Could 3DS use 3G Connectivity?

Phones these days are slowly turning into games consoles, now games consoles are slowly turning into phones Whats next, build in Soda Stream? :I

good, but GPS should be a hire priority.
(as thats something that doesn't need a subscription to work, and would allow even more Augmented Reality functions)

i was shocked they didnt do this last gen online anywhere in a handhole is just what you need

I don't have a phone with 3G, I don't see the need of it.

Sure, it would be nice to have, but I'm not going to pay €50 extra for it. I think.

Should of been implemented since DSi at least.

I don't see none portable devices as gaming devices just as yet. Until they got developers from Capcom to Konami making big name titles. Their games are just "basic". Don't get me wrong, some of them are good...but not a Mario Galaxy, Call of Duty, Gears, Metal Gear...etc etc.

So far it's just...Doodle jump, flight control and such.

Try €100 at the very least. Or worse subscription.

The DS isn't a Kindle or somebook reading device where it will only need to send a few hundred kb's of data, so the initial cost can cover the 3G.
The DS would be downloading games probably up to 30 or 40MB maybe ever more then streaming continuous amounts of data when playing online.

I don't want to pay extra for a feature I will never use (since I'm not gonna pay a monthly subscription on top of my internet and mobile plan).

If Nintendo does include 3G (which I doubt), I hope they release 2 versions so normal users don't end up paying more.

Well, Nintendo sure isn't going to eat up the cost of access to a 3G network so it would be included in the price of the hardware which would bring the cost up $30-50 since they would consider you'd own the 3DS for several years.

Another option would be to add a subscription service (1 month, 3 months, 6 months, a year) for your 3G needs and pay with Nintendo Points.

The final option, and the scary one, is that every game is 100 points more expensive if you get it by 3G... or just 100 points more for everyone regardless of how you download.

As for me, I would rather pay $50 extra upfront and never be charged again.

That leads to built in obsolesce then though. Nintendo wont want to support a system for longer then they have made you pre-pay for the connection.
$50, if your very lucky, would by you 3 years. After then they wont be just doing an "XL" version, they would instead have every incentive to make a complete new gameformat and force an upgrade.


( Edited 09.07.2010 17:19 by Darkflame )

3G doesn't bother me, the only thing I hope for is that 3DS games can connect to the internet using WPA and not just WEP. Since WEP is really bad security-wise and can be broken in a matter of minutes.

I'm guessing they'll allow us to use other types of encryption, since they did with the DSi. So, yeah.

Yeah that's really annoying. My DSi is set to WPA but I can't play any DS game online since they're locked to WEP.

whahu? pretty sure the DSi can do WEP and WPA.

It can, but let me explain: Like the Wii, the DSi has two modes. These are DS/DS Lite mode and DSi mode. When you play a normal DS game, you cannot make use of the WPA encryption because it is running in DS mode. (As we all should know, the DS only supported WEP)

This being said, I can't play any of my DS games online as my router is set to WPA-PSK. This is pretty annoying and I hate Nintendo for only allowing DS games to support WEP encryption. Yes, I could always buy a Nintendo WiFi USB Connector, but Nintendo pulled these off their site because apparently we don't need them... so that probably means the WiFi connector doesn't have drivers compatible with Windows 7.

Can anyone tell me if I'm wrong?
Thanks.

( Edited 09.07.2010 20:54 by Mush123 )

They need to do this. It's not a big deal now, but I really think 3G and 4G type internet access is going to explode in popularity in the next few years. As in, the new stereo you buy will be able to pick regular radio as well as stream internet radio. You can be in your car and listen to your friend's radio station in London as well as listen to the local indie station in Los Angeles.

If nationwide wireless internet access takes off like I think it will, Nintendo have to have the option to take advantage. If they don't, their system become outdated extremely fast.

If it doesn't take off, then at least it's a nice option. I'd like to be able to play Mario Kart with friends while I'm sitting in the backseat on a roadtrip. And if they could manage to negotiate a way a to just lump the 3DS's 3G charges with a person's regular cell phone bill, that'd be great. Knowing Nintendo, I doubt that will happen, though.

Probably are right unfortunately, you could always just drop the security to WEP for whenever you need to use it though.

ah, I see, that really quite sucks.
But its puzzling then.....why dont normal DS games have WPA support? If its in the game but not the system :?
Its not like the DS has any sort of multitasking so it must be purely game code, and only use's the systems memory to get the settings.



Would you really pay subscription costs just to listen to a radio though?
Remember 3G is effectively a real....though fast...telephone call. Its never going to be free.

maybe there is a cheaper way to have 3g. what if they allowed for the 3ds to be connected to your mobile phone. that way those who have 3g functionality on their mobile phones will be able to utilise it via the 3ds, in the same way you can connect your phone to your laptop and use it to get online.

this solution would throw subscriptions out the window as it would be pay as you go or contract { most people are paying this already} and using it would be optional

I doubt telecoms will like that.

If Nintendo does do something with 3G (which is slower than Wi-fi and quickly becoming outdated), then we will have to pay.

What your describing is called Teathering I believe.

You could, in theory, do it with a regular DS already.
Android 2.2 is supposed to support it, so if your network doesn't mind, you could use your phones 3G to give your DS a mini WIFI (WEP) point.
I think.

When they discussed the possibility of 3G in the past, it was really on in regards to downloading games + data (so that even those without internet could still get downloadable only games) - not for playing actively online.

If Nintendo were to do it, it would be free (just like it is for Nook, Kindle, etc.) so no worries about having to pay monthly.

For downhloads thats possible as you can just marginally increase 3dsware prices to compensate.
For online gameing, I dont see a free way to do it.