Nintendo Announces DS Camera, Face Training
Having already trained the brains of the Japanese and begun work on training their eyes, Nintendo now wants to train... their faces. — Otona No DS Kao Training, or Face Training, includes a camera that plugs into the Game Boy Advance slot …
Context & Ripple Effects
Nintendo's DS strategy has been steadily converting the handheld into a self-improvement device for Japanese adults: after the 2005 handwriting-recognition deal added pen-input learning software, the company built its brain-training franchise and, per its own statement, moved on to eye training. Face Training is the next rung on that ladder.
Otona No DS Kao Training ships with a camera cartridge that plugs into the Game Boy Advance slot, giving every existing DS owner a facial-exercise title without buying new hardware. The announcement matters because it extends the 'train your body part' formula from brain to eyes to face, deepening Nintendo's bet on non-traditional, older players.
First-order effects
- DS owners gain a slot-in camera accessory bundled with Face Training, turning the existing installed base into an addressable market for camera-based software overnight.
- Nintendo's adult-oriented 'Otona' line gains a third body-part category — brain, eyes, now face — reinforcing the positioning of the DS as a wellness device rather than purely a game console.
Second-order effects
- Third-party publishers get a standardized camera peripheral in the GBA slot, lowering the barrier to camera-based titles of their own and creating a new accessory-plus-software SKU pattern for retailers.
- Rivals in the casual-training space face pressure to match the peripheral-bundled format, since Nintendo is again selling hardware add-ons that only its own first-party titles initially exploit.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, handheld consoles compete less on raw specs than on cheap slot-in sensors that refresh the installed base between hardware generations — a structural shift toward modular peripherals as lifecycle extenders.
- The self-improvement software category widens the buyer demographic beyond gamers, pulling adult wellness spending into the games channel and inviting scrutiny of health claims from regulators and medical professionals.
The trend: Nintendo is lengthening the DS's commercial life by pairing inexpensive slot-in peripherals with adult self-improvement software, one body part at a time.