Nintendo has been a master at reinventing the DS handheld, one way to extend the product’s lifecycle. Another way to lengthen the viability of a product is to find untapped markets for it, and this appears to be another road that the Japanese company is exploring.
Noting that the DS is already used in Japanese museums, art galleries and aquariums, Nintendo’s Shigeri Miyamoto discussed another pending use for the DS—Japanese classrooms. Miyamoto indicated that the compact game machine would serve as an educational aid and teaching tool when Nintendo rolls out DS systems in an unspecified amount of junior high and elementary schools early next year.
A related story on IGN reports on another use for the DS; it will soon be used to train part-time Japanese McDonald’s employees. The fast food company has developed software for the DS that utilizes the device’s stylus as a means to interactively teach how to perform kitchen tasks like “like deep-frying potatoes and how to interact with customers.”
McDonald’s is expected to purchase two Nintendo DS handhelds per store, which would add up to about a total expenditure of about 200 million yen (approximately $2.21 million U.S.).
Through the end of 2009, Nintendo had shipped over 125.0 million DS units worldwide since its intial release in 2004.
Comments
Re: DS Branching Out
He has a really good idea w/this. Watch and wait. The news reports will have something to say about it if the idea reaches the U.S.
"It's better to be hated for who you are, then be loved for who you are not." - Montgomery Gentry
Re: DS Branching Out
What are they going to train them with, Fast Food Mama?
---You are likely to be eaten by a Grue.
Re: DS Branching Out
According to DarkSaber, that may just be the case.
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You KILL Vampires. You don't DATE them.
Re: DS Branching Out
Did you guys hear about the new 3DS?:
http://www.destructoid.com/nintendo-announces-the-3ds-portable-gaming-in...
http://www.magicinkgaming.com/
Re: DS Branching Out
If it isn't just rumor, I wanna see it.
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You KILL Vampires. You don't DATE them.
Re: DS Branching Out
Some more Jap gaming mags have leaked details, I'll dig up the links.
Here: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/99351-Nintendo-3DS-Could-Have-...
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
Re: DS Branching Out
Cool, but that looks more like a tech demo than what the actual system looks like, if I read the caption of the vid correctly.
At least we can say with confidence that it isn't just a rumor. I might finally have an excuse to upgrade my original DS.
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You KILL Vampires. You don't DATE them.
Re: DS Branching Out
Maybe it'll also help if they stop cracking down on homebrew.
Re: DS Branching Out
What does homebrew have to do with anything related to the story at hand?
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You KILL Vampires. You don't DATE them.
Re: DS Branching Out
Makes it easier to make and release training app games for things without a big market.
Re: DS Branching Out
Ah, so the parent poster is reaching for shit.
Okay.
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You KILL Vampires. You don't DATE them.
Re: DS Branching Out
That's one possible interpretation, yes.
Re: DS Branching Out
Well, either that, or he's just trying to find any excuse whatsoever to get mad that his Wii got bricked because of homebrew.
Let's face it - McDonald's wouldn't spend 2.2 million dollars for DS's if they didn't already have a software solution. Stating that homebrew would somehow be necessary is reaching, to say the least.
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You KILL Vampires. You don't DATE them.
Re: DS Branching Out
I haven't touched home brew softwared for either device, I'd just like to see support for it.
Re: DS Branching Out
The speculation is that it's a specially re-branded version of Cooking Mama.
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
Re: DS Branching Out
Okay, but that goes back to my original post, at the top, that it's just a waste of money, IMO. However, it still proves that homebrew isn't necessary for this route Nintendo is taking, so making some sort of a claim that it is is reaching, at best.
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You KILL Vampires. You don't DATE them.
Re: DS Branching Out
Although a homebrew approach may well have proven cheaper for McDonalds.
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
Re: DS Branching Out
Saying reduces development costs is the same thing as saying that piracy reduces gameplay costs. Barring circumstances where the product is broken, of course you'd save money by utilizing the product without purchasing it.
Re: DS Branching Out
Or having a product made by your IT department without requiring a Nintendo license?
Re: DS Branching Out
Possibly, but that's purely speculation, with no data whatsoever to back up such a claim. Since we don't know how much McDonald's is paying for software, and whether or not a homebrew option would have been done cheaper and/or quicker, it's still reaching.
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You KILL Vampires. You don't DATE them.
Re: DS Branching Out
The DS in a classroom, used as a teaching tool, is awesome.
The DS in McDonalds, used as a teaching tool, is making working at McDonalds far more complicated than it has to be.
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You KILL Vampires. You don't DATE them.