Nintendo unveils Wii video service

By Robert Purchese Published 30 April, 2009

Iwata to put a smile on everyone's face.

Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata has unveiled Wii-no-Ma, the Wii and DSi video-on-demand service he teased us about earlier in the month.

The service rolls out on Friday 1st May across Japan, and overseas deployment is planned in "the future".

"Wii-no-ma symbolises a space where people stay together, smiling." said Iwata during a Japanese video presentation (translated by Nintendo). He added that the two "i" of "Wii" represent people together, and that "ma" expresses a smile.

Nintendo, ambitiously, will only offer new content on Wii-no-Ma, although Iwata said Japanese stations have agreed to provide shows as they see the service as "not hostile".

"It might seem unprecedented to launch a video broadcasting service with such limited programs," said Iwata, "But from other viewpoint, it turns out that good programs can easily stand out.

"We are going to increase it gradually," he added.

Wii-no-Ma is a Wii Channel, and each instance can be populated by eight Mii avatars. Users can sort content by newly-added or recommended, or have content suggested to them by Concierge Miis - celebrity or famous-people avatars that visit Wii-no-Ma instances. We're assuming these are AI-controlled.

Select "watch" to view the content and then give your rating at the end. This user-evaluation will help sort the wheat from the chaff.

There's also the option to transfer the content to DSi after watching. This can then be stored on DSi or SD memory and either watched on-the-fly or transferred to a friend's DSi or Wii.

This DSi software - dubbed Dokodemo Wii-no-Ma - will be downloaded from the DSi shop.

"All the services are free of charge at the beginning," Iwata went on to reveal. "We are also preparing to start programs with small amount of payment in the future.

"In order to establish free-of-charge system, we have invented advertisement system in Wii-no-Ma. But in a different way."

Wii-no-Ma will transfer player-Miis to "partner companies'" areas after they watch a video, where they will be confronted by 12 screens - a bit like those futuristic monitor set-ups owned by James Bond baddies.

Once there, users select what type of advertisement they want to watch, ranging from casting videos to questionnaires and from vouchers to product samples. These samples can be mailed directly to physical addresses, and vouchers can be transferred onto DSi and redeemed in real-life shops.

Iwata talks of the advertising as a "form of entertainment" that users are "actively eager to watch". And under no circumstances will adverts be forced on the user without their consent.

"Wii-no-Ma is an unprecedented new service," concluded Iwata. "Even we cannot imagine how fast it will spread.

"To maintain Wii as 'a console which puts smiles on everyone’s faces surrounding it', we aim to go forward steadily in the long-term and to change the relationship between family, TV and the internet.

You can watch Wii-no-Ma in action over on the official Wii website.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (25) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • DFawkes #1 3 years ago

    "Even we cannot imagine how fast it will spread. "

    Very slowly to Europe, I'm guessing. I know, a fairly typical whine about games companies in general but I'll moan until they do something about it :p

  • DaDon123456 #2 3 years ago

    Come on Eurogamer, this is old news!

  • LazyDan #3 3 years ago

    Sounds batty.

    Get it over here with the iPlayer, 4OD and ITV's on demand service and then everyone's happy.

  • Xerx3s #4 3 years ago

    "Wii-no-ma symbolises a space where people stay together, smiling."

    /cuts self

  • JohnnyWashnGo #5 3 years ago

    More crap from Nintendo that nobody wants...

    I love my Wii but it needs some more bloody games not exercise hardware and video services :(

  • BartonFink #6 3 years ago

    If it's even quarter as bad as the Nintendo Channel on Wii this will be a right mess. As someone else said more crap from Nintendo nobody wants. How about some games Iwata?

  • mrpon #7 3 years ago

    Wii-no-more would've been more snappy.

  • oerhoert #8 3 years ago

    "I love my Wii but it needs some more bloody games not exercise hardware and video services :("

    You mean like Little King's Story, Final Fantasy, House of the Dead, Mushroom Men, Excite Bots, Kororinpa 2, Madworld, The Conduit and the new Wii Motion+-based sports games?

  • stevetuck #9 3 years ago

    "Even we cannot imagine how fast it will spread. "

    Nintendo Flu the new pandemic.... quick sent out the rubbish leaflets!

  • JohnnyWashnGo #10 3 years ago

    'You mean like Little King's Story, Final Fantasy, House of the Dead, Mushroom Men, Excite Bots, Kororinpa 2, Madworld, The Conduit and the new Wii Motion+-based sports games?'

