Wii offering up TVii as competition to Apple, Sony, cable

Nintendo is throwing its joystick in the ring to try to become the dominant delivery system for content in households across America.

Will your gaming console replace your satellite dish or cable box? Nintendo hopes that?s the case as it throws its joysticks in the ring to try to become the dominant delivery system for content in households across America, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Nintendo?s Wii gaming console, which used to only offer games and Netflix streaming, is now being retrofitted to provide live, DVR recorded and streaming content, per the report. The new features on what is being called TVii will build off of Wii U, launched earlier this year. It?s main competitors will be the big guys, Microsoft, Sony, Apple and the cable giants. No pressure.

What Nintendo hopes to do is improve upon the user experience in hopes that consumers will flock to TVii due to ease of use. The plan is for the console to also have a tablet-style remote that consolidates as many of the apps as possible into one.

"We don't believe you should have to change your app when you change the program," said Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, per the Los Angeles Times. "TV shows have apps, networks have apps, sports leagues have apps... We want to create a persistent, consistent experience."

The Wii software update still won?t provide the console with the capacity to act as a DVR, per the report. For that, Nintendo will still be beholden to deals with major cable providers. In addition the anticipated integration with Netflix and TiVo won?t happen until the early 2013.

Gina Hall is a Los Angeles-based writer and producer with more than 10 years experience in television, documentary and feature film production. She is a graduate of USC?s School of Cinematic Arts and blogs for the Huffington Post at huffingtonpost.com/gina-hall

Source: http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~r/bizj_losangeles/~3/gaeanBle0nQ/wii-offering-up-tvii-as-competition-to.html