REVIEW: Opera Browser for Nintendo DS

REVIEW
Nintendo DS Opera Browser
Nintendo DS
Opera

Reviewed by: Eric Leamen

Over a year ago, Nintendo announced a deal with Opera to develop a web browser for the Nintendo DS and their upcoming Wii console. Fast forward to present day. Opera has released an awesome browser for Wii, but the Nintendo DS browser is a different story. Don't get me wrong, it's a great on the go browser, but it's not something that you'd replace your PC with.

The browser features two different modes: SSR and Overview. SSR stacks all of the pages images and text on top of eachother, so it's as if the page is the perfect size to fit the DS screens. SSR mode is ideal for browsing blogs and other news sites. Overview mode gives you a complete overview of the site on the bottom, with a zoomed in view on the top. You move a small box around via. the touch screen, and the content inside the box is displayed on the top screen. You can also switch the screens, so that you can just drag around the page using the touch screen.

Due to the small amount of memory that the DS has, Opera has included two handy features for users. The first is an option to disable images on sites, making the site load faster. This is once again ideal for browsing blogs and news sites. The second is a memory expansion pack which is included with the browser. It is a small GBA cart that is the same size as the GBA filler. The pack gives the DS extra memory to display larger websites.

As with any browser, the DS Opera Browser includes a favourites page. You can also select favourites to appear right on the startup page, which gives you quick and convenient access to your favourite sites!

The DS Opera Browser features hand writing recognition software. This means that you can actually handwrite a URL, which is a lot easier than using the tiny on screen keyboard. However, you may have to adjust the way you write so that the software can read your letters. One example is the letter "t", you have to include the small loop at the bottom, or else the browser think's you're writing an "x".

Other than that, the browser is pretty basic. Loading times vary depending on the size of the page. Some downsides include lack of RSS support, no sound, no Flash or Java, and no saving or watching videos. Overall, the DS Browser is pretty basic, and is really only useful for long trips with no access to a laptop.

Speed: 6
Controls: 6
User Friendly: 7
Tilt: 8

Editor's Score: 6.7/10