Technology Aug. 06, 2009 - 04:10AM JST ( 1 )

SAN FRANCISCO —

Nintendo said Wednesday that it has updated DSi software to allow users to upload pictures from the camera-equipped handheld videogame devices to hot social-networking website Facebook.

The Facebook photo-sharing feature went live after 5 p.m. Tuesday in California and is usable with a free system update to be available online.

“Facebook and Nintendo DSi build on the trend of personalization that is so important to consumers,” Nintendo of America executive vice president of sales and marketing Cammie Dunaway said in a statement.

“We’re giving people the tools to express themselves in creative new ways and show off the results to their friends and family on Facebook.”

DSi users can tap an on-screen icon to send photos from DSi camera albums to Facebook profile pages by means of wireless broadband Internet connections, according to Nintendo.

The Japanese video game titan has sold more than 1.7 million DSi devices in the United States since the third-generation of the game system was launched here in April, according to figures from industry-tracker NPD Group.

Nintendo reported last week that sales of its Wii consoles have plunged, triggering a sharp drop in recent-quarter profits after years of spectacular growth.

The company had been riding high in recent years after trumping rivals Sony and Microsoft in the battle for dominance of the multi-billion dollar home videogame industry with its family-friendly Wii.

But the console’s worldwide appeal seems to be fading: Wii sales more than halved to 2.23 million units in April-June from 5.17 million a year ago.

Demand for handheld consoles also cooled, with sales of the DS line falling to 5.97 million units from 6.94 million.

Together with a stronger yen, the weak demand pushed Nintendo’s net profit down 60.6% in the quarter from a year earlier to 42.32 billion yen, dousing hopes that the industry would be recession-proof.

Nintendo, which started out in 1989 making playing cards and brought the world Mario and Donkey Kong, has long dominated the market for handheld machines with its Game Boy and DS series.

Wire reports