DVD-enhanced Wii also hits US "latter half of 2007"

by Blake Snow { Nov 14th 2006 at 4:00AM }

While Nintendo confirmed the release of a DVD-enhanced Wii for Japan yesterday, the company also confirmed the same for the US to be released next year (latter half of 2007). Sonic Solutions will provide the necessary DVD navigation software that "requires more than a firmware upgrade."

GameDaily.biz reports: "Nintendo of America's Public Relations Manager Matt Atwood said that a price has not yet been determined, but that the DVD-enabled Wii would come at a higher price than the standard Wii console ($249) because of the 'extra cost required to implement DVD playback [read QA testing, software development, and licensing fees].' Keep in mind that Nintendo had originally announced the Wii with DVD playback, but later removed the feature because of cost and because most people have separate DVD players nowadays anyway."

The report questions the off/on again two SKU offering and its announcement timing to which the same Nintendo rep asserted "that's why Nintendo is getting the word out," so the two people in the world who don't have a DVD player and intend to buy Wii can wait. But for you two people who probably aren't reading this, expect Wii's DVD add-on to be poopsky as the console doesn't even support 5.1 surround.

[Thanks, James]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Tyler @ Nov 14th 2006 4:07AM

Talk about $50 well saved. I can't get rid of this nagging feeling that the extra $ also pays for some awesome feature that the first-gen wii won't have, though, and that breaks my heart.

Remember how the GBA SP didn't have a headphone jack? Wouldn't it be just like Nintendo to actually go ahead and include 5.1 sound on the WiiVD? (props?)

ill trooper @ Nov 14th 2006 4:09AM

Hmmm....

I've said it before:

it's 2006, any video-outputtin' device that can have a 120mm digital disk stuck in it should be able to play DVDs and audio cds, no excuses.

JPJ007 @ Nov 14th 2006 4:16AM

Anyone remember the Panasonic Q?

Of course not. And this holds the same fate.

T-Bag @ Nov 14th 2006 4:16AM

So in other words, the Wii's going to cost $300 next year? Doesn't that kind of defeat the whole price-point strategy? Aside from the FACT that the Wii is way behind in the visuals department, how can they possibly justify buying a Wiimote for the same price as an Xbox 360?

I find buying a Wii at it's current price funny, but this is just ridiculous. Nintendo becomes a software company at the end of this generation, guaranteed.

KapsLocked @ Nov 14th 2006 4:24AM

#4

... because you're REQUIRED to buy the DVD-enhanced Wii. Totally.

Don't care much about this. I have 2 DVD players available to me... so I don't care.

=[`] @ Nov 14th 2006 4:27AM

agreed ill trooper. but in lieu of that, i'm willing to wait a year & pay a little more.

If it also plays divx then i will definitely get it & throw away my massive DVD player.

Silver R. Wolfe @ Nov 14th 2006 4:37AM

The fact that they didn't include this in the original Wii was ridiculous. End of story.

T-Bag @ Nov 14th 2006 4:40AM

- KapsLocked,

You are so right! Spending $50 less to get a Wiimote is much better than getting a 360. How could I have been so wrong. /sarcasm

I was just estimating with the add-on price too. For all we know it could be +$100 on top of the original price.

Chuck @ Nov 14th 2006 4:41AM

This will probably be the first dvd player that doesnt have dobly digital support that i've seen

Amos @ Nov 14th 2006 4:50AM

I want to play the Wii, but the lack of DVD support is one of the biggest jokes in the electronic industry...seriously. And the "feature" tacking on serious amounts of cost? Bullshit.

pyroshane @ Nov 14th 2006 5:04AM

"Nintendo becomes a software company at the end of this generation, guaranteed."

Even if the Wii does fail Nintendo will not become a software company. Nintendo still rules the handheld market and would have no reason to quit developing them.

In fact, when you think about it, Sony is actually the developer in the most danger this generation. If the Wii fails, Nintendo still has the DS to fall back on. If the 360 fails, Microsoft will barely notice the lost profits, especially with Vista and Office 2007 on the horizon.