    Maybe I should have qualified my rant with the superlative 'good'. Yes, thats better, it needs more bloody _good_ games.

    Madworld is nice, and House of the Dead is fun but the rest are rather average unfortunately.

    I would like to see tatsukoko vs capcom get a release over here. Also, the new Fatal Frame game. Neither look possible so it looks like european Nintendo fans have to look forward to crap like the video service :(

  • citizenHUNTER #11 3 years ago

    I tried reading this article but got confused as to what this actually is... Youtube done on Wii for Wii users only.. or... what.?! What content is on it, proper stuff or stuff made by users or a mixture?

    Hmm, I don't think I've missed much by not having a Wii, and in fact the only reason I want a Wii, or really just a Gamecube again, is that Super Monkey Ball's mini games are fantastic. I miss that game :(

  • DonnieDarko333 #12 3 years ago

    Europe won't see this till 2010 i reckon..

  • Toothball #13 3 years ago

    2010, and then it'll be a cut down version lacking most of the content that the comparable services in the US and Japan get.

  • justsomeone #14 3 years ago

    i don't get it. is it a dsi or a wii thing? both? what for, and why?

  • sneetch #15 3 years ago

    So it's "new content" only and the Japanese TV companies are providing new shows for this?

    I'm guessing we'll never see this in Europe or if we do we'll only have a smattering of a few shows with severe geographical limitations on who can see what (look at the difference between the US and EU movie stores in Live for example).

  • cheekyjay #16 3 years ago

    I'm guessing "Wii-no-ma" in a Japanese accent, sounds a little like the word "cinema".

  • bad09 #17 3 years ago

    "Wii-no-ma symbolises a space where people stay together, smiling."

    /cuts self

    That made me LOL!

    I feel you pain, share it with me...

  • CallousB #18 3 years ago

    @JohnnyWashn Go "Madworld is nice, and House of the Dead is fun but the rest are rather average unfortunately."

    I'd rate Little Kings Story way higher than either.

  • Malek86 #19 3 years ago

    "Even we cannot imagine how fast it will spread"

    I wonder too. Technically speaking, this could be a huge success, but also a huge flop. How many people in Japan are really gonna use their Wii's for TV programs? Especially when many stations are now broadcasting in HD, something the Wii cannot do.

  • drumbaby #20 3 years ago

    Great. Takes yer mind off of lack of games, right?

  • malloc #21 3 years ago

    "a bit like those futuristic monitor set-ups owned by James Bond baddies."

    lol

  • scouserfuller9 #22 3 years ago

    It's what hardcore gamers don't want who are the only ones on gaming websites like this so it will sound like it's gonna get no where on a gaming website. Hardcore gamers just want to stick to button bashing. Nintendo seem to be trying things to keep bringing other people into the gaming world and so far it's worked.
    I'm more a hardcore gamer myself but I will look at this and I'm sure everyone else will as much as they deny it. I believe E3 will show alot more for the hardcore this year though from the way Iwata introduced us Zelda: Spirit Tracks at the GDC recently anyhow.

  • oerhoert #23 3 years ago

    <em>"Maybe I should have qualified my rant with the superlative 'good'. Yes, thats better, it needs more bloody _good_ games.

    Madworld is nice, and House of the Dead is fun but the rest are rather average unfortunately."</em>

    I haven't played ExciteBots or Kororinpa 2 yet, but "they" say they're better than the originals and the originals were bloody brilliant to me.

    Little King's Story got a 9 in Edge, HotD has received 8s across the board and Mushroom Men is rather charming too. I don't know about the Conduit nor the new sports titles, but they do look promising.

    Whatever the case, though, my point is that the Wii does regularly receive new good games, even if the public does not recognize them as such because they've gotten into their minds that it doesn't so they don't check them out.

    To each his own, I guess, but people <em>are</em> regularly missing out because of this mindset.
    Edited by 2 at 01/05/09 @ 13:06

  • carterclan #24 3 years ago

    This has to be the best year yet for gaming on the Wii. My only regret is i cant afford to buy them all.

  • Dan234 #25 3 years ago

    @citizenHUNTER

    I tried reading this article but got confused as to what this actually is... Youtube done on Wii for Wii users only.. or... what.?! What content is on it, proper stuff or stuff made by users or a mixture?

    So far seems to be programmes commissioned by Nintendo, once you get past the start (a family of Miis sitting round a table accompanied by lift music). The first one is a wildlife documentary, although there probably aren't any lions shagging knowing Nintendo.

    http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=7fZFUayEM38 - part 1

    http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=qO_NkC_61B8 - part 2