Nintendo Zone is the successor to DS Download Stations, offering retailer exclusive content, game videos, screenshots, etc. As of February 6th 2012 demos are available for download, demos are downloaded from the eShop servers and installed to SD card. NZone demos are the same ones available on eShop, these are region-locked as trying to download them from other regions results in an error. USA Best Buy and some other retailers have NZone, this NZone seems to be significantly different from the DS(i) NZone. Most content available at Best Buy is already available on eShop, like the screenshots/videos, game info etc. The OK Go video is available from NZone however. The OOT video on NZone server is the one from eShop launch like most of the other videos.

Like DSi, when an open 3DS detects NZone the hidden(always accessible for USA) NZone title appears and a notification about it appears. Like DSi this title is already stored on NAND, it's just not visible until you're in range of NZone.(doesn't disappear with sdcard removed) When NZone beacons are in range, 3DS only detects NZone when not connected to Internet already. Once connected to a NZone AP, the beacon payload is cached until disconnected from the AP.

When modified DSi nzone beacons are broadcasted with the 3DS Best Buy ApNum, DSi launcher won't blink the NZone title icon but the title will still semi-work. NZone title would connect to the server, with buttons for demos, Best Buy, and WFC config displayed, but NZone will display an error a while after selecting "Best Buy" service after a bit of loading.(probably unsupported html tags etc)

Description

The NZone browser interface looks very similar to the main 3DS web browser, so it's probably the same as that browser except modified.(and with video support, presumably mobiclip) The NZone beacon encryption is same as before, except some unknown fields in the cleartext was changed where 3DS will only "detect" NZone /w NZone icon blinking/enabled when the beacons' fields are set this way. DSi will not detect these beacons. 3DS can use DS(i) NZone, but only if the NZone title is already enabled. With DS(i) beacons, 3DS connects to Internet but the NZone icon will not blink. However the NZone title will still work once launched. Different URL params are sent to the to the server than DSi, sending the wrong params via curl results in old content being retrieved.

Beacon payload format

This seems to be identical to DS(i) NZone format except for the unknown fields, WPA2 isn't supported. 3DS NZone is not region-locked like DS(i).

OFFSET SIZE DESCRIPTION
0x00 32 AP SSID.
0x20 10 ApNum, required for connecting to the server. This is used by the server to determine which retailer NZone you're using. First ASCII number char in this param is region, this is also used to determine which server to connect to. Regions: 0) JPN 1) USA 2/3) EUR 4) KOR 5) CHN. This ApNum also contains the state/province in that country and storeID, but these are fixed for USA/EUR NZone deployments.(For JPN NZone those were unique per location)
0x2a 2 This u16 was always one in all dumps, unknown what this is. This isn't used by the client.
0x2c 24 Some UTF-16 ServiceName. "BestBuy"
0x44 32 AP crypto key, if any.
0x64 1 Unknown, not used by the DS(i) client. For 3DS this is 0x1, for DS(i) this is 0x0.
0x65 1 AP crypto key type: 0) Open 1) WEP-64 2) WEP-128 3) WEP-152
0x66 1 Unknown flags, for 3DS this is 0x1e, for DS(i) this is 0x3. Bits 0 and 1 don't seem to be used by the client. The DS(i) client uses bit2 unknown what for though.
0x67 5 Padding.
0x6c 2 Unknown, with 3DS this is zero but for DS(i) this was 0x428.
0x6e 2 CRC16 over the whole payload excluding CRC offset, initval is 0.

Wi-Fi Hotspots

Hotspot.conf format

The list of NZone hotspots is loaded from "conf:/hotspot.conf" by the AC system applet, where "conf:" is the 000400DB00010502 content archive. This is a CSV file, with LF-style newlines. All of the information stored in the NZone beacon is also stored in this file for each hotspot. This file can list a max of 100 hotspots.(As of title version v1024, hotspot.conf lists 52 hotspots) This format can be parsed by hotspotconf-tool.

Beginning the CSV file is the Interval record and field. Following that is the hotspot records on one line, and the fields for each hotspot on individual lines. Some fields are Base64-encoded, for those the Base64 padding character '*' is used instead of '='.

IsBrowser, IsShop, and IsGame might determine whether the Internet Browser, eShop, and games' online multi-player may be used. IsSetToFW is normally 0.

Records

Record name Field max len Field data
Interval Arbitrary Decimal interval, unknown (usually 20)
ServiceName 0x40 (after decode) Hotspot Base64-encoded ASCII ServiceName
Url 0x80 (after decode) Hotspot Base64-encoded URL (usually unused, optionally links to the retailer's website)
Ssid 32 (after decode) Hotspot Base64-encoded SSID
SecurityKey 0x40 (after decode) Hotspot Base64-encoded encryption key
SecurityMode 1 Decimal hotspot encryption type (0 for none)
ApNum 10 Hotspot ApNum, see above NZone beacon info
IsVendorIE 1 Decimal hotspot flag, can be either 1 or 0
IsBackground 1 Decimal hotspot flag, can be either 1 or 0
IsBrowser 1 Decimal hotspot flag, can be either 1 or 0
IsShop 1 Decimal hotspot flag, can be either 1 or 0
IsGame 1 Decimal hotspot flag, can be either 1 or 0
IsSetToFW 1 Decimal hotspot flag, can be either 1 or 0

Hotspots

Hotspots not listed in hotspot.conf can only be used via NZone beacons. The below flags is the combined "IsXXX" fields from hotspot.conf, excluding IsSetToFW. The below hotspot.conf version specifies what title version that hotspot was added to the list, if at all.("None" indicates that it's not listed in hotspot.conf at all. "Unknown" indicates that the hotspot is present in v1024, but it's unknown whether it was in the previous version.)

