Kotaku

Does this qualify as ironic? The terms become so muddied I just don't know anymore.

Ugh! I thought the Wii could play DVDs!? /confused

ZOMG, when did Nintendo come out with a black Wii, that looks strikingly similar to the PS2?

@Garo:

Nope. It can't to DVD movie playback. At least it is switched off in the current revision.

Well played, good sir, well played...

Oh dam this is funny as hell the header got my attention quickly as to see why no DVD playback comming to the Wii since I know it doesn't play DVDs but this picture is to funny. What a slap in the face to the Wii Display having to run the promo video in a last gen console. cool find, just made my day..yes I'm simple.

Was it playing a Wii Fit demonstration DVD?

So what's your point exactly?

le comedy gold

That is just what the Wii should have done from the start, built in a PS2 in a Wii shell.

meh, they could have at least put out a slimline PS2

This is just silly. I still don't understand why a console with DVD wouldn't activate DVD movie playback. There's no reason, except to save a couple of bucks for the big N.

@Itchy (PSN: Kaizoku-ou): Either:
1. They're going to enable it in a future patch and get loads of publicity from it, or
2. They're not - because the playback will look terrible compared to the PS3 and 360.

Same thing at the local store here. It's just easy for stores to run it on a PS2, I guess. Why are we making a deal out of this again?

@Itchy (PSN: Kaizoku-ou):
Adding DVD playback would require Nintendo to pay the DVD Consortium a licensing fee. That fee wouldn't have payed itself, it would have been passed on to us, the consumer. I'm glad they didn't, cause I'd rather have a $250 Wii, then a $260 Wii with redundant DVD playback.

I dont get it, the Wii gets the PS2's scraps all the time, how is DVD playback any different?

At this point the fact that the wii doesnt have DVD playback is pretty sad.

Heh, how... cute...

@Eltigro:
It was playing a Wii Fit demo DVD.

The wii demo stations at both my local electronics stores used sketchy old VHS players for video reels. Less ironic than using a PS2, but it made the Wii graphics look a hell of a lot worse than the competition.

I wish the Wii played DVDs, my only non-PC player is my PS2 and it's not very good (and I'm too cheap to get the remote, so it's not nice to use either).

old fat PS2 ftw

@txgb324: So you wouldn't pay an extra $10 dollars for a DVD player?

@PJK: Not as much as rai-i-ain on your wedding day.

@Itchy (PSN: Kaizoku-ou): Nintendo didn't make the wii read DVD movies because they think everyone already has a player and/or video game console which can play dvds.

And i agree with them.

I seem to remember a similar picture about a year ago of a kiosk in Japan with an Xbox 360 emulating a PS3. Gender bending consoles are nothing new.

I don't see what the fuss is over the Wii's lack of DVD playback, who on earth doesn't already have a standalone DVD player?

@Schoolimangooli: I wouldn't want to pay a cent for needless feature duplication.

@Schoolimangooli:
I wouldn't. I currently have 3 devices hooked up to my HDTV that plays DVDs. In total there are 9 DVD playing devices in my house. My stand alone DVD player is retired to a shelf in the basement.
I also rip all of the DVD's I buy and play them through the 360's connection with my Mac. I hate having to sit through the intro screens just to play the movie.

Given the shortage of Wii machines, I would be more surprised if they were using them as DVD players in kiosks.

I'd rather not have another DVD player too. I would like a new region free player though, somehow I doubt the Wii would have provided that.

See this is one of the MAJOR DOWNSIDES to the Wii, no DVD playback.

Call me cheap, but I don't own a standalone DVD player. I got my PC on which I can watch it, but I wouldn't mind having DVD playback capabilities on my Wii.

@Schoolimangooli: I think he is just saying it would be a waste of $10 for him in his position. If he is like me then he already has a PS2, PS3 and 360 that can play DVDs fine. Why would he want to spend more just to get another one that will be in the same room?

If someone out there purchased a Wii and is upset they didn't get to pay any extra for a DVD player and they need one click here for a $25 progressive scan DVD player (new) or here for a $27 player (new). It may cost you a little over $10 bucks but you won't have to worry about extra wear on your game systems if you use a dedicated DVD player.

@foxwarrior88: I don't really see it as a downside - I already have 3 other devices capable of playing DVDs in my apartment, and none of them are a game console.

This is like the PS3 ad that was being held up by a Xbox 360.

Heh... this reminds me of that PS3 with the Halo 3 dvd...

ironicly we have no dvd at gamestop for this wiifit dvd and if we did have one we would never play it. its rather a waste of time. if you want wiifit you already know where to reserve it and get it. done deal. too bad for me i dont own a wii anymore got bored with the damned thing. but i gots me a DS. sorry nintendo but the DS beats the hell outta a wii anyday. and for also at that is bitch slaps a psp also

I don't know why all you people are complaining about the fact that the Wii can't play DVDs. Nintendo made it clear from Day One that the Wii is a video game machine. They wanted you to get a Wii to play games on, not to watch DVDs or listen to CDs or tie in to your home theatre system. Not to mention, who here has a Wii and really needs it to play DVDs?

