Nintendo Reconfirms That Wii U Will Not Support DVD, Blu-Ray and Gamecube Discs

Nintendo of America’s Vice President of Corporate Affairs Cindy Gordon has reconfirmed to journalists that the Wii U won’t support DVD’s, Blu-ray or Gamecube discs. Gordon did however reconfirm that the Wii U will be fully backwards compatible with Wii games, which we already knew. Hopefully it will support digital streaming services such as the BBC iPlayer, Netflix and Hulu etc.

201 thoughts on “Nintendo Reconfirms That Wii U Will Not Support DVD, Blu-Ray and Gamecube Discs

    • 25 GB’s, single layer. I think it can only read single-layer though, but if an ultra-rare game comes along that needs more space than that they can just make it dual-disc.

      • How do u know that? PS3 was able to read dual-layer and its ancient. If ninty goes bare minimum, I would think even the lowest-end drives should be able to support dual layer by now. But yes 25GB should be plenty (assuming Ninty uses proprietary tech similar to blu-ray).

        • That’s what I read. And CD technology advances on a completely different level than normal technology (just like batteries). You could have a complete beast of a system but if it uses a proprietary format then it’ll probably only be able to read single-layer.

          Just look at the 360.

  1. They’re going to have the wii u use nintendo 64 cartridges again. Lol jk. I wonder what they’ll use though. Hd DVD? Probably not

    • 25GB proprietary format… they must have some killer hardware engineers if they developed it on their own but I’m guessing they had some outside firm develop it for them.

    • They are basically using unlicensed bluray tech and just shutting out the playback capabilities of the Wii U other than just reading data of course.

  2. It does use proprietary format so we knew it wouldn’t use Blu Ray but the question is, why not DVD? I recall reading somewhere (not about Nintendo in general) that you need a license for every DVD/Blu Ray player sold so it could have all the needed capabilities to play DVD’s but Nintendo doesn’t want to lower profits (or have negative profits).

    • I don’t expect that to ever change.

      Nintendo’s philosophy is to create video gaming consoles for video games only. They’re not interesting to hiking up the price of their consoles by including dvd/blueray.

      Why need it anyway? I play my consoles solely for the games.

  3. Really ? So that means if I want to use my GameCube games still I would need to keep my wii along with my wii-u? That’s just a lot of space you want to take up, nintendo!

    • I would think they would add gamecube to vc. I would have thought that would have been a no brainer. ( no disrespect to your comment though.)

      • Having GC games on the VC is cool if you don’t own the games already, but if you already have a huge library of the games with all of the classics, then it’s a waste of money to rebuy them.

            • Yeah you really shouldn’t think you’re some fucking big shot. So learn to shut your mouth before considering typing up any old shit that comes into your head.

              Anyway, the only chance for GC games for VC is if controllers come with analog shoulder buttons with click. Unlikely? Would have thought someone would have mentioned this before..wait and see it is then.

              • Did you forget it’s nintendo there will probably be 20 accessories not included with wii u that you
                Will have to pay. Wii motion plus should really been on the wii remote to begin with or we should have gotten it for free

              • You realized your icon is based on your IP, not your username. Stop trying to act badass in front of everyone, and argue with different usernames. That’s like me doing this-

  4. I don’t need any of those features…I have a DVD player, and my Wii Has Netflix. So do Both of my 3ds’s…If my DVD Player goes out, I spend 50 bucks…I’ve allready Paid for my Wii, so if nothing else it will be like my Netflix Player…lol

  5. Kinda sucks that it won’t play a dvd but nintendo has already said they aren’t into being an entertainment system. Can’t wait <3

  6. Doesn’t seem like a bad move as why lumber it with BLU-ray or DVD. The Wii already has BBC iPlayer and streaming/cloud is the way things are going. PS3 only has Blu-ray so Sony could win the HD video disc battle and then they have been selling that at a loss. Nintendo definitely need to make the Wii U HD.

