Nintendo announced today that the launch of its new GameCube
console in the US will be delayed by two weeks until the 18th
November. This means that Microsoft should enjoy a 10-day lead on
Nintendo with its US launch of the Xbox console, scheduled for the
8th.
Nintendo said that the US delay is needed to combat stock
shortage and denied that technical problems are to blame. It
confirmed that the Japanese launch of the GameCube is still on
schedule for 14th September. However, Nintendo relies heavily on
the overseas markets which account for 70% of its sales.
Nintendo plans to ship 700,000 GameCubes into the US market for
the new launch date, and the company says that its plans to ship 4
million units worldwide by 31st March 2002 remain unchanged.
Microsoft has denied reports that its Xbox launch in Japan could
be delayed due to alleged production problems at chip-maker Intel.
According to games magazine MCV, Microsoft will hold a briefing in
Tokyo on Monday “to discuss the arrival of Xbox in the
territory.”