If the PS3 fails, what does Sony have left? It's reputation as a consumer electronics manufacturer is not what it used to be, and with all the money they have spent on Blu-Ray, the PS3, and all the expenses their battery recall and rootkit fiasco and resulting lawsuits have built up, they will have a large hole to pull themselves out of if the PS3 fails to sell as well as they expect.

fawazr @ Nov 14th 2006 5:06AM

By next year, the new SKU will probably cost $249. Still though, why couldn't we just buy a firmware update for the functionality? Does this mean that Nintendo flat-out refuses to unlock DVD playback on the Wii? Yet they would rather cook up a whole other SKU to confuse and enrage customers.

KapsLocked @ Nov 14th 2006 5:10AM

Agreed that we don't know about how much more it may cost yet. And also perhaps any price drops of the Wii included within the next year.

Meh. If I were to get a 360 I would splurge on the one that's $400 anyways. Not including fees for XBox Live... and I don't usually like pay-by-the-month gaming. I don't game enough to make it worth my while.

But it's T-bag I'm talking to, so I forget that your point of view is that the Wii is just a GC with a wacky motion sensing controller that makes gamers have wobbly arms and kills them through exhaustion! YAY!

On a sidenote... XBox 360 does sound good for Dead Rising, Gears of War, and the upcoming Halo 3...
... after a price drop. And after I've maybe sold my 5th PS3.

Tyler @ Nov 14th 2006 5:11AM

Honestly, if it was between the SD card reader and the DVD, I'd take the card reader. I spent far more on my DVD player than the wii costs in the first place, and I'm in no hurry to replace it. Still, $50 seems a little steep. It can't possibly cost that much to license the format, because you could buy a complete DVD player for less than $50 total.

T-Bag @ Nov 14th 2006 5:12AM

Vince @ Nov 14th 2006 5:15AM

Nintendo can so afford to come in last place. I'm not saying thats what will happen, but look at the GC. It came in last. It also made Nintendo a LOT more profit than the PS2/Xbox got the other main competitors.

Faar @ Nov 14th 2006 5:17AM

Not sure what the post writer is talking about when he mentions Wii not supporting 5.1; it obviously does. Even gamecube easily provided 5.1 audio in many game titles, transcoding dolby digital to dolby pro-logic II would be a doddle if nintendo just implemented it. Heck, they could even make a small USB plug that provides a ccss decode key and an optical SPDIF jack or somesuch.

What I want to know is, will early adopters be suckered here, or can release Wiis be retrofitted with whatever upgrade (above mentioned USB dongle for example) that nintendo is planning?

T-Bag @ Nov 14th 2006 5:18AM

- pyroshane,

So you believe if Sony's console doesn't pull through (which it will), Sony's 50 year old corporation’s going down the drain? You've gotta be kidding me. Defending game consoles is one thing, but to insult a multi-billion dollar corporation is a whole 'nother ball game. Besides, going software only or going handheld only doesn't make much difference. It's the console we're talking about, and Nintendo can't afford to end in 3rd place again.

Aside from the obvious fact that it is just that, what do you see in the Wii that I'm supposedly missing? If you're going to throw the gameplay logic at me like most Wii fanboys do, I'll just counter with the fact that the best game on the Wii, Zelda: TP, is nothing more than a 3rd person hack and slash with horrible graphics..

T-Bag @ Nov 14th 2006 5:19AM

Edit: Reposted my last post by pressing ctrl+v by accident, so just ignore the top part.

Mode7 @ Nov 14th 2006 5:26AM

Why do people think that nintendo would ever be a software only company? Nintendo have ALWAYS turned a profit on hardware so why would they stop making it?

People dont seem to realise that Nintendo's profitability isn't contingent upon selling more units than it's competitors.

Chris @ Nov 14th 2006 5:29AM

On the subject of no dolby digital support for the wii dvd, the Panasonic Q supports dolby digital, DTS and has an optical out you just cant use it for games.

pyroshane @ Nov 14th 2006 5:29AM

"Defending game consoles is one thing, but to insult a multi-billion dollar corporation is a whole 'nother ball game."

