Print club stands (purikura in Japan) are little photo booths where you take pictures, scribble on them, and print out stickers. They were hot before, but not as much now since everyone has a camera phone.
Nintendo’s take on the print club phenomenon comes in the form of a DSiWare app named Itsudemo Purikura Kiradeko Premium (loosely: Anytime Print Club Sparkle and Stamp Premium). The downloadable program lets users take pictures with the DSi’s camera and decorate them with frames, pastel pens, and glittery stamps. Basically, it’s print club minus the stickers. Photos can be transferred to another DSi wirelessly and copied to other devices like a cell phone via an SD card. While cat ear frames may not catch on overseas Nintendo’s print club application could be a hot item in Japan. This isn’t the only DSiWare photo application either.
Nintendo also developed Smile Collecting Book which lets users collect and organize 80 smiles. Group faces on an map by evaluating characteristics such as gorgeous vs. simple and child-like vs. adult. You can even associate faces by what animal they look like. The concept of the Smile Collecting Book is you can see friendly faces at anytime to brighten your day.
Both applications cost 500 DSiWare Points ($5) on Japan’s DSiWare store. These photo programs, Brain Age: Sudoku, and another Master of Illusion Express trick come out on April 22.