Nintendo Getting Into Film Business

Kris Erickson • Dec 25, 2008 • Comments ()

We remember Nintendo at college when he used to hang out with all those dorks in the computer science program. Secretly he yearned to be outside in the sunshine with the rest of us filmschool hippies, making surrealist short films about the worker’s struggle in the Koopa Kingdom. Well finally, after making billions in the video game hardware business, Nintendo has decided to turn over a new leaf and give that film career one more shot.
According to a recent article in Japan’s Nikkei newspaper, the Nintendo Wii will get its own video distribution service in 2009. Sony and Microsoft already have robust video download and streaming systems in place, as those companies hope to make their console the center of consumers’ living rooms. Thanks to a major dashboard update, the Xbox 360 can now stream most movies directly from Netflix, provided that the customer has a subscription to both online services.

Nintendo will go a slightly different route with its download service. Rather than offer Hollywood movies like the other two services, Nintendo will produce its own family-oriented programming exclusively for the Wii console. This will presumably include cartoons, promotional game tie-ins, and the occasional surrealist oeuvre. Some of the content will be free while other downloads will have a fee attached.

The service will launch in Japan in 2009, but Nintendo says that it has plans to extend it to other markets at an unspecified future date.