CinemaNow launches Wii movie streaming service in Japan

CinemaNow, the company that's over the years brought streaming content (and often Frisbees) to such varied devices as the Samsung P2, various Dell PCs, and the Xbox 360, has announced that it's partnering with Fujisoft to deliver flicks to the Nintendo Wii. The service will initially launch in Japan, subjecting our friends to the East to such Paramount Pictures fare as Hotel For Dogs and Madagascar 2: Return of the Sassy Cartoon Animals, but we're fairly confident that a Stateside launch is in our future. In related news, cult film director Tommy Wiseau is reportedly negotiating with Chintendo to bring his inadvertent comedies to the Vii game platform.

[(01) @ Jun 25th 2009 5:06PM]

This may be a weird question, but how good of quality can we expect off streaming on the Wii?

[GingerFox @ Jun 25th 2009 5:09PM]

not very lol

[Excelsium @ Jun 25th 2009 5:13PM]

480p max as a guess.

[Brdystyls @ Jun 25th 2009 5:33PM]

The wii only have video out (no hdmi nor composite). In other words no HD just SD.

[d889 @ Jun 25th 2009 5:38PM]

well dvds look fine on an sdtv so it probably wont be an issue

[JimboJones @ Jun 25th 2009 7:03PM]

you will get pretty much the same quality you get with anything else when it streams ... not great, but I don't get whooping resolution with PC when I stream hulu or netflix neither

[slamEVIL @ Jun 25th 2009 7:17PM]

i was thinking the same thing. hopefully (with the component cables) it will have the same quality as an up-converting dvd player.

[JohnTitor @ Jun 25th 2009 10:30PM]

The Nintendo Wii outputs at a maximum of 480P (EDTV), so the quality at best is as good as a DVD Movie, but that will be upto how well the program works and how optimized it is. Considering MPlayer, Wii can handle standard MPEG-2 based DVDs just fine, but a web-based player will most likely stream in a H.264 format or something similar.

As for upconverting, a lot of HDTVs have some built-in upconverting capability, but the Wii itself can't do it, since you have to output to a HD resolution for it to make sense

[Dan @ Jun 25th 2009 5:15PM]

@GingerFox

Well, bitrate considerations aside, Wii would be capable of DVD quality. That's not crap.

[Mx @ Jun 25th 2009 5:17PM]

haaa, its a wii connected to a Sony haaa

[George @ Jun 25th 2009 5:24PM]

Props for "The Room" screen grab.

Comedy gold.

[idiot @ Jun 25th 2009 5:24PM]

...best. movie. evar...

[duffmanmike88 @ Jun 25th 2009 5:27PM]

You're tearing me apart Lisa!

[Zack @ Jun 25th 2009 5:32PM]

Oh hi, Engadget!

[Zack @ Jun 25th 2009 5:34PM]

"You weren't kidding...underwear...I geta pitcher..."

[Takeshi2569 @ Jun 25th 2009 5:37PM]

480p on an 802.11b wifi connection.... Maybe we'll get a Mario buffer animation?

[Magallanes @ Jun 25th 2009 5:47PM]

The Good :Yay for a new service.
The Bad :low res.
And the Ugly :Low res at the same price than high resolution.

meh x 2

[PrimitiveWallflower @ Jun 25th 2009 5:49PM]

"...because you're a woman!"

[Luis Rivera @ Jun 25th 2009 6:22PM]

The Room, on the Wii, equals success!!!

It would go great with my zune, by the way :)

[Brian @ Jun 25th 2009 6:35PM]

i did not hit her, i did not do it, i did nahhhhhhht
oh hi, mark!

[ys @ Jun 25th 2009 6:48PM]

Sit Danny, SIT!

[Malkmus @ Jun 25th 2009 6:53PM]

"I did not hit her. I did NOT."

[Malkmus @ Jun 25th 2009 6:55PM]

Whoops, didn't see that was already done. So instead I offer:

I'm fed up with this world!

[Evan @ Jun 25th 2009 7:14PM]

"You are tearing Wii apart, Lisa!"

[smurfaccount3 @ Jun 26th 2009 12:01AM]

Golden.

[Herecomes2 @ Jun 25th 2009 8:15PM]

I did not hit her! I did naught.


Oh hi Mark

[ThreeDee912 @ Jun 25th 2009 9:27PM]

The Wii should be able to handle 480p just fine.

I recently installed the Wii port of Mplayer via the Homebrew Channel and it could play 1Mbps Xvid without stuttering.

[Matt @ Jun 25th 2009 10:16PM]

How about they put this stuff on Netflix instead and just offer that on the Wii?

[iKrolm @ Jun 25th 2009 11:56PM]

You're also limited by memory, my wii (admittedly without an SD card, dunno if that makes a difference) runs out of memory on some youtube videos.

[Xorith @ Jun 26th 2009 12:05AM]

hahaha

"you are tearing me apart!"

[Scribbles @ Jun 26th 2009 2:23AM]

OMG i love the Room...

[james @ Jun 26th 2009 8:23AM]

Best worst movie ever!!

[scape @ Jun 26th 2009 9:24AM]

wow...a basic service and only years too late...

[spinler @ Jun 26th 2009 2:08PM]

Oh hi engadget. So how is your sex life?

[CynisterSix @ Jun 26th 2009 6:08PM]

I hope they include all their adult content for the wii pr0nerz