Contrary to the West, Japan has an app that allows 3DS owners to download and listen to music, and despite the prominence of smaller and more dedicated media devices, many Japanese gamers are taking full advantage of the system.
Recently hitting 3 million downloads, RecoChoku is the app in question. The site started as a method of downloading ringtones, and that was clearly a fruitful enough avenue if people are still using the service, albeit for a different form of media. Songs are sold at a flat rate and you can also buy other forms of entertainment such as CDs and DVDs that are of course not compatible with the 3DS.
The idea of using the 3DS to listen to music may very well seem strange to us over here in the west, but it's possible that many of the users are those who do not own smartphones, such as children. There are no statistics to complement this idea, so it's purely speculation.
Would you ever consider using your 3DS (or 3DS XL) to listen to the latest tunes if a similar service became available over here? Tell us your controversial opinions with a comment below.
[source siliconera.com]
Comments 57
Probably but only if you could put CDs on it... But it don't beat my iPod classic on capacity so I wouldnt be able to put everything on it.
I would consider it if it was made available in the UK.
It's not like we can't do this at all - I've got my SD card loaded up with songs to listen to in the 3DS music player. Having a service like that would certainly be a plus, though.
How many of those 3 million downloads were from people who don't have a smartphone?
Hmm. No. With my phone (which is smaller) providing (I assume) much better music playing choices, it's unlikely I would turn to my 3DS for music. However I did use it for playing smash bros soundtrack. We even hooked it up a stereo so my son could enjoy his favourite track.
I figure my 10yo daughter would make use of this feature though.
Interesting, but if I can't scrobble from it I will never use it as a music player.
Would love if it was a radio streamer too, really. I use 3DS Sound for some of my music, but it's not often.
Nope! The speakers are just too puny.
@Kit Speakers? No, no, you hook up headphones and listen to it in sleep mode.
@llamareborn You already can, just put the ripped songs on the SD card and play it with the Sounds app.
But I wouldn't use it as a music player, the headphone port sound quality is terrible.
I'd be happy to use it as a music player if the volume was high enough.
Nah, the quality is fine, the volume's the issue for me. It's so quiet :/
I've probably clocked in over 300 hours on the 3DS sound app, mainly because you can change the pitch of your songs, it's a really nifty feature
Edit : Just checked my activity log, it's actually 431 hours xp
It depends what you're playing, but yeah, the volume can be an issue.
I do appreciate Nintendo's effort to protect our eardrums though. A lot of MP3 players should not be allowed to go as loud as they do. They just went a little too far in the other direction, I guess.
What are you talking about? There is already an mp3 player in the 3DS and it works great, and it's fun to use.
I mainly use my phone as my primary music device. However, I do keep a backup of my songs on my 3DS's SD Card.
I actually wouldn't mind it sounds like a good service and listen to music on my 3ds from time to time.
I'm not really passionate for music, so I don't see myself using the app all the time.
I would and so would my wife. Unfortunately most power house smart phones do not have the battery life to sustain a music player hour hours. Since the 3DS Does not have a cellular radio to power it is a bit better. Even though the console has been criticized over battery in the past it does have to power 2 screens for more of a sustained time then a cell phone.
In sleep mode it would be a very long lasting music player.
I would like it,
Would I use it for music? I have this very app on my import 3DS LL, and I have purchased plenty of music from RecoChoku already!
I use my 3DS for listening to music all the time! Especially if I'm outside and whenever I don't have my phone with me or if I forgot to bring it.
I would probably use something like this. In fact, like others, I've been using the Sounds app for awhile to listen to music. The volume is a little low, but not too bad if you have in-ear or noise-cancelling headphones. But since iPhones don't let me expand the paltry storage, and I can't always stream music because I spend a lot of time on underground Metro trains, the 3DS has proven to be a solid backup. It even works with headphone remote buttons: one click for pause, two clicks for next song. That's huge, since opening the 3DS to change songs is a bit of a pain.
