[release]
[img]http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/gamelife/2011/07/3dsnetflix-660x443.jpg[/img]
[quote]Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime announces Netflix for the 3DS handheld at Game Developers Conference in San Francisco in March.
Photo credit: Nintendo[/quote]
Nintendo launched the Netflix app for its Nintendo 3DS handheld gaming system on Thursday, promising a lineup of 3-D movies in the near future.
The free application can be downloaded through the Nintendo 3DS eShop, which was launched in June. All Netflix subscribers with a streaming plan can now access the thousands of movies and TV shows available on the company’s Internet streaming video service through their 3DS.
The Netflix app has the capability to display in 3-D. When browsing through titles and fast-forwarding through videos frame by frame, the menus and icons pop out of the screen. However, the current content library contains no 3-D content. Nintendo said on Thursday that a “select” lineup of 3-D movies will be available “soon,” declining to give any more specifics.
Designwise, the 3DS app isn’t much to look at, but it gets the job done.
When you load up the app, the lower touchscreen is filled with an array of boxes — the first row is your Instant Queue and lower rows are recommendations and new releases. You can use the D-pad to move around, tap the top and bottom of the screen to shift rows and drag rows left and right (but not top to bottom) by sliding with the stylus. You can also use the L and R shoulder buttons to quickly scroll through rows.
As you highlight movies, their descriptions and larger box images quickly pop up on the upper screen.
Browsing through the menus was a little slow on my wireless connection, although once I gave it time to load all of the boxes and descriptions I could browse through them quite easily.
[img]http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/gamelife/2011/07/netflix3ds-660x371.jpg[/img]
When you select a program, you can add it to your Instant Queue or play it immediately. Controls are simple during playback: tapping the screen pauses the film, and you can then drag a slider around to skip forwards and backwards. Again, it took a few seconds to load in the frame images for this feature.
You can play films and shows with subtitles and alternate language tracks if they support them, turning the options on and off before you start playback.
Since Nintendo 3DS only features a Wi-Fi connection, you must be connected to a hotspot to use Netflix.
Nintendo launched a separate service, called Nintendo Video, in Europe and Japan this week. It offers a small selection of short-form free content, no subscription required. Nintendo Video will launch in the U.S. later this summer, according to a 1up.com report. The service is region-locked: Wired.com tested it with our Japanese 3DS in San Francisco and the app said we were outside of the service area.
Available across a wide variety of devices including most game systems, Netflix’s instant streaming service has been a breakout hit. The company says that 24 million people subscribe to the streaming service, although that may change now that it has instituted a new pricing scheme.
The PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 game consoles account for 66% of all Netflix streaming, according to an independent study. Nintendo said 1.5 million Wii owners use the system to play Netflix on an average day.[/release]
Source: [url]http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/07/nintendo-3ds-netflix-app/[/url]
I think the 3D film at home idea is kinda neat, even though I think 3D films are pretty pointless in the first place.
.....This sounds really dumb actually. You'd end up with pixelated 3D mess.
Sounds a little too good to be true...
My 3D is ready
sounds cool
[QUOTE=FreakySoup;31116621]My 3D is ready[/QUOTE]
Sadly the battery is not..
[QUOTE=FreakySoup;31116621]My 3D is ready[/QUOTE]
but the battery will die halfway through it
[QUOTE=MAspiderface;31116746]but the battery will die halfway through it[/QUOTE]
Not true, from my experience. I played Ocarina of Time there and back on a 2 and a half hour train journey and still had half battery left by the end.
What's the point? You can barely look at it for more than 30 minutes before getting nauseous.
[QUOTE=Randdalf;31116904]Not true, from my experience. I played Ocarina of Time there and back on a 2 and a half hour train journey and still had half battery left by the end.[/QUOTE]
Anecdotal, different things require different amounts of energy.
The constant stream of information through wireless taps would cause power drain.
Why would I want to watch a movie on the tiny screen (which the manufacturer doesn't recommend using for more than 30 minutes anyway)? To get that bad 3D (yes it's bad, real 3D is holographic, this is just an illusion)?
Heck I wouldn't even want to see a 3D movie in the first place so I guess it's not targeted towards me.
[QUOTE=Lol-Nade;31116944]What's the point? You can barely look at it for more than 30 minutes before getting nauseous.[/QUOTE]
This is what the slider is for, good sir.
I love all the people bitching about a completely optional way to watch movies.
I enjoy the 3D, as do a vast majority of my friends. It beats the hell out of old style 3D where you put on different colored glasses and watch things jump out at you in some ridiculously corny fashion. Nowadays the 3D gives the scenes depth, the best case of this being Pixar's UP, where scenes make the floating house actually seem high up, with scenery seeming distant below.
Complain all you want about how shitty it is, and how it'll never stick, and how it's such a stupid idea and they shouldn't waste their time, while all the producers and directors continue to rake in profits for people excited to see movies in a different way.
Unlike the last iterations of it, it seems like this form is here to stay, with 3D ready televisions and computer hardware giving people an opportunity to enjoy channels like ESPN in 3D.
It'll still suck in Canada, though. :(
Seriously Canadian Netflix sucks. We have some great movies, but it's still about 10% of America's catalog. Then again, we get CatDog and you guys don't.
[QUOTE=A big fat ass;31117587]It'll still suck in Canada, though. :(
Seriously Canadian Netflix sucks. We have some great movies, but it's still about 10% of America's catalog. Then again, we get CatDog and you guys don't.[/QUOTE]
Fuck, I've been dying to watch CatDog. I've been watching Rocko, Angry Beavers and Inspector Gadget over the past few days. I'm hoping they continue to beef up their classic nickelodeon catalog.
groovy
they better have some r-rated 3d films
[QUOTE=Tigster;31117555]I love all the people bitching about a completely optional way to watch movies.
I enjoy the 3D, as do a vast majority of my friends. It beats the hell out of old style 3D where you put on different colored glasses and watch things jump out at you in some ridiculously corny fashion. Nowadays the 3D gives the scenes depth, the best case of this being Pixar's UP, where scenes make the floating house actually seem high up, with scenery seeming distant below.
Complain all you want about how shitty it is, and how it'll never stick, and how it's such a stupid idea and they shouldn't waste their time, while all the producers and directors continue to rake in profits for people excited to see movies in a different way.
Unlike the last iterations of it, it seems like this form is here to stay, with 3D ready televisions and computer hardware giving people an opportunity to enjoy channels like ESPN in 3D.[/QUOTE]
I wasn't bitching about the 3D, I was bitching about the fact the videos themselves will be pixelated and then adding 3D on top of that would just make it a convulsing fuck face of everything.
This is going to be awesome!
[editline]14th July 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=Lol-Nade;31116944]What's the point? You can barely look at it for more than 30 minutes before getting nauseous.[/QUOTE]
What are you, elderly or something?
Welcome to E3 2011. Also the app just came out today. Way to be really late.
[QUOTE=Delta616;31118833]Welcome to E3 2011. Also the app just came out today. Way to be really late.[/QUOTE]
I posted this today
I'd say that's on time, posting about something the day it happens?
what an awesome viewing experience this will be
I wish i had a 3DS :smith:
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