On a recent broadcast on CNBC, both Nintendo COO Reggie Fils-Aime and Netflix chairman Reed Hastings came together to talk about the announcement of Netflix coming to Wii this spring. Overall the interview covered the basics, of note however was Reggie’s response to being asked about the Netflix service not being able to provide HD content to an HD-less Wii console.
“The vast majority of content that’s available for streaming through Netflix is not HD content,” Reggie said. “The consumer has voted, over 26 million consumers have bought a Wii, so the consumer is saying that for them the quality of the visual is not nearly as important as the overall entertainment.”
This may be partly true based on sales figures alone, but I think if the consumer had a choice today, they’d choose an HD Wii over an SD Wii. Reggie also made claims that just an HD version of the Wii console wasn’t something that interests Nintendo, and that no new console will arrive until after the Wii’s life cycle. Guess those hoping for a dual console market can scratch that off their lists.
