Nintendo: live TV, movies not 'provocative' enough to pursue

What has Microsoft's marketing department been focusing on with Xbox 360 this holiday? It certainly wasn't video games. Instead, the company opted to showcase all the non-gaming features of the system. Now you can watch YouTube videos on your TV! You can watch live TV, rent UFC fights, and stream content from a variety of entertainment partners, Microsoft proclaimed.

While PS3 and Xbox 360 have been adding new non-gaming features over the years, Nintendo remains opposed to joining the fight. Why? "If the consumer wants live TV, they can get it through the options they have today," Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime commented.

"We always ask the question, ‘What can we do that’s new and provocative?’ And we will continue to think of new and provocative experiences for the user," he told AllThingsD (via Joystiq). Apparently, being able to deliver multi-function machines isn't "new" enough for the once-market leader.

Oddly, while Nintendo believes it doesn't need to offer non-gaming services, Fils-Aime points to "the inclusion of Netflix" as one of the reasons "the vast majority of Wiis are set up on the main TV in the living room." Consumer research group Nielsen showed that gamers are increasingly interested in streaming video--and Wii owners actually consume the highest percentage of video, compared to rival platforms. (Wii owners spend 33% of their time watching videos.) Netflix's delayed deployment on Wii (later than Xbox 360 and PS3) seems to directly contradict Fils-Aime statements.

Hulu Plus will also be available on Wii and 3DS soon--months after the PS3 and Xbox 360 already received the service.