Nintendo DS as Life Coach

This month’s issue of Wired has an interesting note about some new games being released for the handheld Nintendo DS system:

Gals in Japan are using Nintendo DS to do way more than play with Mario. A flood of femme-focused self-help software now runs on the touchscreen handheld. Female Power Emergency Up! DS (shown) promises to “Change your destiny in three months!” by measuring skills in love, fashion, beauty, diet, and fortune-telling(?!), then challenging girls to increase their scores. My Happy Manner Book gives lessons on social etiquette — vital stuff, like which kimonos are proper for single women. Mainichi Kokorobics DS Therapy (a play on the Japanese word for “heart” and the English “aerobics”) is like a series of sessions with a digital psychiatrist. And Yoga Anwhere is a CG personal trainer that demonstrates poses and guides girls through daily workouts.

This got me googling to see of others had developed e-learning for the Nintendo DS platform… which led me to this post:

The only people left in the world who don’t see games as the ideal tool for learning are those that have never played one. If you can’t see that kids are forming, managing, and leading 60 person Guilds and spending 45 hours planning, and learning the correct strategies for achieving one successful mission than you are playing the wrong games and way out of touch.

Re-posted from my abandoned Eduspaces blog