Nintendo Wii to have video on demand

The Nintendo Wii will receive a video on demand service sometime in early 2009, although it’s unknown what kind of content owners will be able to receive through the new service.

Cartoons and other entertainment content will be offered to consumers, as Nintendo looks to add another revenue stream to help rake in cash, according to the Nikkei business daily.  The video on demand service will offer both free and paid content to Wii owners.

Nintendo reportedly  is working with Dentsu, the largest advertising agency in Japan, as the company looks to give consumers one more reason to purchase the Wii.

"Nintendo and Dentsu shall use the environment surrounding the Wii so that living rooms with Wii-ready TVs would become more of a fun area for communication among families and friends," the two companies said in a statement.

The Japanese Wii video on demand service will launch in early 2009, with international launches to follow in mid-2009 and beyond, according to the newspaper.  More details about the service will be released closer to launch next year.

The Sony PlayStation 3 has a built-in Blu-ray player, and the Microsoft Xbox 360 recently received streaming Netflix access — and it was unsure if Nintendo would follow suit sometime in the future.  More than 34 million Wiis have been sold since the console’s release, with 40 percent of all consoles connected to the Internet.