Thinking back to a time before the Wii U was released, Nintendo detailed a multi-channel streaming service known as 'TVii', which you'd be able to use to catch up on all your favourite shows in one handy place. Supposedly hitting the console at launch, it was delayed slightly for the US, hitting the console a mere month after launch - but that was nothing compared to the delay Europe suffered, with their consoles still TVii-less up until about a week ago, when Nintendo cancelled the project, citing the "extremely complex nature of localising multiple television services across a diverse range of countries with varied licensing systems". Basically, they've decided it's been way too long now, so they're not going to be releasing it at all.
Please understand...
But it's not all bad news - with the cancellation comes a sudden appearance of an on-demand service everyone in the UK should be familiar with, the BBC iPlayer. Letting you catch up with the likes of QI, Doctor Who and Eastenders, the 94MB download gives you a choice of playing back shows on either the TV or on the GamePad's screen itself, potentially letting your other half catch up on their soaps/football while you watch something decent at the same time.
Downloading the app is as simple as heading to the Wii U eShop and scrolling down the front page, to where you'll see a giant black BBC iPlayer banner about a third of the way down the page. If you're feeling especially fancy (or if you're reading this and it's now been bumped off the landing page), you can use the Search function from the left hand task bar, and search for 'BBC' in the box at the top - and from there you should stumble on the link to download the app.
Hopefully the release of the iPlayer will help pave the way for other similar services, such as 4 On Demand (or All4, as it appears to be called now) - we could really do with a reliable way to watch 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, seeing as the PS3 app has an annoying tendency to crash after each ad break. On the plus side though, it does give us loads more time to figure out those pesky conundrums!