      • He meant nintendo has to make all of there features in hd which by the way is sorta a bad move there since even though I go by my motto graphics doesn’t make a game. They still should do something about DVD. The ps3 and xbox 360 are as powerful as the wii u which is sorta sad considering it’s like saying gamecube is as powerful as the psp and xbox which is behind a generation and handheld. This gonna sound likens troll but just bear with me wii u needs to be scraped out of development and make it 10 times more powerful than a ps4 and xbox 720 could ever reach

        • You’re really behind in the news. The WiiU will supposedly be twice as powerful as the xbox360 and the xbox 720 is onlyu going to be 20% more powerful than the WiiU. It’s just rumors, but yeah…

  7. Not fussed to be honest. I already have a Blu-Ray player (well, a PS3) which can play DVDs along with my Xbox 360 and I can still use my Wii for GameCube games. The only thing that could annoy me is not being able to use a GameCube controller for Wii games such as Mario Kart.

  8. No DVD’s? Thats fine, have 3 DVD players anyway s there not hard to come by or costly. No BluRay, again fine, Blurays cost more and they make you look like a D*** as people think your bragging about owning a bluray player/PS3.

    NO GAMECUBES DISCS?!? Nintendo, I shall hunt you down and rip out your heart, NGC games are awesome, in case you can’t tell, that was a joke. As much as it sucks that I can’t play my Gamecube games on the WiiU, I will still have my Wii that can play them so no big deal.

    And I guess backwards compatibility with the Wii makes sense, hope the transition between the 2 consoles goes a little smoother than the one from the NDS to the 3DS.

    All I ever wanted from you Nintendo was HD gaming which you are going to provide, a good online service somewhat similar to XBL PSN and steam, so you made the Nintendo Network, nice job. And a truck load of 3rd part support because as much as your 1st and 2nd party are good, you kinda got left behind on that front, so lets hope that with the likes of Darksiders II and other games (can’t think of any more off top of my head, trying not to get too involved till E3 is over), that that is the start of something great to come because I really DON’T want to see you get cast aside again Nintendo.

    Hopefully you will get it right this time round. Peace.

  9. Pingback: Wii U stödjer inte DVD, BluRay samt Gamecube-spel « Joypad

  10. I hope we can still be able to use the GameCube Controler. I’d hate to have to change my control style for the next Smash Bros since I’ve used the GameCube Controller for like ten years.

    • u dont know,nintedo is doing that because they want to keep their console(s) cheap.Nintendo ftw.get a life and get a dvd player

    • You’re an idiot.

      Nintendo doesn’t care about putting in something that isn’t needed. It’s already been said that this system is going to be much more powerful than the current consoles. Trust me, there’s going to be more than enough power in the Wii U to make up for this.

      • Sentinel is right. It has been confirmed that the Wii U will be far more powerful that PS3 and the Xbox 360. This will prove whether or not the power can go beyond Blu-Ray. Tech is improving, so it’s time to unleash what Nintendo can do.

    • GOD you’re stupid…..

      Blu-ray is owned by SONY…… If they put it on their console, they put it on their console, There will be lawsuits. Either that, or they will have to pay sony for copyrights. And Either way, even if they wanted to, SONY WILL NOT LET THEM…..*sigh….*

      • Sony doesn’t own Blu Ray…

        If you want tangible proof go to the nearest Walmart and look at the selection of Blu Ray players; how many are Sony? Got that number? Now then, all those other Blu Ray players are NOT Sony’s… Nintendo would be just another Blu Ray player…

  11. Pingback: Nintendo confirma una vez más que WiiU no reproducirá DVDs, BlueRays ni juegos de GameCube

  12. no one gives a crap, everybody owns a dvd player and I’m sure gcn games will come to virtual console on the wiiu plus wiiu will definitely support netflix and others. consoles are suppose to focus on games. all you retards bitching would most likely never use the wiiu to watch dvds if it could so shut the fuck up and use your dvd player to watch your freaking dvds.

  13. For you people in college looking for a simple media console solution (like whar an XBox 360360 is or a PS3 definitely is), Nimtendo just gave you the finger.

