Update: Nintendo TVii Cancelled for Australia, New Zealand and Europe
In a move met with a resounding “what was that again?”, Nintendo has officially cancelled the release of Nintendo TVii in Europe.
An all-in-one streaming centre and universal remote, the service has been available in Japan and the US since 2012. However, its European launch date of 2013 came and went, with an announcement and apology in early 2014 stating to expect further news “soon”.
As a consolation prize, Nintendo are offering the Nintendo Anime Channel, allowing you to watch selected episodes from a trio of titles.
See the full announcement below.
Cancellation of Nintendo TVii service for European regions
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.
Fingers are crossed all over the place that this doesn’t spell the doom for Australia’s slated 2015 release.
Update: Nintendo Australia has posted a similar statement to the one above but now includes both Australia and New Zealand.
In 2012, the Nintendo TVii application was announced as coming to Wii U in some regions. Due to the extremely complex nature of localising multiple television services across a diverse range of countries with varied licensing systems, the decision has been made not to launch the Nintendo TVii service in regions such as Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Nintendo will always strive to develop a range of entertaining experiences for all our users to enjoy, and with this in mind, 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 and Kirby – launches 14th February. New content will be added regularly on Nintendo Anime Channel and access to this service is granted simply by downloading a free application from Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS.
Source: Nintendo
Hopefully this means they’ll remove that useless button from the home screen…
Speaking of the Nintendo Anime Channel, the Australian version does not have Inazuma Eleven.
Nothing of value was lost, I feel. The anime channel is pretty lackluster at the moment but I’m interested to see where it goes!
I can understand Europe being too complex, but I would bet that Australia and New Zealand have one of the simplest tv situations in the modern world. I’m not really fussed about it, nor do I remember what tvii does, but it still seems petty. Also, they make light of the anime channel on 3DS, but it should really be on the Wii U!