I am not defending or insulting anybody, just pointing out that financially, Sony is in the most danger this generation.

"So you believe if Sony's console doesn't pull through (which it will)"

You seem too sure of the success of the Playstaion 3. The Playstaion 3 looks like it will be a great system. I would like to buy one myself once the price drops to within my budget and there is a larger selection of games available for it, but the videogame hardware market is too dynamic to be sure of anything. The failure of the Dreamcast is still too fresh in my mind.

All three console manufacturers staying in the fight will only be a good thing, I don't wish failure on any of the three systems. The stronger and closer the competition is between the three current developers as well as any future developers who may jump into the competition the more likely the developers are to put out more innovative and higher quality products, and the more likely they are to push for better games for their systems.

Regardless of which system(s) you wish to purchase, you should wish success to all of them.

KapsLocked @ Nov 14th 2006 5:30AM

I love it when opinions are made to seem like fact. :)

pyroshane @ Nov 14th 2006 5:58AM

"Aside from the obvious fact that it is just that, what do you see in the Wii that I'm supposedly missing? If you're going to throw the gameplay logic at me like most Wii fanboys do, I'll just counter with the fact that the best game on the Wii, Zelda: TP, is nothing more than a 3rd person hack and slash with horrible graphics.."

I am confused by this statement. Where do you find a connection between the gameplay of the Wii and your opinion about TP. What does the fact that it is a hack and slash with graphics that don't compare to X360 or PS3 have to do with gameplay on the Wii? I will try and answer your question anyway though (and I hope you answer mine I just asked as well, I am truly curious).

I think what people see in the Wii is a new way to play games. Not necessarily better or improved, just different from what the other two developers are offering. The way video games are played really has not changed much since the 70s. It has always been all about a controller with joysticks and buttons, but the shape of the controller and number of joysticks and buttons has changed with the systems.

By adding motion sensing to the Wii controller, even if that motion often just replaces button pushing, Nintendo has opened up a new way of playing games. Sony added legitimacy to Nintendo's belief that motion sensing is a fun new way to play games when they added motion sensing capabilities to their own system. Unlike Nintendo, however, Sony did not put their full confidence in motion sensing and they left their controller design in a way that will allow them to continue developing games with a more conventional play method if the motion sensing fails.

Nintendo has shown that unconventional control methods can be successful with the DS and they hope that success can translate over to the Wii. On the other end of things, gamers have experienced how fun unconventional control methods can be when playing with the DS and they hope that fun can translate over to the Wii.

I am still on the fence about the whole motion sensing thing. The next couple months will show if Nintendo's gamble will pay off or if gamers will decide they prefer the tried and true button pushing control style for home consoles.

syco @ Nov 14th 2006 6:15AM

"expect Wii's DVD add-on to be poopsky as the console doesn't even support 5.1 surround."

I only have two speakers so I guess I would be go for using the Wii as a DVD player... except I watch my DVDs on my media pc, and I have a PS2 as a backup. And my housemate's standalone DVD player.

Ianc02 @ Nov 14th 2006 6:19AM

I, like many future Wii owners, do not give a rats ass wether or not Wii has DVD playback, as was quoted, for the two people on the planet who dont own a DVD player already. I look round my house and see just how many devices i already own that do playback DVD.

Its amusing to see the fanbots decide for Nintendo and the rest of the gang what constitutes a business failure. Heres a new slogan for Nintendo. Nintendo - Wii do games only,get over it already.

Sigh......

Don Jose @ Nov 14th 2006 6:28AM

Finally, Nintendo can claim equal footing in the next-gen console war: they all have dual SKU's!

roflemayo.

Catprog @ Nov 14th 2006 6:29AM

to 25:

Joysticks were only mainstream after the n64

FuzzyPickles @ Nov 14th 2006 6:35AM

If I wanted a set of plates, but the set I wanted only came bundled with a fork and knife set that I already have, I would less likely buy it at full price because I don't want to pay for more forks and knives when I already have enough of them. Unless I couldn't do with any other set of plates, I wouldn't buy them. If my house already has three DVD players, is it crazy enough if, when I buy a game console, to not want to pay for yet another one? Unless I find myself not being able to do without a PS3 because of certain games, I'm not going to buy it because I'll be paying so much money for hardware I don't want.

