Japanese teaching Wii game uses DS as writing pad

Considering the fact it seems like it would be a relatively straightforward feature to implement, not many Wii games have built into them DS compatibility since the popular console launched.

Perhaps publishers don't think such a feature would be straightforward enough for Nintendo's increasingly casual gamer market to use. Or perhaps it's always been one of those things that's cool in theory but no one actually ever bothers using.

Either way, a game has sprung up (information courtesy of Siliconera) which demonstrates just how well the two consoles can work together.

Japanese kanji teaching game 250 Mannin no Kanken Wii de Tokoton Kanji Nou is a Wii game but instead of getting players to practice their pen strokes with the clunky Wii controller it uses the DS as a sort of writing pad.

As various games featuring handwriting recognition or some form of note-taking feature have demonstrated, the DS touchscreen is (relatively) great for writing onto, and so is an inspired solution for educational game publisher IE Institute, which makes the kanji training game.

Will others latch onto the idea and will we see it featuring in any games released in the west? Let's hope so.