Starting early next year, Nintendo will be joining the ranks of its fellow console makers in offering a video distribution service through the Wii.

According to Nikkei business daily, The House of Mario will team up with Dentsu, Inc. to offer cartoons and other programs created specifically for the service, and since they're using the phrase "new revenue stream," we doubt it's gonna be offered gratis.

Videophiles shouldn't expect much magic, either, given the console's 512MB memory limit and 480p max resolution. The service will launch first in Japan and head overseas later. Hey Nintendo, if you really want to emulate your competition, how about an online social network that doesn't require long strings of integers?