Oh Nintendo, why didn't you equal yourselves?

Cost. To include a DVD player Nintendo would have to pay licencing fees to the DVD Forum. Likewise to include a streaming movie player various different people (as they are a lot of video formats) would want a slice. So rather than increase the cost of each unit Nintendo did not release a “Media Hub”.

Two reasons: 1) Quality 2) Cost When I say quality, I mean that consoles such as the Xbox, 360, PS2 and the PS3, had the idea to give as much bag for your buck as possible. Given the very basic DVD player included with the PS2 for example, you could tell that it's almost like they finished then said to themselves "hey...we're using discs to store our games...soooo...why don't we make it a DVD/CD player as well!" Not until the remote came out did we get anywhere "close" the number of features that most DVD players had at that time. And I use "close" very loosely, given the bad experiences I've had with the remote... When the new generation came out there was a stand off with the 360s' HD-DVD and the PS3's Blu-Ray...but again when you look real close, the PS3s' Blu-Ray is again very basic...hence the AU$600 tag when most Blu-Ray players were about the AU$900 mark. I can't speak for the Xbox though since I've never actually owned one. But I kinda find it refreshing that Nintendo had the same conversation: "Hey wanna include a cheap basic DVD player that'll make people wanna throw small stuff animals at the TV?" And they went: "...errr...NO!" Also given the fact the the Wii has tried so hard to simplify gaming for more people to enjoy...I don't find it at all surprising that they chose to use an extremely widely used format (DVD discs) that most publishing companies already have the technology to mass produce with. But when almost everything that plugs into a TV allows you to watch DVDs, seriously...why would you need another DVD player? That, and as the two people above me have mentioned, there is a question of endorsements and payments to film producers that would raise the cost unnecessarily.

As the other guy said, Nintendo would have to make the system more expensive to pay up for license fees. However, not to defend the Wii (I hate it but love Homebrew on it), but aren't video games to play games? We have computers and DVD players for movies. But to support your comment, the Wii is practically for kids. I'm not really into violence or mature content, but I'm not fond of kiddy games either. Especially since we have to move our arms like idiots to play. Not to mention, the remote isn't very responsive on fast moves. Meh. I want a 360.