A quick check on Wikipedia indicates that this is more RAM than the Wii has.

So Nintendo's console is such glorified last gen hardware that their HANDHELD tops it.

The 3DS has as much memory reserved for the OS as the 360 does.  Besides the browser being cruddy, Nintendo has done a real good job on the OS side of the 3DS.

Okay so that smuggled 3DS that showed 96mb means the OS uses 32mb. Not too shabby.

But the 3DS is an 8th generation handheld. I'm sure Nintendo's 8th generation console will be far more powerful.

LOL

I hope that was a joke and not a Freudian slip.

Gonna assume that the Internet browser will dip into that 32MB reserved for OS use, since it is meant to work alongside games being suspended. The question I have is will that 32MB be enough for "normal" use? I consider Youtube part of that normal use, and those videos can be pretty big. Maybe the people there will design the site so that it's more 3DS-friendly when using one, I dunno.

But it ain't like the GBA topped the N64 or the DS topped the Gamecube.

@VelociraptorBill

"...Besides the browser being cruddy."

Browser being cruddy?

(1)They haven't even launched the browser
(2) They switched browser manufactures from Opera to NetFront see here

NetFront is well respected and has been deployed in over one Billion devices and has received great reviews from the press. See Engadget's review of the Android version here

Im not trying to be a tool, and I don't think I know it all, but the info is just a google search away...
Well I did the homework for you. -enjoy  ;)

PSP was close to topping the PS2, and that was released before the PS3, I didn't hear whining about it being as powerful or maybe even more powerful then the PS2. So I fail to see your point. Wii is in its 4th year.

Sorry, but the Android version is nothing more than a front-end for Android's regular browser engine. The 3DS version will be something else entirely. And the Android version doesn't even have a normal URL bar, making it very hard to do browsing!

The 3DS currently has no browser?

I should clarify myself a bit, I was trying to show info on the company producing the new browser, and while the droid's version might have been a front end, it did offer some interesting features & functionality. As Ninty did with the Opera based browser, and as Sony has done with their PS3 browser (which is a modified version of NetFront's)
Ninty might alter this browser as well to fit with the 3DS.

What we can  safely expect is a substantial improvement over the two previous Opera browsers the DS (in cart format) or the DSi/XL had.

@ShyGuy The 3DS browser will be available in May through a system update.  :-\

I really don't like the PS3 browser.

I hope that's what we get, but I don't know if we can expect that. Netfront on previous game systems hasn't been so great.

Yea, neither do I, it gets the job done, but it is not implemented well... which is actually my point, NetFront writes good browser tech, (much better than the sloppy code Opera has written* but ultimately it's up to the platform holder to either restrict edit or modify the browser solution they build.

Again, I am just happy that Ninty has dumped Opera, now lets hope that they allow some nifty features like tabs, HTML5 or Flash (hopefully HTML5, beacuse it's less of a system hog)

Well we'll see in May..1 more month to go :p

Quite frankly, you're the only person I've ever seen make such a claim.  For example, a relatively recent comparison comes to the opposite conclusion: http://wmpoweruser.com/netfront-4-0-vs-opera-mobile-9-7-on-the-htc-hd2/

Is there such a thing as a good mobile browser? Seriously, I don't know the mobile browser space very well.

Yeah, WebKit (Android and iPhone), Firefox, and Opera Mobile. But those all need a lot more RAM than 32MB.

Why doesn't Nintendo just offer their guides for free through an app. That's the whole point after all, or am I missing something?

I think we are starting to talk about two different thing completely, although I can definitely see why you've drawn those comparisons. I was simply referring to browsers that have been based in or tailored for video game consoles. My comparison (and link) to the engadget review of NetFront was for informational purposes and should not be indicative of my belief on how the 3DS browser will handle.

That being said a quick google search shows plenty of favorable reviews like this one or this one

...but I think we have exceeded my original point. If you could take a look at this video of the Opera browser for the Nintendo DS (look here) it was painfully slow, and it seriously lacks features... features which im sure will be implemented in the 3DS's browser.

So, I stand by my original post, the browser isn't out, so my response was to VelociraptorBill, and his statement of it being cruddy.

Btw: Do you have stock in Opera?

@ShyGuy I do agree with MegaByte on the mobile browser brands he mentions (for phones)

p.s. anything's better than the PSP's browser though ;)

I don't really care about the browser, since I'd just use my iPhone anyway.

Maybe I will be surprised by the browser, but as it stands now I have a better web experience on my Wii than on my PS3 and there is something seriously wrong with that.

When all I have to do is plug in my Mac keyboard and wireless mouse into my PS3 (which is how I'm typing this reply), I think the PS3 browser is better. And faster.

I've hooked up a wireless keyboard (didn't try the mouse) to my Wii and that worked just fine too.

But I have a PC w/ a monitor connected to the same TV and I think that works best for me. ;P

Touché.

Is there such a thing as a good mobile browser? Seriously, I don't know the mobile browser space very well.


I use something called Atomic Web Browser on my iPhone, and it's pretty cool.

Memory is the point. i heard 64Mb system ram, perhaps they split it as its 2 chips
one for os and one for game data.

as it appears, u r making assumptions as to the split.
and remember, the XBOX had 64MB, no one complained about that.

The leaked unit showed 96MB which we will assume is what is available to all games.
The chip shows that it has 128MB which leads everyone to believe that 32MB will be reserved for OS and multi-tasking applications, which includes the browser during game suspension moments.

The Xbox360 uses 32MB for it's OS and LIVE background app.

Common sense would lead us to believe that that 32MB for the 3DS would be more than enough to handle everything that Nintendo would want to do with the 3DS considering it likely won't be as full featured as the Xbox360 w/ LIVE.

so what do you think makes more sense?
3DS uses 64MB for just system OS and 64 MB for game stuff
or
3DS uses 32MB for system OS and the other 96MB (as shown on the leaked unit) for games?

Hey, whats to stop 3DS ware developer from making a dedicated browser application that uses the 96mb of RAM?

also, another memory benefit fro using solid state, less things need to be cached. So more memory is free.