Wii Gets Video Rentals Nintendo Adds Video Rental Service to Japanese Wiis

This past weekend, on Saturday, Nintendo unveiled a new feature to Wii
across the Japanese Island, as a new channel called Wii's Room was
added to the consoles. The service currently allows rental of TV
episodes and movies from Japan's most popular TV network.
Prices for the rentals range from just $0.30 USD to $5.65 USD. One can
assume that the price is dependantย on the popularity of the content.
This service is similar to what has been offered, successfully, on the
Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
Screenshots coming out of Japan show a user's Mii sitting in front of a
screen watching the content. A similar feature is used in Xbox Live's
Netflix streaming serviec when you watch videos with a friend.
12 companies have signed on to provide content for Wii's Room, including
most of the major Japanese television networks and major film studio
Warner Brothers. Disney Japan is set to join the partnership next year,
which may add movies to theย service. The blog Siliconera reports that
even popular, modern titles areย available like 'The Curious Case of
Benjamin Button', in addition to older cartoon shows like
'Sesameย Street' and 'Pokemon'.
DVD rental service Netflix offers video streaming service on both the
Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Last month, we reported on a rumor that
Netflix might be coming to American Wii's, possibly in a Wii HD. This
Japanese deal has nothing to do with the American DVD mail rental
service, but doesn't rule out theย possibilityย of a Netflix service
coming to American Wii's.
So far, Wii's Room is only in Japan. Siliconera also reports that users
will be able to stream their videos to Nintendo's DSi wireless handheld,
whichย potentiallyย could be an interesting application for a streaming
video rental platform, and a place where Nintendo could get a leg up on
Sony and Microsoft's video rental services.