wiidvd
Latest
EB/GameStop giving away free Wii DVD (update 1)
Head into your local GameStop/EB Games and, according to Go Nintendo, you'll be able to walk out with a free promotional DVD pimping out the Wii something fierce. With video explaining how the Wii works, the Wii Channels menu system and some of the Wii's games, the DVD is obviously designed to hook and reel in those elusive non-gamers. Will it do the job? Possibly, if every employee crams one into the bag of every Mom or Dad looking for a game to give their child/children.[Update: Readers are reporting that the disc may also be found at Toys 'R Us, Target, Best Buy, and Game Crazy.]
Japan getting Wii with DVD playback
Looks like Japanese gamers get their revenge after all. Sure, we're still getting the Wii first, but they're getting a console with DVD playback functionality next year. Sucks to be us, eh?Nintendo would not divulge a date for which they planned to release this version of the Wii and commented that, as of now, there are no plans to bring this proposed version of the Wii to the US and Europe. If Japan does see this version release next year, you can safely assume the other territories would receive it, as well.[Thanks Canuckle!]
Wii: then and now
"People change. Hairstyles change. Interest rates fluctuate." When Hillary Flammond uttered those words in Top Secret, she clearly hadn't experienced the gaming industry -- a marvelous, often magical place where things change very quickly indeed. As today's cataclysmic explosion of Wii news demonstrates, things can change for better or for worse. Yesterday's truth may become today's obsolete press release. So, what has (and hasn't) changed for Nintendo between then and now?Then: The Wii could play DVDs via an unspecified and entirely nebulous dongle. The original console description reads: "Two Disc Formats, One Slot: Instead of a tray, a single, innovative, self-loading media bay will play both 12-centimeter optical discs used for the new system as well as Nintendo GameCube discs. Owners will have the option of equipping a small, self-contained attachment to play movies and other DVD content."Now: Inserting a DVD into the system will likely produce a polite error message indicating a complete inability to play DVDs. Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan explains DVD playback was removed "in order to deliver the machine at a cheaper cost and because most people today already own DVD players." On the plus side, this reduces the amount of times we'll have to type a dubious word like "dongle."
