First Impressions of Netflix Instant Streaming on the Wii

Today, I received the Netflix instant streaming disc for the Wii. With its release, all of the three major home video game consoles now are able to stream movies and television shows with Netflix. As the Wii is the best seller out of them all, this is a huge step for Nintendo. I tried out instant streaming on my Wii. I also noticed how it's different and similar to instant streaming on the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Netflix Instant Streaming: Setting it up
Just like the PS3, the Wii needs a disc in order to stream movies. The disc shipped quickly and arrived after two days. Once you put the disc into the Wii, the Netflix logo appears in the games channel on the Wii menu. You will then be prompted to go to your Netflix account online and put in the activation code. The code is not long or confusing. Activation only takes a few minutes. After activation, all of the movies I already had in my instant streaming queue came up. Using the Wii remote, I was able to scroll through them. I could also look at other movies and shows by genre. It was very easy to navigate. I picked the movie Justice League: New Frontier.

Netflix Instant Streaming Picture Quality and Controls
Since the Wii doesn't play movie DVDs, I wondered how the quality would be. It loaded up in a few seconds and began playing. The movie I tried was clear and played as smoothly as it did when I first watched in on my PS3. When the movie is playing, you can hit the B button on the Wii remote to bring it back to the description of the movie. From there you can also remove it from your queue, start it over, or resume. With the 1 button, you can select the chapters. By holding the remote to the television, the pause option appears. You can also see how far you are into to the movie. Taking the remote away from the TV makes this menu disappear.

Netflix Instant Streaming On the Wii Compared to the PS3 and Xbox 360
The biggest concern for the Wii is the disc. Unlike the Xbox 360, every time you want to use Netflix on the Wii, you need the disc. This can cause problems such as the disc gets lost or scratched. Even though you also need a disc for the PS3, it is a scratch resistant Blu-Ray. Also, there are rumors that PS3 owners will be able to download Netflix like on the 360. I have not heard if this will available for the Wii in the future. Netflix on the Wii reminds me a lot of how it operates on the PS3. The menus are simple and easy to read. There is no option to watch the movies with online friends, like on the 360. But, it seems to run quicker and smoother then on the 360.

Netflix on the Wii is sure to be a success. It is easy to set up and activate. I was pleasantly surprised to see how good the quality of the movie was on the Wii. The movie queue is simple and a breeze to navigate. The only real draw back is the use of a special disc. I can see disc getting broken or lost and having to wait for another one. Hopefully, one day Netflix will be able to be downloaded on the Wii. Until then, take care of that disc.

Sources:

Personal Experience

www.netflix.com