Wii to get DVD playback
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Console first from Nintendo to support 5-inch discs
By George T. Chronis -- Video Business, 11/17/2006
NOV. 17 | The Nintendo Wii will get DVD movie playback after all. The gamemaker plans to update the Wii with the feature in 2007, using a software engine provided by Sonic Solutions.
Nintendo is adding DVD playback as a value-added feature.
Back when the Wii was code-named Revolution, DVD playback was part of the specification via a “small internal add-on.” After last May’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, however, DVD compatibility disappeared from the feature list. In September, Nintendo explained the removal as market-driven, as DVD players were so inexpensive and pervasive that the company saw little need to add extra hardware options to the Wii that would drive up the cost for consumers.
Nintendo officials did not reply to questions about why the gamemaker changed its mind on DVD playback. In fact, Nintendo has not officially announced the feature, which was made public in a Sonic press release.
Adding a software playback engine is much cheaper than the hardware playback that was originally planned. Another factor for returning DVD to the Wii feature list could be a marketing reality. Wii games do not feature the high-definition resolutions of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, which could be appealing to millions of consumers who do not now own HDTVs and do not plan to buy high-def equipment soon. In those households, DVD playback could be seen as a value-added feature.
Although Panasonic marketed a system based on Nintendo’s GameCube in Japan called the Q that played DVDs, the Wii is the first console from Nintendo that will support 5-inch DVDs. The GameCube used the smaller 3-inch mini-disc.