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Gadgets Wii DVD Playback Enabled, Kind of
Marcus Yam (Blog) - August 20, 2007 9:00 AM
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Wii consoles able to play DVD movies -- but only for those with mod chips

Every Nintendo Wii includes a DVD drive as every single one of the console’s games ships in DVD media – but curiously, the Wii does not play DVD movies. For the nefarious types, however, DVD playback has finally been unlocked on the Wii.

Console cracking group Team Symbiote has released a software player for the Wii, which requires users to have a mod chip installed in the machine.

In order to get the DVD software running, according to Maxconsole, users must burn the application with Clone CD, then run it in a modded Wii. The console will recognize the disc as a GameCube game, and will boot to a menu that allows the user to swap to a DVD. There is no official media remote for the Wii, but the software maps several rudimentary DVD functions to the Wii remote.

Nintendo’s decision to not include DVD playback on its newest console us likely because of the license fees required for support of the standard, which would drive up costs, eating away at the company’s profits on Wii sales. Each Wii costs an estimated $158 for Nintendo to manufacture.

Although DVD playback on the Wii is currently exclusive to modified consoles, Nintendo announced just prior to the Wii’s launch that it had enlisted the help of Sonic Solutions, creators of the Roxio CD and DVD software, to provide its CinePlayer CE DVD Navigator software for DVD playback on the Wii. No release date was revealed for the official DVD-enabled Wii; though Nintendo has indicated that it would happen in the latter half of 2007.

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What's the point?
By Spivonious on 8/20/2007 9:02:17 AM , Rating: 5
I'm fairly certain that all Wii owners already have a standalone DVD player. Nintendo realized this and made the decision not to throw away money on getting the licensing to play DVDs.




RE: What's the point?
By helios220 on 8/20/2007 9:12:20 AM , Rating: 2
I agree, but I guess it could be more of an issue depending on placement of your Wii. For those who place their Wii living room or primary entertainment locations, wherever that may be, there is almost always another form of DVD player available. For those who have their Wii's in a bedroom, perhaps younger gamers, it is more likely that there is not a DVD player and the Wii could fill that gap.

In my own experience when I watch a DVD at home or at a friends who has a DVD playback capable console we always end up using a standalone DVD player. But I can't help but feel just a little gypped, that Nintendo cut a few corners just to make a few extra bucks.


RE: What's the point?
By wallijonn on 8/20/2007 11:42:38 AM , Rating: 4
quote:
I can't help but feel just a little gypped, that Nintendo cut a few corners just to make a few extra bucks.


If you have children, and they want to watch DVD movies, which would you rather they muck up - putting candied fingerprints on that $25 Disney film, totally destroying a $25 DVD player from WalMart or that $250 Wii??? How about if they pause the movie to go downstairs, then forget to come back?, leaving the unit to overheat and possibly burn rings into it (like the PS2)? How about if they ruin the DVD player in the Wii one week after the warranty expires?


RE: What's the point?
By SunAngel on 8/20/07, Rating: -1
RE: What's the point?
By NullSubroutine on 8/20/2007 3:39:32 PM , Rating: 2
The problem with your ideas is that the media corporations are trying to to change the concept of how the consumers 'buy' their media. They are trying to change from the old idea that you actually buy and own your copy of the media to the idea you purchase a 'license agreement' that allows you to 'view' the media at their discretion.

This means you can no longer 'own' your DVD, audio CD, or game . You do not have the right to transfer the media to one medium to another medium for your viewing and listening pleasure.

In the media corporations view of the future is that when you purchase a DVD you only purchased the rights via an automatically agreed license agreement to view the media from that medium. You also cannot transfer, move, modify, or change the media on the medium at your will (copy DVD to your computer to watch it from centralized server).

Their hope is that they can control every aspect of the media playback. If you want to watch a DVD on a DVD player, you pay the corporations. If you want to watch it on your comptuer, you pay them money, you want to watch it on your mobile device or phone you pay them money. If you want to listen to your CD in your car you buy a CD, if you want to listen to it on your portable audio player, you pay for it again.

They want effectively enslave everyone who wishes to purchase media through license agreements, monopoly of media, and influence of the law makers to create law supporting their view of Intellectual Property all to maximize their profits and fill their corporate coffers.

We are in the intermediate stage between ownership and license agreements, really its a battle. If a person owns their Disney DVD or Wii game then they have the right to backup their medium/media. If they do not own the medium/media then they own the 'rights' to media no matter the status of the medium and media corporation must replace the defect or destroyed disk at no cost.


RE: What's the point?
By Christopher1 on 8/21/2007 12:20:37 AM , Rating: 2
That is how it should be. When a person buys a movie, music or game disc they SHOULD have the right to backup the thing in question. If they move to license agreement, they should pass laws that people have the right to redownload everything they buy in perpetuity, and pass their rights to download things down to their children and the rest of their descendants.

If they don't allow people to do that, then they are going to have serious fights on their hands from people whose hard drives crash, discs get scratched, etc.

The lawmakers should also make it that when a person buys one copy of something, they are allowed to download all future copies of that thing for no cost, no matter if a new device is made to play them or not.

You are also right in that if we have a license agreement with the corporations, then if a disk gets scratched, burnt, etc. then the media corporations should replace it at no cost, or give us a specialized program that will allow us to burn a locked copy of the media in question once we have those kind of burners in our homes.


RE: What's the point?
By Surak on 8/21/2007 12:39:01 PM , Rating: 1
Where have you been?

There have been copyrights on media since long before the DVD existed. The ownership vs license issue was settled at least 20 years ago ... or i guess I should say it was settled for everyone but common criminals who make up any excuse to ignore their responsibilities as members of our society.

