Iwata: Wii Video Download Service May Transfer To DS

By Michael McWhertor

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Nintendo's video on demand service, planned to launch in Japan sometime this year, might not just be limited to the Wii. According to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, it may also come to the Nintendo DS.

Iwata tells the Wall Street Journal that the advertising-based video service—currently announced for availability in Japan this year, but reportedly coming to other territories "later"—may go portable. He also hints that the video service, born of a partnership with Japanese ad agency Dentsu, will be different "in a Nintendo-like way."

"If the Wii and the DS are connected, it should be possible to download video through the Wii and take it with you on the DS," Iwata tells the Journal. The Wii already allows DS owners to download game demos via the internet.

"When the service begins, you'll see how we're going to do it differently in a Nintendo-like way," he adds. "There are a lot of on-demand video services, so there's no reason to do the same thing, so we're going to do something different. We'll start the service in Japan, and if it does well, we'd like to take it overseas."

Iwata also tells the Wall Street Journal one of his goals for the Wii is to make the console "something that people will turn on even if they don't have a purpose in mind."

"We're not there yet though, and there are a lot of things we have to do to achieve that," Iwata said. We'll leave it to you to fill in the rest.

Q&A With Nintendo's President [WSJ]

Dammit you beat me. I hope the service comes to NA and hopes it brings some good programs.

EDIT - To all those will complain. Its just an extra feature its a fucking bonus so dont complain if you dont want it or are not gonna use it. Will wait for someone to bitch and moan....

very cool, hope its a success so it comes state side. :)

*fingers crossed*

Man, this sure has the potential to be cool, doesn't it?

Really interested in where they're going with this. Definitely something to look for @ E3

This has the potential to be ultra-cool.