DS Non-Gamers in Japan

[Blah]

I was just reading an article in my county newspaper when I came upon an article concerning the non-traditional DS games in Japan. I was amazed at what I found.
Of the 500-odd DS "games" realeased or in the works so far, only about 200 are traditional video games.
60 percent of DS buyers in Japan are non gamers.
The DS is used as an educational tool in many schools in Japan.
Some of the non-traditional games created teach English, guitar lessons, how to keep a household budget, and the study of the Buddhist scripture Heart Sutra.
I find this insane. Compared to Japan, Americans have almost no non-traditional games at all! And many major publishers are jumping on the bandwagon. EA is releasing three games that are basically three parts of a reference on wine, sake, and cocktails. This is EA for pete's sake!
I had always thought that the focus on non-gamers for Nintendo wasn't as effective as hoped. But after seeing what Japanese games are like now, they've clearly succeeded!

[Steerforth]

I am amazed by how little of this Nintendo is doing in the US. I don't have the link, but I remeber reading something a while back where Iwata was upset at NOA and basicly telling them to get with the program on promoting these games, as Brain Age wasn't near as big over here, and the DS took longer to get off the ground.

Also I am surprised by how few nontrad, simple, and original ip games are out for the Wii.

Wii Sports
Wii Play
Big Brain which only half counts because it is a DS remake.

I figured Nintendo could pop out $20 games at a good clip, but even at E3 we only heard of Wii Fit, which is better than nothing (and $70 with periphial), but where is Wii Music and whatever else they got? Are they waiting for Wiiware to release this stuff?

[m0zart1]

My favorite of these, at least in terms of the oddness factor, is the DS camera attachment and the "game" that uses it called "Face Training".  It basically has you do face exercises daily to keep the face muscles firm, supporting a youthful look.  The camera is used by the software to watch your face to make sure you are doing it right and calculate correct form.  Apparently, it will also keep track of changes in your appearance over time to chart the effectiveness of the exercises.

*Mind officially blown*