Game-Changer: Nintendo Plays Around with DS e-Book Reader
The Nintendo DSi XL has much larger screens than previous Nintendo DS handheld gaming consoles, but those screens aren't used just for gaming . Nintendo also plans to use the larger screens to turn the DSi XL into an e-book reader.
The various versions of the Nintendo DS already resemble a book of sorts with a clamshell design and dual screens, up to 4.2-inches each in the latest DSi XL. Now the company plans to release the 100 Classic Book Collection for the DS and use those screens for reading.
These books will all be classic literature that is out of copyright, and will likely be the same list of books previously available in a similar pack for Europe (think Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, Shakespeare, Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde). There is no indication, however, that Nintendo plans to go further into the e-book business by selling current bestsellers.
Regardless, this is a new selling point for kids to use to get their parents to buy the DSi XL. "But mom, I'll use it to read the classics, too!"
The 100 Classic Book Collection will go on sale June 12 for $20. The Nintendo DSi XL will be available March 28 for $190.
