The kitchen tends to be a social hub of the household. It's a favorite place to gather, relax, laugh and socialize, whether you're cooking or eating. Starting March 28, a new software release from Nintendo will make it simple for families and friends to create a fun, festive vibe in their kitchens any time they want. America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking for the Nintendo DS™ family of portable game systems not only offers a wealth of delicious, easy-to-follow recipes but also encourages cooks of any age or experience level to share in the social fun of preparing a meal together.

America's Test Kitchen is widely recognized as a trusted brand for recipes that everyday cooks can easily master and enjoy. Cooking experts take care of the trial-and-error of cooking for you. With America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking, expert and novice chefs alike can select from 300 rigorously tested recipes – covering appetizers, desserts and everything in-between – and prepare them using interactive step-by-step instructions. Users can browse the recipes in several ways, including by ingredients, difficulty or cooking time. A wide range of age-appropriate kitchen tasks means everyone in the household can get in on the action.

"America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking proves that you can never have too many cooks in the kitchen," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "The experts at America's Test Kitchen have taken the guesswork out of cooking, allowing you and your fellow cooks to relax and enjoy the moment. The results are as fun as they are delicious."

America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking offers practical information and advice throughout the cooking process. Prompts appear within each recipe to clarify terms that might be unfamiliar to some users, while audible instructions and how-to videos provide valuable guidance along the way. The handwriting-recognition feature in the America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking software allows users to record their personal notes on recipes.

Because chefs often have their hands full, America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking makes great use of the hardware features of the Nintendo DS family of portable systems. Thanks to each system's built-in microphone, every person in the kitchen can use voice commands to navigate the software while they cook. And when multiple Nintendo DS users are preparing a meal together, they can wirelessly transmit select recipes between systems, even if only one user has a copy of the game card.

The new Nintendo DSi XL™ system also adds to the social experience of cooking and makes the America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking software really come to life. Nintendo DSi XL has screens that are 93 percent bigger than those on the Nintendo DS Lite system, and include the ability to be viewed from a side angle. That means everyone in the kitchen can get a good look at the recipe as they perform their various cooking tasks.

Both America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking and Nintendo DSi XL go on sale on March 28. The software is available at a suggested retail price of just $19.99.

For more information about America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking, visit www.atkgame.com. ...