Almost a year after its
release in Japan and nine months after the same in Europe, Nintendo is finally sending the Opera DS browser to North America on
June 4. Although it
lacks Flash, video, sound and PDF support (yikes!), the package includes full stylus control as well as handwriting recognition. You can create bookmarks and display images, but forget about saving sexy pictures of Anna Kournikova to your DS. It's definitely a gimped way to surf the web, but
reports say it's a generally smooth experience. The browser retails for roughly $32 in Japan and $52 in Europe, but no pricing has been mentioned for the North American release.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
samfish @ Mar 8th 2007 10:33AM
Well, I suppose it beats looking at porn on your cell phone...
sheppy @ Mar 8th 2007 10:35AM
meh
Jebb @ Mar 8th 2007 10:38AM
$52? $32? and you can't view flash movies? so no youtube? forget it!
Heru Luingul @ Mar 8th 2007 10:39AM
In a world run by youube...
One System provides a browser...
WITHOUT FLASH VIDEO SUPPORT.
and then the hearts of millions of DS owners exploded, coating the streets of Tokyo and NYC in greasy, Mountain-Dew drenched entrails.
sheppy @ Mar 8th 2007 10:44AM
I wonder how many people who buy this just to have Gamefaqs next to their Wii...
deaftly @ Mar 8th 2007 10:51AM
more stupid pointless shit
Nushio @ Mar 8th 2007 10:52AM
Sheppy: I used to do that :P
Not with the DSBrowser, but with an M3 and DSOrganize, a homebrew app desined to do dozens of nifty stuffs. I would dload the faq to the card, and use DSORganize to bookmark where I left off.
The sad part is that (at least when I used it) it had no 'search' support, so I was stuck scrolling dozens of lines of text (on both screens :P)
Sir Josh @ Mar 8th 2007 11:01AM
zzzz.......
Myke @ Mar 8th 2007 11:03AM
I love my DS, but anyone who would pay more than $20 for a crippled browser is nuts. Throw sound and flash support and you've got yourself a $40 program IMO, but without those two, it's barely worth the gas money to get to the store, even if the program itself were free.
Mohan @ Mar 8th 2007 11:06AM
One side tells me to get it, but my other side says no because no flash...which means no youtube and other unmentionable sites ;-) Either way I am going to hold out for the price.
RUSKULL @ Mar 8th 2007 11:15AM
I bought the JP version, and it was very useful for checking emails and gaming news when on vacation, especially when most hotels offer free Wi-Fi to get you interested. I now have a nice laptop, so I'd probably use that, unless I just feel like keeping the laptop at home.
baby sea tuna @ Mar 8th 2007 11:23AM
Ugh, what a waste. Well, at least it'll be a little more user friendly than the PSP browser...
Billy @ Mar 8th 2007 11:32AM
Nintendo is taking so long to release this damn thing, I had forgotten it even existed. I really do think that no flash and no sound is a huge disappointment, but I assume that the DS just isn't powerful enough for it - otherwise, Nintendo would have to be on crack to leave those features out. Oh well... I will probably still get it, as it would be really handy for some situations, and I hate lugging my laptop around.
required @ Mar 8th 2007 11:33AM
I love the PSP browser. It is nice that it is part of the OS.
Genius @ Mar 8th 2007 11:46AM
lol you compared it to the PSP browser which is free. I have both, and theres no way Id pay for a gimped browser that has little more use than checking email which I can already do with my phone.
Genius @ Mar 8th 2007 11:47AM
Previous comment directed at 14
baby sea tuna @ Mar 8th 2007 11:49AM
Oh, there's no way I'd pay for a gimped browser either. I'm just saying that the touch screen still beats the nub any day.
Joshua @ Mar 8th 2007 11:50AM
Pfft. Crippled garbage. It's not necessary to be on the Internet everywhere you go...Jeez.
Ian @ Mar 8th 2007 11:59AM
Little appeal to me too and I don't think it would even work on my uni campus with the POPPE & VPN connection.
http://www.MarioKartWii.com
Dolla Dolla @ Mar 8th 2007 12:14PM
I dislike the "Me Too" mentality Opera went with this. It seems they made this just to say the DS has a web browser too, rather than making it useful. And the pricing is ridiculous. Pass :(
Joshua @ Mar 8th 2007 12:21PM
I remember Nintendo said that if you have a DS Fat that the cartridge will not work and DS Fat owners will have to order a special cartridge from Nintendo. Is this still true?
iNime @ Mar 8th 2007 12:27PM
hahaha, gay ds. ds = dual suck. it's like the lil retard of the gaming devices, cute, just not quite right, and everyone is too afraid to say something bad about it. it's not the ds's fault it's retarded, miyamoto made it that way.
no offense to any tards out there. i love you all.
