Iwata confirms non-DVD or Blu-ray playback for Wii U

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has confirmed that Wii U won't have support for Blu-ray or DVD playback.

Games will use high density optical discs for the system, but Iwata has said Wii U won't support the main two formats, mentioning that "enough people" already have DVD or Blu-ray players in some form, and that it didn't "warrant the cost."

"Wii U does not have DVD or Blu-ray playback capabilities," he said in an investor Q&A which has been released in English.

"The reason for that is that we feel that enough people already have devices that are capable of playing DVDs and Blu-ray, such that it didn't warrant the cost involved to build that functionality into the Wii U console because of the patents related to those technologies."

Wii U launches next year.