Nintendo Zone (Nintendo 3DS)

This game is defunct. Do note the game no longer works at all without modifications. This is most likely due to the game's servers being shut down. As a result, further official developments with the game are unlikely to happen.

The Nintendo Zone viewer allowed users to view videos, game screenshots, and other content while at certain hotspots. The app existed on the launch version of the system menu, 1.0.0, but it could not be officially activated until later (see the dates in the infobox). The service was discontinued in North America in 2015, followed by Europe and Japan on March 28, 2018.

Nintendo Zone +#

3DS debug menu#

Nintendo Zone + Main menu	Nintendo Zone + Language select

In the previous version of Nintendo Zone (from firmware 1.0 to 2.1), a debug menu called "Nintendo Zone +" was present on the www folder of the romfs.

We don't have much information about it as most parts have been deleted from the app.

The submenus include:

• "Localization": still accessible by using the second version of Nintendo Zone (from firmware 3.0 to latest),
• "Demo pages" (top left button): still accessible but doesn't have the image, just the HTML page. We can see the thumbnail of it in the Unused Graphics,
• "System Settings": unusable, the most information we have about it is the fact it uses the user's the profile nickname and birthday, and has a "send" button.
• All the buttons with "Network" (except System Settings as it have a bit of local on it) are inaccessible as the servers containing them returns "Access Error: 404 -- Not Found"

Simulator#

This simulator can be found on the www folder of the romfs in the first Nintendo Zone version.

It is an HTML page and isn't really usable as any link will give a "file not found" error.

Super Localization Bros.#

Located in www/localization/index.html is a Super Mario Bros. 3-themed debug menu. It was most likely used to view translated dialogue and error messages during localization of the app.

While most of the links were stubbed for the final version, the paint and media player (which can play .moflex-files located on the app's RomFS) dialogue boxes are still functional.

The page also links to a submenu in www/localization/LUNA_index.html, but the links were stubbed in here as well.

Accessing#

Please elaborate. Having more detail is always a good thing. Specifically: make these instructions more straightforward to follow and document which versions of Nintendo Zone have been tested and which haven't

To access the menu, patch Nintendo Zone with LayeredFS and add an tag (a hyperlink) leading to the debug menu's page (something like click here should work) to either the "offline_mode" or "boss_page". Because the directory structure is different in different regions, it's recommended to dump and extract the app on your own to get the required files for patching.

Unused Pages#

Zone Select Menu	Top Page	Wifi Set Menu

All of those pages were found on the first version of Nintendo Zone (firmware 1.0 to 2.1).

Those pages are all unusable as the links are stubbed. The "Top Page" button redirect to http://www.google.com/webhp?ie=utf-8. On the console, it tells the "file was not found on the server" even if you aren't connected to internet.

Unused Graphics#

www folder#

Various flag icons.

A sprite of Raccoon Mario, also from Super Mario Bros. 3.

A old design of Nintendo Zone +.

layout.nwcx file#

Rating.bclim contains an unused image with a blue background that says "ダミー" (dummy) on it.

thumb.bclim contains a screenshot of the Japanese version (with the DS Download Service and "DS with Mac" available as menu options; the latter refers to the fast food chain McDonald's). Judging by the screenshot, it appears that the Nintendo DSi version was ported to the 3DS before any new work was actually done. (The top screen image's size indicates the app was running on 3DS hardware.). That image is also linked to the Nintendo Zone + demo page as the buttons placement/name match the html page of it.

stamp_dummy.bclim is a placeholder for the stamp icons in the Paint plugin.

Unused Strings#

(LOCALIZATION NOT NECESSARY FOR EU_ENGLISH)

This placeholder is repeated several times throughout every European language's string file, where EU_ENGLISH is replaced with the name of the language (for example, the EU_Dutch string file says "LOCALIZATION NOT NECESSARY FOR EU_DUTCH").

Unable to initialize ssl, nn::ssl::Initialize returned failure.
[Startup::checkAge_callback] Somehow, ended up with an invalid date for today: (month=%d, day=%d, year=%d)
[Startup::checkAge_callback] MsgDialogPlugin::GetAgeCheckResults() returned false.  This should never happen.
PageFadePlugin::Enable3DMode called while state is %d, and not idle
PageFadePlugin::BlackOutScreens called while state is %d, and not idle
PageFadePlugin::RestoreScreens called while state is %d, and not idle
NW4CPageTransition::addToPane -- requested to add to a bad pane!
NW4C_TopPageTransition::updateLoading - unknown loadingState %d !
NW4C_BottomPageTransition::updateLoading - unknown loadingState %d !

Some error strings present in the app's code.bin file at 0x1C4314.

Internal Project Name#

Nintendo Zone has the codename Mars, according to the sound archive's filename (mars_sound_data.bcsar).