Nintendo is working hard at making its 3DS less of a “put in a cartridge, play a game” console, and more of an all-purpose gaming/media/social gadget. They’re awful slow at it, though, since their entire system from the eighties on has been the cartridge thing, more or less.
Perhaps they looked at Apple and said not “oh no, they’re going to get us” but “man, how come we haven’t tried alternative methods of capitalizing on this huge, loyal user base?” This was years ago, mind you, and they still haven’t really branched out (Wii Speak?), but we’re beginning to see the new, rich experience roll out, however slowly. Their curated video channel of 3D content is just about to go live on Japanese 3DSes, for instance. Finally!
The service offers selected videos — a fashion show, a 3D tour of Kyoto — but no access to popular web video services. It’ll be coming to the US later this summer, presumably with content a little more relevant than the latest trends hitting the teen streets of Shinjuku. Netflix will be joining it, and you’ll be able to download an app to watch any streaming content you have access to on your 3DS. Hey, that could be pretty handy.
[via Joystiq]
Austin, TX
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
San Francisco, CA
Berlin, Germany
