Nintendo is using a Facebook Application to promote their upcoming release of the double-sized DSi XL device. The application, called “What Would You Like 93% Bigger” is a simple interactive question-and-answer that humorously looks at what would happen if various things were 93% bigger. The 93% is a reference to the upgraded size of the new DS screens.

The application is quite simple and uses cutesy graphics to get across a simple idea. One thing that I really liked was that the application never asks you for your personal information, so it’s pretty much like viewing a webpage inside the Facebook frame. This raises an interesting question: why didn’t they just create the website as a standalone. In my opinion, having it as a Facebook application in Facebook gives it an air of familiarity, but more importantly makes easier to share your selection to your friends, with one click. On an external website, you’d have to login to Facebook Connect.

The problem here, though, is that the Facebook application sphere has grown so large that there’s almost no room for these small diversions anymore, and the numbers reflect this: “What Would You Like 93% Bigger” has only 12 monthly active users (11 if you don’t count me).

Nintendo announced the application as part of their financial press release for the new DS. They also wrote this: “Nintendo, for its part, is determined to significantly boost the social fun of portable gaming”. We’ll see if this refers to anything other than multiplayer games, but it doesn’t seem to be that way, judging by the release.