Nintendo Wii Fanboy

It's been a very very very very very crazy ride for the Wii in regards to DVD playback. It's still not certain if the general public really cares anyway, on account of owning about six hundred devices that play DVDs already, so it's no big deal that Nintendo still isn't doing much about their planned movie-ready console.

IGN picked up a report from a stock-holders meeting, and Satoru Iwata said outright that "With supply constraints [of the Wii] continuing worldwide, the priority is on the current model." Guess they won't be rolling out a DVD unit anytime soon. It's hard enough to get the existing console to customers as it is, let alone turn around and start dilly-dallying around by making up a new model!

Adding to the ever-growing list of "cool stuff Japan gets that we don't," Bandai Namco is offering a sweet preorder bonus with Tales of Symphonia. The RPG, which releases in Japan in late June, will come with a Dramatic DVD for gamers that preorder the title. The DVD will include original animated scenes that add to the game's story, which sounds like a pretty nice extra to us.

We're sure the DVD will never see the light of day outside of Japan (officially), so the rest of us will just have to be content to look at screens and pretend that's dramatic. Some new screens might help you with such a task, so just click on the "Read" link below (or the picture above) to check them out.


[Via Gemaga]

For those of you who like to collect promotional DVDs, know that GameStop is giving away free DVDs that show off Wii Fit. Our best guess is that the footage on the DVD is things you've already seen (here at Wii Fanboy, we hope), so if you're intending on picking it up and catching something new to watch to hold you over until the bundle is released, then perhaps that might not be the best plan in the world.

Instead, we suggest you approach this as an opportunity to show it off to someone in your life who doesn't know what the 411 is. Show the game off to your mom, your English teacher or simply get a bunch of the DVDs and throw them around like ninja stars. That used to be fun with those AOL 3.0 CDs back in the day.

If you're holding out for the day when you can play DVDs on your Wii, you may be waiting a really, really long time. We told you that DVD playback on the Wii was coming this year, but we lied. Okay, we didn't lie, Nintendo did.

This feature was suppose to arrive in Japan by the end of this year, but it has now been pushed back to 2008. As for the US and Europe? We're not even mentioned in these plans, so don't hold your breath. Instead, Nintendo plans to focus its energy on meeting global demand for the console.

At this point, you probably have another method of DVD playback, whether it's another system or a standard DVD player. We know we do, so it's hard to get too riled up by this news. Still, some of you minimalists might be pretty disappointed. Different strokes for different folks, we guess.

[Via Aussie-Nintendo]

Some people considered it a big deal when it was confirmed that the Wii would not feature DVD playback on release, but now that you've had one for a while (we hope), has it bothered you? There's been only one time when this blogger lamented the lack: the DVD player had been unhooked temporarily in order to offer up the progressive scan inputs* for Metroid Prime 3 (y'know, when we bought this television years ago, we thought the bank of connections on the back looked like more than we'd ever use), and we didn't feel like unhooking anything or putting the DVD into another game system due to the unwieldy DVD controls. For a moment, we discussed how convenient it would be if the Wii featured DVD playback -- after all, it's got a built-in remote! -- but it was a fleeting wish, and changing out the hookups isn't much of a problem. Beyond that single time, we've never even thought about the Wii lacking DVD playback.

Have you ever wanted to shove a DVD in there, for whatever reason?

*Yes, yes, we could get a switch, but it's rare when we really need all the connections at once ... it was really just the one time! Perhaps it's a sign of changing times, however ....

For only $7.95, Talismoon's Wii Gate kit enables you to change the notification light on your console's disc drive, replacing its blue glow with a new DVD gate assembly that uses either red or green LEDs. If, for some reason, you have two systems, you can buy one of each for a Christmas theme!

Talismoon advertises it as "one of the easiest customizations for the Wii," reassuring interested buyers that installing the mod won't require breaking any warranty seals. You can look over the Wii Gate's instruction sheet past the post break and see for yourself.

Homebrew hackers Team Symbiote have reportedly enabled DVD playback on Wii consoles, a feature that many have been waiting for Nintendo to officially support since the system's release. We can't really recommend using the DVD player, as you'll need to have a modchip installed, voiding your warranty. If that doesn't sound like a big deal to you, consider this: Modchip manufacturer Wiinja has warned its customers that using the application could "cause the [Wii's] lens to deteriorate quickly over time."

Playing MiniDVDs in your Wee, however, should be perfectly safe. Mick L. spotted this piece of electronics and its knock-off logo at a store in Japan earlier today. We wonder if it can stand upright?

Read - Wii Media Player DVD Edition (MFE)
Read - Weeeeeee!!!

