The launch of movies on Everybody's Theater marks the first time that users can view online movie content through the Wii. In this respect the console has lagged behind Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony PS3; Microsoft's Video Marketplace is available in eight countries and will roll out to a further 10 later in 2009 while Sony launched its US online video service in 2008.

Despite the limited catalogue and the requirement to pay to download Fujisoft's application Screen Digest believes the movie service will capture a substantial share of Japan's online movie market. In more developed markets such as the US consumers have demonstrated that they are willing to pay for online content which is delivered directly to their television screen – in 2008 the Xbox Video Marketplace was second only to iTunes in terms of US transactional online movie market share.

However, the Fujisoft/CinemaNow store is not the only outlet providing online video directly to the TV in Japan. Several major manufacturers – Sony, Hitachi, Toshiba, Sharp and Panasonic – have together developed AcTVila, a common standard for broadband-connected TVs. Owners of AcTVila sets can watch high definition online movies and TV shows on a rental or download-to-own basis.

While AcTVila looks to be a promising long-term solution to TV-based online video delivery, the number of connected AcTVila sets will take time to grow, given the typical replacement cycle for a TV set of around six years. Although a large share of 8.8m HDTVs sold in Japan last year were broadband-capable, the low connection rates will also slow AcTVila service usage. By contrast, the connected Wii already has a substantial presence in Japanese households with an overall installed base of over 7.5m at YE 2008 of which Screen Digest believes over half are connected. This provides Fujisoft with a much larger pool of consumers able to access the store than AcTVila's estimated access to 1m connected TV sets.