Nintendo Claims Nearly 1 Million Netflix Users On Wii

Since Netflix launched on Wii in March, nearly one million users have "participated," says Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. Fils-Aime doesn't specify what qualifies as "participation" -- the Wii, like the PlayStation 3, requires a special disc in the drive to use the Netflix service, and Nintendo's figure could refer to consumers who've simply requested their free disc, or those actively streaming movies. Netflix has around 14 million U.S. subscribers, and it recently said it's been boosting its user base significantly thanks in significant part to console owners. However, the Wii audience is expected to be the least-likely to use the service on their console. Wii owners have a lower likelihood of connecting their console to the internet, and Netflix does not receive a dashboard presence on Wii. Nonetheless, the Wii's roughly 26 million install base still presents a significant opportunity for the video rental company. Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter had estimated that in the year to come, each home console could add up to 400,000 subscribers for the Netflix service, ultimately equating to around 3 million new users from video game streaming altogether.