DS Web Browser, TV tuner revealed
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Feb 15th 2006 at 10:30AM }
Well, Nintendo's big DS press conference in Japan has come and gone, with the fallout raining down upon us like a torrent of delicious, bite-sized candy. Though the main purpose of the conference was to parade the extraordinarily beautiful DS Lite about, Nintendo also took the opportunity to unveil some exciting new add-ons.
As many of our readers correctly predicted, the melancholy and overly dramatic Internet browser, Opera, is indeed being released for the DS! Launching in June for approximately $30, the Opera browser is a fully featured, non-firmware web browser adapted to display pages on both screens and allow for stylus-based input. Yay!
Nintendo also revealed a TV tuner add-on that simply plugs into the DS card slot and beams television programming straight to your portable. Though the chances of this little device making it to the West are slightly slimmer than the web browser, don't count it out just yet.
Other points of note regarding the conference:
- The New Super Mario Bros. game will be released in Japan this May.
- Tetris DS will sell at a budget price.
- Calligraphy Training is coming to the DS, doing for the hand what Brain Training did for the mind.
- New footage of Xenosaga Episode 1-2 and Children of Mana was shown.
- Super Robot Wars, Dynasty Warriors and Winning Eleven 9, oh my! The last two will be using the Wi-Fi connection.
[Via Joystiq]
[Thanks Keith Moloney, Khurrum and dwarpdesign!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jonesey @ Feb 15th 2006 10:45AM
Never mind the browser. Konami is making Winning Eleven for the DS!
robert @ Feb 15th 2006 11:41AM
this is nice and all, but it would have been great for the browser and other apps to be included in the DS operating system
unreal mccoy @ Feb 15th 2006 12:06PM
*yawn*
I wish they would've integrated Play-Yan functionality into the Lite.
keith Moloney @ Feb 15th 2006 12:07PM
You're more than welcome Ludwig! :)
Robert, you're right there, it's a real pain that it wasn't in firmware. I don't know if it was short-sighted of nintendo (somehow I doubt it...) or was deliberate, to drive mid-life sales, and to create sales as an accessory. (which is probably more likely).
Anyhow, I don't mind, once i get my paws on it I'll be very very happy!
Nathan @ Feb 15th 2006 2:21PM
The reason why Nintendo didn't make it a firmware update and the reason why the ds lite is not that much different from the original ds is because Nintendo did not want there 15 million original ds owners feel like they had to upgrade. This upgrade was to target non existing ds owners, not existing, to expand their market in handheld gaming. If Nintendo did make the ds lite a whole lot different than the original ds, then 15 million people would be very angry (for the most part).
RupeeClock @ Feb 15th 2006 4:37PM
Is it me, or does that bad quality photo make the grey DS look better? :P
Weird thoughts.
hkpuipui99 @ Feb 15th 2006 4:59PM
Hmm.. so still no info on when it's coming to the US?
Sadness :-(
B1gC72 @ Feb 15th 2006 10:32PM
anybody else notice how far that TV Tuner sticks out of the back of the DS? from the looks of it, that thing is just waiting to get broken. (unless that's not wat i thought it was and in that case would look like a jackass.....oh well lol)