Nintendo is about several months before selling its 50 millionth Wii video game console and this fact is a hard one to ignore not only for publishers of games, but also to movie studios, who are very interested in maximizing Internet-connected set-top-boxes (STB) capable of streaming their videos. Obviously, Wii is a perfect STB candidate and Lionsgate, a large Hollywood movie studio, understand this.

“The thing that is clearly a force in digital are the game devices. I think when we see the Wii come into the market with the ability to stream movies, which I think is maybe going to happen as soon as this year, I think that’s going to be a big marketplace for digital distribution,” said Curt Marvis, president of digital media for Lionsgate, in an interview with Variety.com web-site.

Back in early 2009 Nintendo already launched a video distribution service on the Wii console that initially offers cartoons and entertainment shows created for the new service to differentiate it from other online delivery video services, which offer existing content.

Nintendo Wii is the best-selling video game console among the new-generation systems. Moreover, its success is conditioned by popularity among so-called casual gamers, who are also hardly frequent users of online video delivery services. In case Nintendo, provided that it launches standard-definition video download or renting service (Wii still lacks high-def output), manages to make aforementioned services  popular among casual users, who still prefer DVDs, this may be a giant leap for the whole industry as it will show the way of watching movies to tens of millions casual end-users.

Both Microsoft and Sony provide video download services on their latest PlayStation and Xbox platforms.

Nintendo did not comment on the news-story.

Tags: Nintendo, Wii, Lionsgate