Reggie confirms plans for rollout of the free service in America.

In his keynote at today's D.I.C.E. conference in Las Vegas, Nintendo Executive VP of Sales and Marketing Reggie Fils-Aime has certainly had much to share. Encouraged by surging interest in their DS handheld system, Reggie outlined NOA's plans to bring DS Download kiosks to thousands of retail stores nationwide this March. Credited by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata as an invaluable tool in spreading awareness of their new DS software in Japan, the service will allow DS owners to go to any participating store and wirelessly download a variety of game demos and content to their handhelds. The content would then be able to be enjoyed as long as the system remains powered.

Some readers might remember that the Big N had experimented with this service on American shores last summer, allowing convention-goers at a variety of events including E3 and the San Diego Comic-Con a sneak peek at a wide variety of content. When the service launches officially in late March, demos of games including Tetris DS, Brain Age, Pokemon Trozei, Meteos and Mario Kart DS will be immediately available along with trailers of Metroid Prime Hunters. Gamestop stores are already on board to offer DS Download kiosks, with Nintendo currently in negotiations with other major retailers such as Wal-Mart.

Reggie held up the service as further encouragement for developers to experiment with new game designs:

"This is a huge traffic-driving opportunity for you. Your idea can be sampled. Let the consumer vote. It's a great window for developers to find out what can be done."

It must be said that the service seems to have done wonders for Nintendogs and Brain Training in Japan, so its potential impact is very real. Expect R-E to have more details on the service launch as they are finalized.