Ever thinking of new ways to expand its existing DS user base, Nintendo has signed a deal with publisher HarperCollins to bring dozens of literary classics to its portable console

The 100 Classic Book Collection will cost approximately £20 and will include classics from the likes of Shakespeare, the Brontë sisters, Jane Austen and Charles Dickens.

If the collection is a success in the UK then Nintendo plan to launch it globally and will also consider making more books available for the hand-held.

To make reading nice and simple, readers will only need to brush their finger across the screen to turn each page.

James Honeywell, a Nintendo executive, said: “When you go on holiday, or if you’re a commuter, lugging around a big paper book can be a bit of an inconvenience. Now you’ve got this whole library that you’re taking with you.

“We hope to encourage people to try books that they wouldn’t go out and purchase themselves.”

The 100 Classic Book Collection, which will be released on December 26, 2008.