Can a Wii play Movies?

Bay 6

Can the Wii game system be used as a Media player for movies on external hard drives or networked drives. I really like the gaming experience of Wii, but I would like to use it as an extender for Media Center. Can this be done? I know the PS3 and XBOX 360 can do this.

railven

I haven't tried it myself, but since the Wii has a built in Web browser, you can give TVersity a go:

http://tversity.com/

kamspy

There's a DVD hack.

Google it up.

ssgoku

Yes, the Wii can be used as a media player. It can play music, photos and videos. The instruction book will tell you what formats it will accept (example: mp3, ACC, jpg and avi). There's just two things you'd need to be aware of.

1) Content has to be stored on an SD memory card. Even though the Wii has USB ports, it does not have the ability to read content off external hard drives YET. Perhaps with a firmware update it will.

2) The Wii does not accept the high capacity SD memory cards. In other words, the Wii will only accept cards up to 2 GB.

I've heard of a program called Wii Transfer that will turn your Wii into a Media Center; however; the program is for the Mac. If you have a Mac, it's something to look into. TVersity is more well known than Wii Transfer so I'd look at TVersity first.

__________________
HDTV:
Samsung LN40B550

DVD Player:
Sony DVP-NS70H

Game Consoles:
Xbox 360
Wii
PS3 (80 GB MGS4 Bundle)

tipstir

Too bad I didn't buy a Wii when there were 3 of them for $249.

chrism87

Media Mall also says that their PlayOn! software ($30 - Streams Hulu, CBS, ESPN and Netflix) will also support the Wii in early 2009. You run it on a networked Mac or PC and it streams media to the supported device. Right now it only works with the 360 and PS3 for game consoles.

__________________

Living Room Setup:
Philips 42" PFL7422D/37 (DVE Blu-Ray calibrated)
PS3, Xbox 360 & Wii
VIP722 HD DVR (Dish Network)
Sony STR-DG820 AV Receiver
Boston Acoustic Horizon MCS 100 5.1 Speakers
Boston Acoustic 100 Watt 8" Powered Sub
Harmony 550 Remote

Bay 6

Thank you for the link to TVersity. I'm sure it will work on the Wii. It is a really cool program. I just installed it to rum my Buffalo Link Theater. (A device that is no longer made) TVersity has brought this device back from the dead. I can now access on-line video and radio as well as access audio and video files on my own network. I will definitely use it once I buy a Wii. Thank you for the help.

Bblord

TVersity looks pretty interesting. I'm not too savvy with Networks, so sorry for the newbie question, but bascially this program lets me access my own network to watch videos from it right? Does that mean I have to upload my videos onto either the primary computer or a separate shared network drive?

Pinoy

Pretty much, though you can also feed it internet urls you want to be able to access. The current release even has a couple in there for you, like Jericho and some old Star Trek episodes.

bgirard

"2) The Wii does not accept the high capacity SD memory cards. In other words, the Wii will only accept cards up to 2 GB."

I'm using a 4gb card with my wii

rwwong

I want a Wii

Rwiggum

I've heard good things about TVersity. Isn't it also compatible with the 360 somehow? Not through an in-console browser obviously, but I seem to remember hearing something about it having functionality with the 360.

Pinoy

Tversity *should* be compatible with anything that can see a media server, I couldn't say specifically about the 360 as I don't have one.

On a side note for you ps3 guys: Give the Java Ps3 Media server a try. Real clean simple UI, easy to install as a few clicks, runs on complete open source programs and works pretty well (so far anyways) I've even managed to transcode dvd's images up to 1080p on the fly and stream them without hiccups... something that tversity always did to me.

retnefor

I heard a lighted candle can replaced the Wii Sensor Bar.

Is this true?