Nintendo Turning DS into eBook Reader in Britain

As if you needed another reason to own a Nintendo DS — all three of you in the world, at this point, given how well the handheld continues to sell — the Big N seems set on trying out DS as an eBook reader in the United Kingdom as part of a new deal with publisher HarperCollins.

Specifics aren’t fully available, but it looks like a collection of public domain works by various literary authors will but put onto a DS cart for purchase, starting on December 26.

The 100 Classic Book Collection ranges from Shakespeare and Dickens to Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters. It will cost about £20 and will be available initially only in Britain.

Readers will turn the pages by brushing a finger across the screen. If the collection is a success, Nintendo may expand the range of books available.

[…]

James Honeywell, a Nintendo executive, said: “When you go on holiday, or if you’re a commuter, lugging around a big paper book can be a bit of an inconvenience. Now you’ve got this whole library that you’re taking with you.

“We hope to encourage people to try books that they wouldn’t go out and purchase themselves.” — Times Online

I’m not so sure the screen of a DS Lite is built for long reads, but as an English major myself, the thought of having all those books of literary canon in one DS cart is a pretty enticing deal.

No word yet if Nintendo of America will be bringing this stateside, so stay tuned, bookworms.