Reports say that about 10 middle and elementary schools in Osaka will start handing out Nintendo DS consoles to students next January. Nintendo's plan to control the world: 80% complete.
The Osaka Board of Education signed off on the measure, according to Japanator, potentially restoring my faith in public education systems. Students will use "education software" to further their school studies; and by "education software," I assume they mean Brain Age and not Cooking Mama.
The DS's appearance in Japanese classrooms is nothing new. Back in 2006, Kyoto Prefecture's Yawata City had students spend the first ten minutes of class, studying vocab on their Nintendo portables. As of 2009, the prefecture was still using the DS for study.
I can't imagine taxpayers are too happy about this, especially if their kids don't go to these schools. Or they don't even have any kids. But then, Nintendo makes up a pretty serious part of Japan's economy; it could pay off.
Maybe every DS taxes buy for a school child will be 100 yen Nintendo puts toward making games that don't suck.
「ＤＳソフト補助金は反射的利益」 橋下知事 [Sankei via Japanator via Destructoid]