii couldn't even spin fast enough to play DVDs.  Since it wasn't necessary, it's just the kind of thing Nintendo would want to save money on.  Regardless, that makes two reasons that DVD playback means more wear and tear for a video game system: constantly changing speed and overall higher speed.

[DAaaMan64]

^ gah, disk drives suck.

Flash based cartridge > disks

[Chozo Ghost]

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Originally posted by: DAaaMan64
^ gah, disk drives suck.

Flash based cartridge > disks

Yep. I'm thinking that's what we will see next generation as the media format (if it hasn't moved completely over to downloads). The card idea has worked extremely well for the DS with the very fast load times and durability which is necessary in a portable. The problem with consoles, though, is consumers demand more space than what flash memory can affordably provide at this time; but I think in 5 years when we enter the 8th generation that won't be a problem.

Thanks to Moore's Law computer stuff gets twice as good every year and also cheaper; so if SD cards are mostly 2GB now, then next year they'll be 4GB, and then the next they'll be 8 and the next 16... By then we will have cards that rival or even exceed Blu-ray/HD-DVD in storage capacity. The only real problem is the cost, which is going to be higher than optical discs, but the lack of a drive would mean the consoles themselves will probably be a lot cheaper and very durable, so you would save money there. Not to mention the ability to save info directly to the game media rather than needing a separate storage media.

That would be my prediction anyway. So unless the Wii gets DVD playback then I doubt any Nintendo console will ever have that ability because DVD will be obsolete by next gen.

[Infernal Monkey]

It'd be completely pointless. DVD players are like $30 now, region free and everything! They're even cheaper than some new release movies. =x

[Mario]

Quote
Originally posted by: Pale
This is interesting.  This kind of stuff makes me glad I bought a PS3.  Now I have a kick ass dvd/blu-ray player so I won't be tempted to re-buy a Wii.  =P

It makes me glad I have a DVD player.

[Nephilim]

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Flash based cartridge > disks

SSD drives are only 50US for 4GB atm, sure within next years years they could use them as carts
much better then Flash, which have a limited lifetime (unless u buy a business grade,  example. sandisk ultra 2)

[King of Twitch]

Nintendo doesn't want to confuse nongamers with more than 4 buttons of the same color so why would they confuse them with two sets of hardware

"There are some choices that we made in the development in order to achieve that price point. There's no DVD playback capability. And our thinking is most consumers have about 5 different [DVD players] in their house. Our games are not high-definition. Again our thinking is HD penetration is [only] about 15 percent of households."
-Gamespot, Sep 28, 2006


When asked if there was a DVD playback-enabled Wii coming to North America next year, Reggie said that "the answer is no."
-IGN, November 29, 2006

"Nintendo has confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that there are plans to launch a new version of the Wii featuring DVD playback functionality in Japan.

The Wii's original spec sheet said the console would come with a DVD player as standard, but Nintendo later elected not to include the feature - observing standalone players are now widely available at low cost."
-gamesindustry.biz, 31/10/2006

[EasyCure]

"Nintendo has confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that there are plans to launch a new version of the Wii featuring DVD playback functionality in Japan"

I believe that because of how huge it is there, and how the demand for space is HIGH. remember thats the reasoning the gamecube and wii are both tiny consoles, to conserve space in the japanese home. if someone wants a wii and a dvd player, they'll opt for the wii with dvd playback, or just replace their old dvd with a wii to save space. that wont happen outside of japan though

[Chozo Ghost]

Yeah, it does make a lot more sense in Japan. I remember that episode of King of the Hill where the Hill family visits Tokyo to meet Hank's half brother and they spend the entire time in that tiny room which was actually just the entrance to the larger room.  But seriously, they have a population that is like 1/3rd to 1/2 the size of the U.S. but packed into a country about the size of the state of California, so space is definitely a major concern there.

[Kairon]

Actually, yeah. I can see why that feature would be important to Japan... good reason to import?

[ThePerm]

well modded Wiis play dvds, so its not much a technical, but a licensing fee. If Nintendo wanted they could launch a dvd channel of the shop channel and we'd all have dvd playback, maybe for a fee. However, just because you have the capability doesnt mean yo have to use it exclusively and all the time.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

FINE, BREAK YOUR WII