Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming: Wii don't play DVDs

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Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming (Subscribe)

Friday, September 15, 2006

Wii don't play DVDs

Amidst all the positive Nintendo Wii press yesterday, there was one subtle nugget o' discontent.

When Nintendo first announced the console, they said the console was capable of playing DVD movies, though it might "require an attachment to do so".

But yesterday's final specs don't mention anything about DVD functionality, decribing its media bay as a "single self-loading media bay will play single- or double-layered 12-centimeter optical discs for the Wii console, as well as 8-centimeter Nintendo GameCube discs."

Now, 12-centimeter optical discs are DVD standard, but according to at least one company rep, "because the price of DVD players has dropped so much and they have become so commonplace, Nintendo saw no need to create extra hardware options that would drive up the cost for consumers."

Sure, they could do a USB 2.0 add-on, but aren't likely to, given how cheap DVD players are, and the fact the "Wii don't do high-definition" (I've got a million of these, so get use to 'em).

Not to say the specs for the Wii are bad:

Four GameCube controller ports
Two GameCube memory-card slots
Two USB 2.0 ports
SD Card slot
IEEE802.11 Wi-Fi capability will let it communicate wirelessly with the DS handheld or the Internet
Will support component and S-Video output

Time will tell whether this decision has any impact, or if Panansonic will release a DVD version of the Wii, like it did with the DVD-playing "Q" GameCube.

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SOURCES: Gamespot.com, joystiq.com, kotaku.com, Xbox.com, IGN, GameInformer, Official XBox Magazine, CNN, gamesindustry.biz, and others.

Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming (Subscribe)

Friday, September 15, 2006

Wii don't play DVDs

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