Are you really that far behind the times? You may as well stand on a soap box and yell 'Compuuuuters are the way of the future!'

I strongly disagree that consumers should have perpetual rights to content.

If you saddle the industry with a potentially infinite liability associated with developing new formats and new media, then there will be no new formats or media. Do you really want to get your Hi Definition movie on a set of 20CD's, that you have to swap out of your player every 10 minutes? ... NO, you want one high capacity disk that holds the full movie.

You'd have to be in preschool to not understand that when you buy a DVD, it is meant only for a DVD player and not some future player that will be built 50 years from now with a technology no one has imagined yet. Similarly if you buy a CD ... but your car has a cassette player, then screw you. You chose poorly.

Did you know that the company that built your car only has to produce parts for it for 10 years? Your arguement over media and content is no different than being pissed off that a water pump from a '68 Mustang won't work on your '98 Mustang ... and demanding that Ford gives you it for free, not only for the '98 Mustang, but for the 2028 Mustang you intend to buy in 21 years!

If you can't bare this reality, then there is only two acceptable solutions.

1. Do not buy any media. Do not pirate any content. Do not use any stolen property... don't be a common criminal. Only by totally ignoring the industry will they change their licenses. Using pirated content only empowers them as it shows them how much demand there is for it and therefore how much it is worth.
2. Develope your own content and distribute it as you see fit under your own license. Make your own blockbuster movies with your dad's camcorder. Buy a crappy guitar from a pawn shop and a radio shack microphone and record your own music.

You were not born with some inaliable right to consume music / video content owned by the industry. Grow up you pathetic spoiled child!


RE: What's the point?
By NullSubroutine on 8/21/2007 3:51:19 PM , Rating: 3
Actually, you just proved my entire point. When you buy the DVD you own the DVD and the rights to view the media on the medium. And you have the right to transfer it to another medium as it is your property (as long as you stay within the private viewing license).

To say you do not have that right on your property is like saying, with your example, that you cannot take the motor out of your '68 Mustang and put it in your '98 (not physically but legally).

I do not believe people should have perpetual right to the content, because I do not support the license model of media. I believe people buy their media and have the right to change or modify it for their personal viewing pleasure.

As for as your other comments, I find them hilarious that you assume anyone who has a differing opinion than you must obviously be some young child. This is your error.

Argumentum ad Hominem
* Abusive: An Abusive Ad Hominem occurs when an attack on the character or other irrelevant personal qualities of the opposition—such as appearance—is offered as evidence against her position. Such attacks are often effective distractions ("red herrings"), because the opponent feels it necessary to defend herself, thus being distracted from the topic of the debate.


RE: What's the point?
By Martimus on 8/24/07, Rating: 0
RE: What's the point?
By Spivonious on 8/20/2007 1:28:33 PM , Rating: 1
What does this have to do with the article, or even the post you replied to?

I've never had any piece of consumer electronics overheat, no matter how long it was left on.

If I had kids, I wouldn't let them touch their DVDs with candied fingers, because those candied fingers are going to touch everything. Teaching kids good hygiene is an important part of raising them. If they don't know to wash their hands when they're sticky, then they're either too young to be handling $25/$250 equipment, or it's your own damn fault.


RE: What's the point?
By omnicronx on 8/20/2007 2:29:07 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I've never had any piece of consumer electronics overheat, no matter how long it was left on.
xbox 360 anyone? that aside ;)

No offense but if you have kids, anything you put out for them to use is fair game. If you are worried about kids breaking your dvd's in your dvd player, you should be just as worried about kids putting games in the wii. Rule of thumb: if you dont want the kids to break it, dont leave it out ;)


RE: What's the point?
By Spivonious on 8/20/2007 4:27:56 PM , Rating: 2
So...you agree with me. Okay.

And I don't own a 360 ;)


RE: What's the point?
By FITCamaro on 8/20/2007 9:23:31 AM , Rating: 1
Yes but considering the rather large profit Nintendo is making off each Wii sold, they could have sacrificed the couple dollars on each console and paid the licensing fees. When even the last generation of consoles would play DVDs, its pretty lame that a current gen system won't. Especially when the reason of "we didn't want to loose any more money per console sold" doesn't apply.


RE: What's the point?
By StevoLincolnite on 8/20/2007 9:40:14 AM , Rating: 2
If you save 1 dollar for every Wii Sold, imagine the amount of money saved by doing 1xWiis Sold which is money in they're pocket, now that extra income looks great to share holders.


RE: What's the point?
By omnicronx on 8/20/2007 9:53:35 AM , Rating: 2
Meh who really cares, the wii doesnt even have digital audio out, unless you are going to be watching it on your old crappy tv without external speakers DVD playback is useless anyways.
Even the ps3 had an optical out =P.


RE: What's the point?
By StevoLincolnite on 8/20/2007 10:08:26 AM , Rating: 1
I have an old crappy TV, and I just use AV cables, DVD support is provided by my computer in the next room, and I have just a typical 5.1 set-up from a 2.1 source.
I don't care much for TV, and for movies, it does me fine.


RE: What's the point?
By wushuktl on 8/20/2007 10:07:29 AM , Rating: 2
plus the real question is would more people have bought a wii if it came with dvd playing capabilities? probably not, so why not save the money on the first batch of systems when they can seemingly rely on hype alone.


RE: What's the point?
By Spivonious on 8/20/2007 10:22:12 AM , Rating: 2
The Wii is still hard to get around me (southern PA), almost a year after it was released. I think the hype has died down by now and people just want it because it's a great product.


