DVD-playing Wii re-unconfirmed outside Japan?
by Kyle Orland 
{ Nov 17th 2006 at 10:30AM }
In a textbook case of the left hand not knowing what the right is doing, a Nintendo Europe spokesman told Eurogamer that a DVD-playing version of the Wii will not necessarily be released outside of Japan. This comes mere days after Nintendo of America Public Relations Manager Matt Atwood confirmed to GameDaily that the DVD-enabled system would indeed be coming out in North America in the latter half of 2007.Who to believe? Well, the NOE spokesman didn't explicitly say that the new version of the console would be strictly limited to Japan, only that the company would "not making any further region specific announcements at this time." So this isn't a denial of the NOA statement about North American plans, just a simple "no comment" from the European branch of the company. There is still no indication whether Nintendo has any plans to release the DVD-enabled system in Europe.
It's a bit surprising that all this talk of a new version of the Wii is coming just days before the system launches in North America and weeks before it hits the rest of the world. While most potential Wii buyers have probably already decided that a DVD player in their console is not that important, confusing the market with rumblings of a more feature-packed version to come can only have a negative effect on launch day demand.
[Via WiiFanboy]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
$Money$ @ Nov 17th 2006 10:34AM
who the fuck cares!?
jaybleezy @ Nov 17th 2006 10:38AM
@$Money$ I 100% agree with you on that
FuzzyPickles @ Nov 17th 2006 10:41AM
It's not like the PS3 which takes up the space your DVD player used to occupy in your setup.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: thank God there's one game system that does what its name implies and nothing else I don't need it to do.
Jackson Pritt @ Nov 17th 2006 12:48PM
All this confusion, plus the fact that the majority of online features won't be working until 2007 has made me decide to wait until next year to purchase a Wii.
Sorry, Nintendo! I think your product is awesome, but I waited for the DS Lite before buying a DS, and now that you've made it sound like there might be a Wii Light, I'm waiting for that too.
$Money$ @ Nov 17th 2006 10:45AM
yea..all i want and need is Zelda..forget everything else..well until smash bros comes out..but i'm not gonna be watching movies from nov.19th on out so this whole dvd issue doesn't faze me..anybody with me?
Intentless @ Nov 17th 2006 10:46AM
I'll play my DVDs on my PS2 360 and my 5 disk surround sound DVD player system... Don't think I care to have another...
BTW how do we enter the passwords for posting?
Riine @ Nov 17th 2006 10:48AM
DVD's on the Wii is pointless. Sure, it would be cool to have a tiny little sexy DVD player, but it would need a higher output for it to be considered anything worthwhile, I think. Because their argument has been true, who doesn't have a DVD player these days? And if you own any of the other consoles, use that as the DVD player and keep the game in the Wii 100% of the time.
Non-DiiViiDii Wii for Mii!
> @ Nov 17th 2006 10:48AM
The best return on investment for Nintendo is to release differnet colours of the Wii or limited editions, 6 months down the line... basically, no R&D costs, a big PR opportunity, and people will buy them (as a second Wii in many cases).
The only reason DVD Wii is coming out is to appease their hardware partner; Panasonic... much like the GC/Q, they want in on the profits too.
Ritz @ Nov 17th 2006 11:04AM
Intentless,
Password enabled post is an Engadget.com only feature at the moment. Both Joystiq and Engadget are owned by the same company, so they share the same email service client, so to speak. But only Engadget features the fancy password stuff.
And in response to the article... imagine the outcry if Nintendo revealed plans for a DVD enabled console AFTER launch instead of before? At least this way, those who want a DVD Wii can chose to wait, rather than get blindsided with a "thanks for purchasing, and oh by the way..."
NNTPgrip @ Nov 17th 2006 11:07AM
Let's see... I am on my 6th standalone DVD player (and this ones the Toshiba HD-A1 - so it upconverts and plays HD-DVD) All three computers at home can play and burn them. The one at work can burn 3 at once + a laptop. I never used my PS2 or Xbox to play a DVD once.
You can get a DVD player for around $30 now.
Who cares?
What would mean more to me, is if they make sure that the Opera web browser they'll have supports a new version of flash so I can watch youtube/googlevideo. No biggie though.
