1. Home
2. News
3. Nintendo Wii Eyes Up Video On-demand

Nintendo Wii eyes up video on-demand

Posted by Al Warmington on Fri 2 Jan 2009

TV execs are afraid. Very afraid.

 

Nintendo is planning to roll out a Wii TV channel in Japan this spring, with the aim of launching worldwide by the end of the year. The motivation for the move is to generate ad revenue from the service as well as making paid-for content available.

 

Programming is expected to consist of material produced specifically for the Wii and will include cartoons, quizzes, cookery and lifestyle shows. It will be delivered using the Wii’s WiFi connection and payments will use the same Wii points system as the virtual console.

 

With over 40 million households boasting a Wii console and around half of them already connected to the internet, Japanese television executives are already believed to quaking with fear. One Fuji Television exec said that if Nintendo plan to make the Wii "the centrepiece of the living room" then they will become "the stuff of television producers' nightmares". Worse even than that one they had about everyone suddenly getting bored of realtiy TV and phone votes.

 

There’s no indication of how quickly the service might reach the UK, however, with 3.5 million consoles already sold in Britain and Xbox already leading the on-demand content charge, there seems a good chance it will be happening soon.

 

Link: Nintendo (via Telegraph)

Buy from: Nintendo | Amazon | Dixons

 

Sign up for the free T3 newsletter

Want your latest gadgets news delivered to your inbox every week? Register for the free T3 newsletter and relax as the headlines come to you!

- Sign up here…