Vidikron @ Mar 8th 2007 12:40PM
I think the browser comes with the RAM expansion cart, which might explain the price. Though if no games ever make use of it then it's likely not worth it.
ZeroCorpse @ Mar 8th 2007 12:50PM
Too little, too late. I waited. Nothing came. I sold my DS, and nothing came. Finally, here it comes, and it's still underpowered. The DS is nifty, but the games were starting to bore me and insult me with their high price (a portable game is NOT worth $34.99 when a full-featured console game can be had for $19.99 - $59.99) and the types of games became sort of stifled.
I'll pick up a DS Lite again when Warlords DS comes out, MAYBE. Otherwise, I'm not into paying for those games when I find so little use for them.
The DS has such potential, but the developers keep making platformers, brain games, and gimmicky stylus games, none of which are useful to me on the bus or in a line at the DMV.
I'll stick with my GBA SP for now.
Vidikron @ Mar 8th 2007 1:18PM
@26
[The DS has such potential, but the developers keep making platformers, brain games, and gimmicky stylus games, none of which are useful to me on the bus or in a line at the DMV.]
Ummm... those are exactly the types of games that ARE good for portables. What are you wanting/expecting out of a portable?
Brandon @ Mar 8th 2007 2:00PM
They need flash support and sound. Then release APIs so poeple can create flash games espically for the DS that can utlize both screens and the stylus and the buttons. Then I would buy it.
Eli @ Mar 8th 2007 4:14PM
Guys, just keep in mind that this is the absolute cheapest way onto the Internet. Yes, the PSP's browser is "free," but the difference between the two systems more than makes up for the price. Additionally, even though the PSP's browser has better support, it has a terrible interface. I can't wait for this thing to hit North America, as I don't have enough of a need to upgrade my current PDA to one with WiFi, which would cost more than that of a PSP at the very least. I'll be able to browse the web quickly and easily at school, because a DS fits in my pocket, not a laptop.
Dorky @ Mar 8th 2007 4:47PM
Tried this. Sucked worse than the PSP browser (just because the PSP browser is free). They're both very slow depending on the site. And it's annoying how it auto disconnects you after a very brief time. Pass. Shame Nintendo doesn't include this as a pack-in.
ken seang @ Mar 8th 2007 5:59PM
Im typing this on my ds now! I did not buy it and it is great for checking news info like here when im walking around on campus. Plus it is lighter than carrying ur ladtop.
Hart704 @ Mar 8th 2007 7:41PM
I've already imported the European version. It would've been nice if this had been out at around the time the other version were. Besides, the North American version will most likely be the European version anyway.
Sly @ Mar 9th 2007 3:46AM
When are people going to finally realize that Nintendo is a big ripoff. The Wii is a overpriced Gamecube. Games are re-releases from older game system. Not much online support to name a few.
4cr JaXs @ Mar 9th 2007 6:51PM
Well it's about damn time. Certainly took them long enough.
Thinkcage @ Mar 12th 2007 11:42PM
Opera had this available to try at their booth during SXSW. They didn't have a DS to use it on, but luckily I had mine with me ;)
The wireless connection is a little clunky and it probably took 5 minutes to find and connect to an access point, granted the WiFi traffic was nuts in that building.
It's cool that when you scroll pages, the content spans to the top screen. And it was relatively snappy and scrolled very smoothly. I didn't really go to more than a few pages, but I think it'll be a fun browser to have in a pinch.
Thinkcage @ Mar 12th 2007 11:44PM
Oh, and I forgot to mention one thing that surprised me. The browser will ship with and require a memory expansion card that fits in the GBA slot - I don't remember that being mentioned before. Depending on if/what other uses the card offers, that might be a nice value-add for the price.
msi0 @ Apr 30th 2007 3:13PM
I don't see the point of the hate here. Obviously the cost is mainly the RAM expansion cart which goes in the GBA slot. The opera browser itself wouldn't be so expensive if it wasn't for the RAM cart, which will probalby be used for other games in the future.
And so what if it doesn't have flash support? Do you need to connect to youtube everywhere you go? No. I'd rather use this than a cellphone browser anyday, and I plan to be one of the first to buy it.
There will be two versions - one for the old DS and one for the DS lite. The difference in the RAM carts - the DS lite version one is smaller so it will be flush with the unit, and the old DS version is the size of a regular GBA cart so it will fit correctly in that unit. The browser itself is the same for both.
Call me crazy, but for basic web browsing, this is a good idea. You don't have to bring your expensive laptop with you everywhere nor do you have to settle for a slow, clunky cell phone. The DS seems to be a pretty good compromise.