Wii with DVD playback for Japan delayed

I wanted a Red Wii back in 2006 but that never happened, whatever happened to the colored Wiis Nintendo?

Anyway are those models just for Japan?

Why does there have to be a separate model?

I would be interested to hear from someone with a bit more technical know-how on the subject. My main question is "Why isn't this just a firmware/software upgrade?" It seems to me that the drive is capable of reading the media with just a little effort put toward reading and a UI for playing.

greedy bastards

I'm holding out for the laserdisc wii. Or maybe one that can play all my mix tapes.

Aside from any DVD-specific MPEG-2 decoder boards that might be added to a new model, exactly what technical reason prevents the current Wii systems from playing DVDs in the first place?

Hell, I don't see why Nintendo doesn't make a quickie software decoder and throw it up on the Wii Shop channel for something like 500 points. It may not do the job of a standalone player, but like the Opera browser, I'm sure it could at least be considered functional.

Sometimes Nintendo just pisses me off. They sometimes make useless excuses for everything. Like why they didn't make the Wii high defintion. They said that not that many people have high definition tvs in the country so why make the Wii HD at the moment. On the other hand, the only way the Wii can connect online is through a wireless router, and doesn't have an Ethernet port on the console. Not everyone has wireless network at home these days either.

Wow! You don't have DVD players in Japan yet? Thats crazy!!!!!

From my point of view in perspective of the current market situation they simply don't want to put the investment in it. Yes @Grog it would be possible to implement a software DVD playback (as long as the Wii drive reads the same standards as regular DVD drives) but there is a ton of licenses involved to put something like DVD decoding into a device. You need to license the decryption, an audio decoder, a video decoder, write a UI that doesn't break any patents and so on.

"given the current demand for the Wii, the company's priority is still on that model"
Translated into non-business speech that reads:
Because we sell the old one like sliced bread and our supply-and-demand scheme worked so perfectly in most regions so far we are not going to waste money on developing and manufacturing a new hardware set that would involve changes in the production facilities and investment of several tenthousand dollars. Also we would like to get rid of all these money printers as long as people still pry them from our fingers and certainly won't risk sending potential customers into a waiting period until we are able to supply the enhanced model.

@Mr.ESC: Why does hulu.com only work in the US? There is certain interest behind limiting varieties to a specific market. It's bad for the people that want these versions, it's fantastic for the import vendors and it's overall good for the game companies because they get international press and divert some attention toward their global endeavours instead of having the focus on all the mistakes and downsides they make in a different environment.

It's all theory but compared to the news it holds up.

Why would anyone care to get a DVD Wii? Who doesn't have a DVD player at this point. And besides its so cheap now to get one that upconverts, why would anyone want one that can only output at standard def in this day and age?

Seems pointless to me, equally as pointless as not being dvd capable to begin with.

is there really a demand for this?

This doesn't make any sense. It's like Nintendo wants people to buy two Wiis, one now and one in a few months after supply has caught up and they release the DVD player.

If people really care about a Wii DVD, then why not release it? Why put all your effort to ensuring the supply of the would-be old model, when the new DVD playing model would still be in high-demand (if not higher, with the early adopters potentially buying a second Wii).

Why not kill two birds with one stone, and meet both crowd's Wii demands by releasing the DVD playing Wii?

Man, talk about genius. Nintendo did all the right things this gen (cost saving/business wise) and are dragging those money bags all the way to the bank.
I have to say, who the hell needs their Wii to playback DVDs? it's really useless, and Nintendo was smart pocketing the $$ they would have had to shell out on royalties.
MS and SONY would not have been able to get away with the same thing though... pushing their consoles as all around entertainment and media devices means that movie disc playback is a given.

Nintendo once again givig it to the consumer. Come on.. even the pS2 played DVD's when it launched. WTF.. I knew this was gonna happen when the Wii launhed.
Wait about a year or two, release a new model Wii like they do with the Gameboy's and DS and BAM!!! A million more idiots will flock to buy this outdated system that now in 2008 plays DVD movies.. Ugh.

I don't think that many people are going to buy another wii just for dvd playback. Who doesn't own a dvd player of some sort at this point.

I was waiting for a black wii too,SSBB was released and I got a normal white wii with a black knight case.

Its an unproven technology and will require further testing.

Hence, the delay.

Do you want something that works later or anything whatever now? Huh?! I didn't think so.

Colors were certainly a pipe-dream, i have a hard time believing that they haven't even gotten around to different colors. While hardware differences could cause trouble, a different color wouldn't require much upgrading in the manufacturing department

Its been 1.5 years, and no inkling of the colored models shown back at E3 06

If Nintendo would release a DVD channel, I'd gladly download it. I would even pay 500 points for it, just for the convenience of eliminating one device I have to connect to my TV this fall in my dorm.

But I'm not going to pay $250 for another Wii just for the DVD player.

I smell Power Glove all over again.

I smell Power Glove all over again.

I likes monies

The answer is legal reasons. Nintendo used a "almost DVD" format for Wii games so they wouldn't have to pay fees.

They could add DVD movie playback to current Wii systems via software, but that'd be illegal. The system isn't certified as compatible with DVD discs by the DVD group.