SSID Security Region/country ServiceName Flags Hotspot.conf version
7SPOT None JPN 7-11 ? None (LAN-only hostname used)
TSUTAYA None JPN TSUTAYA ? Unknown
wifine None JPN Wifine 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
FREESPOT None JPN FREESPOT 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
Wayport_Access None USA McDonalds ? After v1024
attwifi None USA AT&T 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
BestBuy None USA BestBuy ? None
Boingo Hotspot None USA Boingo ? Unknown
SIMON WiFi None USA Simon Malls 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
ibahn None USA iBAHN ? Unknown
noasp01 None USA NOA (Nintendo events) 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
noasp02 None USA NOA (Nintendo events) 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
noasp03 None USA NOA (Nintendo event at GDC) ? None
BELLWIFI@MCDONALDS None USA (Canada) Bell ? After v1024
NintendoSpotPass1 None EUR Nintendo 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
NintendoSpotPass2 None EUR Nintendo 1, 0, 0, 0, 1 Unknown
Telekom None EUR (Germany) Telekom 1, 0, 0, 0, 1 Unknown
Telekom_ICE None EUR (Germany) Telekom 1, 0, 0, 0, 1 Unknown
KPN None EUR (NL) KPN 1, 1, 0, 1, 1 Unknown
free-hotspot.com None EUR free-hotspot.com ? After v1024
WiFi Zone - The Cloud None EUR (GB) The Cloud 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
Mycloud None EUR (GB) The Cloud 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
WLAN Zone - The Cloud None EUR (GB) The Cloud 1, 0, 0, 0, 1 Unknown
PT-WIFI None PT PTWiFi 1, 0, 0, 0, 1 Unknown
FON_ZON_FREE_INTERNET None PT ZON 1, 0, 0, 0, 1 Unknown
Guglielmo None IT Guglielmo 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
ASTRO None IT Guglielmo 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
Banca Sella WiFi Clienti None IT Guglielmo 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
confindustria None IT Guglielmo 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
Grand None IT Guglielmo 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
Guglielmo Rimini WiFi None IT Guglielmo 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
GuglielmoDallaRosaPrati None IT Guglielmo 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
Hotels None IT Guglielmo 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
L.Bettolo None IT Guglielmo 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
LecceWireless None IT Guglielmo 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
P.zza Nicoloso None IT Guglielmo 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
PortoDiTrieste None IT Guglielmo 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
Comune-Na Piazze WIFI None IT Guglielmo 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
WiFi_Stampa None IT Guglielmo 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Unknown
METEOR None FR Meteor 1, 0, 0, 0, 1 Unknown
MCDONALDS None FR Meteor 1, 0, 0, 0, 1 Unknown
AREA_by_METEOR None FR Meteor 1, 0, 0, 0, 1 Unknown
PATaPAIN_by_METEOR None FR Meteor 1, 0, 0, 0, 1 Unknown
CASINO_by_METEOR None FR Meteor 1, 0, 0, 0, 1 Unknown
all_seasons_by_METEOR None FR Meteor 1, 0, 0, 0, 1 Unknown
ADAGIO_by_METEOR None FR Meteor 1, 0, 0, 0, 1 Unknown
PULLMAN_by_METEOR None FR Meteor 1, 0, 0, 0, 1 Unknown
Best_Western_by_METEOR None FR Meteor 1, 0, 0, 0, 1 Unknown
CreditAgricole_by_METEOR None FR Meteor 1, 0, 0, 0, 1 Unknown
IBIS_by_METEOR None FR Meteor 1, 0, 0, 0, 1 Unknown
MERCURE_by_METEOR None FR Meteor 1, 0, 0, 0, 1 Unknown
Telefonica None ES Telefonica 1, 0, 0, 1, 1 Unknown
GOWEXWiFi None ES Gowex 1, 0, 0, 1, 1 Unknown
OurenseWiFi None ES Gowex 1, 0, 0, 1, 1 Unknown
RED_LIBRE_AVILES_WILOC None ES Gowex 1, 0, 0, 1, 1 Unknown
GIJON WIFI None ES Gowex 1, 0, 0, 1, 1 Unknown
01MIERESWIFI None ES Gowex 1, 0, 0, 1, 1 Unknown
01EibarWifi None ES Gowex 1, 0, 0, 1, 1 Unknown
WIFIBUR None ES Gowex 1, 0, 0, 1, 1 Unknown
ValladolidWiFi None ES Gowex 1, 0, 0, 1, 1 Unknown
01PuertoDelRosarioWiFi None ES Gowex 1, 0, 0, 1, 1 Unknown
  • These can be configured on you own router/laptop/phone to identify as a Nintendo Zone.
  • You will need an available Internet connection to be able to connect to the servers.
  • After connecting the Wi-Fi network, the page displayed will be of the device's region. (Some regions, such as Australia, will not be redirected to a local Nintendo Zone page as there are no plans to introduce Nintendo Zone(s) to that region. If a 3DS has its region set to one of these regions where there are no plans to introduce a Nintendo Zone, they will be brought to the Nintendo Zone of the region of the SSID)
  • If you intend to create a permanent, private, Nintendo Zone WiFi spot. It is recommended that you enable MAC address filtering to only allow your devices. As using any form of encryption will prevent the Nintendo Zone WiFi spot from working with your 3DS.