Hope they welcome development. I would love to see downloadable software akin to XBMC. Even if they don't, lets hack this bastard!
mietha CAG @ Nov 17th 2006 11:10AM
Wow, I can pay more for a subpar system with 480p and Dolby Digital 2.0 out? Where do I sign up? Seriously, I don't think DVD playback matters a **** to anyone outside of south-east Asia. Most everyone is so constrained in availabe space there, that it might actually matter. But, seriously, who in the US doesn't already have at least 5 or so better DVD players? For the record: I have 9, unless I've missed 1 or 2 somewhere.
robrob @ Nov 17th 2006 11:12AM
"thank God there's one game system that does what its name implies and nothing else I don't need it to do."
Like getting weather reports and reading CNN headlines?
Dont get me wrong, I am having a frickin Wii launch party at my house tommorow night at 1am, but teh rampant fanboyism is dumb. The thing shows photo, news, weather, and has a web browser, so the "games only" line is starting to wear thin.
as for who cares? I have a big rack of av gear in my living room. but my gf wants to keep the bedroom "nice", and that means as little crap as possible pluged into the 32 inch bedroom lcd. I REALLY want the wii to play dvds so i can hook that up and be done with.
Steve @ Nov 17th 2006 11:27AM
Whether or not the system needs to have DVD playback is one thing, but the system ought to support it.
The system supports a full sized disc and the games are on DVD discs. Even the PS2 had enough computational power to play DVD so this system should be able to do so as well. It's got the power, support for full sized discs, and the ability to read DVD discs so why the hell doesn't the system support DVD with a software update?
This reminds me of the very recent days where DVD players supported the DVD-R format and CD-Rs loaded with MP3s, but the players couldn't handle MP3 on DVD-R discs. MP3 playback on a DVD player is not a necessity at all, but it was really effing annoying that the devices had everything but the ability to play MP3s from a DVD-R.
Intentless @ Nov 17th 2006 11:28AM
Thank you Ritz.
By now we should be used to nintendo releasing new versions and new colors. At least this time they are telling us up front for once... Now about the different colors. When... is all I want to know... I need to know when to save up for my girl's wii...
strider_mt2k @ Nov 17th 2006 11:45AM
Non-issue in a world of 30-dollar DVD players.
Todd @ Nov 17th 2006 11:31AM
Oh woe is me, woe is me! The Wii doesn't have DVD playback capabilities, I am truly lost.
Seriously, for those of you who feel this absense is crucial to your decisions... quit yer bitchin! Buy a DVD player for $50 at Walmart, or better yet, buy one for $350 more and get a PS3. I hear that machine can play a DVD just fine for $600. What a steal!
moog @ Nov 17th 2006 11:34AM
We should be able to just apply a software patch to the existing Wii to enable the DVD feature. Anything other would be negligent on Nintendo's part.
teknomusik @ Nov 17th 2006 11:38AM
I'm with you #1... Honestly, when you can get a $20 dvd player at walmart, who needs this anyway? Joystiq, please stop posting about Wii DVD functionality... it's getting annoying.
Hoffer @ Nov 17th 2006 11:49AM
Everyday there is a new story about DVD and the Wii. Does anyone really care?? I've got like 10 things in my house that play DVDs. Can we please move on from this stupid story?
robrob @ Nov 17th 2006 12:25PM
it's not a showstopper and it's not whining. just release the software for $30. like i said, some of us who know the touch of a woman would rather not have a 3 foot tall stack of bozes and the associated cables in every room of our house.
software download pleases everyone. for the whiners who insist the $1 liscensing fee would "drive up the price" for their "games only" machine they can keep it as is, and for people who are aware of the $30 dvd player but would rather not buy one for whatver reason (ugly, lack of inputs on tv, etc) they can take advantage of a feature that the machine is obviously capable of supporting.
Measure @ Nov 17th 2006 11:54AM
There was also a Japan-only DVD-playing Gamecube shortly after the Cube's launch. Business as normal.
lebowsky @ Nov 17th 2006 12:12PM
Here is the deal. I have no problems with the constant articles about the Wii and DVD. What I do have a problem with is the author thinking that this "announcement" is going to have any impact on the Wii launch.
1) No mainstream person will ever hear this annoucement in any media that they currently digest
2) Hardcore Ninty fans (you know, the ones that are going to be lining up Sat/Sun) could give shit one about a DVD player being included
So, no, absolutely no impact on launch.
Measure @ Nov 17th 2006 12:20PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panasonic_Q
Just added a link to the Japan-only DVD-enabled Gamecube I mentioned above.
I was a hardcore Ninty fan back then, and I was disappointed I couldn't use my cube as a DVD player.
Now I am a reformed Ninty fan. I still think their games rock, but I'm not buying a Wii.