  14. Fuck you Nintendo. Fuck you to hell where you belong. The Wii U was something I was saving up for too. God dammit. Wow, get with the program. You know what, fine, I have a Wii, I can use that for gamecube games ok, BUT WHAT THE HELL IS WITH NO DVD’S?? Urrgghh. I don’t want to save up for a Wii U and a DVD player, why the hell would they do this? It’s what I was expecting most out of the Wii U. Sick of it, don’t give a damn about graphics, Ninentdo is innovative but can’t do basic functions. Why?

  15. Ok, listen N, AT LEAST, let me transfer everything I bought on the Wii shop to the WiiU, then I won’t feel so fucked over, just bruised.

    • Yes! I recon if they did that then more people would be happy/less bitter/less annoyed about not being able to play GC games on it. I will be very annoyed if I have to rebuy OOT, MM, super mario bros etc from the shop channel on the Wii U since I have them all on the Wii, therefore I won’t buy them.

      • That’s all I’m trying to say. Yes I’m bitching, and it won’t change a damn thing, but sometimes it’s nice to know someone feels your pain.

        If I can transfer my virtual console games I bought (for the second time at a discount), then I’ll be happy enough.

  16. Don’t get your panties all up in a bunch, while the no suppoert of blue-ray was somethi.g i was hoping for. i expect GameCube to be seen on the virtual console.

  17. Am I going to be the only one to do the simple solution? Keep the Wii around for GCN games and then get the Wii U.

    I doubt it’s going to take much space.

  18. I reckon they’ll have Netflix on the Wii U.

    Also, didn’t a Nintendo of America executive accidentally say that GameCube games would be downloadable through the Wii U’s online store, before Ninty quickly shut her up?

    Hope that’s true :)

  19. all these topics have already been covered by nintendo, so i don’t know what the big deal is. Nintendo is always trying to cut costs for the better part of the consoles hardware to play games and other things. Plus im sure it will have netflix , and many other services on the cloud to watch movies listen to music and other things you can do with a cd/bluray player . It’s happening now with mainly the 3ds with netflix nintendo video etc.
    PS- anyone who thinks the wii u is going to be too weak for next gen and it will be the same thing as wii. Get over yourself your a hipocrit

  20. I have a dvd player for dvds, I have a Gamecube and Wii for Gamecube games (as well as the Wii U online store for GC games in the future) so that leaves using the Wii U for Wii and Wii U games, makes sense to me. I don’t wanna over use my brand new Wii U within it’s first year so it breaks….. yeah, I plan for it to last the whole gen just like my Wii has since 2006 and my gamecube is in good condition too (as well as my N64 and SNES are ok too)
    Basicly what I’m saying is, is that we don’t NEED to be able to play dvds on the Wii U just cos the 360 and PS3 do it. It is very annoying not being able to play gamecube games on it but I’ve got over it and I’ll just use my Wii for that! (just like I still use my N64 for N64 games not just the VC downloads for the Wii)

  21. DVD Player, don’t really mind- What DVD players are for. It will only incline the price of the Wii U.

    No GC Support though, slight let down, but honestly though, who plays on the GC anymore. Although it was an amazing console the generation has now gone. As long as it supports retro gaming then that’s fine.

    A games console is for gaming, nothing else. Deal with it….

    • I agree with some/most of that (I wrote the comment above yours too)
      however “who plays GC anymore” …. many people? As several people state it had a lot of good games that people like to still play today, I for instance play Wind Waker every year, and Mario Sunshine every now and then. I also plan to play through Luigi’s mansion again at some point as it’s been a few years. I agree to an extent that once you’ve played a game for so long you don’t want to anymore, for me that includes games such as SOME of the Mario Party GC games (others such as 4 and 6 I probs will play again as they were great), but other games such as Melee and Mario Kart and the 2 Pokemon games are well worth revisits too. I guess this is why people are annoyed (including myself to an extent but it won’t make me dislike the Wii U) because they want the freedom to play their GC games on it whenever they wish, if for example their GC doesn’t work anymore and/or they sold their Wii to get the Wii U.
      I guess your final sentence makes sense since yeah it is for gaming and I guess that could imply that you’re saying Gamecubes are for GC games, Wii is Wii games and Wii U is for Wii U games.

      • Well generally speaking the Wii U is still a Wii which is why Nintendo are allowing it to have Wii compatibility. It’s like with the Wii itself, that had GC playback. Tech is always moving and GC games are no longer in process, but Wii is still, therefore playback is logical there.