McHoffa @ Nov 14th 2006 6:47AM

As much as I want a Wii, I am getting frustrated by the lack of options this console has. They talk about cost, but assume you get the Wii for $250, add in DVD functionality for possibly $50 (although by next year the original price would be $200 probably anyway) and it still doesn't give surround sound? and it still doesn't have ethernet? and still is way behind in graphics? i don't care about the graphics as much as most people (my current game system is a dreamcast!) but when you compare physical features you are paying a WHOLE lot more for what you get with Nintendo... of course they are the only ones making a profit, but honestly they could have given better video output, better sound output, dvd playback (ike every other device for less than $100 seems to have) and wired network support for the same price point, maybe not made a profit but at least still come out even, and made more gamers happy...

that said, I still want one, the games look more fun (simplified) which is the only reason i play games, to have fun for a little while... i don't want to have to think a whole lot when i play games, and nintendo always seems to have a bigger selection of that type of game... i still like to play the NES and atari 2600 games...

Lou D @ Nov 14th 2006 6:49AM

I don't see an issue here. Come next year the o.g. Wii will be $224.99 and the WiiVD will be $249.99 most likely. Heck, they could even drop WiiSports from the bundle and lose another $25.

Also, since the WiiMotes communicate with the Wii via bluetooth...and since bluetooth supports 7 devices, the extra 3 could be wireless bluetooth speakers that give you your 2 rears and a sub-woofer.

I'm sure the speakers would be sold seperately, but then some games could be designed to take advantage of them if they are there.

Remember, Nintendo is already sending sound to the WiiMotes. So this IS ALREADY HAPPENING.

Lou D @ Nov 14th 2006 6:54AM

Also, since Wii can do 576p for the PAL territories, there's noting stopping Wii from outputing 540p at some point in the future that any 1080p HDTV will upscale nicely.

Expect a firmware upgrade in about 18 months.

Pretty Obvious @ Nov 14th 2006 7:14AM

There is absolutely no reason for the Wii to not have DVD playback, other then Nintendo wanting to rape its customers next year when it releases a newer version of its console (think DS to DS Light).

Hell, the PS2 played DVD's, the Xbox played DVD's with 5.1 surround, not to mention both outputting in HD resolution. Your telling me putting regular DVD playback will bring the system price up $50 bucks. Whoever believes that BS is an idiot. Nintendo is already making a killing raping people on the Wii's price point with its inferior hardware, now lets see how much you fanboys will let them get away with next year.

David @ Nov 14th 2006 7:26AM

Fuck you Nintendo.

You get rid of the DVD player and then charge $50 more than what everyone said it should cost for a bare-bones model. Now you are going to make a more expensive model, even through DVD players can be bad for like $10.

So once again, fuck you.

Optimus Prime @ Nov 14th 2006 7:49AM

DVD playback?

Woo... its 1996 all over again. Nintendo is still a decade behind everyone, and they wonder why their marketshare dropped from 90% (NES) to 15% (GC).

Scooby Doo @ Nov 14th 2006 8:04AM

Okay, so I have a question for those of you who might know the answer. Can anyone explain what exactly Nintendo would has to do (technically), to provide DVD playback?

The statement in the article clearly states that more than a 'firmware' upgrade is needed. That makes me wonder what else is. Does anyone know how much the license fees would be? Is a DVD manufacturer required to put in copy protection, industry standards, etc.?

Nintendo's decision seems like a reasonable one if the costs were high enough. Even if it was $10 US per unit, adding $10 onto 4,000,000 units by year end is an awful lot of money, especially for a feature that the majority would ever use.

It's reminicent of standard manufacturing cost-lowering procedures, at least when dealing with middle- to low-end technology. You get rid of bells and whistles that are more 'convenience' than a necessary feature.

There are some people who might need convergence. I live in a big city where living space is a premium so having all-in-one devices is sometimes a necessity. However if I look at the entire market, us city folk who need the space make up a much smaller minority.

