Delay in TVii service explained by Nintendo director of product marketing

By: Muhammad Qasim Hassan

  |   November 20th, 2012   |  

Uncategorized

The highly-anticipated next-generation console by Nintendo, Wii U, hit the shelves in America on November 18, but without its novel feature, Nintendo TVii.

The free video application had contributed significantly to the hype surrounding the first-ever high-definition (HD) console by the Japan-based company and therefore its absence from the console at the time of its launch did not go down too well with the consumers.

Nintendo conceded that the delay in launching TVii has been caused by the company’s commitment to offering the best possible experience to the buyers.

Speaking to GameSpot at the Wii U launch event in Los Angeles a few days back, the director of product marketing at Nintendo Bill Trinen explained that video-on-demand service had not been perfected at the time of the console’s launch and therefore the company thought it best to delay it until next month instead of patching a less-than-perfect application into the system.

Delaying the service until next month is thought to have had a negative impact on the launch of Wii U by some analysts, but Trinen does not see it this way.

He pointed out that while TVii is an immensely attractive feature, the console will manage to do fine without it for a while as there are a number of great video game titles and other online features that will keep the users busy until the service is perfected and made available.

“To be honest, I don’t think that there’s going to be a tremendous impact because the people are going to be going home tonight and they’re going to be playing games; they’re going to be experiencing Miiverse for the first time,” Trinen said. “And that, I think, is going to give them a lot to be looking at and kind of figuring out. There’s Wii U chat that’s there on day one and Netflix is also going to be a part of the day-one offering. eShop, along with a ton of content, is also there day-one.”

Announced in September this year, Nintendo’s TVii service will make it possible for users to search, watch and engage with their favourite shows, sporting events and films via Wii U, thus ending their reliance on the television.

The service will work will with cable, satellite and a number of streaming sites, which include but are not limited to Netflix and Hulu.

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime had conceded while speaking with MTV multiplayer blog at the Wii U launch event that the console owners will find the Netflix application live, while the remaining applications will be patched into the system sometime during next month.

The TVii service for Wii U is being considered as revolutionary in terms of innovation as it will transform the console from a mere gaming system to a complete entertainment package.