100 Classic Book Collection
100 Classic Book Collection, known in North America as 100 Classic Books, is an e-book collection developed by Genius Sonority and published by Nintendo, which was released for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. First released in Europe in December 2008, it was later released in Australia in January 2009, and in North America in June 2010. The game includes one hundred public domain works of literature.
100 Classic Book Collection | |
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Developer(s) | Genius Sonority |
Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
Director(s) | Masayuki Kawamoto |
Producer(s) | Manabu Yamana |
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Platform(s) | Nintendo DS |
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Genre(s) | Educational |
Genius Sonority had previously released a similar collection of books in Japan, under the title DS Bungaku Zenshuu, in October 2007.[4][5] A smaller version of the collection consisting of 20 books, under the title Chotto DS Bungaku Zenshu: Sekai no Bungaku 20, was released in Japan as a downloadable DSiWare application in February 2009.[6][7]
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. Additional free books were available to download via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection until the discontinuation of the service on May 20, 2014.[8][9]
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. Players can access introductions for the books, and read about the authors.[8] An in-game quiz features asks players personality-related questions and recommends certain novels depending on the answers given. Players can send "trial versions" of the game to other DS users via the local Wi-Fi.[8]
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][10]
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.[11] 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.[12] The Telegraph newspaper agreed that the game offered good value for money but also criticised the size of the screen.[13]
Included books
- Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
- Emma - Jane Austen
- Mansfield Park - Jane Austen
- Persuasion - Jane Austen
- Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
- Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
- Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher
- Lorna Doone - R.D. Blackmore
- The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Brontë
- Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë
- The Professor - Charlotte Brontë
- Shirley - Charlotte Brontë
- Villette - Charlotte Brontë
- Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë
- The Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan
- Little Lord Fauntleroy - Frances Burnett
- The Secret Garden - Frances Burnett
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
- Through the Looking-Glass - Lewis Carrol
- The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins
- The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
- The Adventures of Pinocchio - Carlo Colodi
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
- The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
- Lord Jim - Joseph Conrad
- What Katy Did - Susan Coolidge
- Last of the Mochicans - James Fenimore Cooper
- Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe
- Barnaby Rudge - Charles Dickens
- Bleak House - Charles Dickens
- A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
- Dombey and Son - Charles Dickens
- Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
- Hard Times - Charles Dickens
- Martin Chuzzlewit - Charles Dickens
- Nicholas Nickleby - Charles Dickens
- The Old Curiosity Shop - Charles Dickens
- Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
- The Pickwick Papers - Charles Dickens
- A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
- The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
- The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
- Adam Bede - George Eliot
- Middlemarch - George Eliot
- The Mill on the Floss - George Eliot
- King Solomon's Mines - Henry Rider Haggard
- Far From the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
- The Mayor of Caterbridge - Thomas Hardy
- Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
- Under the Greenwood Tree - Thomas Hardy
- The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo
- Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
- The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon - Washington Irving
- Westward Ho! - Charles Kingsley
- Sons and Lovers - D.H. Lawrence
- The Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux
- The Call of the Wild - Jack London
- White Fang - Jack London
- Moby Dick - Herman Melville
- Tales of Mystery and Imagination - Edgar Allen Poe
- Invahoe - Sir Walter Scott
- Rob Roy - Sir Walter Scott
- Waverley - Sir Walter Scott
- Black Beauty - Anna Sewell
- All's Well That Ends Well - William Shakespeare
- Antony and Cleopatra - William Shakespeare
- As You Like It - William Shakespeare
- The Comedy of Errors - William Shakespeare
- Hamlet - William Shakespeare
- Julius Caesar - William Shakespeare
- King Henry the Fifth - William Shakespeare
- King Lear - William Shakespeare
- King Richard the Third - William Shakespeare
- Love's Labour's Lost - William Shakespeare
- Macbeth - William Shakespeare
- The Merchant of Venice - William Shakespeare
- A Midsummer-Night's Dream - William Shakespeare
- Much Ado About Nothing - William Shakespeare
- Othello, the Moor of Venice - William Shakespeare
- Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare
- The Taming of the Shrew - William Shakespeare
- The Tempest - William Shakespeare
- Timon of Athens - William Shakespeare
- Titus Andronicus - William Shakespeare
- Twelfth Night - William Shakespeare
- The Winter's Tale - William Shakespeare
- Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson
- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll - Robert Louis Stevenson
- Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson
- Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift
- Vanity Fair - William Thackeray
- Barchester Towers - Anthony Trollope
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
- Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain
- Round the World in Eighty Days - Jules Verne
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne
- The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde
- The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
References
- Jenkins, David (January 6, 2009). "UK Charts: Wii Play Is 2009's First Chart Topper". Gamasutra.co. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
- Kozanecki, James (January 19, 2009). "AU Shippin' Out January 19–23: Skate 2". GameSpot.com. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- Cabral, Matt (February 24, 2010). "DSi XL Hits North America Next Month For $190". Kotaku.com. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
- Spencer (October 27, 2007). "Siliconera " Books on your DS? Hands on DS Bungaku Zenshuu". Siliconera.com. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- DS文学全集. Nintendo.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- Spencer (February 20, 2009). "Here Is Your Nintendo DSiWare Line Up For February". Siliconera.com. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- "ちょっとDS文学全集 世界の文学20". Nintendo.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- Riley, Adam (December 28, 2008). "100 Classic Book Collection (DS Novel) at C3 Reviews". Cubed3.com. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- "Titles with additional downloadable content". Nintendo. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
- Jenkins, David (January 13, 2009). "UK Charts: Wii Fit Sprints Back To Number One". Gamasutra.com. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- Anderiesz, Mike (January 6, 2009). "Guardian review". The Guardian. London.
- Gibson, Ellie (February 9, 2009). "Eurogamer review".
- Hoggins, Tom (January 6, 2009). "Telegraph review". The Daily Telegraph. London.