In a Q&A session with GamePro, NoA's King of Awesome, Reggie Fils-Aime, did indeed state that he was "blown away" by the resounding success of the Wii, and while it's exactly what Nintendo was shooting for, he's surprised that it happened so quickly ... so quickly, in fact, that Nintendo can't even seem to keep up with the demand. And of course, comparisons to the DS had to be made; after all, the Wii is taking its cue from the DS in many ways. However, when asked if we'll soon be seeing multicolored Wiis like we have with the DS, Reggie brushed that off as a concern for the future. Right now, they're more interested in getting more units into stores -- and we're sure that's good news for many of you.

It's worth noting that the issue of HD came up, and when asked whether or not Nintendo was planning on any kind of upgrade for the Wii that might add HD functionality, Reggie didn't say that it wouldn't ever happen ... but did cite statistics indicating that 83% of American households are not currently equipped for HD. What good is it to add something that many people can't even use? After all, Nintendo is trying to reach beyond the "hardcore" gamer and into every household ... a strategy that doesn't work very well if one of your biggest games is so dependent on HD that parts of it can barely be seen by the majority of potential gamers. The verdict? DVD is coming, but don't expect an HD dongle any time soon.

It appears that Nintendo's earlier claims of releasing a Wii with DVD playback included outside of Japan next year might have been incorrect. Turns out, it's confirmed that only Japan will receive the console and no other territory, despite a worldwide agreement with Sonic Solution to provide its CinePlayer CE DVD Navigator for Wii consoles. Eurogamer asked a Nintendo UK spokesperson to elaborate on the situation:

"We have previously confirmed that an enhanced version of Wii capable of playing DVD's would launch at some point in the future in Japan. This release simply confirms Sonic as the partner in that venture and that the new version of Wii will come to market in the second half of 2007. It does not confirm where it will launch. We are simply not making any further region specific announcements at this time."

First we thought we were going to have DVD playback on the Wii. Then we heard it was a no-go. Then we were told that it might be Japan-only. Now we hear it's a go for everyone, but only through an update to be released late next year. But here's the thing -- does anyone really care?

Yeah, it was, and is, silly that the console doesn't play DVDs. It was frankly a bit silly that the GameCube didn't play DVDs, back when it mattered, back when everyone didn't already own multiple DVD players. But these days, is it even an issue? How many DVD players do you already own? If the Wii Fanboy staff added up all their in-home DVD players, the number might stagger you (there are seven just in this blogger's house).

So. The Wii will get an update from Sonic Solutions (the folks behind Roxio) that will provide DVD playback. And there was much rejoicing. Yay.

One of our readers was visiting his local Seattle, WA area Target store recently and stumbled upon a DVD for sale at the low cost of only a penny. This DVD, which features game trailers for both Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam for the Wii, is titled Living the Game with the Wii and Activision. With the combination of the Wii gift card, it seems like Target has caught the fever the rest of us are suffering from.

Anyone else see this in their local Target? Can anyone confirm how many trailers are on this disc?

[Thanks mykie!]

Looks like Japanese gamers get their revenge after all. Sure, we're still getting the Wii first, but they're getting a console with DVD playback functionality next year. Sucks to be us, eh?

Nintendo would not divulge a date for which they planned to release this version of the Wii and commented that, as of now, there are no plans to bring this proposed version of the Wii to the US and Europe. If Japan does see this version release next year, you can safely assume the other territories would receive it, as well.

[Thanks Canuckle!]

Nintendo, in their almost-infinite tornado of news today, never mentioned anything on the promised ability for the Wii to play DVD movies. No mention in the press releases that followed their event today either? Hmm, how odd...

So what does Nintendo's VP of Marketing Perrin Kaplan have to say about this? Well, apparently she confirmed to IGN that the Wii is going to totally toss out the DVD movie functionality all together. The decision to rid the console of this feature was apparently in the interest of delivering it at a cheaper price for the consumer.

So Fanboy readers, is this a good or bad thing?

Matt Cassa-however-you-spell-it over at IGN has posted a rather interesting blog post about the assumed nature of DVD playback for the Nintendo Wii. At E3 2005, it was announced that there would be a "dongle adapter" for optional included DVD playback, and there were rumors over the next year that it would simply be built-in. However, while Nintendo loves to reiterate time and time again the capabilities of its critical darling, any and all mention of DVD playback has been completely removed.

DVD playback is a feature we've come to expect not only in next-generation machines, but last generation as well. Since Wii discs are DVDs anyway, would this feature be so difficult to add on? Check out Matt's blog for a slightly more in-depth analysis, and let's hope that Nintendo doesn't take their "games only" stance a bit too far.