Netflix streaming via the Nintendo Wii is finally coming this Spring. Nintendo Co. reached an agreement with Netflix Inc. to allow the movie-rental company’s members in the U.S. to watch movies and television episodes streamed to their televisions through the Wii console.
Netflix will go live on Wii, the best-selling home console, this spring in the U.S. at no additional cost to Netflix members who have a plan starting at $8.99 a month, the company said in a statement.
Netflix’s 11.1 million U.S. subscribers can sign up on Wii without any extra cost, provided they already pay for a subscription plan at $9 or above. As with the PlayStation 3’s Netflix streaming, however, the service does require a special disc inside the system.
“Our goal is to offer Netflix members as many ways as possible to watch movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix right to their TVs and to give non-members more and compelling reasons to consider the service,” says Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings in a statement. “Joining forces with Nintendo, which has been so immensely popular with consumers since its introduction, is a very meaningful step in that direction.”
Since its launch, Nintendo has maintained that the Wii is a gaming console. Nothing more, nothing less. The no-frills approach has allowed the company to keep prices down, and the focus on the mass-market controller has allowed Nintendo to keep a staggering lead in hardware sales throughout this generation.
Microsoft’s Xbox 360, the first console to get Netflix streaming, requires no extra disc. However, Microsoft does require an Xbox Live gold membership, which costs $50 a year, to access the Netflix service.