In its head-to-head battle against offerings from Microsoft Corp and Sony Corp, Nintendo Co's video-game machine GameCube has a tiny but potent ally -- the handheld Game Boy Advance that doubles as a sophisticated remote control, complete with a colorful display.
Play the game Kirby Tilt and Tumble on GameCube, and a rolling pink ball disappears into a cloud, rolls down and pops up on the Game Boy Advance display in your hand.
PHOTO: AFP
With just the right skillful manipulation, the player can jettison the ball back into the GameCube screen and continue with the rest of the game. The way the two Nintendo machines work together was a key part of an exhibit on GameCube by the Japanese game-maker shown to reporters ahead of its opening to the public in a Tokyo suburb tomorrow.
The big three-way game war is heating up ahead of Christmas. GameCube goes on sale in Japan Sept. 14 and Nov. 18 in the US. Microsoft's Xbox is slated for Nov. 8 in the US and its Japan plans will be announced next Monday.
"Many game fans are no longer amazed by superior graphics alone," said Nintendo executive vice president Atsushi Asada. "We need to offer new types of surprises."
Although the Sony PlayStation 2 has a head start in the race, already tallying nearly 15 million in worldwide shipments, GameCube makes up in pricing -- US$199.95 in the US and ?25,000 (US$207) in Japan.
That's a bargain compared to PlayStation2, which sells for US$299 in the US and recently came down here to ?35,000 (US$290) from the initial ?39,800 (US$330). Xbox will cost US$299.
Nintendo, based in the ancient capital of Kyoto, cut costs by keeping the machine simple, sticking to basic fun and games, although Net-linking and DVD capabilities are being offered later as separately sold attachments.
PlayStation2 also can show DVDs. Xbox has a built-in hard drive and high-speed Internet connection.
Peter Main, executive vice president of Nintendo of America, said he wasn't worried about the competition from Xbox and PlayStation 2 because GameCube was sticking to the basics and not trying to offer something consumers may only want down the road.
"GameCube pure and simple is an exquisite gaming machine -- one purpose only," he said. "Nintendo is ready for right now but also prepared for tomorrow."
Given the recent tough times on both sides of the Pacific, GameCube may have opted for smart pricing.
The expected arrival of GameCube is even setting off speculation the PlayStation2 may come down in price in the US ahead of Christmas. Sony refused to say whether a price cut was in the works.
"Offered at such an attractive price, GameCube is highly competitive," said Soichiro Fukuda, analyst with Nikko Salomon Smith Barney in Tokyo.
Microsoft's decision to offer more at a higher price could prove its downfall unless online games take off soon. The majority of players still go for regular packaged games.
Dreamcast, the video-game machine from Tokyo game-maker Sega Corp that went on sale in 1998, was the first to offer Net access. But it eventually lost out in the race against PlayStation2.
Sega pulled out of the console market earlier this year and is now only making games for other machines, including GameCube.
The remote function of Game Boy Advance, which has sold 5 million worldwide since going on sale earlier this year, can add a new dimension to playing games.
The handheld's sensor can detect its tilts and angles and translate them into moves on the GameCube screen, delivering subtle moves for athletes in sports games. The Game Boy Advance can also offer downloads of parts of GameCube games for portable play.
The games using Game Boy as a remote will hit the Japanese market by the end of the year and probably next year in the US, Nintendo said.
Another big plus GameCube is counting on against its rivals is the sheer strength of Nintendo games, such as the best-selling Super Mario Brothers shipped 40 million worldwide. Other all-time favorites include Tetris, Donkey Kong, Zelda and Pokemon.
``We're coming out with a machine for people to have fun playing games together and getting rowdy. It's not for spending time cooped up alone,'' said Nintendo spokesman Ken Toyoda.
`That's not the kind of world we want.''
Nintendo plans to sell 1.4 million GameCube consoles in Japan and 1.1 million in the US this year. It will be ready with 500,000 machines for the initial shipment in Japan and 700,000 in the US.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique