Nintendo Going Practical for 2008

01/11/2007

It will be a New Year’s Eve filled with anticipation for fans of the Nintendo DS. The DS has one of the most varied software libraries a console has ever possessed, featuring everything from cooking games, air traffic control simulations and the brain training games that famously featured A-list actress Nicole Kidman in their advertising campaign.

One thing the Nintendo DS hasn’t yet done is established itself within the market of older people who want more than gaming from a console, but New Year’s Eve 2007 could mark a turning point in that respect. Nintendo’s president, Satoru Iwata, revealed in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that the company is developing more practical applications for the DS console, which already has built-in wifi, that will be released in 2008.

Software developers for Nintendo will be busy in the run-up to New Year’s Eve developing practical functions for the DS console. Iwata wouldn’t reveal exactly what the functions would be, but he did say they would make use of the console's wi-fi and would be useful in train stations, museums and amusement parks.

Nintendo has been aggressively targeting an older demographic with its DS console, and it is likely these new applications could cement the DS as a useful, practical piece of equipment in the minds these target customers.