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Nintendo To Start Publishing Ebooks On the DS

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the my-eyes-are-burning dept.

Miracle Jones writes "Nintendo is going to start publishing ebooks for the DS in conjunction with HarperCollins. The first cartridge will go on sale December 26th in the UK, will cost around 30 dollars, and will feature 100 classic books — stuff like Charles Dickens and Jane Austen."

16 of 216 comments (clear)

  1. DRM? by John+Hasler · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dickens and Austen, eh? So what sort of DRM is Nintendo going to use to "protect" this "IP"?

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    Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    1. Re:DRM? by Justin+Hopewell · · Score: 4, Funny

      A 48 character "Friend Code".

    2. Re:DRM? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      No need. They'll just get Fagin to "send the boys round" if they catch you doing anything untoward.

    3. Re:DRM? by NuclearError · · Score: 4, Funny

      Wouldn't the fact that the material is by Dickens and Austen be enough to stop copying? I, for one, wouldn't pirate it if you paid me.

      --
      Nuclear engineers build weapons. Civil engineers build targets.
    4. Re:DRM? by meringuoid · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Wouldn't the fact that the material is by Dickens and Austen be enough to stop copying? I, for one, wouldn't pirate it if you paid me.

      As a matter of fact Dickens faced enormous problems with piracy at the time. It seems that certain rogue countries in that pre-Berne Convention era saw fit to disregard Dickens's copyrights and allowed pirate printers to profit by his works without paying the author so much as a penny.

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      Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
    5. Re:DRM? by kanweg · · Score: 4, Funny

      But it gave him new inspiration to think up stories about Scrooge. He didn't pay for the inspiration that the pirates gave him, so they called it even.

      Bert

    6. Re:DRM? by Omestes · · Score: 4, Funny

      Dickens maybe, Austen though? Turn on your TV, change channel to Lifetime, watch it for whatever the equivalent of 50000000 pages is, replacing cars with chariots, and everything else with tea, poof instant Jane Austen.

      I personally can't stand either of them. Dickens basically wrote the same book 40 times, while Austen is about as readable as Danielle Steele, but gets credit for being a woman writing books when women didn't right books, which is quite an accomplishment even if said books are about banal people being banal (with tea).

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      A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
  2. First ebooks by Smelly+Jeffrey · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The first ebooks should be should be of old Nintendo Power magazines!

  3. $30? Seriously? by mweather · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So I get to pay $30 for books I can legally download for free?

    1. Re:$30? Seriously? by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      No actually you pay $19.95 for a R4 and then $11.95 for a 2gig miniSD card then download everything you can from project Gutenberg.

      If you own a DS, you NEED to own a R4.

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      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    2. Re:$30? Seriously? by d'fim · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think the intended market is guilty parents trying to pretend that their kids will get some educational benefit from the $200 Pokemon game system they bought for their kids last Christmas.

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      Adherence to the truth is a form of disloyalty.
  4. Re:finally! by megamerican · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yes, I can see it now:

    Call me Ishmael

    *Turn Page*

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    If you have something that you dont want anyone to know, maybe you shouldnt be doing it in the first place -Eric Schmidt
  5. Selection by gehrehmee · · Score: 5, Funny

    I know I was just clamoring to get my my hands on the Jane Austin books when I was a kid. If only there was a way to get it digitally, and in a form where I could read it while making people think I was playing video games! Oh, that would have been too much to ask.

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    "You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help" -- Calvin
  6. Ah My Eyes! by necro81 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The DS has a decent screen, but I think I (and most everyone else) would start getting a headache in about five minutes if they tried to read lots of text on it. After five weeks, I'd be lucky to see anything at all!

  7. all they need is some pretty artwork by tuffy · · Score: 5, Funny

    and it'll be like a DS RPG, but with better stories and fewer boss battles.

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    Ita erat quando hic adveni.

  8. Re:finally! by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh, so it's like tomshardware.

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    This guy's the limit!