DSi turning into PDA?

The second batch of downloadable games and applications for the DSi console has been announced by Nintendo on their official website.

The downloadable titles – called DSIWare – are slowly but surely transforming the dual-screened handheld console from being a traditional gaming machine, into more of a PDA, with new alarm clock and train map software.

On Wednesday, eight new titles will be launched in Japan, including a slimmed down version of Planet Puzzle League, a card game collection, and two artistic shortform games.

More curious, however, is the introduction of the alarm clock application – hardly an essential application for a gaming machine. You can add this feature to your DSi console for 200 DSi points. You can then programme your own alarm sounds recorded via the microphone.

A compilation of train maps also hits the handheld, allowing Japanese travellers to create routes using the styles.

While the applications aren’t a huge surprise given how successful non-traditional DS titles such as Brain Age and Cooking Guide have been, it does signal a move away from Nintendo’s games-only strategy, perhaps due to increased pressures from new competitors such as the Apple iPhone.