Demand high for DS TV tuner in Japan
by Scott Jon Siegel 
{ Nov 21st 2007 at 9:20AM }
The Nintendo DS TV Tuner picks up the Japan-only "1seg" broadcast service. The device will retail for 6,800 Yen (approximately $62 USD), making it a rather pricey DS accessory that a lot of people seem to want.
No word yet if Nintendo plans on releasing any similar device here or in Europe.
[Via CVG]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Lanman @ Nov 21st 2007 9:31AM
They loves them some TV on the go ...
Cyro @ Nov 21st 2007 9:33AM
It really prints money!
Lanman @ Nov 21st 2007 9:37AM
I am fairly certain they could sell a corn-on-the-cob attachment for the DS and it would sell millions. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
FrankTheCrank @ Nov 21st 2007 9:40AM
Those wacky Japanese are at it again!
David @ Nov 21st 2007 9:42AM
4,000,000 x 62.....
I so need to buy Nintendo stock.
rv @ Nov 21st 2007 10:04AM
Keep in mind thats not profit, just revenue.
Dio @ Nov 21st 2007 2:30PM
Too bad the stock is exclusive to Japan =/
Silent Xenocide @ Nov 21st 2007 9:51AM
So I guess if I imported this then it wouldn't do anything for me. My PSP also has an option for seg1. I was wondering what that was.
WiNG @ Nov 21st 2007 10:09AM
Game Gear had this like, 12 years ago
Ixistant @ Nov 21st 2007 11:00AM
Yeah. Difference is the Game Gear was a failure. The DS is not. :)
If they were ever to release this in the UK, the only thing I could think of that would make it stand out from other portable TVs would be if it picked up Freeview. Now THAT would be sweet!
ThornedVenom @ Nov 21st 2007 11:01AM
TV on the most popular portable game console on the market... WHO CAN HONESTLY REFUSE THAT??? (at an accessible price, even though 62 dollars is more than what we'd pay for for a DS game)
KNS @ Nov 21st 2007 11:14AM
And the Turboexpress too.
Nate Cernetic @ Nov 21st 2007 12:09PM
I am fairly certain that the 4 million pre-orders number is incorrect. There are only about 20 million DS's sold in Japan, so that would be saying that 1 in 5 people who own a DS pre-ordered the one seg tuner. Furthermore, since Nintendo stated they did not really do any advertising that would mean that these 4 million pre-orders were also spread by word of mouth....
hmmmm...
by the way, handy dandy babelfish states that your four million number comes from a poll in a magazine called "Fami" which I am assuming stands for famitsu that 18.5% people would like to purchase it thus where the 4 million number comes in.
....logic..... hmm..
Paul P. @ Nov 21st 2007 12:15PM
Well played, detective.
Dio @ Nov 21st 2007 2:32PM
Dude, viral marketing works. It's entirely possible that in JAPAN there would be this many pre-orders. You also have to consider that stores are pre-ordering as well to sell overseas.
Dio @ Nov 21st 2007 2:33PM
Damn, I really want this and the camera.
TRAIN YOUR FACE IN MINUTES A DAY
Slap @ Nov 21st 2007 3:16PM
Does it work in american DS?
Here in Brazil we use 1seg, like in Japan
mr mobius @ Nov 21st 2007 5:31PM
I can imagine this never coming in any form to the UK because of the license fee and how easy it could be to bypass it and watch tv without it.
jopojelly @ Nov 21st 2007 8:12PM
Isn't this retailer pre-orders, not consumer-preorders?
JRM @ Nov 22nd 2007 2:50AM
1-seg sucks though. you only get 13 channels (no national networks either, just local/regional channels) and the majority of the programming is cooking shows, variety shows, a couple of soap operas, and anime very early in the morning.
I don't know why the japanese would even bother to watch such junk tv programming on their DS. imagine paying $62 to watch nothing but PBS, or PBS-like programs.