As for the multiple SKU comment...this is a little different than the 360. It would be different if there were DVD-only games that could only be played with that version. However, it appears that both versions will support all Nintendo games, same with the PS3. The 360 is different because of the hard-drive. Eventually a game could come along that would have load times so horrendous as to be unplayable on a Core system. The hard drive adds a layer of functionality that I will always feel is unprecendented for the industry. Other than peripherals, we've never had two of the same console on the market with such difference in potential functionality.

Doom @ Nov 14th 2006 8:06AM

Let's pretend everyone DOESN'T already own a DVD player!

Boo! Nintendo sucks! This is worse than when Sega Saturn didn't have a VCR in it!

dolemite @ Nov 14th 2006 8:17AM

Classic Nintendo folks, bringing their hanheld strategy to consoles. We will sell you the Wii, then next year the DS lite, oopss, I menat Wii ith DVD. Its not about whether or nt most of us have a dvd player, almost all of us do. But to sell another version of the Wii right after millions have bought the 1st one is bs and we all know it. Makes me wonder; how many times will Nintendo release a new version of the Wii before this cycle is over?

Todd @ Nov 14th 2006 8:30AM

Seriously, if you're buying a Nintendo Wii (or any gaming console for that matter) to take place of an actual DVD player than something is wrong. Gaming consoles offer the least quality in DVD players, except for the PS3 which I'm sure comes decked out due to the forced Blu-ray. However I don't see fit to buy a $600 DVD player from Sony, when I can buy a perfectly good (i.e. quality) DVD player for under $100 with all the bells & whistles (which consoles leave out).

McHoffa @ Nov 14th 2006 8:37AM

@39 - the slimmed down ps2... the smaller sega genesis... the second sega cd... the revisions to the atari 2600 console...

every company does this, that's why you don't buy the first one...

bounchfx @ Nov 14th 2006 8:40AM

you're a god damn fool if you think nintendo will become a software company before it's able to release another console. sony has a better chance of collapsing completely.

if nintendo sells out the wii like it will for the first months and so it will have plenty of profit to carry it

moominsean @ Nov 14th 2006 8:46AM

who the hell doesn't already have a dvd player by now? i paid 80 bucks for one of those malata players that plays absolutely everything.

one plus...the wii already comes with a remote.

@ Nov 14th 2006 8:50AM

This is focking ridiculous...

That going into 2007, over 10 years after DVD was released, the "advanced" version of the wii is the one with DVD playback. Add in, when 6 years ago (ancient in electronics terms), DVD playback was standard across all PS2s.

This is Nintendo raping their fanbase. Anyone can see this, and if you cant, then you've fallen (HARD) for the Nintendo proganda machine.

xbox360dsPSP @ Nov 14th 2006 9:12AM

Between consoles, PC, and Mac that share my entertainment area, I've got 5 devices that play DVDs. I'm perfectly fine with a Wii that can't.

Raynre @ Nov 14th 2006 9:36AM

The reason they didnt originally include this is because the Wii and GCN discs spin backwards as a form of pirate protection. Regular DVDs need to spin the other way, so Nintendo actually needs to design the system so that it can read a disc, determine what type it is, and spin the correct way accordingly.

Joel @ Nov 14th 2006 9:39AM

@T-Bag #19

I know you are just a troll, but I'm responding anyway. That is the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a very long time. First off, you may not realize this, but Nintendo has $7 billion in assets, and was the ONLY videogame hardware company in the last generation to actually MAKE money (this is only counting the game departments at Microsoft and Sony). They are NOT in a hrad place at all, and could easily handle a failure.

Furthermore, Sony's "50 year old corporation" is laughable. You do realize that Nintendo was started in the late 1800's, don't you? Not to mention that Nintendo has been in the videogame business for twice as long as Sony.

I'm not going to sit here and say that if the PS3 fails that Sony will go down the tubes. That would be stupid. I will, however, say that Nintendo not only can *afford* to "end in 3rd place again", but they could do so and STILL PROFIT. Which is more than we can say for Sony's game department, which plans on losing $1.7 billion by March.