A Mutable Log
A blog by Devendra Tewari
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Have Nintendo 3DS in Brazil, no Netflix for you
My daughter asked me to buy her a Nintendo DS on my last business trip. My business trips to the US of A usually turn into small disasters for my personal finance. My kids, wife, and myself included, take the opportunity to delve into buying stuff that is more expensive or hard to find in Brazil.
Getting back to the topic, I visited a local Toysrsus store and spent a couple of good hours studying the different variants of the Nintendo DS family. The DS Lite was the cheapest at 89 USDs. I almost bought it, but decided on exploring the feature-set of the Nintendo 3DS. At 169 USDs, it is almost twice as expensive as the DS Lite, so I needed to be convinced it was worth buying.
Two things convinced me I needed to buy it. The 3D display piqued my interest. The cheapest 3D TVs in Brazil can easily cost more than 2500 USDs, so they are rare to get hold of. I am curious about 3D display technology and I don’t know of any other device or gadget with a 3D display at the price point of the 3DS.
The other thing was Netflix. Since its launch in Latin America, Netflix has notched up a million subscribers. The 3DS has a Netflix app in the Nintendo eShop for North America. Netflix does not stream 3D movies. I thought another screen to watch Netflix, that consumes less electricity than a PC, would be a fine thing.
So, I bought the 3DS. The Hotel I was staying at had a hotsite for Wireless access where you had to enter an access code. I was having a hard time figuring out how I’d provide the access code when I realized that the 3DS has a fine web browser. Having the internet working, I was then able to access the Nintendo eShop and download the Netflix app. The hotel Wireless was too bad to actually stream movies but I had the app and thought in all earnest that I was all set.
Back to Brazil. I launch the Netflix app, and you know what? Here’s what appears on the screen:
I am so disappointed. Nintendo, please work with Netflix to fix this, why don’t you have a Netflix app in the eShop for Brazil already? I know this is what you have to say at your site:
Currently, Netflix Instant Streaming for the Nintendo 3DS is only available in the US and Canada. For information on availability in other regions, please contact Netflix directly.
Netflix has a support page (in Portuguese) for Nintendo 3DS, with a similar message.