100 Classic Books from Nintendo pretty much delivers what it promises--100 classic books bundled on one Nintendo DS card. You rotate your Nintendo DS into a vertical position, choose your literary poison, and read to your heart's content.
100 Classic Books is an ideal title for an avid reader who's always meaning to get caught up on the classics. It's not a bad purchase for an English major, either. But if you're not into reading, or you find old literature a bit dry, nothing about 100 Classic Books will convert you into a page-flipping demon.
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Educational
100 Classic Books is an ideal title for an avid reader who's always meaning to get caught up on the classics. It's not a bad purchase for an English major, either. But if you're not into reading, or you find old literature a bit dry, nothing about 100 Classic Books will convert you into a page-flipping demon.
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Educational
The Basics
With 100 Clasic Books you get, well, 100 classic books. Most of the offerings, which are laid out in a long bookshelf that you scroll through with your stylus, are in the public domain, so you won't be seeing many "modern" classics like "Watership Down" or "The Neverending Story." There is a great deal of Shakespeare present, as well as a large selection of Austen and Dickens. Other titles include "The Wizard of Oz," "The Phantom of the Opera," "The Jungle Book," "Call of the Wild," "White Fang," "Black Beauty" and "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."
You read through books by holding your Nintendo DS (or ideally, your Nintendo DSi XL) vertically. You can turn pages by tapping them with your stylus, or by using the d-pad. You have two choices for a font size.
If you're stuck for a suggestion, the game's mascot, an owl, will recommend a title for you after asking a few questions. You can even choose some background music and/or noise to enjoy your book by. Additional titles are also available to download over a Wi-Fi connection.
You read through books by holding your Nintendo DS (or ideally, your Nintendo DSi XL) vertically. You can turn pages by tapping them with your stylus, or by using the d-pad. You have two choices for a font size.
If you're stuck for a suggestion, the game's mascot, an owl, will recommend a title for you after asking a few questions. You can even choose some background music and/or noise to enjoy your book by. Additional titles are also available to download over a Wi-Fi connection.
Pros
It's Priced Well - 100 Classic Books sells for a suggested retail price of $19.99 USD. Most of the stories offered within are likewise sold at a discount price, but the savings you earn by buying the Nintendo DS card are still significant.
It's a Convenient Read - The menu for 100 Classic Books is easy to navigate. If you've had your fill of one read, you can bookmark it at any time and switch to another. And, of course, you just have to carry around your Nintendo DS in lieu of a small library.
The Selection is Decent - This one's obviously a matter of personal preference and your taste in literature, but 100 Classic Books does offer a wide range of genres. There's comedy, adventure, young adult, and tragedy--something that will appeal to every shade of your moods.
It's Perfect for Night Time Reading - The Nintendo DS's backlit screen makes for an evenly-lit page. No more struggling with shadows cast by desk lamps.
It's a Convenient Read - The menu for 100 Classic Books is easy to navigate. If you've had your fill of one read, you can bookmark it at any time and switch to another. And, of course, you just have to carry around your Nintendo DS in lieu of a small library.
The Selection is Decent - This one's obviously a matter of personal preference and your taste in literature, but 100 Classic Books does offer a wide range of genres. There's comedy, adventure, young adult, and tragedy--something that will appeal to every shade of your moods.
It's Perfect for Night Time Reading - The Nintendo DS's backlit screen makes for an evenly-lit page. No more struggling with shadows cast by desk lamps.
Cons
Not Enough Options for Font Size - 100 Classic Books basically gives you two choices for your font size: big and bigger. One "page" fits approximately fifty words. You'll be doing a lot of flipping to get through even an average-sized book.
The "Book Selection" Quiz is Pretty Vague - Offhand, it seems like a great idea to do a quiz in order to peg down a book recommendation. But the questions you're asked ("Do you want a long or short book? Do you want something by an English author or an American author?") rarely narrow the choices down something that actually suits your mood.
You Have To Wait Through a Start-Up Screen - To read your books, you have to turn on your Nintendo DS, wait for the company logos to pass, and acknowledge that some of the content within the books may not be appropriate for kids. To be fair, the start-up bottleneck goes much faster than what most games force you to sit through. But when you want to read a regular book, you just open it and you're on your way.
The "Book Selection" Quiz is Pretty Vague - Offhand, it seems like a great idea to do a quiz in order to peg down a book recommendation. But the questions you're asked ("Do you want a long or short book? Do you want something by an English author or an American author?") rarely narrow the choices down something that actually suits your mood.
You Have To Wait Through a Start-Up Screen - To read your books, you have to turn on your Nintendo DS, wait for the company logos to pass, and acknowledge that some of the content within the books may not be appropriate for kids. To be fair, the start-up bottleneck goes much faster than what most games force you to sit through. But when you want to read a regular book, you just open it and you're on your way.
Conclusion
The market for electronic book readers is pretty competitive. Even the iPod offers an app that lets you download and read classic books--for free. But 100 Classic Books gives you a hundred books that are worth reading without any immediate need to mess around with Wi-Fi. It's no alternative to the Kindle, but it's a relaxing, hassle-free way to re-visit a few of the better books you read throughout your school career.
Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.
