Nintendo Wants DS to Become Interactive Grocery Helper

[Tom Goldman]

Nintendo Wants DS to Become Interactive Grocery Helper

Nintendo can make anything into a game, even shopping for groceries.

Nintendo has applied for a patent that shows it has huge plans for the Nintendo DS. Glasses-free 3D [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103851-Nintendo-3DS-Coming-in-2011-With-300-Price-Tag]? Who needs it. Nintendo wants the DS to someday be able to... get ready... become a shopping assistant!

It actually doesn't sound like that bad of an idea. The patent is for an "in-store wireless shopping network using handheld devices," with details that indicate such a network would use the DSi [http://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-DS-Lite-Cobalt-Black/dp/B001290A3U/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1287264853&sr=1-1]. When the systems are brought into a store, or given to customers, they would connect to the network and run a unique program.

The Nintendo handhelds could potentially be attached to a shopping cart, where they would use a database to relay product information, create a shopping list, and to guide shoppers right to what they're looking for. The DS might display a map of a store's aisles, flesh out the ingredients for a specific meal, give cost or health information, or even recommend alternate products if one chosen wasn't available. It wouldn't be so bad if it could be used to play games too while someone you're with is shopping for uninteresting things.

How many times have you been in a store looking for one simple item, with no employees around, and it just eludes your grasp at every turn? I know it happened to me three times in the past month while I was looking for peanut butter, Old Bay seasoning, and steel wool. With the help of Nintendo, maybe it won't have to happen to any of us again in the future, but this better not mean my Nintendo 3DS will someday get filled up with ads for Corn Flakes [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104234-3DS-SpotPass-Downloads-Have-Potential-for-Spam].

Source: Engadget [http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=2&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=NINTENDO.AS.&OS=AN/NINTENDO&RS=AN/NINTENDO]

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[Korten12]

I honestly am thinking Nintendo doesn't even want their stuff for gaming anymore. O_O

 

[skitskat]

I honestly am thinking Nintendo doesn't even want their stuff for gaming anymore. O_O

i'm honestly thinking how long will those DS's last before some local chav nabs em?

 

[tomtom94]

It may not be a gaming-related thing, but it could still be very useful in the wider world.

And that's really what we've got to look at. The DS and iPod touch have shown that utilities are what sells in the current market.

 

[Sparrow]

Stick that thing on a shopping trolly and it WILL be nicked.

 

[Impluse_101]

Uh....um...o-o. I really can't say much on how rediculous this idea is. So...here's a picture of a kitty.

 

[Trivun]

You know something? I actually work in a supermarket, 12 hours a week (over three evening shifts). And because I'm new, the store is brand new, and our managers have an unfortunate habit of changing the layout of certain sections every so often (which is a bugger when you know what section something is but not what part of that section), I find it pretty tough to help customers asking me "Where's the soy sauce? Where do I find eggs? Where can I get some venison?", expecting me to know everything because I happen to be wearing the uniform and standing around a completely different aisle.

So anything like this, that could make my job easier? And promote video-games as something that isn't corrupting the minds of our youth? I'm all for it

 

[TLatshaw]

Arrange some sort of IR gun on the front of my cart, let the DS double as a radar showing all the other carts who are playing and let me have at them in Shopping Tank Laser Tag!

 

[CrystalShadow]

You know something? I actually work in a supermarket, 12 hours a week (over three evening shifts). And because I'm new, the store is brand new, and our managers have an unfortunate habit of changing the layout of certain sections every so often (which is a bugger when you know what section something is but not what part of that section), I find it pretty tough to help customers asking me "Where's the soy sauce? Where do I find eggs? Where can I get some venison?", expecting me to know everything because I happen to be wearing the uniform and standing around a completely different aisle.

So anything like this, that could make my job easier? And promote video-games as something that isn't corrupting the minds of our youth? I'm all for it

I always wonder what shops do that for.

There's a lot of shops I walk around a lot, to the point where I know exactly where various types of things are.

Yet, no sooner do I know how the store is laid out, and some smartass manager or something decides to rearrange the whole thing.

It's like the people that manage shops have got a problem with anyone knowing where to actually find what they're looking for.

 

[MorteSphere]

Why don't they just make a smartphone and get it over with

 

[Fluse]

Tbh the idea is not bad at all, but why use a DS? Something like this would be much better suited as a smartphone app.

I mean, im prety sure theres ALOT more people carrying smartphones arround in a supermarket then there are people carrying a DS arround...

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Stick that thing on a shopping trolly and it WILL be nicked.

Agreed. Hey everybody, lets advertise the fact we have money to spare! Please Mr. disadvantaged man, take my DS!

OT: Not only does it seem like a great way to lose ones DS, it is totally unnecessary. Pen and paper are not only just as portable, they are cheap. If there are no employees around, find one. I didn't buy my DS for shopping.

[sub][sub][sub]You don't need to look at a screen to solve all your problems...[/sub][/sub][/sub]

 

[Magnalian]

Okay. That could work. It's not exactly a selling point, but I'm buying one anyway, so that's a nice bonus.

 

[SimuLord]

Totally against the idea. If I don't know the layout of my local Raley's by now, I never will, and I sure as hell know where the meat counter is at Whole Foods. I don't need some electronic device wasting my time with product suggestions and other marketing claptrap. I just want my delicious meaty dinner in as little time as possible.

 

[spartan1077]

I though nintendo was a gaming company.. not a rip off of Microsoft. Why would they even want to expand to uselessness? Stick to games please.

 

[Gigaguy64]

I think this is a cool idea.
The applications are ENDLESS.

 

[Jeronus]

I don't see why people are getting pissed at Nintendo for giving their handheld some versatility. They still make games and if that is all you want your DS to do that's fine, but don't knock it for trying to appeal to other people.

OT: I think this idea in particular is doomed to fail. You put a popular handheld in to the hands of the public then one of two things will happen. It will get destroyed by the careless ones or stolen by the dishonest ones. The store I work at already has a huge problem with people walking off with our shopping carts. Add something of actual value to the cart and it will only get worse.

 

[eylkkyle]

I always wonder what shops do that for.

There's a lot of shops I walk around a lot, to the point where I know exactly where various types of things are.

Yet, no sooner do I know how the store is laid out, and some smartass manager or something decides to rearrange the whole thing.

It's like the people that manage shops have got a problem with anyone knowing where to actually find what they're looking for.

I think they do that on purpose, for the same reason the brightly-colored produce is right at the entrance: it gets you to buy more. Having your usual map of the store changed will make you wander around the store to try to find what you're looking for, so you're exposed to more of the products, leading to impulse buys. While you personally might not do this, it's a valid method of increasing sales and profit for the store.

On topic, there's no way this will work or be implemented, for what I noted above and because they will get stolen faster than a double chocolate doughnut at a Weight Watcher's convention.

 

[Ghengis John]

Hmmm. I had an idea a while back where cell phones with cameras could be used to help people pick groceries based on various health criteria like "avoid ingredient x" or "compare sodium". I was told my idea was stupid when anyone could read a label. I said people are lazy and don't want to read labels. Wonder if my idea would be considered patent infringement now.

 

[Danlian]

I hope to goodness this is *never* *ever* introduced. I work as a Pharmacy Tech at walmart and let me tell you...the IQ of our average customer barely allows them to understand the difference between hitting the "Cancel" button and the "Continue" button on the simple touch screen pads we use for signing things. I can only imagine all the inane and utterly ridiculous questions I'd have to answer if we had customers trying to use a DS like this.