I have Minna no Theater Wii and about a month ago used it to watch only one movie so far (only because I still find the selection very limited). I watched Once Upon a Time in the West (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064116/) and was pleasantly surprised by the experience. It seemed near DVD-quality to me, although I am no videophile. However, I did consciously select an older film, rather than something more recent that would be more likely to rely on clearer visuals and/or CG.

I watched the movie on a 46" Sharp Aquos TV, and the data was streamed over a fiber optic network and then of course WiFi to the Wii. Playback was nearly immediate (I'm certain there wasn't as much as a 3-second pause for the movie to start), and there was never a lag or hiccup in the streaming - not even once for this nearly 3-hour movie. I paused the movie a couple of times for bathroom breaks, etc., and restarting was just as fast as when initially starting the steam at the beginning of the movie. (Actually, I believe it started up right away, but my memory is a bit fuzzy on that aspect.)

For all intents and purposes, I found the experience to be equivalent to watching the movie on DVD or TV broadcast.

That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Nice.

Hopefully our other Japanese brethren will have their experiences as well.

Also, what's the cost for the service?

500 Wii points for the Minna no Theater Wii app, and then a small menu of pricing options based on the number of videos/days for rental. For example, 300 Wii points gets you 1 video for 2 days (unlimited viewing), 600 Wii points gets you 2 videos for 3 days (unlimited viewing), and 800 Wii points gets you 3 videos for 5 days (unlimited viewing).

wow thats good pricing cause 3 dollars is not much....but i heard the channel itself is free 

here is the link: http://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=67578

The news that Nintendo is working on a video service for the Wii was pretty big news. It's not something I ever thought Nintendo would do. While they are jumping on the idea a bit later than Microsoft and Nintendo, they are putting their own unique touch on the video service. We've already given you the major details about Wii no Ma Channel, but here are some other aspects you might be interested in hearing.

- service will offer free and paid content
- free content is ad-supported
- the channel itself is free
- paid content may not hit Japan until Summer.

and also here some more movies that have been added

We've already told you about the deal between Warner Bros. and Fujisoft for the Everyone's Theater Wii service, but now we had a peek at a few more movies that are jumping onto the Wii, thanks to the deal.

- Batman Begins, Contact, Last Samurai, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Goonies, Free Willy, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and more

The most interesting thing is, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button hits the Everyone's Theater Wii service the same day it hits rental and retail outlets in Japan. Hopefully Japanese Wii owners can see more releases that mirror the real-life street date!

link for that movie added article is here: http://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=89219

So I am thinking you haven't checked your Wii No Ma Channel recently but thanks for sharing your thoughts....

Oh and @ ramuji by the way what is your TV Model Number??? cause I have a Sharp Aquos 46" LC46D64U....

Wii_Master,
The Wii no Ma Channel (http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/features/wiinoma/index.html), offered by Nintendo, is free of charge. So far, the content on the Wii no Ma Channel is also free of charge, and all original programming. Since the launch of this channel, Nintendo has said that they hope to eventually provide a movie download service in this channel, and Iwata mentioned that again recently in his video announcment at Wii.com. I don't think it is clear yet what pricing would be for that video streaming service.

What we have been discussing in this thread up until now is the Minna no Theater Wii application (http://theaterwii.jp/), offered by Fujisoft. This is a WiiWare application, and indeed does cost 500 Wii points to download.

We have the Sharp Aquos 46" LC-46EX5.

So you are saying that Wii No Ma Channel is free but basically doesn't have any movies, right? Then what is Minna no Theater? What are the differences and when Paramount andother companies added movies like mentioned above where do they come? in Minna no Theatre or Minna no Channel???

First, I should correct something I said in my previous post:

Yes, the Wii no Ma channel from Nintendo is free (as with all Wii channels), and at this time offers only original programming. The content is also completely free of charge, and consists mostly of 10- to 20-minute documentary-style films. Nintendo has yet to announce any partnerships with Paramount, etc. to offer theatrical movies, etc., although Nintendo have indicated more than once that they intend to move in that direction.

The Minna no Theater Wii WiiWare application from Fujisoft is not free (as with most WiiWare games/applications). Fujisoft has current partnerships (such as with Paramount), and has indicated that they are pursuing partnerships with other companies, to provide content that includes mostly theatrical movies, past television programs (lots of Kamen Rider and Ultraman), and Anime. A "rental fee" is required to stream this content.

There is no connection between Wii no Ma and Minna no Theater Wii. If a user wants to rent one of the Paramount movies offered in Minna no Theater Wii, the entire transaction (including movie selection, payment with Wii points, and viewing) takes place within the Minna no Theater Wii application. If at some point in the future Nintendo also establishes a partnership with Paramount to stream that company's movies in Wii no Ma, that service would become a direct competitor to Fujisoft's Minna no Theater Wii.

I'm sorry that I caused confusion in my previous post, and hope this helps to clear things up a bit.

Wow you are a good explainer! Thanks for the info so this means that Fujisoft's service is in direct competion with Nintendo on its own console? lol

Also so Fujisoft is actually offering movies full ones while Nintedo just has small 20 minute shows...cool...

If I have to pay for the actual channel just to order the movies, then I'll stick to using RedBox $1/night rentals.

I'm willing to pay a few bucks more to be able to watch the movie anytime in more days and no having to go to and from the RedBox location, but, it's a matter of principle to have to pay for the privileged of giving them my business.