- 100 Classic Book Collection
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100 Classic Book Collection
100 Classic Books
Developer(s) Genius Sonority Publisher(s) Nintendo
HarperCollinsPlatform(s) Nintendo DS Release date(s) Genre(s) Educational Rating(s) N/A 100 Classic Book Collection, known in North America as 100 Classic Books, is a computer program published by Nintendo and developed by Genius Sonority, which was released exclusively for the Nintendo DS in Europe on December 26, 2008.[1] It was released in Australia on January 22, 2009[2] and in North America on June 14, 2010. The program includes one hundred public domain works of literature.
Also, it was released in Germany in German with the titles 200 klassische Bücher DS (with German and international books) Bibliothek der klassischen Bücher (with only German books), and in France in French with the title 100 Livres Classiques. It is unknown if the program is going to be released in Spanish and Italian.
Genius Sonority had previously released a similar collection of books in Japan under the title DS Bungaku Zenshuu (ＤＳ文学全集) on October 17, 2007.[4][5] A smaller version of the collection consisting of 20 books under the title Chotto DS Bungaku Zenshu: Sekai no Bungaku 20 (ちょっとDS文学全集 世界の文学20) was released in Japan as a downloadable DSiWare application on February 25, 2009.[6][7]
Contents
Features
100 Classic Book Collection features one hundred books stored into the DS cartridge. Several of the works included are Othello by William Shakespeare, Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, and The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. Currently, 10 extra books are available to download through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.[8]
The player is required to hold the DS like a book and is able to adjust the text size and change background music to listen to while reading.[8] A bookmark feature allows the player to mark their place in the book, as well as resume from that point on restart of the game. The game offers a search feature for books in a number of different ways, including genre, author, and length. Also, players can access introductions for the books, and read about the authors themselves.[8] An in-game quiz features asks players personality-related questions and recommends certain novels depending on the answers given. Players can also send "trial versions" of the game to other DS users via the local Wi-Fi.[8]
List of books included
100 Classic Book Collection - UK Version
100 Classic Books - USA Version
List of additional books available for download over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
100 Classic Book Collection - Europe Version
Title Author Northanger Abbey Jane Austen Agnes Grey Anne Brontë What Katy Did At School Susan Coolidge Silas Marner George Eliot Cranford Elizabeth Gaskell The Aspern Papers Henry James The Turn of the Screw Henry James The Water Babies Charles Kingsley The Merry Wives of Windsor William Shakespeare The Black Arrow Robert Louis Stevenson 100 Classic Book Collection - US Version
Title Author The Secret Agent Joseph Conrad Nicholas Nickleby Charles Dickens The Three Musketeers Alexandre Dumas Just So Stories Rudyard Kipling Twelfth Night William Shakespeare The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman Laurence Sterne Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson The Prince and the Pauper Mark Twain Around the World in Eighty Days Jules Verne The Happy Prince and Other Stories Oscar Wilde 100 Livres Classiques - French Version
Title Author Eugénie Grandet Balzac Le Petit Chose Alphonse Daudet Trois contes Flaubert Claude Gueux Victor Hugo Ramuntcho Pierre Loti Le Horla Maupassant La Vénus d'Ille Mérimée La Petite Fadette George Sand Les révoltés de la Bounty Jules Verne Micromégas Voltaire Reception
100 Classic Book Collection debuted on UK sales charts at number 17 during its week of release, and moved up to number 8 the following week.[1][9]
The content was well received but critics felt the DS was not a suitable platform. Prior to the advent of Kindle, The Guardian newspaper reviewed the game as part of the "minority fad" of e-readers, declaring it bland and impersonal but good value for money.[10] Eurogamer magazine criticised Nintendo for only using texts that were out of copyright and for not spending the extra for modern classics. It also found the text difficult to read due to the size of the screen, with unhelpful hyphenations, a low word number per page and distracting animations.[11] The Telegraph newspaper agreed that the game offered good value for money but also criticised the size of the screen.[12]
References
- ^ a b c Jenkins, David (January 6, 2009). "UK Charts: Wii Play Is 2009's First Chart Topper". Gamasutra.co. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21743. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
- ^ a b Kozanecki, James (January 19, 2009). "AU Shippin' Out January 19–23: Skate 2". GameSpot.com. http://uk.gamespot.com/ds/puzzle/100classicbookcollection/news.html?sid=6203344&om_act=convert&om_clk=newsfeatures&tag=newsfeatures;title. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ Cabral, Matt (February 24, 2010). "DSi XL Hits North America Next Month For $190". Kotaku.com. http://kotaku.com/5479225/dsi-xl-hits-north-america-next-month-for-190. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
- ^ Spencer (October 27, 2007). "Siliconera " Books on your DS? Hands on DS Bungaku Zenshuu". Siliconera.com. http://www.siliconera.com/2007/10/24/books-on-your-ds-hands-on-ds-bungaku-zenshuu/. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ "ＤＳ文学全集" (in Japanese). Nintendo.co.jp. http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/ybnj/index.html. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ Spencer (February 20, 2009). "Here Is Your Nintendo DSiWare Line Up For February". Siliconera.com. http://www.siliconera.com/2009/02/20/here-is-your-nintendo-dsiware-line-up-for-february/. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ "ちょっとDS文学全集 世界の文学20" (in Japanese). Nintendo.co.jp. http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/dsiware/kbgj/. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ a b c d Riley, Adam (December 28, 2008). "100 Classic Book Collection (DS Novel) at C3 Reviews". Cubed3.com. http://www.cubed3.com/review/663/. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ Jenkins, David (January 13, 2009). "UK Charts: Wii Fit Sprints Back To Number One". Gamasutra.com. http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21828. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ Anderiesz, Mike (January 6, 2009). "Guardian review". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jan/06/classic-book-collection-nintendo-ds.
- ^ Gibson, Ellie (February 9, 2009). "Eurogamer review". http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/100-classic-book-collection-review.
- ^ Hoggins, Tom (January 6, 2009). "Telegraph review". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/4142077/100-Classic-Book-Collection-review.html.
External links
Categories:- 2008 video games
- Educational video games
- Nintendo DS-only games
- Nintendo DS games
- Touch! Generations
- Video games based on novels
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