I've also used the Sounds section of SSB 3DS to listen to those tracks (I can't get enough of those Mega Man remixes), but the shoulder buttons are a bit too easy to hit in the shuffle. All in all, I wish Nintendo would pay a little more attention to that app and give it more features, options, and prominence.
Edit: The SSB Sounds controls are a little wonky though. I wish it would remember my settings from last time (e.g. shuffle, play in sleep mode, favorites only).
I would if the 2ds music channel didn't take so long to load. Maybe on the new nintendo 3ds or I'll try again but not have as much music on there.
I always use my 3ds as a music player! headphones on! Pedometer too! It is actual the best EVER music player as it is not fronted by an irritating storefront like iTunes or Google Play - you can copy Albums onto the SD card and they stay as Albums no stupid irritating screens to run through to get to the album you want AND IT IS BRILLIANT FOR MUSICIANS as you can change pitch, speed and replay phrases to help you learn them! Brilliant! I do wish you cold download music files - like form Bandcamp -STRAIGHT to your 3DS - this would be perfect!
Wait who doesn't own a smart phone. Maybe 7 and under. I tried using it for music but it to heavy in the pocket for a jog or a bike ride.
I would love it if I could use wireless headphones with the 3ds, i could then remove songs from my phone and have them on 3DS
I don't have a smart phone nor Ipod and truly I found it annoying that you could after all it is portable.
@cfgk24 honestly I have no idea how people cope with iTunes. It is the most obtuse, slow, cumbersome, stupid app ever created by mankind. Music should work like it does in Android and 3DS - just copy the songs to the SD card and it's there.
@Zekrom025 Dang, that is crazy!!
I actually used my DS as my primary mp3 player for quite a while. I used the Moonshell homebrew app. It did what I needed it to do. But you had to go through your Micro SD's folders to play the music. It didn't give you a menu to search by artist, album etc. You had to keep your folders organized.
Nevertheless you could shuffle all music within a folder and its subfolders, so really it did what I needed. Pretty neat app. There was also iPod DS, which emulated the click wheel interface, but I used that a lot less.
I think the popularity of this app is not due to the 3DS on it's own, but the fact that it's a music app that supports the 3DS as a platform at all. They can manage their stuff on their account with whatever kind of devices have a browser, and (apparently) download the songs you own onto your 3DS.
The 3DS Sound app, on the other hand, is terrible, especially with the horrendous loading times.
I have friends who use their 3DSes for listening to music since they don't have smartphones (some of them all using flip phones), but not me. I prefer to be able to hear my music.
If the 3DS had a music player I would use it as well as other features like an eReader, I think it makes a lot of sense even here in the West. I like to escape from my phone as often as possible usually when I am gaming so having a music app on my 3DS would be a definite plus. I also like the idea for my children too, they would enjoy having the ability to play music and their video games all on one device at the same time!
"The idea of using the 3DS to listen to music may very well seem strange to us over here in the west, but it's possible that many of the users are those who do not own smartphones, such as children."
Nah, I have a smartphone, but all of my music is on my 3DS instead. You can play music from your SD card on the sound app, ya know.
@Kit This fella's never heard of headphones, I presume?
@plunkettmonster You can upload music to your 3DS' SD card, and play them on the sound app. Sadly, though, you can't play songs while on other apps. I sent that suggestion to Nintendo long ago. ;3
@dumedum Exactly! iTunes and Google Play and Amazon Music and Sony Music all operate in the same shifty way - to permeate themselves into your conscience. . I feel sorry for kids growing up today who only know how to buy th music that is shoved in their face on their iTunes Homepage. . . .
long Live 'Nintendo 3DS Sound' App!
@Kaze_Memaryu @plunkettmonster - The 3DS does have a Music app - so does Nintendo DSi Funnily enough - the DSi had much faster Load times!
I have gotten a few songs on my Japamese 3DS and transferred some over to listen to on my iPhone as well.
