About
Nintendo Zone was an application pre-installed on [J], [W], and [E/A] DSi units. (Not available on iQue [C], Korean [K] or Classroom DSi units). It was a pre-installed system app,
similar to the ‘Camera’ and ‘Sound’ applications. Nintendo Zone was the successor to the Nintendo DS Download Station. (Nintendo Spot, Nintendo DS Download Station,
Nintendo Zone).
There were two consoles involved in the setup. One contained the Nintendo Zone Beacon cartridge, this had a certain network SSID saved. The Beacon checks if nearby DSi are
connected to the specified network. The network that the Beacon and the DSi are connected to must have the specific SSID saved in the Beacon, and an open wireless key.
The Wireless Distribution Box (WDB) receives the demo data from Nintendo Servers and distributes them to other DSi, with the Beacon only checking if they all have matching SSID.
Holding down the touch screen on the WDB reveals the configuration menu. Here you can change the URL of the Nintendo servers the WDB is accessing, and change the Wi-Fi connection
settings. Once the WDB has secured a valid connection with the Nintendo Zone servers, it distributes a signal to nearby DSi units, as long as the Beacon is detected also, and the
SSID on the Beacon cartridge matches the SSID of the WDB, Beacon, and DSi. Upon first detection, a message will appear on the DSi screen, “Nintendo Zone service is now available
for use.”
The WDB cartridges have the model number WDB-USZ/EUR. The USA BestBuy Beacons have model number NTR-Y83E-USA , the Canada BestBuy Beacons have model number
NTR-Y9EL-CAN, and the Canada Futureshop Beacons have the NTR-Y9FL-CAN code.
According to an archived PDF from Nintendo, a version of Nintendo Zone, titled "Nintendo Zone Viewer" was available for viewing on standard DS units via DS Download Play.
This downloaded demos wirelessly from likely the same said WDB and Beacon. This usage was displayed at the Nintendo World Store, New York.
The WDB and Beacon carts were contained in ‘Nintendo (DSi) Zone Box’ units, made in collaboration with Mitsumi. These contained a DSi motherboard, with minor modifications to
function with only one screen, and no battery. These units where likely paired together, with one containing the WDB and the other containing the Beacon. Its model number of
this unit is NZB-001. (Nintendo Zone Box - 001)
However, before the NZB-001, there was the USG-001C. This is also commonly called the ‘Nintendo Zone Box’. This unit is older than the NZB-001, housing a fully functional standalone
DS lite in a DS shaped case. This Nintendo Zone Box has only one screen displayable when in the case. The unit contains a Beacon cartridge, and has a Game Boy Advance Cartridge
labelled ‘Nintendo Zone Power Control Cartridge’, with a connector that receives DC power from a DS Lite charger. Once power is detected the Control Cartridge would signal the DS lite
to turn on and activate the WDB automatically. The Power Control Cartridge’s model number is WDB-USZ/EUR or WDB-JPN, meaning that this likely also acts as the Wireless Distribution
Cartridge, as the WDB DS cart has the exact same model number.
The WDB cartridge is titled ‘Distributer – Nintendo’, while the Beacons are titled ‘Nintendo Zone beacon for ___ - Nintendo’, where the blank is the shop name. The Canadian Futureshop Beacon
boots automatically after the Health and Safety screen. There are four types of Wireless Distribution Box Cartridge dumps known, the USA/Europe Wi-Fi Kiosk ROM, the World Rev1 ROM, the World
Rev2 Wi-Fi Kiosk ROM, and the World Wi-Fi Kiosk ROM. There are only two types of Beacon ROM dumped, the USA BestBuy and Canada Futureshop versions, while the Canadian BestBuy beacon
remains un-dumped.
App Features
Once the signal has been detected, the Nintendo Zone application would become unhidden and launchable at any time on that specific DSi, allowing you to take memos and photos when disconnected
from a Nintendo Zone box, and when connected, could receive demo content.
Technical Information
The Nintendo Zone servers were available on ‘nzone001.nintendo-europe.com’, ‘nwdsrvwdbctl.nintendo.co.jp', and ‘dsdl.nintendowifi.net’ (US). These sites have not been archived, and the files are now
considered lost media. The server is speculated to have contained a ‘content.bin’ and a ‘content.inf’ (though this has not been evident). The server also would have contained the original demos, images, text
and data.
It is possible to unhide the Nintendo Zone without a valid WDB signal. The DSi System Menu has a ‘private.sav’ file, much similar to most other DSiWare and system apps. Replacing this .sav file with a
universal one will result in the DSi correcting it, and generating a new unique ‘private.sav’, which will permit the Nintendo Zone app to be revealed, allowing for offline usage. Thanks to k66 of GBAtemp
for discovering and sharing this info!
The ‘private.sav’ file for Nintendo Zone is located in the NAND, at
NAND:/title/00030017/484e41**/data/
** being your DSi region code. You can use ninfs and OSFMount to edit the NAND.
Extra Images
References
For a more narrow and deatiled look at some components of the Nintendo Zone system, take a look at these references!
- https://gbatemp.net/threads/dsi-nintendo-zone-app.451024/
- https://wiki.raregamingdump.ca/index.php/Nintendo_Zone_Box
- https://consolevariations.com/collectibles/nintendo-zone-box
- https://dsibrew.org/wiki/Nintendo_Zone
- https://gbatemp.net/threads/activate-unhide-the-pre-installed-nintendo-zone-app-on-a-dsi.678016/
- https://gbatemp.net/blogs/nintendo-zone-box-teardown.20216/
- https://consolemods.org/wiki/NDS:Nintendo_DS_Model_Differences
- https://consolevariations.com/collectibles/nintendo-dsi-zone-box
- https://consolevariations.com/nl/collectibles/nintendo-dsi-zone-box
Thank you to k66 and rvtr of GBAtemp for assisting, and Zel of Luckless Heaven for the Power Control cart internal images. More thanks to DSiBrew, GBAtemp, Console Variations, RareGamingDump,
Luckless Heaven and ConsoleMods for the info and images!
*Note that the uncredited images are either my own, or were sourced from auction sites