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DS TV Goes on Sale in Japan

Posted by Zonk on from the because-they-need-another-excuse-to-buy dept.

The little heard-of television adapter for the DS went on sale in Japan yesterday, retailing for ¥6,800 ($62.70). "The design is different from the prototype shown in 2004, as it features a simple aerial cartridge which plugs in the back of the handheld, and no base unit. The top screen is used for the TV picture, while the bottom screen can be used to do things such as change channels and take notes." The company has no current plans to bring the TV adapter to the US, or anywhere else.

36 comments

  1. Can't wait! by 4D6963 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yay! I'm so looking forward to watching HDTV programs on my DS's 256×192 screen! \o/

    --
    You just got troll'd!
    1. Re:Can't wait! by bluce · · Score: 1

      Yay! I'm so looking forward to watching HDTV programs on my DS's 256×192 screen! \o/ All while talking on the phone! http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/21/1451209
    2. Re:Can't wait! by Simon+(S2) · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This is just a dirty tactic to sell more copies of Eye Training!

      --
      I just don't trust anything that bleeds for five days and doesn't die.
    3. Re:Can't wait! by nutshell42 · · Score: 1
      Yay! I'm so looking forward to watching HDTV programs on my DS's 256×192 screen! \o/

      The touchscreen otoh could come in quite handy.

      Combine most of the stuff that's on TV with punch the monkey and you have an instant win. =)

      --
      Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
    4. Re:Can't wait! by Arccot · · Score: 1

      Yay! I'm so looking forward to watching HDTV programs on my DS's 256×192 screen! \o/

      Actually, your emoticon fits what you would have to do to reduce static if it read analog over the air signals. \o\ (lean left) for NBC, /o/ (lean right) for FOX, and \o/ (praise Jebus) for my local Christian broadcast channel.

    5. Re:Can't wait! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, the downscaling from 320x240 is going to absolutely ruin the quality.

    6. Re:Can't wait! by Yvan256 · · Score: 1

      Combine most of the stuff that's on TV with punch the monkey and you have an instant win. =)
      You only win if you can punch the monkey.

    7. Re:Can't wait! by Sketch · · Score: 1

      Yay! I'm so looking forward to watching HDTV programs on my DS's 256×192 screen! \o/ All while talking on the phone! http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/21/1451209 Even better. Now when you're in Japan watching TV on your mobile phone (a fairly common feature there), you'll be able to make calls on your DS!
      --
      -- OpenVerse Visual Chat: http://openverse.com
  2. *eyes open* by Amouth · · Score: 1

    ok - that is just cool..

    although you have to wonder what type of signals it gets

    is it digital tv or just analog - or both?

    --
    '...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
    1. Re:*eyes open* by ChillinInNagoya · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's a digital 1-seg tuner, which just receives an unencrypted 320x240 version of the HDTV signal.

    2. Re:*eyes open* by Amouth · · Score: 1

      ok - i didn't see that mentinoed - and wasn't aware of how TV is brodcasted in Japan.. ty

      --
      '...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
  3. Turbo Vision by SlashdotOgre · · Score: 1

    Still not as cool as a TurboGrafx Express with TurboVision. Too bad the damn thing sucked batteries down like you wouldn't believe (we're talking 3 hours on 6AA's!).

    --
    Sadly, PS/2 was yet another victim of USB, which doesn't care what you plug into it, the electrical slut.
    1. Re:Turbo Vision by Fluffy+Bunnies · · Score: 1

      I had the tv tuner for Game Gear and your experience sounds very familiar. It was a cute toy, but ended up being practically useless. I see no reason why the tuner for DS, or the tuners in certain recent cell phones, would be any different.

  4. Waiting on third party? by MBraynard · · Score: 1

    I don't see why a third party can't bring this.... or maybe a grey market version. Off to ebay!

    1. Re:Waiting on third party? by ChillinInNagoya · · Score: 2, Informative

      Maybe because it's a 1-seg tuner there are no 1-seg broadcasts outside of Japan. Why would you want it in the US or Europe if you can't even tune to any channels?

