Licensing can be tricky. Gamers still plead for re-releases of GoldenEye and Battletoads on the Wii and Wii U virtual consoles. Youtube videos are flagged and dropped left and right for using copyrighted music without permission. Netflix, you may have noticed, has different options in every country for what subscribers can and can't watch.
Nintendo, certainly no stranger to these kinds of licensing troubles, has decided some are too much to handle. Due to international licensing laws, as well as the troubles with fitting several streaming providers onto one browser, Nintendo will not release its Wii U streaming service TVii in Europe.
The service - which was previously released in Japan, the U.S. and Canada - collects hundreds of videos from several streaming providers, including Netflix and Hulu, to be displayed and selected from one browser. After selecting a video with the Wii U's GamePad, TVii users could then watch the video on their television.
Instead, Europe can get the Nintendo Anime Channel, Nintendo of Europe said in their official statement.
"At Nintendo of Europe, we continue to challenge ourselves to develop a range of entertaining experiences for all to enjoy. Due to the extremely complex nature of localizing multiple television services across a diverse range of countries with varied licensing systems, regrettably we have taken the decision not to launch the Nintendo TVii service within the European region. Although on this occasion we did not anticipate such challenges, we will always strive to develop a range of entertaining experiences for all our users to enjoy.
"With this in mind, Nintendo of Europe has launched the Nintendo Anime Channel, a new video-on-demand service on Nintendo 3DS which offers users the chance to stream anime series from the likes of Pokémon, Kirby, and Inazuma Eleven. New content will be added regularly and access to this service is granted simply by downloading a free application from Nintendo eShop."
The Nintendo Anime Channel was released in Europe on Feb. 13 of this year. It is only available on 3DS.
How do you feel about Nintendo canceling the release? Disappointed? Is the TVii worth getting upset over? Let us know in the comments section.
