By Chris Scott Barr
Man, it’s a good thing that Microsoft managed to snag that exclusive deal with Netflix back in August of last year. Otherwise PS3 and Wii owners might have the same access to the rental giant’s instant streaming library. What’s that, the PS3 already has it, and it’s just been announced for the Wii? Never mind then.
That’s right folks, despite whatever deal Microsoft snagged with Netflix, Nintendo has just announced that they will also offer the ability to stream Netflix movies to the Wii. As with the PS3, a special disc will be required in order to use this functionality, leading me to again believe that Microsoft’s “exclusive” deal technically only prevented the other companies from installing the software directly onto their consoles.
The discs will begin shipping out sometime this Spring, but you can sign up for them now. Aside from the minimum $8.99 unlimited streaming plan from Netflix you will not have to pay any additional costs. Again the trade-off is having to use a disc every time or paying for an Xbox Live subscription, personally I don’t mind popping the disc in my PS3.
There is one small drawback to using the service on the Wii, as opposed to the other two consoles. Since Nintendo’s console doesn’t output in HD, you will obviously be limited to watching movies in SD.