RE: What's the point?
By Verran on 8/20/2007 9:53:54 AM , Rating: 3
I like how people always seem bitter with Wii and Nintendo because they're actually turning a profit on the hardware. Isn't that the point? I've commented before about how ridiculous the lose-money-up-front concept is, but it seems everyone loves it, even though it means embracing decade old technology just because the maker hasn't made their money yet.

As for the Wii not having DVD... cry me a river. I bought my DVD player for $35 three years ago. If people didn't have a DVD player before Wii, they probably never will.

The Wii plays Wii games. That's what it does. And I'm glad it's so simple. It seems to be doing extraordinarily well with it's simplicity concept. If you want a swiss-army media center device, buy a PS3.


RE: What's the point?
By FITCamaro on 8/20/2007 10:54:56 AM , Rating: 1
I'm not bitter about it as I haven't bought one because theres no games I want for it. Not because of the lack of a DVD player. But it would make a good DVD player to take with you on trips or something if you have one. And it just irks me that a feature that has been common place for 6 years isn't on the latest offering. To me it'd be like a laptop these days coming without a VGA or DVI output.


RE: What's the point?
By wallijonn on 8/20/2007 11:49:48 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
it would make a good DVD player to take with you on trips or something if you have one.


You can probably find a portable DVD player for less than $250 + tax., to take on a plane. Oh, wait, the Wii doesn't run on batteries. You can buy an A.C. dvd player at WalMart for $25; real small, too.


RE: What's the point?
By mars777 on 8/20/2007 11:15:07 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
I like how people always seem bitter with Wii and Nintendo because they're actually turning a profit on the hardware


The point of each company is to extort as much money as possible from average Joes. You must remember that corporations are like the minds of many individuals driving one vehicle and thinking together. And as such its personality is that of a psichopath and bad minds often prevail good ones if mixed with equal rights (think of it like the anarchy of ideas). Nintendo managed to do this without bad publicity because the non-average Joes didn't bash its product much.

If you ask me, the Wii offers no real value, and has a lack of functionalities. To you, it can be the best thing after sliced bread. Hopefully people are different, if not we would get tired of looking at each other.

I'm not trying to bash the Wii, all I'm trying to say is that any corporation is bad if it gets analized as a person by a psychiatrist.


RE: What's the point?
By BMFPitt on 8/20/2007 11:33:08 AM , Rating: 3
quote:
The point of each company is to extort as much money as possible from average Joes.
Damn them and their product that people enjoy and want!
quote:
Nintendo managed to do this without bad publicity because the non-average Joes didn't bash its product much.
Yeah, seems like only people who feel the need to impose their views of what "fun" should be are bashing it. People who would say silly things like "If you ask me, the Wii offers no real value, and has a lack of functionalities."
quote:
If you ask me, the Wii offers no real value, and has a lack of functionalities.
Did anyone ask you?


RE: What's the point?
By omnicronx on 8/20/2007 12:01:45 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
If you ask me, the Wii offers no real value, and has a lack of functionalities.


I agree with you, in my mind the wii is missing some key features, but it seems the main market for the wii does not care, as they are not enthusiasts. The lack of DVD playback, and the crappy online features are are the major flaws for the wii in my mind, but most people don't care what i think, and the sales show it. Just yesterday I went to bestbuy and noticed 3 or 4 people looking to buy a wii who were in their 30's are 40's, when asked by an employee who it was for, most of them acknowledged it was for themselves. This is something i have never seen for any console, so obviously Nintendo is doing something right ;)

The two things i named aside, my only gripe about the wii is that is is 10 times more fun when playing with other people. I always feel so weird swinging around that remote when i am by myself, I am always afraid someone is going to come around the corner and start laughing at me, arms and legs flailing and all.


RE: What's the point?
By BMFPitt on 8/20/2007 10:51:11 AM , Rating: 3
quote:
Yes but considering the rather large profit Nintendo is making off each Wii sold, they could have sacrificed the couple dollars on each console and paid the licensing fees.
On the list of things I would have rather seen Nintendo spend their money on with the Wii, DVD playback falls below "Built-in RJ45 port" and "Let me select a pants color for my Mii."


RE: What's the point?
By omnicronx on 8/20/2007 12:06:53 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
"Built-in RJ45 port

I think Nintendo had to make a choice, wireless or wired. I think they made the right decision here, if wireless was not included, you have a lot more people asking, 'WHERES THE WIRELESS WHAT A RIPOFF', because how many people have their network wired into their TV or entertainment room? not many especially those who would be interested in the easy to use wii. For most people today, if you have highspeed, you have a router, and if you have a router, it probably has wireless. Just a thought ;)

but you are right, for me, an RJ45 port would be much better than DVD playback.


RE: What's the point?
By robinthakur on 8/20/2007 12:27:36 PM , Rating: 2
Agreed, I'm an enthusiast and I bought a Wii, because Nintendo is still a GAME enthusiast's company, despite what you as an individual might think. I also own the other two consoles plus a DS just because I can, basically...

I likewise notice how jealous and bitter some people are about the Wii and its overwhelming success and I just laugh at them. The predominantly male teens and early 20's market is outraged that actually the whole world doesn't want a Xbox 360/PS3 so they can play GOW/Halo/FEAR/Turok/Crysis/The Darkness/Quake 4/Perfect Dark/Prey/Unreal Tournament/Bioshock/Resistance (and the rest) online multiplayer with way cool voice chat in between sessions of gunning down pedestrians in GTA4. How shocking...

