Nintendo TVii launches tomorrow in US
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Free streaming service comes to Wii U this week without TiVo or Netflix support; no word on European launch.
Nintendo TVii for Wii U will launch tomorrow, December 20 in the United States, Nintendo announced today. The company has bold plans for the streaming service, as Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said in a statement, "After December 20, you'll never look at your TV the same way again."
Nintendo TVii was not available for Wii U at launch, with Nintendo director of product marketing Bill Trinen explaining "a few additional tweaks" needed to be made to ensure the service was "absolutely perfect" when it launched.
Nintendo TVii works with cable and satellite providers, as well as streaming services like Hulu and Netflix. Though Netflix will not be available through Nintendo TVii at launch, Netflix users can still access video content through the streaming service's Wii U app.
Additionally, TiVo support will not be available for Nintendo TVii tomorrow. Nintendo said users can expect support for both Netflix and TiVo in "early 2013" in the United States.
Users must hold a subscription to these services to use Nintendo TVii, but no additional fees or equipment are required.
TVii viewers can use the GamePad to interact with others through commenting on specific live television moments and sharing those comments with others through Miiverse, Facebook, and Twitter.
Fore more on Nintendo TVii, check out a video demonstration below.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
156 comments
@blackman580 I don't really watch TV at all but I did try it out.
I was blown away. This is the feature that will get parents to buy their kids a wii u.
it's the "tv guide" you could imagine, using touch to change channels is a nice touch and it will change your TV's video input automatically.
@blackman580 It is great I posted some impressions on my Profile.
It is still new so it could be better.
Typically I'd agree but now that there's finally an app that appeals to me, I say, why not? If there are other practical uses for it, why not make use of it? Gamers hate on devices like the Kinect or the Wii accessories but I'm pretty sure most of us have heard of how scientists or security have used these devices to their own advantage.
1 Like @franzito Why can't you just ignore those extra features and just play games while other people enjoy these extra features?
@franzito @burns112233 but you are the one who has a problem with it, we can't tell you what your problem is.
2 Like @franzito Why is there a radio in your car? Why do smart phones do things besides make calls?
1 Like Okay Nintendo, now I just need a Flipnote Studio, a ColorsU that lets me paint with others. A mario paint with music sharing and uploading and totally unrelated to the WiiU but a gameboy camera remake for 3DS. Eshop needs more Apps!!
2 Like Finally! I've been getting worried as of late. A few day's ago I went on Nintendo's website, and there was an asterisk that said "Paid subscription may be required for services". That scared the crap out of me, I thought it meant Nintendo TVii as a whole. Good to know it starts up tomorrow, I really want to try out the Sports features and such.
1 Like LAMEii (<- "ii"'s added for no fucking reason. Have to be trendy morons like Nintendoii)
1 Like @DrKill09 TV is already trademarked so Nintendo had to come up with something else for copyright reasons so they called it TVii.
4 Like are there any better Game sites out there, that are Not biased against Any console platform ... This site is lacking, as are its " writers "...
1 Like @Ciscod1 How is this biased? They just stated facts? Don't get mad at Gamespot because Nintendo is making a dumb move.
@jayd02 the bias in this instance , is the fact that an announcement about this is something that Wii U owners have been waiting for, and is a Positive development.... Yet it is the 8th link on the Gamespot news feed... And didn't even appear on their site ...." Game Rankings " ...and Eddie, and Gamespot in general are pretty biased against a Nintendo repeatedly anyways ... But they sure have lot os of PS3 and XBox fanboys who are pretty much the same.... And yes I own All 3 major systems... Love them all...
I find IGN to be better and more positive, they most certainly don't waste time with articles like "Metal Gear Rising isn't coming to the Wii U, even though it was never announced for the system so you shouldn't have expected it anyways." GameTrailers is pretty good too. ScrewAttack has a great community.
NintendoLife is good for Nintendo specific info and they also have a Sony sister site also (not sure about Microsoft though).
