DSvision sees a future on the DS
by Candace Savino 
{ Nov 29th 2007 at 12:20PM }
When the GBA Movie Player came out, it was pretty underwhelming. AM3 is trying their luck again, however, this time with the DS. The service they'll be providing, called DSvision, will allow DS users to officially download certain books, movies, comics, and music onto their handhelds. The package needed for these downloads is going on sale in Japan this January for 3,980 yen ($37 UDS), which comes with a 512MB microSD card, a form fitting DS cart, and a USB adapter that connects to PCs. The DSvision downloading service, however, won't be available until March.DSvision seems to be getting a lot more thought and effort put into it than the GBA Movie Player, and it's definitely something to keep an eye out for. We have to wonder, though, how the company will prevent pirates from using their product for unauthorized downloads (our guess is, they can't). Also, people who already own an R4DS might find the DSvision package unnecessary, even though it is an official (and thus, legal) way of distributing media.
[Via Cubed3]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
brad @ Nov 29th 2007 12:40PM
Is this any different than Datel's Games N Music, which is also legal?
And what sort of media will it support? I mean, if the downloads are some proprietary format, rather than say mp3's for instance, then who's gonna want this?
Will it support homebrew? How about mpegs/Mov's/Avi's/etc?
I don't know, on one hand I like the idea of an officially produced cart, I just hope they don't drop the ball when it comes to features.
raindog @ Nov 29th 2007 1:25PM
We'll know within a few days of its release whether it'll be usable for homebrew, and within a few days of the download service's release whether it'll be possible to use existing flash cards for the download service.
My guess is that you'll be able to use it for homebrew or the download service, but not at the same time. Also, while most people have long since forgotten this because most devices don't implement it, don't forget that SD stands for "Secure Digital", and the "Secure" part refers to built-in hardware DRM support, meaning they can lock the downloads to a single DSvision cart or DS if they really want to.
And while the GBA Movie Player is a bit lame as flash carts go, let alone "movie players", it was one of the first devices people got working as a DS flash cart. Programs like Moonshell and Nitro Tracker are a lot further along because of it than they'd otherwise be.
RupeeClock @ Nov 29th 2007 1:34PM
My, people certainly are comfortable talking about R4's lately huh?
Yeah, if I really cared about video playback THAT much, I could just put the videos on an R4, but playback isn't perfect.
Here's something to think about, suppose the rom for DSvision is ripped, patched and made usable with the R4, that could be powerful stuff.
You could even reverse engineer the technology to improve the DPG video format for the Moonshell application.
Fank @ Nov 29th 2007 2:40PM
Yeah, what is with the R4 crap all of the sudden? There are like a dozen other cards out there. One might even think that you got some deal with the people from R4.
Vincent @ Nov 29th 2007 4:14PM
rupeeclock.
u said the r4 playback isnt perfect.
are u using batchdpg? i think files converted using it are pretty near perfect.
James @ Dec 2nd 2007 1:39PM
I got my R4 because it had the best compatibility (at the time) and the best price (at the time). I don't know if that's still the case, but I've had a really good experience so far. Only problem has been that sometimes when I close my lid, the system freezes, but that's pretty uncommon, and almost *never* happens if I pause the game first. Anyway, if I want to watch movies, I'll use my PSP. Bigger, higher-res screen with a faster processor. Most of the games there suck, but it *is* an excellent media player...