Netflix Streaming coming to the Nintendo Wii
In what has to be the most unsurprising news of the year, it is looking fairly likely that the Nintendo Wii will soon be getting streaming video content courtesy of Netflix.
Coming just shortly after the news that the Sony Playstation 3 is adding support for the Netflix Streaming service, BusinessofVideo.com is reporting that it has confirmed with reliable sources that Netflix is indeed heading to the Nintendo Wii. The only problem at this point is that it may not be for all of the current Wii units already on the market.
BusinessofVideo says that the release of this new feature may be on hold for the new high definition Wii that is due some time in early 2010. If that means that the service will only be available on those units, the current installed user base of 21 million units would be unable to use the Netflix app, which seems kind of silly to be honest. If Netflix can’t tap into the current users, which could possibly mean millions of new subscribers if even a small percentage signed up, than it seems somewhat pointless.
The only ray of sunshine for current Wii owners is that the report says that they might wait, or they might release before the end of the year, which says to me that neither party tends to lock out the current users.
This move will give Netflix access to all of the current video game systems, so one has to wonder what the next move will be for the company. It already has access to all of the Roku owners, its service is being built in to some TV sets this year and some Blu-ray players can stream the content. So the big question now is why Netflix is still requiring you to pay for at least some DVD rentals. Are we finally going to get a streaming only subscription plan in the USA?
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