        I didn’t say the GC wasn’t good because I used to have one and it was a great console back in its time, but referring back to technology it pushes GC out of the list and Wii gets the place on the list instead. As long as retro gaming is still on there so thing like OOT and MK 64 are there, and of course some excellent Wii U titles (it’s been stated the Wii U is easy to develop for) so games will be great; that said developers need to make games properly or they won’t be good.

  22. Hmm interesting. I really want Blu-ray on the Wii U, it’ll look awesome but I guess they want space to make the hardware and software strong.

  23. Doesn’t affect me at all because i already have a PS3. I’m not bothered by this for 2 reasons. Nintendo is a GAMING CORPORATION. Sony is an ELECTRONICS CORPORATION. Just because the PS3 had a blu ray player, it doesn’t mean every console needs one in the future. Especially since a triple layered Wii U disk has 75GB of data. Besides, what average gamer doesn’t have a DVD player? Seriously?

    • Everybody has a DVD player, of course, but not everybody has a blu ray player. Of course no average gamer cares about blu ray movies, but have a single device attached on tv would be a plus IF this doesn’t impact on games.
      PS3 with his blu ray and the necessity of many GB of installation on every game is very bad.
      Yes Sony has won the format battle but it’s was a lose for gamers.

  24. I still don’t understand why you are all getting pissed and attacking each-other. Maybe you can not use the Wii U for DVDs, ever thought of that? And if you’re pissed at Nintendo, just leave and not buy the console. More games for us.

    • We’re pissed because we LOVE nintendo games but are TOO POOR to buy them Over and over and fucking over. Hence my rants on no GC compatability. GC games are amazing, and some of my favorites are GC.

      We’re not all RICH. OK? I understand saving money by avoiding paying a fee for bluray / Dvd, but as a GAMING machine, I would appreciate them not cutting the GC compatibility. I’d pay a little more for that than to buy all my games again.

      “Just keep you’re old wii” -some of us depend on Trading to bring down the cost of new hardware/ software.

      Fuck, am I the only son of a bitch that can’t afford to buy the same games for the second and third time?

      As far as not playing blueray or Dvd… I don’t care about that.

      • Nah, your point is true. I don’t wanna keep a collection with same names but only in different format. That only cost more & lower the change to buy new games. Consider money will be forever an important issue in life.
        Well, maybe they can make an external device for GC Disk..

  25. Don’t care about DVDs or Blu-ray as long as there is Netflix. GCN, though I’m not happy about. Don’t say VC, because how many of the 3rd party titles will be on VC? 007, NFS, RE TimeSplitters, Burnout, Splinter Cell, among many others. How many of those are gonna be on VC? (Although I wouldn’t be surprised if RE ends up on VC, knowing Capcom.)

  26. Pingback: Nintendo Wii U 3DS Wii – Nintenderos.com » Blog Archive » Que no, que Wii U no tendrá DVD ni retrocompatibilidad

  27. Nintendo change the hardware so it can actually play them you idiots. It would be good if you actually make a console that can actually play them and your consoles would probally sell better and you could at least make it play DVDs at the least. The console is not going to bring much threat to Microsoft and Sony if their consoles have something yours don’t

    • Nintendo you better not have just white ones at the start then bring new colours in 4 years later or I won’t be a happy cookie

  28. Honestly, I’d rather they keep GCN in, and introduce retro controllers via USB connection or something. Otherwise, I’ll have to keep my Wii hooked up to play my Gamecube games. Ho-hum.

  29. Seems fair to me.

    I already have all the retro games I wanted downloaded onto my wii, so no complaints.

    Whatever will keep the cost down.

    • Stop being an idiot for a second and tell me why you sold it the first time. And if you still have the game, why are you going to buy it a second time and complain? Here’s an interesting idea: Don’t buy Virtual Console games! Great idea, right? I came up with it myself. ;)

      • You’re a fucking moron.
        You don’t get it. So much for you being a genius.

        I DO have all my old consoles hooked up, it ‘s a bloody mess, and the old controllers break down much faster than the system. You have no fucking idea because you don’t give a shit about retro games, or you’re rich enough to buy them several times.