1 Like @abHS4L88 thanks for the info...i knew of all of them...and have been to their sites... But didn't know about Screw Attack...thanks :-)
3 Like Been waiting the last week and a half for this! Hope this is as awesome as Mii-verse
@Heirren ... It has only been out 1 month... And as far as launch games go .... Pretty good variety and amount, if you look at The history of console launches... With lots coming by March ( online and retail ).... Complaining about games with this lineup , is disregarding launch histories...
@Ciscod1 I know, but the focus should be on the games. This Nintendo tv thing won't catch on. I don't even understand why Nintendo would put the r&d into something like this. You know what Nintendo tv is going up against? Facebook and twitter. Now personally I don't use either, but a lot of people sure do.
1 Like Considering how popular Netflix was on the Wii ( I know my dad loved it), there's no reason why Nintendo wouldn't include something like this. Nintendo TVii alone could be a strong selling point to the average consumer. As a gamer, usually these kinds of features mean nothing to me, but since the Wii U is capable of connecting to your digital box, giving it the same capabilities, that's exciting for me since I don't have cable in my room.
@Heirren twitter and FB , really have nothing in common with WiiTV... And if Nintendo only stuck with games people would point to the apps the other two had, and complain about that too.... I personally think that WiiTV will be pretty cool... And I have plenty of games to play already ... And their are allot of games coming in the next few months.... With many more to follow.... Plus those working on WiiTV, would not be people that would be working on games anyways... Different types of " developers "...
And to point out how Gamespot is biased against Nintendo... This is not even posted on the Gamersnkings page ( and we all know they took over Gamerankings a few years ago, and decimated it, compared to what it once was ), under news ...you have to go to Gamespot to see it... And even then it is several stories down.... It is a fairly positive Wii U news item so Gamespot " buries " it ...they felt some trivial news was more important.... Does any one know of any decent American video-game sites that are not as biased against Nintendo, but cover all three systems... Already know about IGN, and 1Up...
@Ciscod1 I love Gonintendo.com, it is great for Nintendo news but it doesn't cover all 3 systems. RMC has tried to do websites for all 3 but he couldn't maintain them all.
@Ciscod1 How is this biased in any way? It is low on the feed because other news came up. On top of that this isn't even positive news for Nintendo. They are releasing this and it can't connect to Netflix like it was advertised and it can't connect to Tivo like advertised. Essentially Nintendo is releasing this and it isn't even ready yet.
You also want to talk about trivial news, I could bury your face with the trivial B.S. that IGN posts up on a daily basis. On top of the fact that half of their writers go off of rumors from their neighbors and they left ten year old's write articles for them.
I love Nintendo and I myself have a Wii U, but I know when they are messing up and this isn't positive for them.
@jayd02 didn't even make it on their " Game-rankings site " and i have read many negative articles about nintendo form Eddie and some other " writers " on Gamepot.. Even when the news is good they seem to find the cloud for the silver lining..l doubt Eddie even has a Wii U ( outside of work access )! Maybe Gamepot doesn't get ad money from N.... Maybe they want to seem More hardcore to please all of the Halo / Medal Gear Solid type fans ... I don't know... But I want gaming to flourish in general, and Knocking down ,or making Nintendo seem unworthy does nothing to help gaming ...IMO
1 Like GameSpot is actually not bias against Nintendo, just Eddie Makuch in particular, when a Nintendo related article comes from any of the other editors, it's usually informative or positive.
sweet, i didn't realize this was going to work for standard cable. Awesome, glad I picked my WiiU up!
4 Like I love how gamespot can remind me how a good portion of the gaming population is a bunch of douchebags. Anytime I lose hope that people can be nice to one another, I know I can always come back here. THANKS GAMESPOT!
Be grateful that they only make up a mere fraction of the overall community. While they may seem like a lot, they're just louder than others. I read a statistic that these "gamers" make up no more than 15% of the community.
@DoctorTanaka LMAO......now THAT was actually good. Hats off to you on that comment XD
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