I never would have seen that a mass-market oriented console with a fun never-seen-before interface would actually outsell its two expensive, over-engineered, difficult to program for competitors with games that (on the whole) are only marketed to the niche market of young males. I was soo surprised, that I made about £5000 profit reselling Wii's when they launched in the UK lol. I don't miss the DVD functionality either because all the other machines play them better than the Wii could.


RE: What's the point?
By FITCamaro on 8/20/2007 12:55:47 PM , Rating: 2
Well games like Gears of War and Halo are fun to me. And no not from the multiplayer (I barely do it. I use it more for online co-op than multiplayer).

I see value in the Wii. Just not with the games it currently has out. Super Smash Brothers might make me get one. Other than that, there's really very little thats encouraging me to buy one. The prospect of motion in games seems cool. But I played Zelda on a friends Wii, and it really wasn't that great to me.

The Wii has its place. Its just for the more casual gamer I'd say. I'm sure some people fully enjoy its content. But I'm not one of them. Rehashed Mario titles and kiddie games don't appeal to me. I didn't really like Metroid for Gamecube but thats more because of the retarded controller it had. The new Metroid might appeal more to me. But really, thats about all there is for someone like me. I care more about the story of the game than how I control my character. I think as FPS's go, Gears of War had a great story as does Halo. Overlord is also a remarkably fun game despite being simplistic. Forza 2 is great as well.

Yes Nintendo has remained focused on games. But unfortunately the majority of the games still tend to be oriented towards kids. If they could get some more adult oriented games on it, it'd sell even better. I'm really not one for "party" games so it has nothing for me. When me and my friends get together to play video games, we like to play Halo and run around with rockets only, finding interesting ways of killing each other that we find hilarious. Not play Mario Party.


RE: What's the point?
By FITCamaro on 8/20/2007 1:03:40 PM , Rating: 2
I also love people who whine about people expressing their opinion on a product they like. I have nothing against the Wii or Nintendo. Their products just don't appeal to me anymore. Obviously people see that as a horrible thing since my posts get rated down since my opinion doesn't agree with theirs.

But then thats how people are. Hate what you don't like. Instead of whats truly a dumb statement. The only things I ever rate down are posts that are truly stupid. Things like "The 360/PS3/Wii is the suxxor." or "Blu-ray/HD-DVD is the greatest thing ever and all other formats should die." or "Microsoft is the devil."


RE: What's the point?
By BMFPitt on 8/20/2007 1:11:06 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I also love people who whine about people expressing their opinion on a product they like. I have nothing against the Wii or Nintendo. Their products just don't appeal to me anymore. Obviously people see that as a horrible thing since my posts get rated down since my opinion doesn't agree with theirs.
Or perhaps it's the fact that the opinion you're expressing is that you're angry at Nintendo for turning a profit on consoles.


RE: What's the point?
By omnicronx on 8/20/2007 1:24:39 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Or perhaps it's the fact that the opinion you're expressing is that you're angry at Nintendo for turning a profit on consoles.
Yes, i am sure FT cries himself to sleep at night because nintendo's net profits are higher than their microsoft/sony counterparts. I can just see it now, FT yelling at the moon 'WHY GOD WHY!'. Oh wait, hes expressing his opinion on the console, and the fact that it does not appeal to him. I agree with him too, I am a proud wii owner, but it has sat unused for the past few months because of a lack of good games. You can only play wii sports for so long.

I could care less what console makes more money, as long as i like the games they could lose billions for all i care.


RE: What's the point?
By FITCamaro on 8/20/2007 2:14:03 PM , Rating: 2
Exactly where do I state I'm angry? Oh right I don't.

All I say is that in a world where new consoles typically do not turn a profit immediately (in terms of the actual hardware sale of the console), for a company to leave out near standard functionality while making a near $100 profit per console is a little lame.

Despite it being a far more capable machine, with far more powerful and costly hardware, everyone would be complaining if the 360 didn't offer DVD playback. But similar to Apple overcharging people, because its Nintendo, its ok.


RE: What's the point?
By omnicronx on 8/20/2007 2:33:19 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
All I say is that in a world where new consoles typically do not turn a profit immediately (in terms of the actual hardware sale of the console), for a company to leave out near standard functionality while making a near $100 profit per console is a little lame.
But is that not Nintendo's mission statement ;) They purposely wanted to get away from the 'lose money now, make money later business scheme'. Although i agree with you, 100$ profit and they cant add in a 5-10 dollar upgrade (whatever that may be), but maybe that would have pushed them over their $250 price point, which was in my mind, was Nintendo's main goal.


RE: What's the point?
By Verran on 8/20/2007 2:49:53 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
All I say is that in a world where new consoles typically do not turn a profit immediately (in terms of the actual hardware sale of the console), for a company to leave out near standard functionality while making a near $100 profit per console is a little lame.

Again, Nintendo thrown under the bus because they're not taking a loss on their hardware. What a stupid set of expectations Sony and Microsoft have set for the console market... I guess we'll see how these people feel about the concept in 7 years or so when they're still waiting for Sony or MS to break even so they can start developing the next console. Of course, by then they'll have forgotten all about this, and the argument will fail.

quote:
But similar to Apple overcharging people, because its Nintendo, its ok.

Overcharging? Based on what? Based on not offering a feature that a vast majority would never use? Or is it based on the fact that they're not losing money? Either way, that's a huge exaggeration.

As always though, the Wii is simply NOT marketed to the get-out-the-ruler-and-see-who's-bigger spec/feature comparing hardcore teenage gamer crowd. This is something that said demographic simply can't understand, and continues to rant about. This is why a large majority of the people who would complain about the lack of DVD on Wii are the people who would never consider buying one.


