Gaming The Mystery of The DVD enhanced Wii

[JellyPerson]

So, my friend and I were doing some research on the Wii (we're kinda nuts for the Wii), and we encountered something so obscure, I'm sure half of you won't even know what I'm talking about. It's a Wii with a built in DVD player (source: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/wii-gets-dvd-playbackin-2007/1100-6161611/). The thing is, the device never came to fruition. Too bad.

 

[pokemoner2500]

Well we know that older Wii's can playback DVD's via Homebrew so the hardware was there, just never the software to accompany it.

 

[JellyPerson]

But this was an official Wii that could play DVDs, no homebrew necessary.

 

[pokemoner2500]

But this was an official Wii that could play DVDs, no homebrew necessary.

Well every official old Wii had the hardware to do so, just no accompanying software to actually allow it.

 

[THEELEMENTKH]

But this was an official Wii that could play DVDs, no homebrew necessary.

Well, it's already known that nintendo might originally put DVD support on Wii, since there's a leftover DVD disc banner on the NAND
https://tcrf.net/Wii

 

[JellyPerson]

It was assumed for a while that old Wiis would get a software update to make their Wii like that Wii.

 

[tech3475]

Possible reasons I can think of for it not happening:
1) The Dual Layer issue with earlier drives
2) Lack of interest
3) Not wanting multiple SKUs (if it was to be a new model)
4) Contract dispute
5) Piracy concerns

 

[JellyPerson]

>Not Wanting Multiple SKUs

Wii Family Edition and Wii Mini eventually came along.

 

[Maeson]

But Family Edition and Mini became a thing years after the launch (2011 Family Edition, 2013 Mini, unless you were Canadian, in that case 2012) , when the system was already a success / it was on it's way to retirement, and lived enough time for a revision to not being harmful.

Launching a new version of the system a mere year after the launch of the original model could have made consumers uneasy or angry, even more if this new model was announced shortly before the launch of the original system, like that GameSpot article shows (Written in 13th November 2006, Wii launched... on 19th November, 2006). It could kill a lot of the interest built towards your system and screw over Christmas sales too.

Not to mention those revisions that came years later were, for the most part, inferior to the original system, without gamecube game / accesory support for both, and in the case of Mini, removing component/S-Video/RGB video output, no online, no SD-Card support, and only one USB; and in no way they they replace the original model if you look for the best version of the system (as long as you don't look for 2006/2007 Wiis with weaker Dvd-drive, of course), unlike other revisions for other systems.

It would be like announcing the PS3 slim days before PS3 "fat" was launched, in a way. Of course, that's my thought if not wanting multiple "skus" was the reason for this not happening. It could very well be any of the reasons mentioned by tech3475.

That said, I didn't know about this, so as a trivia it's interesting.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Possible reasons I can think of for it not happening:
1) The Dual Layer issue with earlier drives
2) Lack of interest
3) Not wanting multiple SKUs (if it was to be a new model)
4) Contract dispute
5) Piracy concerns

6) DVD licensing fees.
7) General laziness.
8) Not believing that the time and effort invested would be worth the additional sales.

 

[tech3475]

6) DVD licensing fees.
7) General laziness.
8) Not believing that the time and effort invested would be worth the additional sales.

7/8 is basically 2.

I always suspected a DVD player app would either have had the licensing fee incorporated into it, either from the SKU or an app, similar to the original Xbox which required the remote to hide the fee.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

7/8 is basically 2.

I always suspected a DVD player app would either have had the licensing fee incorporated into it, either from the SKU or an app, similar to the original Xbox which required the remote to hide the fee.

8 is basically like 2, I'll give you that. But 7 is different, I think.
I think because they were pushing the console so hard to casuals already they didn't really see much benefit in offering a DVD player app, and most people already had a DVD player by then anyway and Blu-Ray was the new big thing. For the other two consoles (especially the PS3 since it was the cheapest bluray player on the market at the time) it was their way into the casual market.

 

[newo]

Mullti-SKUs seem to be the norm nowadays, lol. the current generation breaks a whole lot of rules.

 

[TheThief]

So, my friend and I were doing some research on the Wii (we're kinda nuts for the Wii), and we encountered something so obscure, I'm sure half of you won't even know what I'm talking about. It's a Wii with a built in DVD player (source: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/wii-gets-dvd-playbackin-2007/1100-6161611/). The thing is, the device never came to fruition. Too bad.

Nice find. Never heard that back then. Glad I didn't or else I wouldve complained about different SKUs or if it didnt release(which is what happened) I'd be like, come on now Nintendo get with times. Funny how when I modded my Wii I thought I'd take advantage of WiiMC's dvd capabilities, but I play my fave movies off my HD instead.

 

[Sayora]

Well we know that older Wii's can playback DVD's via Homebrew so the hardware was there, just never the software to accompany it.

Doesn't DVD playback damage the Wii's disc drive due to how it's designed? That would have made a hardware revision nescessary if they had decided to implement it.

 

[tbb043]

Does anyone need another DVD player? By the time Wii was released you could get one for $20-30 dollars. That's not even counting stuff like sony and MS and even TV's having them built in. Nintendo was smart not to bother adding to the cost licensing DVD playback. In Gamecube it may have had a point if they'd done it, in Wii, nah.

 

[Ryccardo]

Doesn't DVD playback damage the Wii's disc drive due to how it's designed?

Reading one bit from a DVD (well, in sectors of 2048 bytes or whatever) is the same as reading one bit from a DVD, it doesn't matter if one disc contains a Wii game and the other adult movies (in fact, the typical movie disc played start to end will demand less work from the seek mechanism... not that it should make a practical difference unless the drive was marginal in the first place, just like those people that "my nand burnt out 1 hour/week after I modded my console/phone")

A similiarly small-relevance argument would be "Nintendo hopefully makes DVDs with the exact size, data pitch, and tolerances optimized for their own drives"... (just ask those with a dual-layer challenged Wii) but that also falls apart once dust and scratches come in