Nintendo entering e-books market with DSi XL

Update: Good news, everyone! It turns out the UK is once more at the cutting edge of all things gaming -- the DSi e-book reader cartridge is available today. In fact, it has been available for over a year! Yes, it was so unbelievably popular, and made such an enormous impact, that its existence in our market for over 12 months completely slipped us by. Thanks to Wired.co.uk's commenters for pointing this out. (They may be the only ones who knew.)

Nintendo announced that its latest gadget, the DSi XL, will be useful for more than just chasing around in Mario Kart. You'll also be able to read books on it.

Bloomberg reports that the first DSi XL e-book offering will be a cartridge containing 100 public domain books, including classics penned by Twain and Shakespeare. This means Nintendo is opting for its traditional, cartridge-oriented approach versus launching an online bookstore.

The £150 device, which is basically a blown-up version of its predecessor, features two 107mm (4.2-inch) screens, folds like a book, and is about the size of a paperback. All of which could make it an attractive platform for reading (though it's not the only e-reading device to feature two screens).

Nintendo has sold roughly 130 million DS consoles so far (including DSi and DS Lite), and the global popularity of the DS platform might make Nintendo a serious e-book competitor. But Cammie Dunaway, the executive vice president of sales for North America told Bloomberg that's not the immediate goal. "It's just one more way to enjoy your device."

The DSi XL, which has been available in Japan for months now, will launch in the UK on 5 March.

We reviewed the Nintendo DSi XL recently and concluded it's not just about it being bigger: "The DSi XL is a grown up console in every sense of the word and is the only Nintendo DS you'll ever need. "

Nintendo's move most likely doesn't represent an aggressive move into the e-book market. Rather, it shows the company is trying to make its gadgets more useful in new ways before a tidal wave of tablets and smartphoneschips away at the audience for mobile games.