Well it appears those lucky journalists at Ign have managed to go hands on with the Web Browser for the Nintendo Ds, but has their initial excitement waned in anyway?
“It’s so crippled and slow that it’s very close to unusable” is the initial assessment, not a positive statement by any-means, and with Opera being extremely user friendly with regards to how it allows its users to browse the Internet, could this one have slipped through the company’s strict usability tests? Well judging from the reviewer’s opinion it may not be usability that’s the main problem with the browser, but in-fact its slow connection speeds (Ign had trouble even comparing it to a dial up modem). Ouch.
With the majority of negative aspects cast aside it does seems the overall functionality of the web browser is surprisingly good, as using the touch screen to navigate your way around web sites is generally a very interesting concept, and one that has been implemented with a lot of thought. Opera have included lots of other nice touches such as the ability to zoom into certain parts of a page, or the ability for the browser to render the entire page over the Ds‘s top and bottom screen, which certainly makes browsing the web that little bit easier on a portable device.
So whilst you can finally surf the Internet free and with ease on your Nintendo Ds, will you continuously use it to find out what’s currently going on in the world? Ign sums it up with: “After the novelty wears off, you probably won’t want to.” You can read the full hands on preview here.
I for one won’t be buying it, if I want to surf the net I’ll use my scomputer (or Wii :) ).
Indeed. Why settle for second best when you can have first? Still a great accessory for those wanting web access on the move though.
I downloaded Opera 9 last night and its’ a great browser. I see no point in paying for one on my DS as I’ll only use it at home.