Nintendo of Europe has issued a statement apologising for the current lack of the Nintendo TVii service for European Wii U owners.

Nintendo TVii was announced as a sort of umbrella application through which Wii U owners can watch both live TV and streaming services that users are subscribed to. In North America, Wii U owners can watch TV on their Wii U GamePad, or dip into the likes of Hulu and Amazon Instant Video.

Yet in Europe, TVii remains conspicuous by its absence, with the TVii icon on the Wii U home menu diverting to an error message ever since the Wii U launch. However, the likes of Netflix and Lovefilm are still available as separate applications.

Nintendo of Europe has acknowledged that the TVii service was initially announced as coming to Europe in 2013, but did not offer any update on its status, other than asking fans to "keep an eye out".

However, the mere fact that Nintendo of Europe is acknowledging its existence and its absence may give some hopd that the service might make its way to us eventually.