Nintendo Video impressions: Once again, Nintendo shows that it never learns

There's been a bit of a running theme throughout the short lifespan of the Nintendo 3DS.

Whenever Nintendo launches something new for the handheld, it doesn't matter how well designed or exciting it is because there's never any content to actually check out.

The console launched with a smattering of worthwhile software, and then went on to receive the online eShop - a downloadable service that launched with a total of five games. Nintendo is currently adding one or two a week.

Now Nintendo has shown that it simply doesn't learn from its mistakes with the launch of its new video service, Nintendo Video.

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Available for free from the eShop, Nintendo Video provides weekly 2D and stereoscopic 3D television shows, cartoons, documentaries, and the like directly to your handheld.

Initial reactions are positive. The service is incredibly user-friendly, with just a few button presses needed to skip past all the legal mumbo jumbo and reach the video library.

It all looks pretty slick, too. You're presented with four spaces, each ready to be filled with the latest episodes of each show currently available for download.

Videos download automatically via SpotPass, and will even download when your console is in Sleep mode, so that they're all ready when you reach for a bit of entertainment.

Playback is instant and high quality. Up to now we've mainly seen games in stereoscopic 3D, so to see some real-life recordings feels like a big step for the handheld.

And yet there's barely anything to do with the service right now.

Only two clips are currently available. One is a minute-long magic show which, while enjoyable enough, isn't exactly going to rock your socks off.

The other is the first episode in a kid's 3D cartoon series called Oscar's Oasis.

Ironically, only very young people are going to enjoy this - and they're not even allowed to watch it in stereoscopic 3D.

The big question is: why launch a service with four spaces for content, and then only use two of them on day one? It's absolute madness.

After around ten minutes, we'd seen everything available, and that was it. More episodes are promised in a week's time, at which point the videos that are currently available will disappear.

Yes, you can't even store old episodes and watch them at a later date.

Hopefully we'll see far more content (and better content) appearing soon on the service. Until then, this is yet another 'must try harder' for Nintendo.