News Article

Netflix Heading to 3DS in Summer 2011

Posted by James Newton

Movies on the go

Wii received Netflix support some time ago, and both Nintendo and Netflix are obviously keen on the two firms working together again as Satoru Iwata has just announced the video streaming service is coming to Nintendo 3DS this summer.

All users with an unlimited plan for $7.99 a month or above will be able to stream movies and TV shows straight to their 3DS consoles through any wireless broadband connection. There's no word if the service will begin to stream 3D movies, but we'll do our best to find out.

Users who don't want to subscribe but still want to watch content on the go will be happy that a separate video service from Nintendo has been announced. The SpotPass-powered service will allow users to view 3D trailers as well as access game videos, screenshots and publisher information. Nintendo states the content will be:

Short video clips, such as comedy shorts or music videos, selected by Nintendo and delivered to Nintendo 3DS users who choose to receive them.

Netflix for 3DS will be available in summer, with the SpotPass movie streaming service activated in late May.

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User Comments (44)

warioswoods

#3

warioswoods said:

....wow.

While I can't imagine choosing to watch anything 2D on my 3DS when I have other, more suitable screens and devices around, this surely implies that 3D movies will begin to appear. I don't even like 3D movies, but that's still exciting.

Splat

#4

Splat said:

First thought Netflix rules! Second thought I'm sick of hearing about the dang 3DS!

Gavin_Rozee

#5

Gavin_Rozee said:

Netflix never seem to do anything in the UK for whatever reason, so means nothing to me.

James

#6

James said:

@Splat Then you might want to log off Nintendo Life for a few hours, it's about to get crazy :P

Arcanum

#7

Arcanum said:

@TheFox It's an option. You don't have to watch movies on it.
Imagine you are home and you wanna watch movies on Netflix. Of course you are gonna use your TV.
Now imagine your elsewhere and have no access to a TV. Small screens are all you got so no complaining please.

Squiggle55

#9

Squiggle55 said:

This is awesome! This is really fantastic news.
crossing fingers for 3d movies, I'd raise my subscription rate a few bucks for that.

Now we just need skype and I'm completely set.

The_Fox

#12

The_Fox said:

@Arcanum
Well of course I know it is an option. I also don't recall complaining about it. I did say that it wasn't for me, but that's about it.

MeloMan

#13

MeloMan said:

The thing I think that would be extra nice would be if you could d/l the movie into memory, a la DS download where it erases the memory once the unit is turned off... but I guess it wouldn't be streaming at that point and then there'd be point of piracy, blah, blah, blah... it's sad when technical advantages aren't persued due to a few rotten apples :(

Squiggle55

#15

Squiggle55 said:

@meloman
that sounds awesome. I wish there was some way to pull that off to at least be able to watch one thing when you leave your wifi at home.

Arcanum

#16

Arcanum said:

@TheFox is the "no complaining" thing wasn't really all directed at you, but more of a general thing. I have seen so many comments of people that just complain and bash on everything and i am starting to get tired of it. It's like they have nothing better to do. I hope i did't offend you in any way :(

triforceofcourage

#18

triforceofcourage said:

:( I was only really wanting this feature for 3D movies, but i might subscribe to netfilx for wii and stuff anyways. I'm not really sure.

Peznaze

#22

Peznaze said:

Good news, this. Now, if only they'd let the 3DS play MP4 video files off of the SD card... that would be great news.

WolfRamHeart

#23

WolfRamHeart said:

Very smart move on Nintendo's part bringing Netflix onto the 3DS. Just about every other modern digital device has Netflix so this is a no-brainer. Kudos to you Nintendo for making me want the 3DS more than ever!:D

Pastry

#25

Pastry said:

Alright! Now I can convince my friend to buy a 3DS.

You just got yourself another $250 Nintendo!

47drift

#28

47drift said:

I'm just looking forward to full, purchased, downloadable movies. I can't wait to have 3D Tangled in my pocket at all times.

moosa

#35

moosa said:

Wondering if I would enjoy watching a film on that little screen... Well, if they could sell movies on GBA then I'm sure it would at least work. And I probably won't have any other way to watch movies in 3D any time soon. I may need to do this, at least once.

komicturtle

#37

komicturtle said:

There are some happy. Some not happy. But I have a faint feeling the unhappies would be whining about Netflix not being on 3DS.

Anyhow, Skype should be next ;)

Token_Girl

#38

Token_Girl said:

Nice. It'd be pretty sweet if there were 3D movies available on Netflix streaming. Hopefully that will be coming soon anyway with the push for 3DTV's since Netflix is already on PS3 and it can play 3D movies.

jerryo

#42

jerryo said:

@40 LOL

why would you need to waste your bandwidth with HD streaming on 3DS? :)
it's not even capable of displaying 720p.
actually, it displays about a quarter of it.

that was a funny questionrequest :D

Samholy

#43

Samholy said:

i would like it if it was some kind of small fee pay per view. the monthly payment is crap.
there is enough monthly payments in my life, netflix will not have me on this one. sadly.
downloadble movies, i would pay for sure.

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