Netflix Exec Says "Netflix HD Isn't That Great, Wii Owners Won't Care"

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Nintendo and Netflix have been doing a little courtship ritual for weeks now over getting streaming Netflix to the Wii, and now, it got a bit more interesting. As you may know, the Nintendo Wii isn’t exactly a HD-capable system (it was derisively called “two Gamecubes taped together” by some at launch). Some have wondered if Netflix would be interested in streaming to a non-HD platform. Turns out, they don’t care.

Netflix Vice President Steve Swasey sat down with theWiire.com and gave a candid interview. He admitted that the Wii couldn’t do HD streaming, but he “[doesn't] think that is a deterrent for Wii families.” In fact, Swasey doesn’t really seem that impressed with the HD streaming to start with.

“PS3 and Xbox users have 1 in 17 titles available in HD, and it’s streamed in 720… it’s not in 1080, and it’s not in 5.1 surround sound or anything.” Swasey says. We understand that he’s trying to appease Nintendo and Wii owners, but come on, it sounds like he’s degrading the HD steaming on the other consoles – and some other third-party digital media boxes.

So, since there are about 17,000 Netflix streaming titles, it appears that there would only be 1,000 that could be streamed in HD to the PS3/Xbox/Boxee and other digital media platforms that the Wii would have to view in 480p instead of 720p. This, theWiire explains, will be Nintendo and Netflix’s party line when it comes to HD streaming (or lack there of) on the Wii.

You can tell Netflix really wants to get into the homes of the 53 million Wii users. He even goes as far to say “[HD streaming on Netflix is] a little bit underwhelming. So the Wii folks aren’t going to miss that much.” Ouch.

At any rate, Wii owners can now request their “Wii Netflix disc” that will be required to view Netflix movies from Netflix’s website.