RE: What's the point?
By omnicronx on 8/20/2007 3:39:56 PM , Rating: 2
overcharging may be a strong word for it, but in a way its true. Maybe you don't but i could see many people using this as their dvd player if it had the ability. Leaving out features that were available in the last gen console models is a major oversight, and for the price nintendo is making per console the word overcharging isnt that far off


RE: What's the point?
By FITCamaro on 8/20/2007 3:58:44 PM , Rating: 1
Read my fucking post.

Christ. Where do I say that I expect them to take a fucking loss? It's great that they can make a profit on their hardware. I love how people rejoice in putting words in other people's mouths.

But to me the consumer should come first and they should have taken making $97 per console instead of $100 and added in the DVD playback functionality considering a PS2 from 2001 can do it yet the brand new Nintendo console can't.

I wasn't saying Nintendo is overcharging either. I was saying that its like the Apple charging way to much for their product scenario. Nintendo is popular right now. As is Apple. Apple gets away with overcharging for their crap. No one complains really. Microsoft does it and they're the devil. Similar to how Nintendo leaves out a near standard feature from its console. No one complains really. If Microsoft or Sony had, everyone would be bitching.

I'm not saying it has to be about who's got the most features. Nor am I a teenager. But I want the most functionality for my buck (something a teenager doesn't care about since they don't pay for shit). And to me with DVD players being so damn cheap, I don't see why they couldn't have added the playback ability.

Is it a factor in my decision not to buy one so far? No. Would it be if I was looking to buy one? No. I'll buy one if I see a value in it for games. Which I haven't yet. But if I do buy one, I for one want a product to offer at the very least what products from the last generation could do.


RE: What's the point?
By Verran on 8/20/2007 4:22:09 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
Christ. Where do I say that I expect them to take a fucking loss?

I don't know/care what you "expect" them to do. My point is that Nintendo is held up to this standard of having to include everything someone wants simply because they're the ONLY one making money. You don't see people asking Chevy to take a smaller profit and make cruise standard. You don't see people bashing Toshiba for not including 1080p on all models while staying out of the red. Why does the Wii catch grief for making a profit while lacking specific low demand features?

quote:
Similar to how Nintendo leaves out a near standard feature from its console. No one complains really.

Perhaps no one complains because no one cares? Just throwing out ideas, here...

quote:
And to me with DVD players being so damn cheap, I don't see why they couldn't have added the playback ability.

I would use the same fact to make the opposite point. You can't spit in a big-box store without hitting a low priced DVD player. The number of houses that lack a DVD player has got to be unbelievably low. Why deal with all the licensing costs (the cost of which we can only guess at) just to include functionality that everyone and their brother already has?


RE: What's the point?
By jconan on 8/22/2007 2:37:00 AM , Rating: 2
You're right in that analogy as Sony is to Microsoft; Nintendo is to Apple. Not too long ago there was an article on Nintendo and how they wanted to emulate the Apple success on the iPod on designs. Nintendo has succeeded that's why they are reaping the rewards now.

From the consumer point of view you're not forced to buy it you can always buy other brands similar to the DAP market. You don't have to buy an iPod you can always get something else like Crowon, iRiver, Samsung, Archos, or Philips, and etc...

All in-all Nintendo isn't overcharging and nor is it pricey. People don't have to buy if they don't want and they do have a choice...


RE: What's the point?
By jconan on 8/21/2007 7:12:54 AM , Rating: 2
I think overcharging is quite a bit strong as others have mentioned. You're the consumer and you make your own choice to buy or not to buy so you're not being strong armed into buying one. Then why would nintendo be overcharging for the wii? I think it was a great idea for nintendo that they left out the dvd option so that people buy the wii to play games not to watch movies. From day one probably their design specification was just to be an affordable video game console so that people can actually enjoy a game and not having to learn complexities. With the new games there are so many aspects of a game to learn like navigating through a 3d environment and using accessories and commands that are a bit complex to learn for a lot people who don't have the time to learn and master. I think majority of people just want to have fun with their games and that's it. Even great graphics does not necessarily make the game fun.


RE: What's the point?
By omnicronx on 8/20/2007 1:16:16 PM , Rating: 2
but i think you proved his point, while 'kids' games do not interest the average 15-30 male gamer, in which videogaming is part of their lifestyle. It does interest everyone else, let alone the not so avid 15-30 male casual gamers.

Regardless if the games are made for 'kids', ive noticed many wii gamers like the ability to be able to play 30 minutes and stop whenever they please, without having to spend countless hours on the same level, killing the same guy over and over again, because they can not figure out how to get passed the damn thing.


RE: What's the point?
By Spivonious on 8/20/2007 1:36:54 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
ive noticed many wii gamers like the ability to be able to play 30 minutes and stop whenever they please</quote

EXACTLY!! This is the sole reason I think the Wii is the best of the current gen systems.


RE: What's the point?
By herrdoktor330 on 8/23/2007 11:50:14 PM , Rating: 2
Microsoft and PS3 are selling their hardware at a cost right now with the hopes of recouping lost revenue from software sales. I think Nintendo has made all the right moves this round to ensure there is going to be a Nintendo in the next gen of consoles to come out. Not that I'm an Nintendo fanboy, but I know good business. And that is the wisest, most prudent move in order to acheive success of a console. You don't really want to give it away. And this the general rush there was to get to this generation of game console, alot of blockbuster games are still a quarter or more away. That makes it harder for Sony and MS to recoup their lost revenues, even though they're selling games at a $10 premium over Wii games.