I use mine as an mp3 player already. I put all my tracks on the SD card. And for everyone saying volume is an issue, I bought a fiio amp, plugs into the 3ds and then you plug your headphones into the amp. Volume goes louder than an ipod, and it has bass settings on the amp too, along with a clip on the back. It's really tiny, works great.
@cfgk24 I did not know that! Does it have an eReader app too?
@plunkettmonster Nintendo 3ds Sound is the music app - it's on Home screen.
No - there is no Ereader . . . .app
I'm using my 3DS way more than my smart phone. So why not! I would love to hear Jason Crabb and Toby Mac Music on my 3DS. Also I would buy some old rocks songs, Maybe some Jpop and some older good music. I can't figure out how to transfer my songs form the PC to 3DS SD Card. I'm I dumb or do u have that problem to? Apparently people in Japan do!
Well you can listen to music through the 3DS, through the pre-installed Music app. I tried it for a bit and found it was just too big and clunky for day to day use, especially when compared to an iPod (which also tend to have larger storage space)
I wouldn't say no to an app like this, but then again the speaker probably won't be able to handle it.
Pffftt...I use my 3DS to listen to music everyday! I made several folders on my sd card and I have many songs to listen to! I just which Nintendo can release an update that can let us hear music as we play games! Like Smash... :3
I use my 3ds to play music everyday too, is really handfull and i can change to music when i cannot play in that moment. Wish more games have the option to listen the game OST with the 3ds in sleep mode like smash bros did, i use that function a lot.
I've actually really been hoping for something like this. I do have an old iPod nano, but I'd rather just put my music on my 3DS and have everything on one device. Having a Pandora app, or some other streaming radio app, would also be really useful.
I don't even bother with listening to things, on the go. If I really wanted to listen to something, I would do it on my home theater system. Headphones can't compete with a home setup. You can still hook up your portable device via headphone jack, bluetooth, or Air Play. I don't care about Apple, though.
My only reason not to would be battery life. Its a killer!
Well, considering that I do not have a smartphone (or a cellphone at all) nor do I have a music player, I actually use my 3DS as a music player all the time. I actually find it enjoyable because I can mess with the the speed and pitch as well as filtering the audio!
"Tell us your controversial opinions with a comment below."... why "controversial"?
Anyways, my little sister uses her 3DS as a music player all the time. She uses YouTube a lot too. She uses it even more than her computer as her multimedia platform of choice, actually. So, this is not weird to me at all.
In the earlier days with my Nintendo 3DS, I used to use it a lot like a portable music player. Unfortunately, I cannot place too many MP3 files on my SD card nowadays as I need more space for downloadable games and apps, since I'm now starting to purchase more of them overtime.
I ALREADY use it as a music player thanks to YouTube.
Well, I already carry my iPod everywhere. Together with my 3DS XL and my iPhone. So I wouldn't use my 3DS XL for music. But it's cool that some people do. I'm not sure I can use my 3DS XL for listening to music, other than with YouTube.
@River3636 8 year olds do not need smartphones. 8 year olds don't know enough about responsibility or safety to even have a phone to begin with, in my opinion.
Maybe my 2ds is too large to be carried around listen to music but since i got the 2ds nintendo red pouch, it seems i can put music in it and listen at work.
I have to buy new earbud anyway because Final Theathyrhm wont be fun if you dont put on earphone.
I already use the 3DS sound player to both listen to music and practice new songs and I have found that it works just fine for me! There are complaints from some people about the volume but I can tell you from personal experience that you just need to give your ears time to adjust and once I did that I now only ever have the volume up just a little over halfway and can hear the songs well!
It brings me back to the days when I used my DSi to listen to music. I've been doing a search and wondering what the loading times are for music with the Nintendo-recommended cards. I have a 16GB Lexar and it takes FOREVER! How quick are the loading times with the Samsung MicroSD Pro?
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