    2. Re:Waiting on third party? by Mr.+Roadkill · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I don't see why a third party can't bring this.... or maybe a grey market version. Off to ebay!
      It goes in the back, so that makes it a Slot 1 cartridge. That means an unauthorised third-party device will need to use the same kind of trickery that Slot 1 flashcarts use - either exploiting some "defects" in the DS's bios, a'la Passme devices, or mimicking an actual DS cartridge through using copyrighted Nintendo boot codes. Nintendo are going to love that, and they're currently coming down on a number of flashcart manufacturers and issuing DMCA notices to a number of US based or hosted retailers over flashcarts as circumvention devices and over the alleged violation of Nintendo's intellectual property. If I had a box of third-party DS TV tuners, I certainly wouldn't be sticking them on ebay - I don't want Nintendo to get my account killed.

      The interesting thing is, I suspect a third-party game manufacturer or third-party TV Tuner manufacturer might be able to stand up to Nintendo over this if they wanted to slog it out through the courts - the copyrighted code sequence in question appears in part to be an electronic representation of a Nintendo logo and its hash, and if it's not there the DS won't boot the cartridge - so it might be arguable that third-party products that don't act as circumvention devices should be allowed to use that code as it's the only way to provide interoperability.

      I am not a lawyer, and I'm not really part of the "scene", but this is my understanding of things - and it may be flawed.
    3. Re:Waiting on third party? by MBraynard · · Score: 1

      Alternatively, you can just buy a TV around that size for around that price anyway.

  5. So you're saying... by TheVelvetFlamebait · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... I still wouldn't be able to make out Amy Wong's obscene tattoo?

    Crap.

    --
    You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
  6. Still waiting... by Chris+Pimlott · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm still waiting for the GPS adapter. The DS could make a killer GPS system...

    (yes I'm aware of this hack but it's not exactly ready for prime time and doesn't seem to have come to much beyond the first announcement)

    1. Re:Still waiting... by ToasterMonkey · · Score: 1

      Where are you going to put the mapping data? I guess it could have a good sized flash chip built in, but then it still needs PC connectivity to get updates and load regional data. Then there's the extra PC (and hopefully Mac too) software you need to maintain to keep the thing updated. It could be done, but there's more to it than gluing an antenna to a DS.

      It would be a great excuse to carry my DS everywhere, but there are already good, portable GPS units with touch screens, if that's what you're after.

    2. Re:Still waiting... by Kris_J · · Score: 1

      You can get flash card adapters for the DS. I have one that takes MicroSD cards and a matching 2 Gig card. If you don't mind a little bulk, CF adapters are available and they must be up to 16 Gig by now.

    3. Re:Still waiting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are flash carts for the DS using MicroSDHC cards exceeding 8GB. And the DS has built-in wireless that can be used to sync with a map provider.

  7. Torrent!!! by xtracto · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Does anyone have the torrent which includes this new DS game??
    I'd like to.. uhm... test it before I buy it, yeah.

    --
    Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
    1. Re:Torrent!!! by tepples · · Score: 1

      You don't need a torrent to download MoonShell and DPG Tools. They will work with your existing DS flash equipment and your existing captured or torrented TV shows.

  8. Makes sense, sort of by shindrak · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I just got back from Japan, and this attachment makes perfect sense there. Everyone travels by train, sometimes commuting 30 min to an hour. I saw a lot of Nintendo DS's being played on the trains by bored travellers, as well as a lot of people texting and watching video on their cell phones. A lot of cell phones I saw there actually have screens that rotate sideways to widescreen displays (the new phones there are huge) and have TV antennae built in for people to watch TV while they are travelling. It sort of makes sense that someone would tap into that for the DS crowd. Although, as someone else pointed out, it is a small screen. Their cell phone display would probably be larger.

    1. Re:Makes sense, sort of by dancingmad · · Score: 1

      I have one of those rotating screen phones, au's W52CA. The TV quality is actually quite good and like most phones like it, it came with headphones so it is quite possible to watch TV on it.

