Numbers first: on January 30, 2019, the video streaming services on the Nintendo Wii would stop working. The list included Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Video, plus Crunchyroll. In Netflix’s case, the notice reached users by email in November 2018.
In the message, Netflix suggested switching devices: “We hope that soon you will enjoy an even better Netflix experience with additional features on a compatible device. Visit the website netflix.com/wii in our device list.”
In practice, this meant the end of the Wii as the living room’s media center. And it was no small role: the console mattered in Netflix’s shift from DVD rental to streaming. In 2011, about a quarter of the company’s streaming audience watched through the Wii, at 480p. The other services arrived on the device gradually: Hulu in 2011, YouTube in 2012, Amazon in 2013 and Crunchyroll in 2015.
The shutdown coincided with the closing of the Wii Shop Channel, also on January 30, 2019. Without it, purchases of WiiWare and Virtual Console games ended. Nintendo kept the option to re-download what had already been purchased for a while longer, but warned that this would also be suspended in the future, with no set date. Translating the jargon: the Wii was becoming, basically, a disc game console.
For those who still wanted Netflix on a Nintendo device, the coverage at the time reminded readers that the app remained on the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS at that moment, although the experience was far from ideal. And for those with a Switch, Nintendo was already betting on other video apps, such as Hulu and YouTube. A dry joke to close: the Wii, which got many people moving in front of the TV, ended its career forcing the public to change devices in order to keep sitting still on the couch.
Source: Netflix, via Eurogamer.
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