Last week we reported on the news that eBooks are coming to the 3DS in Japan this Fall, with the slim details stating there'd be around 300 books aimed mostly at children. Dai Nippon Printing has now stepped forward as the company launching the service, confirming and showing the online store at the Tokyo International Book Fair.
As reported by Siliconera, the publisher has identified that a large number of grade-school children own 3DS systems in Japan, so it's an ideal platform for the free app, which will be called honto. The books themselves will apparently be a fair bit cheaper than the print equivalents, with novels, picture books and study materials set to be included.
The product will target that large 3DS-owning demographic in the region, with the goal of appealing to parents not keen to give their little ones tablets and smartphones to use. Whether a similar product would succeed in the West is questionable due to the prevalence of those systems in households, while another publisher would have to pick up the baton in non-Japanese territories, in any case.
Still, the images of the eBooks and store in action look rather good; let us know what you think in the comments below.
[source siliconera.com]
Comments 15
I don't know why Nintendo thinks these apps won't become popular in the States. I, personally, would love to have an eBook app on my 3DS.
I think an e-reader for 3DS/DS would be perfect considering that you can hold it side ways like an actual book. This needs to come to NA/EU.
I can't see this coming West ever. It doesn't make sense to bother publishing it here. Very few users would utilize it. Most adults have a smartphone or tablet to read on if they don't want physical books. The major publishers already have a perfectly effective way to distribute their digital books, why waste time on another platform. It makes sense in Japan because so many people have a 3DS, but the same is not true in the US.
@Kagamine hit the nail on the head. Most people already read on phones and tablets, so while an ebook app would be nice, it just wouldn't be profitable on Nintendo's part.
I would buy an XL if this came to Europe (with western books like LOTR, Harry Potter and game of thrones coming too, of cource)
Come on, everyone in NA and EU wants to read manga and anime too y'know.
If we get an eBook reader, it shall be truly awesome! Oh, and let us put our own books on there too via the SD Card... some people have quite a lot of books downloaded from Amazon. >_>
I would really really LOVE an e-book reader on my 3ds xl. Screen sizes are perfect! Resolution isn't overly important to me, and this would make my 3ds a multi-purpose device, which would be cool. I'm out of purse space to add a flippin' e-book. lol
@Kagamine Unless they convinced Amazon to do it. As long as the library isn't stuck to just the 3DS I can see this as quite successful.
Reading text on those ultra low res 3DS screens is not going to be easy on the eyes. Just buy a Kindle people, or an iPad, which gets you not only an infinitely superior screen, but also access to the biggest and most stable eBook store.
reminder me something.. like 100 classic books on DS... I want trying e-book reader on 3DS. just waiting what they say something about 3DS can or not.
who know.
@bluewolf85 same here 100 classic books was for me very handy. and this could be perfectly the way to get some games and some literature in one device.
Knock it off, please — TBD
I would use an e-reader on the 3ds. I don't own or want a tablet/smart phone since I loathe what it has turned many of the people I know into. REAL LIFE ZOMBIES. Although I do appeciate that my wife thinks much more highly of my gaming habits compared to smart device Zombies.
If the resolution was on par with e-readers, I would use this service in a second. I read a lot, but I have never bothered with an e-reader because I like books and never bother with new technology unless it is somehow gaming-related. Perhaps this is the moment I have dreamed of since the time I played Christmas Carol DS and found that it had the Christmas Carol eBook in it.
@Zodiak13 Smart devices do literally disrupt your ability to attend to surroundings in a manner unprecedented by any technology before it. Your wife knows what's up.
I prefer to read, you know, an ACTUAL book.
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