Wii to offer movie downloads in Japan
DIGITAL: Paramount signs on to Sonic Solutions, Nintendo partnership
By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 6/25/2009
JUNE 25 | DIGITAL: The Nintendo Wii is finally joining competitors to offer movie downloads through the world’s leading game console.
Sonic Solutions’ Roxio CinemaNow announced today a partnership with Japan’s Fujisoft Inc. to deliver Hollywood movies through the Wii in the Japanese market. Instant-streaming downloads will be available through Fujisoft’s video-on-demand service "Minna no Theater Wii" (Everyone's Theater Wii), which debuted earlier this year in Japan.
Sonic has signed Paramount Pictures as the first major studio to sell new release and catalog downloads through the service.
Sonic and Fujisoft said they plan to continue to work together to make more content available through the Wii, but didn't give details on when or where.
“Sonic is a key content partner, enabling us to greatly enrich the video entertainment options available to Wii customers,” Fujisoft executive managing director Minoru Yoshida said in a statement announcing the partnership.
A Sonic spokesman said the deal is part of a larger plan for Roxio CinemaNow around game consoles.
Videogame consoles have become a leading way for consumers to watch movie downloads and streams on their TV sets. Microsoft rents movie and TV show downloads on its Xbox Live, playable through the Xbox 360, and offers Netflix’s streaming video service. Sony sells movie downloads through its PlayStation Store, playable on the PlayStation 3.
The Wii might lag behind competitors in offering movies, but it has a major advantage in its install base, which is double that of its competitors with an estimated 50 million households worldwide at the end of 2008. In comparison, the Xbox 360 had an install base of 25 million households, while the PlayStation 3 was in 21 million households.
Sonic, meanwhile, has been aggressively expanding the number of devices on which Roxio CinemaNow is available as it competes with larger competitors iTunes and Amazon Video on Demand. Earlier this month, Sonic announced a partnership with Best Buy to sell downloads on the retailer’s Web site and on yet-to-be-named devices sold in stores.
Roxio CinemaNow also has joined with Blockbuster, TiVo, LG Electronics, Dell and Archos.
“Fujisoft is a renowned technology thought leader and major supplier of embedded software for everything from mobile devices to digital home electronics, so we are extremely pleased to be collaborating with them to bring Hollywood movies to the Wii,” Sonic executive VP of strategy Mark Ely said in the statement.
