Nintendo has announced that it will integrate its DSi system with Facebook photos, at the E# Expo in Los Angeles today. The announcement comes a day after Microsoft Xbox Live announced its own integration with Facebook Connect, enabling the ability to share gaming updates through your Facebook news feed.

For Nintendo, photo integration means that photos taken with the system’s built in camera and interactive lenses will load directly to Facebook. The integration leverages Facebook Connect, and will be launched later on this summer with the Nintendo DSi system update.

For gamers, the ability to share their game history creates an interesting narrative that can connect fellow gamers and provide yet another outlet for personalizing their social networking persona online. If you check out my own Facebook albums you’ll see a SIMS album of game photos I saved. No one really seemed to care back then, but given direct integration with a gaming system as well as the aid of Facebook Connect, it will be more likely to actually connect with other gamers that share the same interests as yourself. I’m excited.

For Nintendo, the actual social networking that can occur around something as simple as game narrative photo uploads can mean organic and viral marketing for the gaming company. Even if marketing isn’t explosive, integration with Facebook Connect is a lot more effective than direct marketing and online advertising, and this particular form of integration means that gamers are sharing a unique aspect of their personal gaming experience with their friends. Hopefully their friends will be better than mine, since most my friends could care less about the video game photos I upload.

What do you think: great move for Nintendo or a metiocre attept to become more involved in social networking?