BBC begins Wii streaming trial

Gamers can do a variety of things with their Wiis--play virtual tennis, create a Mii to represent themselves, or vote on whether they prefer cats to dogs. Now they'll also be able to watch BBC TV programmes on demand--if they live in the UK, that is.

A trial version of the service can be accessed from today, the BBC reports, with "more polished services" coming in late 2008. When gamers access the Internet Channel on their Wii consoles, a message will alert them that the iPlayer is now available.

iPlayer is an Internet video download and streaming service which allows viewers to catch up on BBC shows from the past week, or view certain shows from the corporation's archives. Its popularity has been causing the BBC problems, however. According to the article, "The BBC is still at loggerheads with internet service providers over who should pay for extra network costs. ISPs say the iPlayer is putting strain on their networks, which need to be upgraded to cope."

At the beginning of March, a beta version of the service was launched for Apple's iPhone and iPod touch. The BBC's group controller for future media and technology, Erik Huggers, added that the iPlayer service would also soon be coming to televisions directly, but did not specify how.