Nintendo takes first step into homebrew DS market

News

Ben Parfitt Dec 3 2007, 3:16pm

DS Vision to use MicroSD flash cards to allow users to view personal content on portable machine

Though both the DS and PSP have become firm favourites in the homebrew content scene owing to the ease in which hackers have been able to crack the systems, products such as the R4 are beginning to worry publishers – and now Nintendo seems set to make an official move into the homebrew market itself.

Nintendo of Japan has confirmed that it is to officially license a new digital content platform for the DS, named the DS Vision, Joystiq reports.

DS Vision comprises a MicroSD flash card adapter designed to fit into the DS cartridge slot – much like the R4.

Users will be able to download the likes of movies, music and books from the DSVision website and subsequently view them on their machine.

Though this is a world away from the illicit endeavours of R4-based hackers, it does mark a big first step into the homebrew market for Nintendo – and opens the door for possible platform holder-backed homebrew content in the future.

DS Vision will arrive in Japan in January at a price of YEN 3,980, around £20.