Monday 9 January 2012

Netflix Launches in UK: Still No Joy For 3DS Fans Though...


The American film rental company Netflix has officially launched its UK and Ireland service. As well as allowing PC downloads of all the latest film titles, for a rental fee of £5.99 per monthNetflix has also promised that its services are compatible with the PS3, Xbox and Wii home consoles as well as the Apple iPad and iPod devices.

However, one group of gamers who are sure to be disappointed with the recent launch details are 3DS fans, who had expected to start receiving Netflix on the Nintendo handheld as well...

As yet, there does not seem to be any clear plans to bring the Netflix service to 3DS customers outside of North America, (where Neflix customers have been allowed to stream film content to their 3DS consoles if they had a pre-existing Netflix account since July 15th 2011).

However, Nintendo did originally promise 3DS fans that it was 'in talks' with Netflix, and it could still be that Netflix will eventually be streamed to UK 3DS consoles via an eShop application, as originally suggested, although at this point, that is still pure conjecture.

So, what do 3DS users now feel about the Netflix UK service, now that the 3DS doesn't seem to have been included in the launch plans? Will 3DS users ever really get the full 3D films that they were hoping for, or is this nothing more than a pipe dream? For those 3DS users amongst us who  happen to live outside of North America, it seems as though it will be a game of 'wait and see' for the foreseeable future at least...

13 comments:

  1. I'm holding off buying a Netflix account until it appears on 3DS, so I suppose you could say that's 1 customer lost.

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    1. Hi Kris, thanks for your comment.

      Mini Gamers completely agrees with you. We know that the 3DS is capable of showing videos and 3D content, so why hasn't Netflix included the 3DS in its latest launch plans? Absolutely barmy!

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  2. The 3DS is 16 million strong already,selling faster than baked beans in tescos,what a silly decision i think its on the way along with Hula and LoveFilm i just think 3DS is better than iphone 4 a service like this as its a new system and it has 2 screens 4 better interface and 3D.

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    1. Hello anonymous, Yes, Mini Gamers agrees with you. Maybe Nintendo will offer the service when Netflix has more 3D content to offer - however, 2D films would be just as appealing at this point. Oh dear.

      Thank you for your comment!

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  3. The 3D bit doesn't bother me too much - I generally prefer 2D films anyway, but I really think Netflix should be motivated into giving us the app. It really can't be that difficult to do!

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    1. Yes, after all the PSP weren't 3D, but many gamers liked watching films on them. Good point, thank you for your comment!

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  4. i think theyre just sorting the 3d out, its not simple putting 3d content out there for the 3ds, the 3d is different than in the cinema

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    1. Hi Anonymous,

      we take your point, but as Kris rightly points out above, the 3DS (whilst being primarily about 3D content) is capable of 2D content as well, so why can't 3DS users have access to the 2D Netflix services until such time as a 3D version is available?

      It seems as though most users would just like to have the ability to watch 'normal' 2D films on the 3DS like you could with the PSP.

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    2. Im also sure i read somewhere that America has been enjoying netflix on their 3ds's already, nto sure how true it is. I for one dont really care about 3d films anyway, i'd rather watch them without

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    3. Hi Anonymous,

      Yes, North Americans with prior Netflix accounts have been allowed to sync their 3DS consoles with their pre-existing Netflix accounts since July 2011, but this is not possible (apparently) with the new UK netflix service and the 3DS. Why? We don't know, but with Sony offering hundreds of film titles on its PSN store, it seems strange that Nintendo isn't offering some form of film service, even if - as you rightly point out - it was only in 2D.

      Thank you for your comment!

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  5. It's crap that the uk don't get netflix because I love the idea of films on the 3ds and it would be amazing to watch them in 3d

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  6. is the netflix app out on the 3 ds yet because if it is i cant download it and i watched a video on youtube but sais nothing about the lauch of netflix in the uk

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  7. I have spoken to Nintendo UK and Netflix..Nintendo says that the UK 3DS consoles dont support flash and Netflix have told me they didnt know why Netflix app wasnt available on the e-shop uk!

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