Nintendo DS takes literary aim at Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader

by Stevie Smith - Dec 4 2008, 13:00

The Nintendo DS handheld videogame console may not be the most obvious choice for book fans looking to enjoy the mobile advantages of an electronic e-reader, but Japanese gaming giant Nintendo is looking to change perceptions with the release of 100 Classic Book Collection for DS.

While perhaps not as trendy or versatile as electronic book-reading devices such as Amazon’s Kindle or Sony’s Reader, the 100 classic titles traverse existing regional boundaries (specifically with the US-only Kindle) and provide DS owners everywhere with a wealth of on-the-go literary entertainment.

According to Nintendo, those DS owners looking to become virtual bookworms can read the software’s content by holding their dual-screened console as if it were a book, and then they simply use the stylus to turn pages by connecting with the touch screen.

Arriving as Nintendo’s first venture towards the burgeoning e-reader market, the software also comes with search and bookmark functions, and Nintendo has said it plans to release additional content that users will be able to access and download through the little console’s Wi-Fi connection.

In terms of possible points of detraction, the most obvious involves the DS console’s rather small screens. Clearly not a patch on dedicated electronic reader devices, the screen constraints could test the vision of all those without hawkish 20-20, but Nintendo says that font sizing can be altered to suit the user’s preference.

The 100 Classic Book Collection includes more than 20 plays by William Shakespeare, a selection of novels by Charles Dickens and a wealth of notable entries from the likes of Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Thomas Hardy, Herman Melville, Victor Hugo, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jules Verne, Mark Twain, D. H. Lawrence and Edgar Allen Poe.

Nintendo’s opening effort may equate to little more than a tentative toe dipped into a new pool of potential profit, but DS owners not prepared to splash a couple of hundred dollars on the Kindle or Reader might well be drawn to the appeal of this easily attainable software alternative.

And, if Nintendo makes good on its promise to expand the coverage – and strikes deals to include more modern content along the way – then the DS could well become a serious contender to the market’s more focused electronic reading devices.

Set for release on December 26 in the UK, the 100 Classics Book Collection has been amassed by publisher Harper Collins and comes attached to a pocket-friendly price of just 19.99 GBP.

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