Game Boy Micro set for a November European launch |
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Sun, 21 Aug 2005 01:05
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TOKYO - Japanese video-game maker Nintendo has announced that it has penciled in September 13 as the launch date for the Game Boy Micro in Japanese markets. The smallest player to come out of the world's largest maker of hand-held game players' stables will make its US debut a week later on September 19.
The Game Boy Micro is as small as a cell phone and is slated to hit the European markets on November 4, according to a release on Nintendo's web site. Game Boy Micro is looking to take on Sony Computer Entertainment Inc's PlayStation Portable, which has cornered a lion's share of the market in the United States. The PSP is set to debut in Europe next month and has already generated quite a frenzy as gamers went in for gray imports of the product from Japan.
Nintendo has an estimated 94 percent market share in the gaming section and will aim to recover lost ground to the PSP with the Game Boy Micro. The product comes with the tag line of being the world's smallest gaming console with a weight of 80 grams and is available in black, silver, blue or purple finish. It is 10 cm wide, 5 cm long and 1.7 cm thick. Nintendo also revealed that the 5-cm liquid crystal screen has been fitted out with five levels of brightness parameters, thus enabling gamers to clearly view tiny characters on their screens. The Kyoto-based company said that it was also looking to target women and casual gamers with the device.
Commenting on the pre-release hype surrounding the device, Jay Defibaugh, an analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston in Tokyo was of the opinion that Nintendo would not expose the Game Boy Micro in areas where the PSP has a strong presence, "It seems counterintuitive these days to release a product with a much smaller screen, given that one of the strengths of PSP is a large and high-quality display," said Defibaugh.
Nintendo hopes to be able to sell around 4 million units of the device by March next year. It is priced at ¥12,000, or $109 in Japan and $99.99 in the United States. The Game Boy Micro will retail for €99.99, or $123 in Europe. Nintendo shares closed up 1.2 percent to 11,320 yen on the Osaka Securities Exchange.
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