'Minna No Theater Wii' video service could come to U.S. this year

The Wii, in a continuing effort to catch up to the online functionality of its fellow home consoles, will be getting its first streaming video service later this month when the Minna No Theater Wii channel hits the Japanese WiiWare market. The service will offer animated programs (such as Transformers and Astro Boy) on a rental basis, in which Wii Points can be spent to purchase a title for a certain amount of time.

Fujisoft, the creator of the service, made an appearance at CES to confirm that they're hoping to bring Minna No Theater to the States within the year, provided that negotiations with Nintendo of America (who are reportedly introducing their own video streaming service, albeit for original content, sometime this year) go smoothly and expediently. While we'd find it difficult to spend Wii Points on things that aren't Clu Clu Land, we're interested to see what they'll have to offer.

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/01/18/mi...-u-s-this-yea/