Nintendo’s Bill Trinen on Nintendo TVii, GamePad won’t be sold at launch, Wii U eShop, more
Nintendo’s Bill Trinen has fielded a number of Wii U topics in an interview with Wired. Trinen commented on Nintendo TVii, revealed that GamePads won’t be sold at launch in the US, discussed the eShop, and more.
Head past the break for his remarks.
Trinen on how Nintendo TVii works with television services…
“It’s not designed to replace any existing services. The way that a lot of those video services work is, they run parallel — if you’re looking for a specific show or movie or program you’d have to go into each one to see if it’s available. You’ll have access to all of the video services that you’ve chosen to subscribe to, whether it’s your cable or subscription view-on-demand services.
“In setting up Nintendo TV, you’d let it know what your cable provider is and what your ZIP code is.
“We haven’t specifically announced anything in terms of specific cable providers.”
Trinen on whether or not Wii U will work as a DVR…
“No, Wii U itself is not going to be a DVR. If you have a Tivo box, you’d be able to access the content on the Tivo box. Nintendo TVii itself is a network-based system.”
Trinen on the price and release date for the GamePad in the US…
“None of the games in the launch window [November 18 through March 31] in the U.S. will support two GamePads. We’re not putting out the standalone GamePad until the point in time that game content will support it. We have not announced a price point.”
Trinen on whether or not the GamePad can be charged via USB, plugged into the Wii U…
“The GamePad has its own AC adapter; it is not one that you can plug into the [Wii U]. We believe that people will generally have Wii U connected in their living room, and if it’s connected to the television then there will most likely be other power outlets nearby.”
Trinen on the Wii U eShop…
“You will have access to the Wii U eShop on day one, that’s the plan. We continue to try to evolve eShop. Today we mentioned four digital games in the launch window, like Trine 2, Runner 2 and Nano Assault.
“As for what you asked about specifically, we didn’t talk about it today, so I can’t announce anything. We are working on Virtual Console. More importantly, you will have the ability to transfer data from Wii to Wii U. This includes game save data, and the Virtual Console games you have purchased.
“Like all Wii content, whether it’s disc-based or not, you’ll select the Wii mode on the Wii U hardware to access that content. Wii mode will be an option on the Wii U menu that you’ll see on the GamePad.
“In terms of how the Virtual Console on Wii is going to function, we are probably going to be talking more specifically about that between now and launch. You’ve shared a lot of your ideas about what you’d like to see Virtual Console become at some point. I can’t say anything about Duck Tales because I don’t know anything about that. We’ve got people thinking about Virtual Console and what to do with it, and we will hopefully talk about it in a way that makes you happy.”
Trinen on Nintendo’s plans to sell retail games digitally in the US…
“When it comes to the eShop and first-party content, unless it requires a specific accessory, the plan is to make it available digitally as well. Sing Party requires a microphone, so it’s unlikely we’d make it available digitally.”
