Nintendo has revealed Nintendo TVii, a new television and video streaming service to be featured on the company’s upcoming Wii U console.
Revealed during today’s Wii U press event, Nintendo TVii features partnerships with Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, and TiVo, alongside support from “all” major U.S. and Canadian cable and dish companies and your own DVR, all together in a single hub on the Wii U GamePad. Users will be able to browse, watch, and share info on various forms of programming, from sports to television to movies.
Nintendo strongly pushed the idea that each user’s experience with Nintendo TVii will be heavily personalized and tailored to that person’s specific interests during the presser. If your older brother watches a ton of sports, for instance, then he can expect more suggestions for sports-related programming to show up while he uses TVii than, let’s say, grandma.
Speaking of sports, Nintendo put particular focus on athletics during its presentation, highlighting that fans can check out scores and highlights on the GamePad at the same time they watch live events on television.
Users will then be able to share and recommend any particular program themselves, as Facebook and Twitter are integrated into the service as well. IMDB and Wikipedia are also included in the package.
A snazzy on-screen remote was also shown to be usable on the GamePad, similar in look to Apple’s iPod scroll wheel.
Nintendo says it partnered with i.TV, a “social television and second screen technology” company, to create the service.
Nintendo TVii will be included in all Wii U consoles at no additional costs upon the system’s launch on November 18, but only in the United States and Canada at this point. Nintendo says they are exploring the possibility of expanding TVii’s service to “other parts of the Americas.”