Nintendo yesterday gave a preview of its new games console,
GameCube, the new model it intends to pitch against the Sony
PlayStation2 and the forthcoming X-Box from Microsoft. GameCube had
been code-named Dolphin during development.
In what appeared to be a dig at its rivals, Nintendo said: We don’t have the motive of spreading our machines to the public so they will be later used as multipurpose audio-visual machines… We aimed for the best possible machine for playing games.” In response to comments that the Nintendo 64 was a difficult console for developers, the company said:
"Instead of going for the highest possible performance, which does not contribute to software development, our idea was to create a developer-friendly next generation TV game machine that maintained above-standard capabilities."
The GameCube will have a 128 bit IBM processor, a DVD player and will be internet-capable. It is small, at 150mm(W) x 110mm(H) x 161mm.
Sony’s PlayStation2, which went on sale in Japan in March and is expected in the UK in November, has to date sold 3 million units and the original PlayStation has sold 73 million units.
The GameCube is expected to go on sale in Japan in July 2001 and in October 2001 in the UK and elsewhere. The pricing is not yet known.
Nintendo also revealed Game Boy Advance, the upgraded version of its popular hand-held machine which has sold 100 million units. The launch of Game Boy Advance, which it will be possible to connect to compatible mobile phones, has been delayed by seven months until March 2001 to extend sales of the current model.
The computer games and console market is valued at around $17 billion. For legal issues relevant to games companies, click here.
