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| Hearsay: |
If there was ever any doubt that eBooks are finally making it big, you can pretty much throw them out the window. A video game platform will now accept eBooks. I can only imagine the rush to chuck the Pokemon games out the window and grab for the latest Ishiguro.
The creator of Donkey Kong and Super Mario is hoping that Austen and Dickens will prove as great a pull to computer game fanatics. It has worked with HarperCollins to select 100 titles – from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to Gulliver’s Travels, Pride and Prejudice, A Tale of Two Cities and Treasure Island – which will be available in a single software package for the Nintendo DS costing around £20.
The device, said Nintendo, can be held horizontally, “just like a book”, with pages turned using a stylus. Additional features include an electronic bookmark, adjustable text sizes, and a “story synopsis mode” which details the story and themes of each title “without giving away any of twists and turns of the plot”.
Perhaps aware that it’s catering to an audience with a short attention span, Nintendo is also offering the option, for those “stuck for somewhere to start”, of telling the software your mood, upon which it will present you with a range of options. Bleak House, for example, would be a bad option for those pushed for time, while King Lear might not suit those in need of a pick-me-up.
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December 9th, 2008 at 11:08 am
I’m guessing “classic” is a special euphemism for “out of copyright”.
December 9th, 2008 at 11:34 am
What’s interesting about this is that I credit his Nintendo DS gameplay — with its need for following instructions at every turn — with my son’s interest in and ability to read. He was tested as mildly dyslexic a few years ago, and we were informed that it was going to be a struggle, but that it would eventually work out. Full props to those fucking Pokemon for smoothing what could have been a rough road.
And if he can read something like Treasure Island on the same machine? All the power to him.
December 9th, 2008 at 11:49 am
We had a similar situation in our house. And Pokemon books and cards also helped with the reading quite a bit.
December 9th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
I was always of the opinion that whatever gets kids reading is a good thing. comic books, pokemon, whatever. Kids just might grab onto this, you never know. (oh, and classic, i believe IS a euphemism for no copywright anymore)
December 9th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
I think that’s a wonderful idea. It’s also a great physical format, since it would at least feel more similar to a book than a kindle.
And then of course, the book packagers could also include little distracting games along with teh book. Like “Sink Moby Dick” or “Little Women vs Pokemon Maze”
December 9th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
I’m waiting for the DS edition of The Story of O: now with Games!
December 9th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
I think I’d probably want to play video games instead of reading. But I have one of those Sony ebooks, and I really like it. I haven’t given up paper books altogether, but the digital format is nice to have, too.
December 10th, 2008 at 8:45 am
If they manage to creat a means of downloading any ebook onto a game card for the DS I might actually be interested. I couldn’t be persuaded to buy a gadget especially and I will never give up buying more paperbacks than we have room for, but there are some books I wish to read but can’t get in the UK as hard copy and I hate tryignto read on my laptop. It would be a welcome option to use an existing toy this way.
December 10th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Someone left a DS in my wife’s shop a few months ago, and after trying to give it away, we finally took it home. Now I’m glad we did. I don’t think I would buy a DS for this, but I’ll certainly shell out the $40 for convenient access to all of these books I should have been reading all along.