      As for the DS, I only see kids playing DS (though when some of my middle school students found out I had one they busted their DSes out and begged me to trade Pokemon) in public, but obviously someone wants these TV tuner because they've sold like veritable hotcakes.

      --
      "There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter," Jeeves, (Jeeves and the Impending Doom)
    2. Re:Makes sense, sort of by loki1978 · · Score: 0

      Makes more than sense, not only in Japan.
      My daily commuting in my new job that i have since february IS actually an hour (in a train that goes only once an hour)
      I bought a PSP in april for various reasons and while it is, of course, a most enjoyable game platform, i profit most of its use as a MP3 player and Video player.
      Converting DVD to PSP-format work like a charm with two programms (not in the package)
      and i listen to audiobooks on my way from and to the trainstation and once i sit in the train home, i watch video, if i am not in the mood to read a book (i always have one with me)
      The PSP also has a mobile TV thingie in Japan. It works on a special DVB-T variant, that is only in Japan, so importing would be no use. I wait for them to bring a version that is usable in Europe.
      Now i read here that the DS enters the same race.
      Whoever wins, gets my money, although i hope it will be the PSP thingie, so i dont need another console.....well i need a DS for my favourite Jump'n'Run Castlevania anyways

      --
      According to prophecy
  9. Game Gear by madsenj37 · · Score: 1

    I had this 15 years ago on my game gear, no HDTV of course. Ah how tech goes full circle.

    --
    Choosing the lesser of two evils is a choice for evil.
  10. Simps-- I mean, Sega did it! by Asmor · · Score: 1

    I remember having a TV tuner for my game gear a long time ago.

    Worked like shit, ut it worked.

  11. So...what's the point of this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why is DS doing this? especially when DS is so small? Do people want to go Cross eyed?

    But the point is this. It's only selling in Japan. Which means a few things.
    1 Price differences if it ever came here would be higher, even if it is only 60 dollars equivalent in Japan.
    2 It's too small. If they brought it here, we'd have people wanting the connecting cables to watch it on a larger screen, and I don't know, (since i don't have a DS) if that's feasible or worth it.
    3 Things available in Japan, won't be available here.

    1. Re:So...what's the point of this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      4 Only works with 1-seg- that is, the mobile part of ISDB-T transmissions... and since neither Europe nor the US use ISDB-T (they use DVB-T and ATSC respectively), it's not going to work without serious modification outside Japan anyway.

  12. More broadcast TV, less cable. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You have to remember that in Japan most TV is broadcast in UHF off the local towers. This means TV on a cellphone or Nintendo DS makes more sense than it would in the US or Canada where cable TV is dominant.

  13. Make it receive DVB-T by Tolar · · Score: 1

    I'll consider buying it if they bring out a DVB-T version in europe ;)

    --
    Linux is like a Wigwam. No Windows no Gates but Apache inside
  14. Then why not ATSC or DVB-T by tepples · · Score: 1

    Maybe because it's a 1-seg tuner there are no 1-seg broadcasts outside of Japan. Then why isn't the PCB designed to take different decoders for different video standards? Or would an ATSC or DVB-T receiver just not fit inside a SLOT-2 accessory?
  15. Sega v. Accolade by tepples · · Score: 1

    That means an unauthorised third-party device will need to use the same kind of trickery that Slot 1 flashcarts use - either exploiting some "defects" in the DS's bios, a'la Passme devices, or mimicking an actual DS cartridge through using copyrighted Nintendo boot codes. At least in the United States, the use of copyrighted Nintendo boot codes would be fair. Sega v. Accolade. This remains true even after the copyright amendments of 1998. Chamberlain v. Skylink and Lexmark v. Static Control.
  16. DS TV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So, I first heard about this a month or so ago.

    The primary reason it's not going to come out in the US or Europe is that it uses the special digital system they use in Japan to stream TV to Cell Phones.

    It actually doesn't work outside Tokyo, and I think Osaka.

    It's not receiving a standard TV broadcast signal, rather it links into a network of what are basically specialized Wi-Fi routers spread around the area.

    That aside, there's no reason that some third party couldn't make a TV tuner card like the one that they used to have for the Sega Game Gear.