        • Actually, I have MORE retro games than “modern (2K) games” and middle-class so, yeah… How about you sell that “bloody mess” and buy a prepaid card for Virtual Console games? (Sell the games that you have that is also in the VC Service, VC games are only a few dollars each)

  30. You can’t seriously expect every console to be compatible with all other previous consoles! It has to end somewhere, and one generation back is probably good enough.

    • Two is good enough, unless one is cartrage -> CD format, in which of course we understand that.

      I think we’re pissed because Wii can play GC, and Wii U can play Wii, therefore WiiU COULD have played GC games in the same CD bay.

  31. Pingback: Nintendo vuelve a confirmar que Wii U no leerá DVDs y BluRays | Juegos Ecuador

  32. Pingback: Nintendo reconfirma que el Wii U no leerá DVD, Blu-ray ni juegos de GameCube | upgrade

  33. I will miss GC playback… perhaps Nintendo hopes to offer them as downloadable titles. Oh, well, just another great reason to keep my Wii around =)

  34. I doubt this will be read buttttttt

    The wii and gamecube use special hardware to read GC discs, if you don’t believe me look into how hard it was for some people to create ISO files from GCN discs. If you wanted them to support the GCN then the console would either be huge, not as powerful or cost 100-200$ more.

    • I guess I can understand it– My GCN memory cards are practically super-glued to my Wii. I’m just hoping for a USB- Gamecube controller for any HD Gamecube game I decide to add to my digital library. That would be pretty cool, especially seeing as how they released a white GC controller for the Wii.

      • I think they might do that, I mean heck they had a snes controller for the wii [sure it was special run only, but still! XD]

  35. E3 2011: “Here’s the most beautiful Zelda graphics we can make on the WiiU”
    E3 2012: “We would like to announce The Legend of Zelda The Wind Waker 2 for WiiU”

    Am I the only one seeing something like that coming? I hope as hell that doens’t happen.

  36. Who needs a DVD or Blu Ray add-on for the Wii U? This is just one of the reasons Nintendo is a gaming company… at least the big N will be adding Netflix (and hopefully Hulu) for watching films and TV programs of old and new.

    Good thing that I own a Blu-Ray home theater system in Dolby Digital 5.1 and HTS-HD 5.1 surround sound baby!!!!!!!!!!

  37. To honest you can’t have enough DVD players! Especially if you live in a student flat and you don’t have a DVD player other than a Xbox but I’ve survived this long and even though I’m a film student FUCK DVD’s the end up costing to much money anyway…

  38. I guess i’m one of the few people not affected by the drop of GameCube support, considering the only game I have is Luigi’s Mansion XD. Everything else was traded in to drop the price of newer games I bought over the years. I would love it if Nintendo actually put GameCube games on the Virtual Console cause then I can finally play games like Wind Waker and Twilight Princess without spending $30 each for them used at GameStop.

  39. NOT HAPPY! Can live without BLu-Ray even though they are total tards not to include that feature, unable to play gamecube games? I still play mine a lot and theres plenty of GC games I want to buy stil. I dont want to loose the choice of the GC pad either, best controller ever.

    It seems totally retarded when a recent survey Ninendo is well aware claimed gamers biggest demand in the next gen was backwards compatability

  40. Pingback: BigN reafirma: Wii U não terá suporte a DVD, Blu-ray ou discos do Cube. | GamerSpace

  41. Pingback: Nintendo confirms Wii U will not support DVD, Blu-ray but hopefully streaming will feature » » Motors Techink and Gadgets.com Motors Techink and Gadgets.com

  42. Can an obvious question be “why not?” Would implementing the hardware necessary really jack up the price or so much as it would deter sales? Blu-Ray is one of the huge advantages that Sony/Microsoft has over Nintendo, and not having compatibility with Gamecube games just seems dumb. Would you have to keep your Wii (or your Gamecube, if you still have it) around just to play the Gamecube games if you wanted to?

    Not the best move.

  43. Pingback: Nintendo: WiiU no leerá DVD ni BluRay | Freak & Bits

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