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Netflix Streaming Arrives For the Wii

Grant,thompson writes "As announced in January and mentioned here on Slashdot, Netflix is sending out discs today to enable streaming on the Nintendo Wii. 'Netflix has sent out emails to customers who pre-ordered the Wii's instant streaming disc, indicating that the disc will arrive in mailboxes tomorrow, and that the service will likely start within the next day.'"

18 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. great.... by Michael+Kristopeit · · Score: 4, Funny
    now if my tivo HD XL, mac mini, and xbox 360 all crap out, i can still watch streaming netflix in my living room.

    i can finally sleep at night.

  2. Netflix streaming by elrous0 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm beginning to think that everything will one day stream Netflix. It would be nice if Netflix would concentrate less on getting their service on my refrigerator and more on expanding their selection of movies and shows available for streaming. It doesn't seem to have improved all that much since the service started.

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    1. Re:Netflix streaming by fullfactorial · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Good luck with that. Netflix is beholden to the content owners for that, and they are VERY particular with the who-what-when-where-how of content distribution.

      I expect to see Hulu streaming to the Wii before I see a week-old TV show on Netflix.

    2. Re:Netflix streaming by CrankyFool · · Score: 4, Informative

      They can do both, you know.

      (I work at Netflix, on the IT side. I mean, duh, I read slashdot).

      The groups working on device support have nothing to do with the groups working on more content; the latter is largely a business effort anyway, whereas the former is SOME business efforts, and lots of technical efforts.

      And my impression is that the top two priorities are:

      1. More content;

      2. More devices.

  3. Re:Not to sounds like a video snob ... by Goblez · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Now my kids can watch their Cartoons downstairs while I stream HD on my XBox upstairs. Sounds like a win for me.

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  4. Re:You need a disc? by nateand · · Score: 3, Informative

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but I gather that you need to load the netflix disc every time you want to stream stream something?

    On my 360 (and I assume on PS3s as well), netflix streaming is built into the software of the device: I can play a game off of a disc until my wife gets home, then switch over to netflix and watch some tv with a few button clicks.

    If you have to get up and fumble with discs every time you want to switch tasks, this is a big Fail for the Wii in terms of convenience. Why not a WiiWare application?

    PS3 streaming also requires a disc. I heard it has something to do with xbox 360 exclusivity agreements, but I could be wrong.

  5. Re:You need a disc? by BassMan449 · · Score: 4, Informative

    PS3 requires a disc as well. I believe it is Netflix's way around the agreement they made with Microsoft to get it on the 360.

  6. Re:Nothing about Wii on the Netflix site yet by ekimminau · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yes, if you click here: http://www.netflix.com/InstantStreamingDisc?device=Wii After you are logged into your netflix account you can click on "send me the disk". I just did and it said I should have my disk tomorrow.

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  7. Re:Not to sounds like a video snob ... by maugle · · Score: 4, Funny

    Philistine. I bet you aren't even using $100 Monster-brand premium gold-plated HDMI connectors for optimal signal quality and maximum color-accuracy and sharpness!

  8. Linux by Thuktun · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Now if only we could stream instantly to a Linux PC without having to resort to a VM running Windows...

  9. Re:Not to sounds like a video snob ... by sopssa · · Score: 3, Funny

    DVD-quality is not crap, but frankly I do rather watch in HD quality. I have a 50" TV and better HDMI connectors (studio quality, cost like $100.. but for me it's worth it) from PS3 to it and it's clear how much better HD quality is.

  10. Re:Not to sounds like a video snob ... by snowraver1 · · Score: 4, Informative

    I have a 50" TV and better HDMI connectors (studio quality, cost like $100..

    You are about to be rediculed until you create a new account.

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  11. Re:Not to sounds like a video snob ... by GreyWolf3000 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Wrong, there is signal loss in digital. However, you are also right. Once you lose enough signal that you can no longer decode the digital data, your video becomes instantly unwatchable.

    Therefore, if you needed a long enough HDMI cable, as the voltage drops enough from the transmitter to the receiver, you'd start seeing the difference between low quality and high quality cables in that the good cables would work and the others would cut out frequently or not work at all.

    Not picking on you per se, but as long as we're going to educate people on why they shouldn't waste money on expensive snake oil, we should explain it correctly.

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  12. Re:Not to sounds like a video snob ... by MachineShedFred · · Score: 4, Funny

    I hear that square-wave signals look WAY better when they travel through way-overpriced copper rather than inexpensive copper. You can totally tell the difference!

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  13. Re:You need a disc? by Richy_T · · Score: 4, Funny

    If you have to get up and fumble with discs every time you want to switch tasks, this is a big Fail for the Wii in terms of convenience.

    Think of it as "Wii Fit Lite"

  14. Re:Not to sounds like a video snob ... by iluvcapra · · Score: 4, Informative

    Hi, I work at a studio -- its name starts with an "S" and its parent used to make rice steamers before it moved into electronics and spider-related comic book movies. I have a $10 HDMI cable from Monoprice.

    --
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  15. Re:Not to sounds like a video snob ... by Shatrat · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Once you lose enough signal that you can no longer decode the digital data, your video becomes instantly unwatchable.

    While we're nitpicking, this isn't necessarily true. There is such a thing as Bit Error Rate and you can have some in a digital signal and still have a usable signal. It might not even be noticeable. If a 24 bit color is off by the least significant bit for one frame on one pixel would you see it? It's an oversimplified example really, but I hope you get my point. On the other hand, a little bit of nasty on an OC192 can drop every cell call in 100 miles.

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  16. Re:Not to sounds like a video snob ... by geekoid · · Score: 3, Informative

    "(studio quality, cost like $100.. but for me it's worth it)"
    WTF? on /.? /. needs to have a test before giving out user IDs.

    I Paid 2 dollars and 5 cents for my shielded 1.3b HDMI cables, and that included shipping. There is no difference between these and yours. I can go to Amazon and get 1.4 for 3 dollars.

    Sucker.

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