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Game Information
- Platform: Nintendo DS
- PEGI Rating: Ages 3 and Over
- Media: Accessory
Product Features
- Surf the Internet via any Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection enabled Hotspots.
- Dual screen functionality allows for easy use.
- Only for Nintendo DS Lite
- Includes Nintendo DS Lite Memory Expansion Pak
Product details
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review:
In a nutshell:
The DS finally gets its very own Web browser, as Nintendo firmly embraces the Internet age and finds some clever new uses for the touch screen and stylus.
The DS finally gets its very own Web browser, as Nintendo firmly embraces the Internet age and finds some clever new uses for the touch screen and stylus.
The lowdown:
The DS Browser comes on both its own DS cartridge and a memory pack that fits into the GBA slot of your DS (there are two version of the Browser, with memory packs to fit either the original DS or the DS Lite). The obvious benefit of surfing the Web on a DS is the large screen area afforded by two screens and the stylus – which also makes typing in Web addresses a lot easier. The problems though are a low screen resolution and the fact that the browser doesn’t support Flash files, movie files, sound files, PDFs or anything else that needs a plug-in to work. As long as you recognise the limitations though, this is still a cheap and easy way to access the Internet when on the move.
Most exciting moment:
The big problem with accessing the Web outside of PC monitor is that it doesn’t all fit on screen at once. The DS overcomes this problem in perhaps the most elegant manner yet, with an option to put an overview of the whole page on the top screen while letting you scroll around on a zoomed in version on the touch screen.
Since you ask:
The DS Browser is based on a PC application called Opera, developed by Opera Software. The same company is also creating a version of the browser for use with the Wii console, which will be free for the first six months of the console’s life.
The bottom line:
Surf the Web on the move, but don’t expect an entirely smooth ride. -HARRISON DENT
Product Description
For DS Lite Only, will not work with the old style DS console
At home...
If you have a broadband internet connection and a wireless LAn access point in your home, you`ll be able to use the internet anywhere in your home. You can also use the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connector (sold seperately).
Out & About...
Around town, you`ll have internet access at you finger tips wherever there`s a hotspot access point.
Specifications
Browser Engine: Opera 8.5
Formats Supported: HTML, XHTML, ECMAScript, CSS (some functions won`t be fully supported) SSL 2.0/3.0, TLS 1.0 (Depending on the website, some of them cannot be used)
Formats Not Supported: Flash, Movie Files, Sound Files, PDFFiles and other files that require plug-in
The requirements of this product
Internet + wireless LAN access point
or
Windows XP with broadband internet + Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
70 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Does the job.,
By
= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: Nintendo DS Browser (Nintendo DS Lite) (Accessory)
If I didn't have any real use for this browser and just bought it on a whim, I would probably be writing about how below average this is, and like many other people, touting that it's no way a replacement for it's PC counter-part.
However, the DS browser is something that's come in useful for me. Whilst away in France; it was my main way of communicating with those back home. I was able to email friends and family and keep in touch with people that I needed to. It was also a good way for us to find activities and services local to our destination. Also, this is good entertainment whilst wasting time in train stations. I can often find myself sitting around, waiting for a train, and having the opportunity to check my emails and surf my favourite websites. Technically, the browser has it's flaws. For starters, and most notably, it's very slow; though this can be somewhat forgiven, since it renders pages really well, and can display them how they look on your large PC screen. Also, the browser fails to support plug-ins such as flash, and other media types - but this is down to the console itself, and not the software. I like this bit of kit. It does what it needs to, and though it has some flaws, can come in really useful. Think hard about whether you'd actually use it though. It's not a toy, it's a tool.
64 of 68 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Useful and Usable,
By afrazkhan "frazmatron" (London) - See all my reviews
= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: Nintendo DS Browser (Nintendo DS Lite) (Accessory)
I had reservations about buying this, since I had so many bad experiences with similar products in the past (creating a good web browser with restrictions on screen size and memory is non-trivial). When I was nudged into the purchase by necessity however, I was pleasantly surprised.
Two solutions have been adopted to solve the low screen resolution problem, both of which work well and can be switched between fairly quickly to suit the page you're viewing. The default viewing mode is called SSR and involves the software intelligently moving things on the page around so you don't have to scroll to the right. The other mode is called Overview, which uses the top screen for viewing a zoomed in section of the bottom screen. The zoomed in area is selected with the stylus on the bottom screen. Pages load fairly quickly for a mobile device with such little memory (obviously the included memory pack helps here). digg.com, which is a moderately heavy site, loads in about 38 seconds. You're free to view the already loaded elements of the page as the rest are loading. Certainly, I couldn't say that loading times are painful. Flash/multimedia content does not work, as that would require a lot more processing power and memory than the DS has. Some images seem to be downgraded. For example, Penny Arcade comics are unreadable. Though this could be unique to Penny Arcade (since I haven't noticed it on any other sites) I thought it was worth mentioning anyway. The question you probably most want answered is that of Gmail, and yes, it works. Though chatting is disabled (as in Safari). Text entry is also available in two flavours; traditional touch keyboard, or character recognition. I found the character recognition route to be a little slower than using the keyboard, but it's at least as accurate as other character recognition software I've used. Typing out URLs is helped by shortcut buttons you can assign to things like ".com" and "www.". It's definitely a usable browser, and handy to have with you, even at home. I use it at night when I'm reading in bed to look up words on dictionary.com. As far as browsers for mobile devices (with small screens) go, this is most likely the best you'll get.
34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Better than what others have said!,
By Brandybob (Bucks, UK) - See all my reviews
= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: Nintendo DS Browser (Nintendo DS Lite) (Accessory)
I had ordered this game before reading the negative reviews, and feared receiving it! It's a lot better than I expected. Yes, it's not a super fast way of surfing the net, and will never replace a laptop or home computer, but the DS was never designed for that sort of application.
I've hooked it up to my home wi-fi and the speed is quite good - you can disable pictures which quickens things up considerably, whilst text only sites such as the optional BBC News one work a treat. Some pages loaded in 5-10 seconds. Google works well, as does Hotmail and Yahoo Mail. You soon get use to using both screens to navigate web pages, and can even save your favorite links. I bought it so I would have a portable way of accessing the internet when I'm on holiday or traveling, and for that it's perfect. After all, the DS is primarily a games machine, so having this is a bonus.
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