The hype surrounding the Nintendo DS Web browser is palpable ($1 to Penny Arcade!), but the reviews coming in aren’t exactly glowing, with IGN calling the browser “very close to unusable” because it’s so slow. They acknowledged that the concept of touch screen-based Web browsing is sound, and that navigation within the browser proper is actually quite good, but, for some reason, actually connecting to a Web site is a slow (like, trying-to-download-porn-on-a-14.4K-modem slow), nigh-painful process. The lack of support for common Web standards, like Flash and Java, is also a curiosity.
It comes down to the browser feeling like little more than a cheap gimmick, and one that you’ll have to import for the time being since Nintendo of America has yet to commit to releasing the browser in the U.S. By the looks of it, never actually releasing it here may be a good thing, unless the kinks are worked out.
