Nintendo on Thursday revealed its next wave of products. The video-game maker is also planning to release Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M in the first half of 2010, but Nintendo DSi XL is taking the spotlight — and entering the e-reader market.
The new DSi XL handheld system launches March 28 and will retail for $189.99. There are plenty of improvements, beginning with screen size. The screens are 93 percent larger than the Nintendo DS Lite and feature a wider viewing angle so friends and family can share the experience.
The DSi XL will roll out in burgundy and bronze colors and come with a larger pen-like stylus designed to make it easier to play games that leverage the touchscreen. But the news that’s really making waves in the tech industry is the DSi XL doubling as an e-reader.
No Kindle Killer
Software called 100 Classic Books transforms the DS family into a literary library. Launching on June 14 and priced at $20, the offering includes 100 works from authors such as William Shakespeare, Jules Verne, Jane Austen, and Mark Twain. Nintendo said readers can adjust the size of text, place bookmarks, and even download new content via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service if they have a broadband Internet connection.
Michael Gartenberg, a partner at Altimeter Group, said Nintendo is jumping on the e-reader bandwagon. Nintendo’s immediate problem, he said, is that it takes more than $20 worth of books that no one wants to read to be a force in the e-reader world. He pointed to efforts from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and Apple to optimize hardware, building out software ecosystems, and establishing relationships with publishers to drive e-reader strategies.
“This is almost reminiscent of when Nintendo added a music player to the last iteration of the DS. Very few consumers used…