And technically, only one console from the last gen played DVDs out of the box: PS2. You couldn't play DVDs on Xbox without the IR dongle and remote, which you paid a premium for. Gamecube didn't play DVD for the obvious reasons.

Personally, I don't really see DVD playback alone as a huge deal. What I would think would be a bigger deal is if Wii could work as a media extender and play media off of network drives. That would be a much more exciting proposal. To be honest, I think that would be a feature people would pay a premium for. Granted, Xbox360 does that for free when paired with Windows MCE. But if Nintendo offered something like that as a $25 channel, that would be money in the bank for them.

I think the main idea here is "ala carte". Nintendo has built a console that has lovely ala carte appeal. If you want to add on a new feature the hardware could conceivably handle, you pay a little premium and get what you want out of it.

Hope that all made sense...


RE: What's the point?
By herrdoktor330 on 8/26/2007 4:32:55 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
And this the general rush there was to get to this generation of game console, alot of blockbuster games are still a quarter or more away. That makes it harder for Sony and MS to recoup their lost revenues, even though they're selling games at a $10 premium over Wii games.


edit to the last post:

What I meant to say there was MS and Sony are banking on blockbuster titles selling lots of copies to recoup lost revenue on console sales. But there still is a lack of those big money titles that are making up for the cost of the system.

And original Xbox could play DVDs once you hacked it. But that also comes at an added premium price.

Anyway... continue on, guys.


RE: What's the point?
By bunnyfubbles on 8/20/2007 12:25:13 PM , Rating: 2
They simply should have done what Microsoft did with the Xbox and require you to buy an add-on for DVD playback. Given how willing people were to fork over hundreds for extra controllers and memory and other peripherals, another ~$30 or so for a DVD playback kit would have flown off the shelves just as fast as all the other stuff.


RE: What's the point?
By wrekd on 8/20/2007 3:42:07 PM , Rating: 2
I had to buy a DVD player recently because because of failure. Convergence is the name of the game. The Wii should have included playback.

I bet if Nintendo knew in less than 1 years time they would be pulling ahead of the Xbox 360 in units sold (as well as obliterating the PS3's numbers), they would have included it and still made profit.


Nintendo is Dumb
By Suomynona on 8/20/2007 9:18:22 AM , Rating: 3
They could release a DVD player in the Wii Shop that would cover the licensing fee.




RE: Nintendo is Dumb
By Moishe on 8/20/2007 9:45:51 AM , Rating: 2
I think that this is really the best solution.

DVD players are so common and cheap that I don't blame them at all for trying to maximize their profit... but they would easily just sell the playback software via the Wii store and tie it directly to that Wii. Heck, they would probably actually make a little more money by doing that.


RE: Nintendo is Dumb
By jak3676 on 8/20/2007 9:46:53 AM , Rating: 2
I get the impression that's what they're up to. Why else would you outsource to a company to develop a product?

I expect that we'll see a sofware DVD coming up soon - We'll just have to pay for it seperately - making even more money for Nintendo. The software will cover the cost of licensing and programming.


RE: Nintendo is Dumb
By theDagda on 8/20/2007 10:12:11 AM , Rating: 2
Working for a consumer electronics company, I can tell you straight up that if you can save a nickel on component costs, you save a lot of money in the long run. This is a very good move by Nintendo; the number of people who simply won't buy a Wii solely because it doesn't have a DVD player is probably negligible to non-existent. You don't buy a Wii to play DVDs, you buy it to play games. Now, when a game console costs $500, then yes - it should have as much functionality as possible.

Also - the reason the Wii can't play DVDs natively is because it doesn't have the correct laser for the DVD medium. That's the reason you need the mod chip and burning software to make it look like a GameCube disc.


RE: Nintendo is Dumb
By adam92682 on 8/20/2007 10:43:48 AM , Rating: 2
If the Wii didnt have the right laser to read the DVD medium then how does it play Wii Games?


RE: Nintendo is Dumb
By ndessell on 8/20/2007 10:55:03 AM , Rating: 2
its not the the laser as much as the way a wii disc is set up, think of it like an exact mirror of how a normal dvd works


RE: Nintendo is Dumb
By Brockway on 8/20/2007 11:57:48 AM , Rating: 2
I thought the wii reads discs normally, and that it was the gamecube that read discs backwards?


RE: Nintendo is Dumb
By ndessell on 8/20/2007 12:20:22 PM , Rating: 2
i may be wrong about the direction the disc are written, but i do know that data location are nothing like their DVD conterpart


RE: Nintendo is Dumb
By omnicronx on 8/20/2007 12:25:27 PM , Rating: 2
nobody ever said the wii was incapable of reading normal DVD's, they just don't want to pay royalties to be able to play mpeg2 video.


RE: Nintendo is Dumb
By ndessell on 8/20/2007 1:26:18 PM , Rating: 2
How hard is it to get that when Nintendo cut dvd/cd play back, they no longer needed a drive capable of normal DVD playback; All they need was a good Wii discs and from a purely engineering stand point that a great deal more effective in terms of hardware life and performance.
And about this royalties nonsense, that cost is marginal and Nintendo could have absorb the cost; If the functionality was priority.

Design works like this:
functions -> hardware ->software ->legals


RE: Nintendo is Dumb
By omnicronx on 8/20/2007 2:19:54 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
How hard is it to get that when Nintendo cut dvd/cd play back, they no longer needed a drive capable of normal DVD playback; All they need was a good Wii discs and from a purely engineering stand point that a great deal more effective in terms of hardware life and performance.
Did you not read the article, the wii can player obviously plays dvd's just fine if modded versions work. So their reasons have to be a bit more than just an 'engineering standpoint', there has to be a good reason that we are not aware of. The functionality is there, its just been disabled or never implemented.


