JAPAN: JAPAN'S NINTENDO CO LTD HAS SAID IT WILL DELAY THE U.S. DEBUT OF ITS GAME CUBE CONSOLE BY TWO WEEKS

Record ID: 858291

  • Title: JAPAN: JAPAN'S NINTENDO CO LTD HAS SAID IT WILL DELAY THE U.S. DEBUT OF ITS GAME CUBE CONSOLE BY TWO WEEKS
  • Date: 23rd August 2001
  • Summary: GAMECUBE ON GIANT VIDEO SCREEN
  • Embargoed: 7th September 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
  • City:
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Entertainment,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVACI7QWUWDJBK60N91M97JIA8QO
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Japan's Nintendo Co Ltd has said it will delay the U.S.
    debut of its GameCube console by two weeks to ensure a smooth rollout, but stuck to its target of shipping four million of the machines by March 31.
    The delay, announced on Thursday (August 23), in the U.S. launch to November 18 from November 5 means the new console will appear in stores after the rival Xbox due on November 8 from Microsoft Corp, but a Nintendo spokesman emphasised the GameCube would still be available in plenty of time for the Christmas shopping season.
    Nintendo, the world's second-largest home video-game maker, plans to launch the GameCube in Japan on September 14, when it will ship 500,000 of the machines, executive vice president Atsushi Asada told a news conference.
    The next-generation game console will go head-to-head with front-runner Sony Corp's PlayStation 2 and the fresh entrant Xbox, due to go on sale in the autumn.
    Analysts say all eyes will be on the GameCube games' originality and quality, considered the strength of Nintendo, which has said it is not fighting its rivals on the basis of technology or fancy features.
    PlayStation 2, which hit stores in March 2000, and Xbox, set for launch in the United States on November 8, all boast advanced 128-bit processors like the GameCube, but offer superior graphics, audio and memory capacity.
    Nintendo said three new game titles will be released for the GameCube when it debuts in Japan next month, and it aims to offer four additional titles, excluding any released by third-party developers, by the end of the year.
    Industry watchers say another focus is the GameCube's hardware production, especially after a report earlier this month of a possible delay in Xbox because of design problems stoked vague worries that Nintendo's new console could fail to meet its target launch date.
    Last year, hardware shortages plagued PlayStation 2's U.S.
    launch.
    Shares in Nintendo, which generates 70 percent of its sales overseas, have plunged 11 percent so far this month, hit by the yen's steep appreciation against the dollar.
    A strong yen dents exporters' overseas earnings when repatriated into the Japanese currency. The dollar this month hit five-month lows against the yen.
    In late afternoon trade, shares in Nintendo were down
    42 percent at 19,140 yen, giving up modest early gains and sinking to a new low for the day after news of the delayed U.S. debut. The shares, however, were modestly outperforming the which has said it is not fighting its rivals on the basis of technology or fancy features.
    But Asada emphasised that with the company's long experience in the game industry only they can manage to bring back to the game field.
    "As Microsoft is a personal computer maker, they have made a lot of personal computer games. But I don't think they can tackle the industry's depressed mood where users are tired of current game softs which is being trite. We believe only Nintendo can bring people back to the game field," he said.
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