Today, the Internet has wrought a homebrew hack for the Wii that will allow for the playback of DVD movies on an otherwise movie-playback-less console.
We're all about legal hombrew hacks for Nintendo's Wii. You know, homebrew Tetris, media players, being able to play all of our Mega Man ROMS instead of actually buying any Virtual Console games. OK, well, we're not so sure about the legality of that last one ...
But here's one thing we're not so sure about: playing DVD movies on your Wii. We've known that it's theoretically possible with the hardware, despite the fact that Nintendo chose not to include the functionality out of the box.
So we question: is there anyone out there who really doesn't already own a DVD player that's connected to the same television as their Wii? And considering it takes about two minutes to load a movie and you can get a DVD player at Wal-Mart for less than $30, is this really your best option.
Don't be shy; we won't poke fun. We do recognize that this opens up the gates for some other great homebrew programs, but we're not exactly sure what. We think it involves porn.
[Via Gemega]
Contest:
1:58 PM on 08.13.2008
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would i have used it? no.
would it have cost nintendo millions of dollars to do? no.
worst part is, the people this would actually benefit will probably never find out about it, or figure out how to do it.
A little bit. Probably end up bricking my Wii in the process of getting the homebrew programs to work.
But hey! Soon, we'll probably be able to play Dragon's Lair with waggle!
That said, I'm not modding my Wii for it. It doesn't come up that often.
This'll be nice once they get it refined (ie. quicker load time), as long as you don't need a modchip or end up busting its lens.
The most obvious is the same as the 360 or PS3: hardware consolidation. The issue is space, not cost. Everyone's AV setup is different, and limited video ports can be a problem for someone else, even if it isn't for you. For gamers, a stand-alone DVD player is an obsolete item these days, unless it's got some cool bonus feature like upscaling or region-freedom. Likewise, if a Wii can help someone remove a device from their AV setup, it's worth it.
While the PS3 and 360 have unquestionably better multimedia capabilities and HD native resolutions, the Wii has a couple one-ups of its own (minor but worth mentioning): the default controller is already a remote, and controls could easily (and intuitively) be mapped to it. Also, the Wii uses far less power than either of its neighbors. Both the PS3 and 360 have insane consumption compared to a regular DVD player.
Conclusion: For a gamer on an SDAV setup, DVD on Wii actually makes a ton of sense.
This is why its a big deal. It is one more step toward making that a reality. People are going to be able to use disks that Nintendo didn't ok, and that is a really big reason for showing off what they have done.
Well I would hope so, otherwise whats the point? You can't tell me you don't want to waggle your Wii while you waggle your wii.
Arguing 'Who cares!?' over extra features that no body uses is one thing, but the Wii is lacking very basic features that have become the standard of current gen gaming....such as HD and at the very least DVD playback. Sure, most people do have a DVD player in their house, but not everyone.
My Saturn was my cd player for the longest time. It was the only way I could rock out to 7 Mary Three ha ha :)
They've been knocking the issue back and forth since launch. Even if nobody wants it, a DVD console unable to play DVD Movies, when it even comes with a bloody remote as standard, is a missed opportunity.
Since N are all about getting as much money in for as little effort, I think the reason might be a hardware limitation. I know the PS2 used to suffer from failing disk laser, because of continuous use. Perhaps the Wii has a lower standard DVD player than a normal player. After all, it only needs to read a portion of the disk, then settle down until the next loading section.
Uh, no. Gamecube can play DVDs with homebrew.
Nintendo didn't want to pay the DVD license fee. That's it.
This would be really nice for something like a "Lord of the Rings" Trilogy Weekend.