Improved Internet Browser For US *RUMOR*

WegeHop · May 21, 2007, 05:03:57 PM

"There is a rumour flying around just now that the American version of the DS Opera browser will include flash and Javascript support. The software will not release stateside officially until June 4th and its delay in comparison to the Japanese and European versions has been slightly conspicuous.

When a member of the My Opera forums contacted Nintendo for official word on the matter they received a reply from Andi Anderson of Nintendo of America stating that the American release of the DS browser would offer ‘full-featured web browsing incorporating Flash and Javascript support’. It is near impossible to authenticate the email however, so for now this will remain but a tantalising rumour.

Pocket Gamer has found that even pages with a collection of JPEG images or animated GIFs can cause the DS browser to slow to the pace of a one legged sloth and so it is hard to imagine the DS being capable of displaying rich multimedia content from the likes of YouTube. Having said that, there are a clutch of smartphones that can handle flash based content so perhaps the boffins at Nintendo can pull it off.

If they do, there are bound to be plenty of aggrieved Japanese and European DSers who have already forked out for a lesser featured browser, not to mention the American Phat DS owners who will not be able to run the software at all."

Heres the Link: http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/blog/index.php/2007/05/21/american-release-of-the-ds-internet-browser-to-include-multimedia-support/

Hi · May 21, 2007, 05:39:52 PM

I heard about this already. Aren't many smart phones fairly powerful, more powerful than the nds?

I think it's possible, but not without an addition. It would probably require more ram than the EU ram expansion pak. Maybe even an additional processor, why not! If the stick some extra stuff in slot-2, it may be possible, but otherwise, no.

I'm no technowiz, just a guy speculating...

dantheman · May 21, 2007, 05:40:07 PM

The Opera browser already has basic Javascript support. Not Java itself, but Javascript at least. And I agree, it already slows to a crawl when viewing a single .gif animation, so I kinda doubt they'll be able to get it working at any reasonable speed. Besides, where would they store the flash animation? It would have to be loaded into RAM before execution, correct? Even with 12 MB of RAM available (4 in DS + 8 in RAM pack), the browser itself uses up quite a bit, so I'd imagine larger flash files would not load at all even if flash support is added in the first place.

In short, while it would be awesome, I doubt the DS is able to pull it off. Then again, who knows, perhaps the developers have managed to insanely optimize the code in the past few months to make it fast enough to spare the resources for handling flash. I still kinda doubt it though.

Oh, and even though only the Lite-sized version will be on retail shelves, won't the Phat-sized version be available online? I could have sworn that was some at some point...

PharaohsVizier · May 21, 2007, 06:37:11 PM

Yea I am pretty sure I read something about the normal DS sized browsers will be sold on the Nintendo site.

Anyways, I really hope that flash will work, or some optimizing is done. It isn't necessary to have flash and videos, but I'd like them to get the speed down. For now, lag is almost unbearable.

Rayder · May 22, 2007, 07:15:05 AM

My guess is that if it does get Flash support, it will be just enough flash to let you see ads in webpages and not much more.

There is NO WAY it will play YT vids....not enough memory. Besides the DS browser has no sound support in webpages, rendering most YT vids useless.

I firmly believe the inclusion of even an older version of flash is more of a commercial (to display ads) addition than a consumer concession (to be useful for us).

mudlouse1 · May 22, 2007, 12:47:22 PM

I think if there will be flash support, then it will take you out of the webpage view and display the applet only.

This makes sense if you're only trying to play flash games or watch youtube videos, disabling the html/javascript will free up resources.

Hi · May 22, 2007, 11:39:20 PM

Quote from: "mudlouse1"I think if there will be flash support, then it will take you out of the webpage view and display the applet only.

This makes sense if you're only trying to play flash games or watch youtube videos, disabling the html/javascript will free up resources.

Hmm... Interesting Idea.

I still think that what opera/nintendo is going to do in order to make flash possible is put more ram, and perhaps other stuff besides, (maybe even another proccesor) inside the expantion pak.

NT · May 23, 2007, 10:30:27 AM

Confirmed: http://www.nintendo.com/gamemini?gameid=ZRIHM-K7C6pLPkN--ZjWFInT-vIEngbV

QuoteBased on the light and lightning-fast Opera browser, the full-featured Nintendo DS Browser includes Javascript and Flash support.

Devil_Spawn · May 23, 2007, 12:43:59 PM

yeah sounds like an option

however to save money my guess is that it will have a built in flash/html decoding chip instead of a processor

kkan · May 23, 2007, 12:47:10 PM

great...... so does that mean all us that bought the DS OPERA browser get a refund or a trade in for FREE

I doubt it

Perseid · May 23, 2007, 01:18:15 PM

Quote from: "Devil_Spawn"yeah sounds like an option

however to save money my guess is that it will have a built in flash/html decoding chip instead of a processor

A Flash decoding chip. Would that be an FPU? <rim shot>

Really, though, if I can watch Strongbad on my DS I might buy that.

mudlouse1 · May 23, 2007, 02:05:08 PM

Quote from: "kkan"great...... so does that mean all us that bought the DS OPERA browser get a refund or a trade in for FREE

I doubt it

gah, perhaps I should have been more patient!

Hi · May 23, 2007, 03:32:36 PM

Problem for us pirates! I just realised, I was getting all excited but...

The triforce hack won't work, right?

So now, If I want flash support, I'll have to actually buy the browser, which I might.

Perseid · May 23, 2007, 05:12:43 PM

If they added more ram or a co-processor chip, yes, it will fail on flash carts. If it uses the same board but is a newer version of the software it should still work. So we won't know until someone actually has the thing.

Altor · May 26, 2007, 10:08:36 PM

Quote from: "NTolerance"Confirmed: http://www.nintendo.com/gamemini?gameid=ZRIHM-K7C6pLPkN--ZjWFInT-vIEngbV

QuoteBased on the light and lightning-fast Opera browser, the full-featured Nintendo DS Browser includes Javascript and Flash support.

Where do you see that? It's nowhere on the page your link points to.