European readers will soon be able to read books on portable Nintendo devices as the videogame company teams up with HarperCollins. But some experts wonder if the books are fairly priced.
On December 26, Nintendo will enter the e-book market selling a game cartridge that contains copies of 100 digital books, including titles by Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Jules Verne, and Emily Bronte. Converted to American currency, the book package will cost about $30.
Over at TeleRead, an essay analyzed what this pricing arrangement means for e-book value:
“The Nintendo platform has more in common with the iPhone than it does with the dedicated e-Book readers from Sony or Amazon. No one is likely to buy a Nintendo DS for the book content alone but the addition of book content supports Nintendo’s strategy for broadening the possible audience for their products. My complaint is that the typical Nintendo user will attribute value to the console and the purchased games but not to the other stuff — even if there is a paltry entry fee.”
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