We all knew it wouldn’t happen, and now Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has confirmed it; there will be no DVD or Blu-ray playback for Wii U. Iwata stated that there are a number of reasons why Nintendo hasn’t seen fit to include DVD or Blu-ray support with the system. Firstly, the majority of people already have DVD players, and secondly, adding DVD or Blu-ray support would mean that Nintendo would have to pay a licensing fee. Does anyone feel dissapointed by this news?
“The reason for that is that we feel that enough people already have devices that are capable of playing DVDs and Blu-ray, such that it didn’t warrant the cost involved to build that functionality into the Wii U console because of the patents related to those technologies.”
I don’t feel too disappointed. I own a Wii, a Blu-ray player, and an Xbox with HD-DVD support.
:(
I would be pleased giving my bluray player or dvd player away for ONE ONE device.
It only means more money to Nintendo and less advantage to their consumers
And a cheaper console for consumers.
I was hoping for blu-ray support but didn’t get my hopes up, it makes sense why they don’t include it, it will probably cost enough without a blu-ray device in it as it is!
This is good. It will keep the system cost down for the consumers. And I have a PS3 for Blu-ray. :P
NINTENDOOOOOOOOOOO!
Oh well.
At least they have Netflix.
Nope! Like Iwata said, it’ll drive up costs! And least be honest, those controllers don’t look cheap plus I didn’t have a problem with my Wii not having playback!
Dont matter to me. Although the ability to watch said DVDs on the Wii-U controller woulda been cool. But meh.
It makes sense for Nintendo not to put this feature in, but it still would’ve been nice to see it
It would be nice if they would offer the application via the online store for people to pay for the licence to play DVD or BD on their systems if they choose to. Nintendo seem to forget that TVs do have a limited number of HDMI ports.
I really don’t care. My PS3 is my Blue Ray player.
I would have liked the Wii U to have playback capabilities, but as it is, I find comfort in the fact that the device is 100% reliable GAMING unit that has one function, and that function is to play HD games in superior sound and vision.
Right. Another “next-gen” console that doesn’t let you watch movies. Why am I not surprised by this?
There’s a reason why it’s called a “game” console. Do you want it to cook you breakfast and tuck you in at night too?
That would be nice–but I have my girlfriend to do that so no worries.
….that was salty. Just wanted to finally have one of those “No worries that’s why I have my X-console/device for” comments. :(
Want movies? Use Netflix. Nintendo keeps the functionality of movie playback without driving the cost up and forcing consumers to pay for movie licensing that they may not want.
This is the perfect solution.
Nope.
All i want is just a gaming console. I never ever use any of that on my PS3 or 360. Man the WiiU might make me go to my first midnight launch part Darn Nintendo just take my money NOW.
My PS3 is my DVD and Blu-Ray player. It’s one of the biggest reasons I bought the system. I think they’re right about DVD’s, but not so much about Blu-Rays. I think there’s still enough people that need to get a Blu-Ray player that it’d be worth it to Nintendo to include one. Think about it, Iwata: do you really want me booting up Sony’s console every time I want to watch a movie in 1080p?
If Nintendo’s strategy is to remove needless additions to play in the WiiU, I hope it will be cheap.
if it makes it cheaper, is OK!
aaand here’s a reason why i will buy a PS3 :P (or maybe PS4 xD)
It’s a video game.
Whoopidy-fucking-do. If anyone still gives a shit about this sales gimmick, they aren’t a gamer. I buy consoles to play video games, not watch my collection of Aqua Teen DVDs ad nausem when I’m bored. I have at least two DVD players for that.
It’s people buying consoles for dumbass bells and whistles like that that make me question today’s modern day gamers.
Aman brother.
I may have PS3 & 360 but all I do is game on both consoles. I don’t need any of the other garbage. hack I bearly use PSN and don’t even get me started on LIVE.
Theres no need for a dvd or blu-ray support. Sony only put Blu-ray in the PS3 which they made a 50% loss on when it was new (and still make a small loss on) to win the HD video disc battle. Toshiba only pulled out cause they knew streaming and downloading movie content would undermine the disc.
PS3 has ‘Love Film’ so I’m sure Wii U will have such a service to cater for movie viewing. Wii has BBC iPlayer so I’m guessing Wii U will offer this again with other services. Doesn’t make any sense why people are talking about whether or not it will support either of the formats.
Im not disappointed about that, I own a dedicated reliable Blu Ray player from samsung, and a DVD panasonic. My videogame is for that, for videogames. Means more life time to it.
I’m happy that way.
Gaming consle doesn’t need bluray
Says A 360 fanboy. Go back to IGN :P
Nope. Let the other guys try (coughcoughandfailcoughcough) to provide the multimedia experience. I just want a game console.
goddammit nintendo
They should make 2 versions of Wii U, a cheap one with basic functions and one more expensive (maybe + $100) with Blu Ray and all that stuff that people think they need.
Not worth it, everyone already has a DVD or Blu-Ray player. Why should Nintendo waste hardware on that when they should pay more attention to the games?
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Meh, not disappointed about this, I have other ways to watch movies so who gives a damn if Nintendo puts in a DVD player or not, I have my PS3 for that, a PC and freaking Netflix…sheesh, Nintendo doesn’t need to put in one for the WiiU PERIOD
Good!
Well darn. I wish it did, because this is the next gen video game console and it still doesn’t have a feature that has been present since the PS2. Oh well, I was really hoping that it would at least DVD playback.
If they tried to get Blu-ray support, Sony would probably make licensing cost a billion dollars since they own the rights to it.
I already have my PS3 for blu-ray and DVD…. please the future is digital streaming which the WiiU is ready for out the box… this is a none issues to me.
I don’t mind that much. I’ll just continue to use my PS3 to play DVDs.
I don’t mind, I already got a DVD player myself, and I will get Netflix on this thing
:(
wtf im starting to unlike nintendo they so chaisty they dont want to pay wtf well they are not even going to pay a penie wii are paying it wtf nintendo u are starting to suck really bad
i think people forget that ninty makes consoles….they’re a gaming company first unlike microsoft and sony who make other tech outside of consoles…i dun care about it playing movies…i just want awesome games
It has 1080p
It will likely get netflix
PROBLEM SOLVED!
In this age of Netflix, who freaking cares?
Besides, it’s not lik ethe inclusion of Blu-Ray alone would steal significant chunks of the PS3’s market share.
Nah, I have a blu-ray player for DVDs and blu-rays, as well as an XBOX360 for DVDs if I wish. I don’t need a third thing to play movies on the 1 HDTV that I have. Besides, my Mac computer is also hooked to my TV, and I watch a lot of downloaded movies via the computer hard drive, so why even bother? If it keeps the already very like significant cost of the Wii U down a bit, and the cost of the games down a bit as well, than I’d rather them not include it.
as long it can play music better then the wii im kool!
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No DVD and Blue ray means less game content, less game content meas you will get Skyrim or similar games scaled to half.
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