Nintendo is closing TVii service for good
"Every service has a life cycle, and it is time to focus our resources on other projects"
Nintendo will bring the Wii U's TVii service to a close in August this year. marking the end of a three year period in which it gained little traction with the console's audience.
According to information released by Nintendo of America, the service will be terminated on August 11 this year. The company stressed that its users could still engage with TV and video content via apps like Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and Amazon Instant Video.
"Every service has a life cycle, and it is time to focus our resources on other projects," the company said in an accompanying FAQ.
This should come as no great surprise, given that the service is already gone closed in Europe, and the relative lack of interest from the Wii U's audience - evidence of which has been collected by Kotaku.
The TVii service always stood out among the Wii U's features, an unmistakable nod towards the multimedia functionality that Nintendo's immediate rivals were eager to embrace. Certainly, in its public statements the company expressed high hopes for its console as a platform for watching TV, with Reggie Fils-Aime stating that Wii U owners would, "pick up and engage with [TVii] at least once a day."