Netflix Officially Coming to the Wii

After months of rumors and, as our own Falconer reported , chances of the video rental service coming to the Wii deemed "excellent," the two companies will announce the advent of Netflix on the Nintendo console sometime today, according to the New York Times. This brings the Wii a little closer to contending with the PS3 and the Xbox 360 as a useful addition to any home setup, with functionality surpassing that of just playing games.

Netflix on the Wii will work just as on the PS3, making use of a software disc that will launch the Netflix browser. However, the video streams on the Wii would probably not be of as high a quality as on the PS3 and 360, simply because it does not have the same HD video capabilities as the other two systems.

This is a great move for Netflix, as they are now on all three of the current-gen consoles. With the widespread acceptance of the Wii, and the representation of the PS3 as much more than just a gaming machine (combined with a few other factors), these devices are in more houses than ever before and the ability to have the instant stream on the television along with the DVD-by-mail will bring many new members to service.

Netflix on Wii will launch sometime in the spring, and require that members have a minimum $9 a month subscription plan.