Yes, I get the irony of a PS2 playing a Wii DVD. Just because the other systems could, in fact, play their own DVDs does not mean that they would need to use that system to play them. The only reason that a game store uses an old PS2 to play a DVD is because I'm sure they have a few old PS2s just sitting around, so they may as well use them as DVD players instead of throwing them away. If it were a PS3 DVD, they might still use the PS2. In fact, I'd hope they would, so they could have a PS3 running game demos, instead of sitting behind the scenes doing something a PS2 can clearly do just as well.

Not bad but not as good as what I saw at my local Toys R Us on Saturday.
A PS3 in it's demo stand hooked up to a large Sony Bravia HD T.V. playing not PS3 games, not a demo D.V.D. not even a blue ray film but of all things the first Pokemon movie!

To everyone talking about DVDs:

The Wii in fact does NOT use DVDs. It uses a Nintendo optical disc. The gamecube also used Nintendo optical discs. However the Wii versions are the same size as DVDs and can store the same amount as DVDs per layer.

To everyone talking about DVDs:

The Wii in fact does NOT use DVDs. It uses the Nintendo optical disc. The gamecube also used Nintendo optical discs. The wii version is the same size as DVDs and can store the same amount as DVDs per layer.

Haha, classic.

Screw DVD playback, what I don't understand is why they haven't built a full media center into the Wii. Obviously it wouldn't be able to handle hi-def video sources but standard avi support isn't too intensive and adds a hell of a lot of value to a console imo.

I wish my Wii would play DVDs. While I wait for my 360 to get back from Texas, I've pulled out my PS2 again, only to have it fail to recognize DVDs after the first day or so.

On the bright side, I forgot how much fun SSX 3 was.

Erm "PS2 Fit" was called Eye Toy Kinetic.

You know, move your body to the game's challenges. Stay healthy. All that jazz.

@PJK: Webster's is going to put this pic next to the definition in next year's dictionary.

@sibtrag: The Wii doesn't have DVD playback.

They should have just used a Wiikey and then boy howdy would the rumor mill have kicked in.

@corvette53p: I'm reminded of Sarcastic Gamer's eminem parody...

"a ps2 dressed up like a mac"

The wii forgot to get dressed that morning.

@GC: Yeah, if someone really wants a Wii that'll play DVDs they are only a modchip and a homebrew app away. I don't think most want it that bad though.

Well, the Wii could do similar to what the Xbox did and require a special attachment to be bought, most likely.

But what's the point? DVD players are so cheap and common nowadays, it would be incredibly pointless.

I mean, I have a PS2; there's one DVD player. Also have an Xbox, there's another. I have my VHS/DVD player, there's one more. I have my stereo. I have a portable DVD player, which I could hook up to my TV if I wanted. There are multiple computers and a laptop in my house, all of which can play DVDs. I have at least a dozen different things I could find to play a DVD movie on if I really wanted, what's the point of increasing the cost of the Wii for one more?

@Knasher: The Wii can play avis off the SD card using the photo channel. I had a few upcoming game trailers on it at one point. The Wii isn't really made to be a home theater device, though, it's main goal is to play games and be fun. A media device would make it rather confusing; and anyone who wants that would be better off getting something more substantial anyway.

@foxwarrior88: Why is this a downside? I have the ability to watch DVDs on either my desktop or laptop, in my TV's built-in DVD player, my PS2, or any of the other four DVD players in my house. Many other people have at least one DVD player of some sort. So why should they have included DVD playback which would just increase the price for many people that don't want or need it.

Hell, DVD players are pretty much dirt cheap now. You can get a decent one for $30... and without any added wear to your already cheap, sensitive Wii laser.

And if you are that desperate for a DVD playing-Wii and don't care if you wreck the laser, you can always chip your Wii and use one of the the homebrew DVD player softwares available.

I had forgotten how fat and ugly those behemoths were.

I've got to think that adding DVD playback to the Wii would not have increased the price at all. I mean come on you're telling me that actually amounts to a monetary value on top of the $250 that's already being charged? And if this is the case why do $25 dvd players even exist? I would think they would cost more than that if you have to noticeably raise the price of a product to make up for what you pay in dvd licensing, or whateve the hell it is.

I really don't care if dvd playback is in the Wii or not, I'm along with others when I say that I have plenty of other options when it comes to a dvd player.

And anyway who in the HELL doesn't own a dvd player by this point anyway? If the TV you're hooking the Wii up to doesn't already have a dvd player, then I think there's something wrong to begin with.

Seriously, this is not a big deal.

LOL, so that's why the PS2 is still selling. They need them to demo the Wii in all those Bestbuys/Targets.