New Nintendo system to be shown at E3 '04

[OB1]

From N-Philes:

Nintendo said at a press conference in Japan that they will debut a new video-game machine in Japan next year and start console sales in China (with the IQue) to spur revenue after posting its loss. Notice they didn't say console specifically, only game machine, it could be handheld or console. Reuters has a key piece of information about this product, which we assume is the game machine. Its reported that the system will be revealed at E3 2004 and will be released by the end of 2004 in Japan.

"We want to launch the product worldwide simultaneously, but we don't know if that will be possible because of the issue of production capacity," Senior Managing Director Yoshihiro Mori told a news conference.

"GameCube is selling well after the price reduction, and Nintendo is in a better position than Microsoft, because the GameCube is more popular with younger kids,'' said Kota Nakako, an analyst at JP Morgan Securities Ltd. in Tokyo. "The price reductions should have been factored into the company's full-year forecast, and should not affect earnings."

Nintendo's group net loss totaled 2.89 billion yen ($26.6 million) in the six months ended Sept. 30. The Kyoto-based company generated profit of 19 billion yen a year ago. First-half sales rose 1.6 percent to 211.4 billion yen, the company said in a statement released through the Osaka Securities Exchange. For more on this, head to the previous news article.

We'll keep you up to date.


Posted by Ethan Pearson, Founder, Director
Source: Bloomberg

Hmm, I wonder what it could be.

[Dark Jaguar]

They said world-wide, so I doubt that. It COULD be the N5 for all we know, we just don't know enough.

I thought handhelds were considered a seperate category than consoles. ??? When I think console, I think this thing sitting on the ground that won't be moving much.

[OB1]

Yeah, this is quite puzzling.

[The Former DMiller]

Nintendo of Japan shot this one down pretty quick. The story's been updated. What they are saying is a new product will be debuted at E3 2004, but it will not be a new home console or a new portable system. They want to launch it in Japan next year, and possibly launch it simultaneously in other markets.

[Dark Jaguar]

Otherwise called a "game" :D.

[OB1]

I don't think it's a game.

[Dark Jaguar]

Then it's the Super DUPER scope! The size of a gatling gun, it's completely unusable, but it LOOKS awesome so it's staying that size!

(Seriously, that Super Scope was VERY badly designed and only to look cool at that.)

[Great Rumbler]

It's vacuum cleaner attachment that plugs into your GC and whenever you play the GC it sucks all the money out of your wallet.

[OB1]

I bet it's a device that enables you to play PS2 games on your Gamecube. That sure would put the GC ahead of the PS2! Hahaha!


....






Well it would....

[Great Rumbler]

Hahahaha... well, actually...yeah it would.

[OB1]

I should work at Nintendo!

[Great Rumbler]

I should too!

[OB1]

Yeah, we could come up with great ideas!

[A Black Falcon]

Hmm... another mysterious 'nintendo will in the future announce something that might be a) a game or b) an add-on... we don't know enough for me to even guess. Sounds more like some add-on, but what kind? No idea yet... like usual with Nintendo and these things.

Of course the other thing you can count on is the announcement date will keep being delayed...

[Dark Jaguar]

If Nintendo did that, Sony would sue them into submission! (And rightfully so actually.)

[A Black Falcon]

No, not if they emulated the PS2 legally... remember, emulators are only illegal if you use any code written by the original manufacturers in your program -- if its all yours and doesn't require any of their stuff (like a Sony bios or something) is legal. :)

Ridiculously unlikely... but legal.

[Dark Jaguar]

Well, Bleem was legal, but that didn't really stop them from being sued into submission :D. Sony could always say they defeated some sort of copyright protection by coding it themselves :D. Not saying it's right, just that they WILL do it :D.

[A Black Falcon]

Bleem lost because they ran out of money to stop Sony's baseless but never ending suits... Nintendo has a bit more money than they did so that wouldn't be a problem. :)

Bleem's problem was that it was for pay... the companies only have gone after those, not freeware ones like most emulators are. For instance I haven't heard of Sony trying to kill the PS2 emulator thats in development... maybe later, I bet.

[Dark Jaguar]

Here's a question. Why would Bleem go under if they WON all those suits? (As I imagine they did.) I mean, I thought the looser had to pay the winner's legal bills. It's not fair to the one who was completely innocent to, effectively, have their money legally stolen from them.

[A Black Falcon]

Because Sony just kept piling up the suits... a small company like Bleem just can't afford it for as long as it went on. Yes, pretty much all the suits were dismissed or Bleem won... but their legal fees did keep piling up, and Sony kept suing, until they were forced under... it was completely unfair, but that's the way capitalism works.

I think there were a few things Sony won in, but none of them were releated to the emulator itsself...

[Dark Jaguar]

That wasn't capitalism. That was abusing a legal loophole that exists outside the business world. How DID legal fees pile up if Sony had to pay them all? Did Sony sue them on multiple claims at the same time? Some sort of system should be in place to disarm such attacks... In fact, shouldn't such obviuosly empty claims as Sony would have had to make at the same time as the main claim have been thrown out from the start?

Hmm, perhaps instead of the party being sued having to pay legal fees as well as the party suing, the party that sues should pay all legal fees, with that being reimbursed by the sued should the suing party win. No, that would be aweful in a situation where someone who doesn't have much money is suing a major company (well, it would be aweful now and then, but it WOULD keep a lot of trivial million dollar handout cases from occuring so much)... Hmm, here's an idea. The courts could pay the legal fees up until the looser is found, and they pay the courts pack the fees... Hmm... I'd assume this would work without the tax payer having to suffer the cost, what with the looser in the court cases paying them back, but I dunno. One thing's for sure, the current system is at least as bad as my three solutions. Another thing's for sure, sometimes having a CHANGE of cruelty is at least more interesting :D.

[Great Rumbler]

That wasn't capitalism. That was abusing a legal loophole that exists outside the business world. How DID legal fees pile up if Sony had to pay them all? Did Sony sue them on multiple claims at the same time? Some sort of system should be in place to disarm such attacks... In fact, shouldn't such obviuosly empty claims as Sony would have had to make at the same time as the main claim have been thrown out from the start?

They had good lawyers, which is an oxymoron by the way, so instead of "good lawyers" I'll just say lawyers that knew how to keep lawsuits going and dreadfully expensive I'd imagine.

[A Black Falcon]

Yeah, when you have skilled enough lawyers even a suit that you will inevitably lose can stretch on, and on, and on... and when you're running a bunch at once... they just went under with the constant fees (Sony chased them with lawsuits for quite a while, remember...). Too bad, but as I said that's how this country works... the winner in court is the one who can afford the better lawyer.