RE: Nintendo is Dumb
By ndessell on 8/20/2007 2:50:04 PM , Rating: 2
I did read the article and i know exactly how the mod works. I question how it effect long term performance on the wii. Hell the very people behind this mod warn against possible miss alignment issues, other worry over burning the laser out on DL DvDs.
Engineering is a very big issue when you talk electronics, its the diferance between a wii working 6 years from now or a mountain of expensive shiny white bricks.


RE: Nintendo is Dumb
By omnicronx on 8/20/2007 3:37:03 PM , Rating: 2
After reading into what the modders have to say, you are probably right, apparently the DVD player has problems reading dual layer disc's as the wii only takes advantage of single layer 4.5Gig DVD's. Although i would not be surprised if the player was crippled other than just not able to play dvd9 discs. DVD9 has been around for a very long time, and i have not heard of too many players that do not support dual layer discs. Maybe it has to do with backwards compatibility with gamecube games, as the disc is written backwards.


By dirtdirt on 8/20/2007 10:14:46 AM , Rating: 2
Sure, I've got a DVD player, and if I didn't I could get one cheaply, but I really like the idea of having just one box. I wouldn't have to select inputs, I wouldn't have to fight with a buncha cables, I wouldn't need another remote (or need to program the crappy remote I already have), I wouldn't have to use up another power socket.

The lack of DVD is one of the few things about the Wii that bugs me.




By OxBow on 8/20/2007 10:32:47 AM , Rating: 2
I agree. For Nintendo to not include this was just stingy. To claim it was to save money just rubs salt in the wound. The Wii was profitable from day 1, something the 360 and PS3 aren't at even now (the 360 would have been if it hadn't been for their $1.2 billion warrantee hit, and the PS3 won't be for a long time).

Granted, a fraction of a penny saved/unit adds up to a lot when you're producing millions of units. None the less, this is just crass.

It's not that I don't own a couple dvd players, but it would be nice not have all the cord clutter and extra devices in the TV cabinet. It seems like Nintendo is taking a page from Microsofts business plan and nickel and diming their customers. The console is cheap up front, but you'll need to pay extra for a web browser, dvd playback, 10 year old games...

Unfortunately, most people never look at the total cost of ownership. If they did, they wouldn't be bashing the PS3 nearly as much.


By BMFPitt on 8/20/2007 10:59:34 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
I agree. For Nintendo to not include this was just stingy. To claim it was to save money just rubs salt in the wound.
On the contrary, I prefer not to be lied to, which is the standard response in these types of situations.
quote:
The Wii was profitable from day 1, something the 360 and PS3 aren't at even now
As a Nintendo shareholder, that made me smile and laugh.
quote:
It seems like Nintendo is taking a page from Microsofts business plan and nickel and diming their customers. The console is cheap up front, but you'll need to pay extra for a web browser, dvd playback, 10 year old games.
Paying separately for things that 90% of people won't use, rather than building it into the price? Seems like the way to go.


By mars777 on 8/20/2007 11:03:37 AM , Rating: 2
The Wii has another great lack: horsepower.

Basically I've already seen the best of it, and it is disappointing ;(

It's like the iPhone, pricy controller on cheap device (at least the iPhone has visually appealing software - for a mobile phone).

It sells entertainment (to who knows how to appreciate it - I don't) but gives no value (again from my perspective) or good overall functionality (objectively).

I tried to swing that controller, and when after 10 minutes I was bored, I was asking myself: "Why don't I go to play streetball with the guys rather than look silly or just play something visually appealing on a next-gen console?".

Then again, a lot of people love the new controller. Tastes are tastes.


By BMFPitt on 8/20/2007 11:39:01 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
I tried to swing that controller, and when after 10 minutes I was bored, I was asking myself: "Why don't I go to play streetball with the guys rather than look silly or just play something visually appealing on a next-gen console?".
So when you call your friends up at 1am in January and ask them to play streetball, what is their usual response? Mine don't seem amused.

Nor has my fiancee ever seemed inclined to switch our gaming session from Mario Party 8 on the Wii to Madden 08 on the 360.


By jconan on 8/21/2007 6:56:27 AM , Rating: 2
With the wiimote as opposed to the 360 and ps3 there is a difference in terms of energy use. People actually expend more energy playing naruto or resident evil on wii then say Gears of War, Halo 3, or God of War on the 360 and the ps3. Given the demographics even if it's silly swinging around the controller the player is still getting a good cardio work out as opposed to just sitting motionless just only moving their digits on the joypad.

Like some people I picked up the 60gb ver. of the ps3, and maybe later on when i get make some more space in my living quarters i may get the wii when nintendo brings out the udpated wii.


More than meets the eye
By ndessell on 8/20/2007 10:46:17 AM , Rating: 1
OK, I know people hear things like the Wii can play DVDs, but what harder to understand is the drive inside the Wii is NOT a True DVD-drive. It is technically equivalent to a DVD-drive. That said, forcing that drive into an unspecified function, literally reading in reverse, in all likely hood will damage the overall product presented in the Wii.

On another note, For Nintendo to even think about adding DVD function to the Wii; They would need to do a rewrite of the firm-ware inside of the Wii-drive and add functions to switch to DVD mode and run in it. Then you have to deliver the that mess to 10 million+ customers.




RE: More than meets the eye
By Spivonious on 8/20/2007 1:37:54 PM , Rating: 2
I heard that the reverse-spinning was just a rumor that has since been dispelled.


