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Excellent, I really do hope they get all the support across the board and not just selected services. It sounds incredible and I want it to be fulfilled.

 

Can it turn on and off amps do you know or just tvs?!

 

Selecting a TV channel/programme on Nintendo TVii will automatically switch your TV and Sky/Virgin box over to the correct input source and channel AFAIK :)

 

Not sure about whether or not amps can be controlled with the Wii U Gamepad, but that all depends on what the Gamepad's Remote Control app is able to connect to (BTW, the remote control functionality is available at launch for us!)

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  • 2 years later...
Nintendo's Wii U TVii Service is Formally Cancelled in Europe

 

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No surprise

 

When Nintendo announced the Wii U release date at a press event back in 2012, a key feature that was given a fair amount of time was TVii. The service works as a hub to bring together various networks and TV services into one app, utilising the GamePad and some interactive elements in a bid to be intuitive and interesting for viewers to use. Live in Japan and North America, the latter region in particular still has occasional competitions and events - normally promoted through social media - that utilise the service.

 

TVii has never made it to Europe, however, as the logistical challenge of dealing with different satellite / cable TV networks in each country and producing a cohesive product was clearly a challenge. Frankly, here at Nintendo Life we'd come to the stage where we assumed it would never be active in the EU; Nintendo of Europe has now put everyone in the region out of their misery by confirming that the service is cancelled.

 

The full statement is below.

 

At Nintendo of Europe, we continue to challenge ourselves to develop a range of entertaining experiences for all to enjoy. Due to the extremely complex nature of localising multiple television services across a diverse range of countries with varied licensing systems, regrettably we have taken the decision not to launch the Nintendo TVii service within the European region. Although on this occasion we did not anticipate such challenges, we will always strive to develop a range of entertaining experiences for all our users to enjoy.

 

With this in mind, Nintendo of Europe has launched the Nintendo Anime Channel, a new video-on-demand service on Nintendo 3DS which offers users the chance to stream anime series from the likes of Pokémon, Kirby, and Inazuma Eleven. New content will be added regularly and access to this service is granted simply by downloading a free application from Nintendo eShop.

 

It seems a little odd to cite the Nintendo Anime Channel as some kind of peace offering, as it's on 3DS not Wii U, and is focused on streaming specific animated TV series.

 

In any case, this is no real surprise - for Europeans TVii will forever be the Wii U feature that got away.

 

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/02/nintendos_wii_u_tvii_service_is_formally_cancelled_in_europe

 

Does that mean they'll remove the icon from the Wii U menu now?

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They should never have promised it before they'd figured out how to make it actually work.

 

Was thinking the exact same thing reading it. Whilst I never expected it to happen I can't help but view this news as a rather spectacular fail - not for the confirmation, but the fact it was even a promise and the fact it's even then taking so long to get to this now; just seems so lacking in thought.

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Nintendo have been completely lacking in most areas this generation.

 

Agreed. Luckily, the lack of sales shows they aren't meeting the market demand and hopefully that will kick them into going balls to the wall next generation.

 

I personally wouldn't have used it, and judging from the general feedback from US users, there was an update that got rid of most of the functionality that they liked to use it for so I couldn't see it being popular here so maybe not a big loss but something they really shouldn't have promised on.

 

One question that does come to mind though, is Nintendo of Europe too big for its own good? There are too many countries and languages to cater to under its belt.. I think the Layton bonus RPG was a big sign of this, and now they can't communicate well enough to coordinate a simple TV app.

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In stead of Geographical regions, they should form lingual regions:

 

Nintendo of English territories

Nintendo of Spanish territories

Nintendo of Japanese territories

Nintendo of Other language territories (or just to be abandoned / updated via patches)

 

This is the biggest problem in Europe: games being stalled by the irritatingly long wait for mainly French, German and Italian translation. Gamers in Europe who don't speak/understand English, I don't think there are many left...

 

By covering Japanese, Spanish and English you'll reach almost all of the gamer demographic. (Chinese, Portuguese, Indian and Russian aren't justified (yet) from a business point of view)

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I think the biggest problem is that TV networks would never have fully committed to this, they want to create their second screen experiences, Nintendo could only ever have provided a layer of interaction. Coupled with limited hardware sold, a changing TV landscape, a mash of European networks and languages we were never going to get it. Changes to the US service could mean its a service to be cancelled there too.

 

TVii could - should? - morph into a hub for iPlayer, Amazon TV or Netflix, perhaps partnering with Google for second screen info cards would be a neat idea too. They could develop a Nintendo TV 'channel' itself but that needs big investment.

 

I think the idea of TV tag is probably the next big thing with social TV, so there's some promise there (but booting up a Wii U for this is not going to happen, phone/smart TV apps will do this better).

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Europe is notorious for this. Look at Microsoft - XBL isn't even available in some European countries, let alone stuff like voice recognition for Kinect. Sony and Microsoft both cater for UK pretty well but all bets are off with the rest of Europe. Between translations, different technology standards and licencing issues, it's a massive clusterfuck.

 

Just wait until Sony Vue or Playstation Now launches. It'll be the same thing again. Hopefully being in the UK will mean we get some kind of priority, though.

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I was looking to watch something on BBC iPlayer last night on my Wii in bed, something I do occasionally, only to discover that the iPlayer no longer works on the console :sad:

 

As frustrating as that is, I went onto their site to find the following:

 

Nintendo Wii – iPlayer Closing

 

We’ve removed BBC iPlayer from Nintendo's Wii home console. Here’s why…

 

We built the Wii version of BBC iPlayer back in 2009. Since then, other versions of iPlayer have been released, and we have had to retire older versions due to major infrastructure changes and limited resources. Unfortunately, we are now faced with this situation for Wii. For more information please see:

 

http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/tv/connected/closing_version2_iPlayer

 

In cases like this we normally try to warn people in advance. However, as iPlayer has now stopped working for most Wii users, we’ve decided to close it earlier than expected. We’re sorry for any inconvenience this causes.

 

We’re working to release a new version of BBC iPlayer on Wii U soon

 

I'm not sure if this was common knowledge but at least it's something.. right..? ::shrug: Doesn't help me in bed, though :heh:

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I think you had a good run there especially considering Nintendo abandoned their own services a few years previously. I'm surprised anybody was/is still using the Wii for services like this. The Wii was brutally slow. The Wii U version should be miles better and again like most things in life it's not available in Ireland.

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