DVD on the Wii: Played Out

With the Wii and the DS, you can’t argue that Nintendo isn’t an innovative, forward-thinking company. So why on Earth would the Big N even consider releasing a DVD-ready Wii console? That kind of move seems to be a step backward. At a recent stockholders meeting, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said the updated Wii system would be put on hold while focusing on getting the current model on more store shelves.

Meaning we won’t be seeing a DVD playing Wii anytime soon. But really, is DVD playback something that Wii owners are craving? With high-definition video easing its way into the marketplace, is it worth Nintendo’s time and money to add such a feature?

To be frank: No and no. It’s not known exactly where Nintendo is going to release this updated system, but it better be in a country where regular DVD players are an endangered species. Most households have DVD players, if not already upgrading to Blu-Ray. Meanwhile, modders have already figured out a way to finagle DVD-playback on their Wiis. There simply isn’t a big enough audience. And you could fairly assume that a DVD-ready Wii wouldn’t be as robust as a dedicated DVD player.

If Nintendo is going to add any minor hardware updates to the Wii, it needs features that will add more value beyond DVD playback. Here are three suggestions to freshen up the Wii without completely overhauling the system:

More expandable memory. It would be nice to hook up an external hard drive instead of relying on an SD memory card slot. What’s the point of those two USB ports, anyway? Making Virtual Console games loadable from SD or an external HD would be a great improvement as well.

Multimedia functionality. Yes, there are other ways to stream your music, movies and photos over the Wii, but having that feature right out of the box would be a smarter move. Enabling playback through an external hard drive would be even better.

Wireless sensor bar and nunchuck. Again, these are accessible through third parties, but making them standard features would be a significant improvement.

Simply put, the Wii is coming late to the game. DVD playback was a great addition when the market was new, as with the original Xbox in 2001. It’s still a nice feature on paper, and maybe there are more details about this updated system that are yet to be revealed. But if that’s all it is, then it seems to be a waste of money that could be spent in other, and far more necessary, improvements.