Nintendo Co will sell the new GameCube video-game console in the US for about US$200, as much as 33 percent less than rival products from Sony Corp and Microsoft Corp.
Nintendo, maker of games such as ``Pokemon,'' plans to put the device on sale Nov. 5 for US$199.95, the company said. GameCube will appear in stores three days before Microsoft will start selling the new Xbox game system for US$299. Sony sells PlayStation2 for US$299.
Nintendo plans to sell a combined 2.5 million GameCube units in Japan and the US this year, company director Hiroshi Imanishi said. The lower price may help boost sales of exclusive GameCube games, most of which will be published by Nintendo itself, an analyst said. The price also may appeal to cost-conscious parents buying the console for their children.
``GameCube's going to be bet-ter value,'' said Joseph Spiegel, an analyst with Spinner Asset Man-agement, which owns Nintendo shares. ``While they may be leaving some money on the table on the hardware side, they can more than make up for it on software sales.'' Nintendo raised the number of its own software titles for GameCube to go on sale Nov. 5 to six from the five announced last week. The games will cost US$50 each.
Nintendo's exhibit featuring GameCube at last week's Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles seemed to draw larger crowds than exhibits from Sony and Microsoft, game-industry executives said.
``The response to products at the show was very strong,'' said George Harrison, a vice-president for marketing for Nintendo's US unit.
GameCube's price could spur a price cut from Sony to US$279 or US$249, Spiegel said.
There is a ``50-50 chance'' of a price cut on PlayStation2, Harrison said. Sony will have to decide by late August whether to reduce prices ahead of the GameCube and Xbox introductions, in order to give retailers time to prepare ads, he said.
Unlike GameCube, PlayStation2 and Xbox will play digital versatile disc movies, though Xbox requires the additional purchase of a remote control.
``They have to price it significantly lower than Sony and Microsoft,'' said James Lin, an analyst with Jefferies & Co.
``Nintendo wanted to make a statement at US$199.''
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