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Forums - Nintendo - Wii U won't support DVD or Blu-Ray playback... your thoughts?

IamAwsome on 15 June 2011
Euphoria14 said:
Didn't read the article but from what I see in the OP is Nintendo saying that the reason is due to the disc used?


I remember Wii not having playback for DVD also but that was just due to Nintendo being cheap because a quick soft mod enabled DVD playback on mine and I am sure the same will enable at least DVD playback on the Wii U.


It wasn't because of prices,  it was because of Blu-Ray market saturation. Nintendo initially planned to put a DVD player in the Wii, but took it out for the same reason. 



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Kasz216 on 15 June 2011

Oh... as for me... I don't really own DVDs. I just netflix everything outside a few TV shows there isn't anything I want to watch more then 2-3 times.

I just wish they would of when with a better name then Wii U.

Between this and PS Vita it's the generation of the crappy names.

I mean, 3DS was pretty lame too but these two.... jeez.



d21lewis on 15 June 2011
IamAwsome said:
Euphoria14 said:
Didn't read the article but from what I see in the OP is Nintendo saying that the reason is due to the disc used?


I remember Wii not having playback for DVD also but that was just due to Nintendo being cheap because a quick soft mod enabled DVD playback on mine and I am sure the same will enable at least DVD playback on the Wii U.


It wasn't because of prices,  it was because of Blu-Ray market saturation. Nintendo initially planned to put a DVD player in the Wii, but took it out for the same reason. 

And from what I understand, the Wii is totally capable of playing DVDs as is.  There was (and probably still is) a homebrew application for it.  Leaving out DVD playback was a design choice.



TheDarkBender on 15 June 2011

I don't really know if that's a good move, because many people, such as me, don't have a bluray player. Maybe there will be somekind of video on demand system, other than Netflix.

DVD player isn't neccesary, IMHO.



 

HappySqurriel on 15 June 2011
Kasz216 said:
Euphoria14 said:
Play4Fun said:

Can't really say I care.

Besides, everyone should have expected this. Nintendo is not trying to push blu-ray like Sony is. Nor are they really trying to compete with multi-media features against Sony like MS is.

They have little reason to want to add that support. Blu-ray playback will be one of the least important features for consoles next gen.


If 3DTVgains popularity your assumption could end up being way off.

Blurays won't be as expensive, not to mention you can grab one for $1.50 at Redbox right now.

 

Netflix doesn't stream 3D nor is it's HD the same overall quality as that found on a BD disc.

I am sure BD will continue to have its uses within the next 3-5 years easy.


3DTV isn't going to gain popularity though... not unless it gets rid of the glasses.... and even then... it might not take off since 3D actually has a lot of presentation negatives due to it basically screwing up how movies should be directed.

 

3D seems to be less of a selling feature than HD has been in general, and HDTV never really caught on until people could buy 40+ inch flat screen TVs for $1000 or less that just happened to be HD. Unless there is some other improvement that 3D can piggyback on, I doubt even glasses-free 3DTV will really inspire many people to replace perfectly good large screen flat pannel HDTVs simply to get 3D.



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HappySqurriel on 15 June 2011
d21lewis said:
IamAwsome said:
Euphoria14 said:
Didn't read the article but from what I see in the OP is Nintendo saying that the reason is due to the disc used?


I remember Wii not having playback for DVD also but that was just due to Nintendo being cheap because a quick soft mod enabled DVD playback on mine and I am sure the same will enable at least DVD playback on the Wii U.


It wasn't because of prices,  it was because of Blu-Ray market saturation. Nintendo initially planned to put a DVD player in the Wii, but took it out for the same reason. 

And from what I understand, the Wii is totally capable of playing DVDs as is.  There was (and probably still is) a homebrew application for it.  Leaving out DVD playback was a design choice.


Most formats (CD, DVD, DVD-A, SACD, Blu-Ray, etc.) tend to have licensing fees associated with providing video/audio playback and also force certain rules on how your hardware has to operate to be considered compliant. While the added cost will not make or break a system, and the requirements may not ensure piracy is possible, they do make it more difficult to produce a cost effective and piracy free system.



d21lewis on 15 June 2011
HappySqurriel said:
d21lewis said:
IamAwsome said:
Euphoria14 said:
Didn't read the article but from what I see in the OP is Nintendo saying that the reason is due to the disc used?


I remember Wii not having playback for DVD also but that was just due to Nintendo being cheap because a quick soft mod enabled DVD playback on mine and I am sure the same will enable at least DVD playback on the Wii U.


It wasn't because of prices,  it was because of Blu-Ray market saturation. Nintendo initially planned to put a DVD player in the Wii, but took it out for the same reason. 

And from what I understand, the Wii is totally capable of playing DVDs as is.  There was (and probably still is) a homebrew application for it.  Leaving out DVD playback was a design choice.


Most formats (CD, DVD, DVD-A, SACD, Blu-Ray, etc.) tend to have licensing fees associated with providing video/audio playback and also force certain rules on how your hardware has to operate to be considered compliant. While the added cost will not make or break a system, and the requirements may not ensure piracy is possible, they do make it more difficult to produce a cost effective and piracy free system.





Kasz216 on 15 June 2011
HappySqurriel said:
Kasz216 said:
Euphoria14 said:
Play4Fun said:

Can't really say I care.

Besides, everyone should have expected this. Nintendo is not trying to push blu-ray like Sony is. Nor are they really trying to compete with multi-media features against Sony like MS is.

They have little reason to want to add that support. Blu-ray playback will be one of the least important features for consoles next gen.


If 3DTVgains popularity your assumption could end up being way off.

Blurays won't be as expensive, not to mention you can grab one for $1.50 at Redbox right now.

 

Netflix doesn't stream 3D nor is it's HD the same overall quality as that found on a BD disc.

I am sure BD will continue to have its uses within the next 3-5 years easy.


3DTV isn't going to gain popularity though... not unless it gets rid of the glasses.... and even then... it might not take off since 3D actually has a lot of presentation negatives due to it basically screwing up how movies should be directed.

 

3D seems to be less of a selling feature than HD has been in general, and HDTV never really caught on until people could buy 40+ inch flat screen TVs for $1000 or less that just happened to be HD. Unless there is some other improvement that 3D can piggyback on, I doubt even glasses-free 3DTV will really inspire many people to replace perfectly good large screen flat pannel HDTVs simply to get 3D.


Yeah more or less... I mean heck, look at how slow blu-ray adoption is happening even with HD TV sales being huge... like Blu-ray it's only going to definitly "win" if the issue is forced.

Which for 3D Tv it will not.   Well not until it's without glasses... and even then, I question it... Even full holographic TV has issues that i think would stop wholesale adoption.

I mean, imagine a horror movie whose expierene totally changes depending on where in the room your are.



MaulerX on 15 June 2011

In the article he mentions the patents involved. Sounds like Nintendo is being cheap as always.

It's a total shame. A missed opportunity. If Nintendo is going to fully sell people on the console to controller screen streaming, this would have been a super cool gimmick to add to the whole premise. The ability to stream your DVD movies to the control screen on the moments that (as Nintendo themselves demonstrated) someone in your family wants to do/see something else.
Nintendo, always finding a way to gimp their own innovative ideas.



pariz on 15 June 2011

Well, lost opportunity if you ask me.

It would be super to use your controller to play media from a dvd / blu ray. It would make a major selling point too.



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