Super Mario eBooks: Nintendo Enters eBook Market

Nintendo–yes, Nintendo, makers of the Wii (and the NES, Super NES, Game Boy, N64 and Game Cube for those of you who remember) is getting into the eBook game with its next portable game console, the DSi XL, a larger version of the company’s popular DS hand held game system.

The US launch of the DSi XL (which launched in Japan in November and was unveiled over here at a press conference in San Francisco yesterday) will be at the end of of March. It will cost $189.99. In June, according to BusinessWeek, the company will introduce “100 Classic Books,” a collection of public domain works for reading on the DSi XL. The collection will cost $19.99.

Obviously, this is a move to avoid being eclipsed by Apple’s iPad, which will be used by many–as are the iPhone and iPod Touch–to play games, most likely more sophisticated ones that its smaller cousins can handle. Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo’s executive vp of sales and marketing for North America said, however, “It’s not really about trying to take on the e-book market…It’s just one more way to enjoy your device.”

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