As previously announced, Nintendo's Itsu no Ma ni Terebi (or "SpotPass TV") has launched today in Japan. The 3D TV service gives 3DS owners the ability to automatically wirelessly download 3D TV shows to their portable gaming device 3DS every day. There are seven TV shows at launch, but more are expect to follow. Nippon Television Network offers three and Fuji Television Network offers four.
Nintendo has announced a similar service for Europe, but nothing appears to be in the works for North America. The Japanese gaming giant is clearly hoping that the 3D aspect of its newest gaming device will attract more customers, though so far it doesn't look so good.
The Nintendo 3DS launched on February 26, 2011 in Japan, on March 25, 2011 in Europe and on March 27, 2011 in North America. On April 26, 2011, during its financial results briefing, Nintendo admitted that sales of the 3DS have been below expectations. The last official number the company has shared is 3.61 million 3DS units sold globally at the end of its fiscal year in March.
The 3DS offers 3D gaming sans 3D glasses and also includes the ability to take 3D photographs thanks to dual cameras on the back of the device. You can adjust the 3D intensity or turn it off completely using the slider. Nintendo issued a warning that it is not healthy for kids under the age of 6 to view 3D images.
The device also has an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a little analog circle pad, a home button, and a charging cradle. There's even an activity logger that acts like a pedometer, counting your steps and awarding coins that can be exchanged for bonus content, and a Street Pass function that lets you share certain information (think Miis) with passers-by who also have the feature activated.