Reading is cool, kids

In a welcome move video games giant. Nintendo have announced that the next generation of their popular DS gaming system will also be an eBook reader - a gap in the market perhaps for novels based around gaming characters like Mario and that spikey blue guy.

Reporting on the US launch plans, Bloomberg said that the first eBook will be a cartridge containing 100 public domain books, including classics such as Twain and Shakespeare. This means Nintendo is opting for its traditional, cartridge-oriented approach versus launching an online bookstore.

Alas, poor Mario, for he plumbed the depths of great despair and did witness purpley spangley things and golden coins so bright.

The new DS device, is about the size of a paperback. All of which could make it an attractive platform for reading .

Nintendo has sold roughly 130 million DS consoles so far (including DSi and DS Lite), and the global popularity of the DS platform might make Nintendo a serious e-book competitor. But Cammie Dunaway, the executive vice president of sales for North America told Bloomberg that’s not the immediate goal. “It’s just one more way to enjoy your device.”

The DSi XL, which has been available in Japan for months now, will launch in the U.S. on March 28

THE ARCHIVE SAYS - There is little chance that the eBook titles will be as popular as the video games themselves, but the fact that kids will have the ability to read books on the device is exciting and bodes well for the future.