The Wii finally gets DVD playback -- no thanks to Nintendo

[GameMaster]

http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/13/t...s-to-nintendo/

[Dyne]

Hahah, they said the functionality was there all along, they just didn't want to unlock it, to keep the cost down.

I know they're going to release it any day now. It will make watching DVDs much easier rather than switching between 2 all the time.

[Jonbo298]

Originally Posted by Dyne

Hahah, they said the functionality was there all along, they just didn't want to unlock it, to keep the cost down.

or they wanted to wait to put an "update" via WiiWare to add DVD Playback and charge people

[Angrist]

That's what I thought they would do. Sell a DVD player on WiiWare for €15 or so. Whatever the royalties cost.

[KillerGremlin]

Guys, a DVD player isn't part of the gaming experience. Nintendo wanted to make a console that appealed to the gamers without that gimmicky stuff like the ability to play DVDs. Yup, a console for the gamers...with no 3rd party support, hit or miss first party titles, and a control used mostly as a gimmick.

[magus113]

Originally Posted by KillerGremlin

Guys, a DVD player isn't part of the gaming experience. Nintendo wanted to make a console that appealed to the gamers without that gimmicky stuff like the ability to play DVDs. Yup, a console for the gamers...with no 3rd party support, hit or miss first party titles, and a control used mostly as a gimmick.

I do agree with him on this, but I also think that it might not work as well as a DVD player compared to it's fellow brethren consoles. Most people already have DVD players in their homes anyway, especially since they're much, much cheaper.

Plus, if the Wii has enough issues reading dual-layered DVDs (a.k.a. Brawl) then I can only imagine how much this might stress the hardware or discs that are being read for DVD players.

The only other real benefit I guess I could find from having mplayer installed on your Wii is the media from SD cards, so DivX movies can be viewed from your Wii.

Most people with a PS3/360 with TVersity or Orb however also have a means to accomplish this with streaming media.

So I think all in all this DVD playback is a little unnecessary.

[Bube]

Originally Posted by magus113

Most people with a PS3/360 with TVersity or Orb however also have a means to accomplish this with streaming media.

No need for Orb or TVersity. The 360 (and also the PS3, I think) support DivX playback since The beginning of this year. It's something I use a lot.

[GameMaster]

Originally Posted by Bube

No need for Orb or TVersity. The 360 (and also the PS3, I think) support DivX playback since The beginning of this year. It's something I use a lot.

Now if only they would start supporting MKV files...

[Bube]

Originally Posted by GameMaster

Now if only they would start supporting MKV files...

Yeah, you're right. I looked for a decent converter to convert mkvs to avi (and found Videora Xbox 360 converter), but it takes too long to convert, even a tv show. And even if I tried to convert a movie, I found out that the 360 doesn't support files over 4 GBs. So I'm watching all my videos in avi

Still nice to have though.

[magus113]

Originally Posted by Bube

Yeah, you're right. I looked for a decent converter to convert mkvs to avi (and found Videora Xbox 360 converter), but it takes too long to convert, even a tv show. And even if I tried to convert a movie, I found out that the 360 doesn't support files over 4 GBs. So I'm watching all my videos in avi

Still nice to have though.

TVersity I believe has a method of allowing streamed MKV files, although I don't know about subtitle support. They might need to be embedded, for us anime viewers out there.

DivX playback is always spotty for me.

It always says DivX but it never really works.

Handbrake for those of you that want DivX rips from your DVD movies by the way.

[Bube]

Originally Posted by magus113

TVersity I believe has a method of allowing streamed MKV files, although I don't know about subtitle support. They might need to be embedded, for us anime viewers out there.

DivX playback is always spotty for me.

It always says DivX but it never really works.

Handbrake for those of you that want DivX rips from your DVD movies by the way.

Hmm.. I just searched around a bit for TVersity and stuff, but instead of going through all that trouble, I'd rather hook my laptop directly to my LCD TV. Much easier, and has playback capability for everything

Although 720p videos are a little jerky sometimes

[thatmariolover]

More than just DVD playback, this allows for homebrew to be booted from a DVD. Which in my opinion is far more meaningful.