RE: More than meets the eye
By ndessell on 8/20/2007 1:50:12 PM , Rating: 2
i may be wrong on that as i cant find find the source, but the discs are different enough that read mechanics is different and requires a firmware revision to make standard DVDs work.


RE: More than meets the eye
By omnicronx on 8/20/2007 2:16:54 PM , Rating: 2
If modded versions can play perfectly with software decoding, theres no reason why it cannot be done that way via firmware update. whether it be hardware or software decoding, the wii is more than powerful enough to play DVD's, and although mpeg2/css encyption license fee's could be one of the reasons, i doubt it is the main one.

I wonder if this had to do with copy protection in the beginning more than anything, but now with modded wii's theres no longer any point. Could be one of the reasons the wii is being re-released with DVD playback capabilities.


Welcome to the REAL world
By BioHazardous on 8/20/2007 11:44:55 AM , Rating: 2
I'm guessing the people who are whining about Nintendo not including DVD playback as a standard function of the Wii are still in college or younger. I'd like to think that anybody who has a real job wouldn't be complaining about a feature not being included that clearly isn't important to the vast majority of the consumers for video game products. Either that or they are just against the Wii because they are in love with Sony or MS. Now I'm not for or against any of these consoles. I do personally own a Wii, but only because I wanted the Zelda game and the console didn't cost me an arm and a leg. I spend most of my gaming time playing games on my computer.

Anyway, back to my point. In the real world, people and companies are out to make money. It's not like just because Nintendo saved a dime here on production costs that it ONLY benefits the evil corporation.. I'm guessing it has a trickle down effect in terms of monetary benefits to people like share holders, product managers etc. Anybody who complains about a company trying to make a profit should probably be living in a communist country.. If companies don't make profits, then said companies go out of business and people lose jobs and the economy suffers as a whole.

Well back to wasting my time trying to make my company money, maybe I should just start selling product at a loss so that the average idiot can be happy knowing people are losing money for their personal entertainment.




RE: Welcome to the REAL world
By Christopher1 on 8/21/2007 12:23:33 AM , Rating: 1
Not important to the vast majority of consumers for video game products? What world are you living in! When I was in college, I used my XBox as both a game machine AND a DVD player, in order to play and watch movies on the same machine.

A lot of people who I have talked to also do that, their children use their game machine to both watch movies and play games as well.
It would have been worth it for Nintendo to pay the little extra license fee and make their game machine into a totally bona-fide media machine.


RE: Welcome to the REAL world
By BioHazardous on 8/21/2007 10:48:49 AM , Rating: 2
I may be off the mark on this one, but what is the number one selling home game console right now?

I rest my case.

The main point of my post was about the people who were complaining about Nintendo trying to make money, but I doubt people go to college in the hopes of making money afterward anyway.


Seems like a lot of work
By KentState on 8/20/2007 9:03:50 AM , Rating: 2
The only advantage I could see is not needing an additional DVD player, but it still seems like a lot of work for something that can be had for $25.




RE: Seems like a lot of work
By SilthDraeth on 8/20/2007 10:04:16 AM , Rating: 2
Exactly.


By psychobriggsy on 8/20/2007 10:30:21 AM , Rating: 2
It's certainly not required as most people have DVD players, certainly I bet 98% of Wii owners have at least one DVD player in the house.

If Nintendo release a DVD application, it needs to be easily accessed - I mean that upon bootup, if the Wii sees a DVD movie in the drive, it should launch the player automatically, no Wii Menu or anything (of course provide an option to go to the Wii Menu at that stage).

One good thing would be that with the limited inputs on many TVs, you could drop a cable from your system - connect the RGB output of the Wii to the TV's RGB SCART input (or the US equivalent) and get good quality for games and movies. Of course with newer/better TVs this isn't really an issue as they have plenty of inputs already. But nice to avoid temperamental SCART switchers otherwise. Also my DVD player looks like a turd.

When that DVD player breaks it's nice to know that by paying a few Wii Points I could be watching DVDs later the same day, so I hope they make it available. Just add in support for divx and I'll be sold (my current DVD player does divx, but with a primitive interface and has interesting colours for many encodes (QPEL?) rather than what should be shown). Oh, and add a SlimServer client too eh? And maybe a BBC iPlayer app ...




By lemonadesoda on 8/20/2007 6:22:34 PM , Rating: 2
Not everyone has a DVD player. For those that dont, the Wii is much more attractive with that feature.

Not everyone who has a DVD player has one in every room. A Wii in another room, with the option to also play DVD is an attractive feature.

Not everyone who has kids and goes on holiday, has a full-day programme to keep the kids busy. A Wii for games and movies on rainy days is an attractive feature.

Not everyone who has a DVD player has a modern player than can play DivX or MP3 files. That would be an attractive feature on the Wii.

An ability to watch a DVD while running a simple program in the background, e.g. smack-the-actor (c), would be a very entertaining attractive feature and GREAT for annoying the gf.




By Samus on 8/20/2007 8:11:22 PM , Rating: 2
1) no hardware decoding
2) 480p max output, most using composite cables anyway.
3) the remote is really not designed for media tasks
4) swap disc to load a movie? you are joking right?
5) wii drive sucks (intentionally crippled wavelength diode in the LG models) at reading burned discs and will likely skip a lot through a movie




Looking for HDDVD
By jeromekwok on 8/20/2007 10:09:03 PM , Rating: 2
Hope to see next generation Wii to support HD-DVD, to see Sony got beaten hard again.




"I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For [Paramount] to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks!" -- Movie Director Michael Bay











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