Netflix coming to Wii this spring

The Xbox 360 and PS3 already offer streaming movies courtesy of Netflix, and Nintendo’s Wii will soon join them. Netflix on Wii will launch this spring in the States and, if you ask me, it’s going to be met by a big, fat shrug.

If the Wii’s lack of HD doesn’t batter its chances, it’s worth remembering Wii owners are a markedly different crowd, largely averse to taking their sleek white console online. Analyst bigwig Michael Pachter at Wedbush Morgan agrees with me, predicting that under 20% of Wii owners are even connected to the intrawebs:

“In our view, only a small percentage (likely fewer than 20%) of Wii owners have connected their consoles to the Internet, which is required to activate the Netflix service. In contrast, we believe that more than 75% of Xbox 360s are connected to the Internet, and more than 80% of PS3s are connected.”

If you’re amongst the 20% with a connected Wii, then you can go here to grab your free software disc right now, in preparation for the service’s arrival.

[Via press release]