The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

Shaun the Sheep shorts to lure kids to Nintendo 3DS

Not just games, short attention span videos too

Cloud based data management

Eurosport, Sky TV and Wallace and Gromit studio Aardman Animations will be streaming 3D video content to Nintendo's 3DS handheld, the Japanese giant said today, as it attempts to pitch the handheld gadget as something more than a portable games console.

And the company said it was talking to more partners to bring such material to the handheld, delivered over its Wi-Fi connection.

A case in point: Aardman Animations' David Sproxton said a series of one-minute Shaun the Sheep 3D videos will come to the console by the end of the year.

What's interesting here is the emphasis on shorts rather than lengthy programming. The 3DS won't necessarily be a gadget you sit in front of for hours at a time, watching a movie, but rather be used for grabbing a moment here, a moment there for viewing clips.

You can easily picture kids watching amusing videos on their 3DSes during the short bus ride home from school. Given modern kids' notorious attention span deficit, this emphasis on short content is a smart move.

In that respect, Nintendo is trying to replicate the dip in, dip out appeal of YouTube, combining that with in the novelty of 3D. ®

Regcast training : Hyper-V 3.0, VM high availability and disaster recovery

It's for kids??

But.. I watch shaun the sheep, the disco episode with the pigs playing drum and bass was one of the best things ever broadcast on any broadcast medium ever.

5
0

I haven't seen that one.

The one with the sheep trying to keep their footing on top of a vibrating washing machine, who then break out into a Riverdance routine is about the highlight of what I've seen so far...

Clearly I need a 3DS now, to catch up on all I've missed. You'll be telling me next LEGO is marketed at the under-12s...

2
0

Attention Span.

Short attention span is a myth. It's just another "ee, when I were a lad..:" slab of grumpy-old-manism

2
0

More from The Register

Samsung Galaxy Note 8: Proof the pen is mightier?
Sammy’s iPad Mini killer has a stylus to stab other rivals too
Microsoft lures buy-curious vixens, corduroys with a cheap fondle
Surface slab sales latest: Will no one rid Ballmer of these turbulent tabs?
First look: iOS 7 for iPad
No, Apple hasn't released it yet, but that doesn't stop intrepid devs
 breaking news
Curtain drops on Apple Store ahead of WWDC: What lies behind?
Steve Jobs watching from on high. No pressure, lads
 breaking news
Cold, dead hands of Steve Jobs slip from iPhones: The Cult of Ive is upon us
Billionaire biz baron's death clears way for uber-shiny iOS 7
Airbus imagines suitcases that find themselves
Point your mobe at your smalls to track their every move
Surprise! Intel smartphone trounces ARM in power trials
Tests show equal performance while sipping significantly less juice
Samsung plans LTE Advanced version of Galaxy S4
1Gbps download capability could stiffen drooping S4 sales forecasts
Apple said to be 'exploring' 5.7-inch iPhone
Who's the copycat this time, Mr. Cook?