Slashdot Mirror

Or people can get to the meat of the story by just going to http://pocket.ign.com/news/35946.html, which has full details on where the control is and how to access it. I'd rather buy the special screwdriver and take the thing apart than puncture the sticker on the back of my Gameboy Advance, but still, it's nice to know where it is if I'm desperate. =)

pocket.ign.com is reporting that there is a pot accessible from the back of the GBA that controls contrast. Check it out here.

pocket.ign.com is reporting that there is a pot accessible from the back of the GBA that controls contrast. Check it out here.

For the hardware hackers out there, IGN has an article how to adjust the contrast on your GBA (and Neo Geo Pocket. w00t): Game Boy Advance Too Dark?

Sorry if this is all redundant, portablemonopoly is /.'ed and I can't get to it

psxndc

Some GBA owners have also found an adjustable pot under a sticker on the back of the system that serves as a contrast control. Seems to wash out the display and increase flickering due to interlacing, but some claim slight improvements. See the IGN board discussing it http://boards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=6921262&re plies=462
---

People seem to be assuming the mystery game referred to in the article is Phantasy Star Online, but this IGN article says its Guru Guru Onsen 2, a collection of minigames including mahjong and poker. That's not to say PSO won't be multiplatform in the future; after all, it's already been announced for Gamecube, and it'd surely be cheaper for Sega to have GC users connect to the existing PSO servers.

It's really nice to see that Sony's going to capitalize on Sega's work and bring good online gaming to the playstation sheep, but where the hell is NINTENDO? gar! Sure the article says Sega is making deals with Nintendo, but look at what Yamauchi is saying! "...online games are only for the hardcore gamer." I'm not sure what I'm supposed to think about that. It's hard not to see it as a middle finger, but maybe I'm overly sensitive :)

Irregardless of this "gesture" from Yamauchi-san, I'm planning on jumping to the Gamecube in the fall (since the life is slowly draining from my beloved Dreamcast) but it's gonna be a real bummer if there's no hope of playing anything online ever... The Xbox is just too expensive (I don't need another DVD player, or that GIGANTIC CONTROLLER... but if Jet Set Radio Future remains an exclusive, I'll probably cave in.

id is bringing Commander Keen to the Game Boy Color (not even Advance). Check it out here:
http://pocket.ign.com/previews/16248.html

Review of the newer model

Vermifax

Here's the review of the Japanese version of GBA over at IGN. As well as an older preview, with all sorts of links for the GBA here.

Enjoy.

Here's the review of the Japanese version of GBA over at IGN. As well as an older preview, with all sorts of links for the GBA here.

Enjoy.

I have only one thing to say...

"MAME"

The idea of running MAME on the PS2 and playing Crazy Kong from the comfort of couch just puts me in a spin.

Sure you'll need the HD and Network adapters, which'll cost you. But system price is supposed to drop to $200 sometime in the fall, so it's not that bad. And I challenge you to find a PC for $500 that has similar graphics performance.

Besides, DOA2 still rocks the house!
:)
--

I have only one thing to say...

"MAME"

The idea of running MAME on the PS2 and playing Crazy Kong from the comfort of couch just puts me in a spin.

Sure you'll need the HD and Network adapters, which'll cost you. But system price is supposed to drop to $200 sometime in the fall, so it's not that bad. And I challenge you to find a PC for $500 that has similar graphics performance.

Besides, DOA2 still rocks the house!
:)
--

Official site -- Diablo II: Lord of Destruction.

IGN Review of DII LOD. Very good review, plenty o' screenshots.

The Japanese point of view on Diablo II: Lord of Destruction.

Nintendo is planning to launch a wireless controller, sold seperatly, with the Gamecube. It's going to be called the Wavebird, and it looks pretty much like the regular Gamecube controller, except that it's wireless and works from up to 30 feet away. IGN has some details.

Wireless controllers themselves are nothing new anyways in the third party world anyways.

There's nothing sinister about having licensing fees lower than Nintendo's - practically every console there's ever been has had lower licensing fees. Also, new game consoles have been sold below cost at least since the 16-bit era. The PS2 also initially lost around $150 per box - this is not that unusual in the console business. Your comments look especially silly now that it's been leaked that Nintendo is going to price their console $100 lower than the Xbox.

When MS plans to LOSE 3-4 BILLION DOLLARS, you know there's something up their sleeves. Dumping is their strategy; don't be fooled.

Incidentally, "dumping" is a myth invented by the US semiconductor industry to get the FTC to make the industry less competitive, screw consumers, and keep IC prices high. As someone who lectures others about economic ignorance, you should know this.

--

Granted, it's not with GF3 enhanced lightsaber effects, and it makes the game harder to finish with the karma system in place, but man, talk about satisfaction.

Turbine Entertainment has been pretty hush-hush about it, but it sounds as though they have a big chunk of the project completed.
There is a blurb about AC 2 being demoed here.
From other reports I have read, it appears they are looking at supporting both Windows and the X-Box. Sorry, probably no Linux clients.
In this interview, they do discuss some of the cooler improvements they have in the works, such as having clouds form over a period of weeks into thunderstorms.

Incidentally, download link of Bingo can be found at http://scifi.ign.com/movies/1677.html. Good stuff.

Xbox will probably do some damage in America, but what about Japan? Microsoft's usual solution to this sort of problem is to throw a bunch of money at it, but unless they do something crazy I think they're going to get a serious wake-up call.

Bill Gates did the keynote at the Tokyo Games Show this past March, and apparently he wasn't very well received. Normally, I would take this sort of analysis with a grain of salt, but considering this came from a pro-xbox site I am more inclined to believe it.

Or it could end up like that Futurama Episode where aliens 1,000 light years away attack because the season finale of "Single Female Lawyer" was interrupted 1,000 years ago and they wanted to see the ending. That episode was absolutely classic.

http://cubemedia.ign.com/media/news/image/cube/gcn ewlogo1.jpg

Take a quick glance at it. It looks like a G. Now take a closer look.

The last paragraph highlights a comment from the president of Sega, Hideki Sato. The statment shows that the fault with their failure was not in the hardware or games, but in the lack of marketing. I have also seen other articles at The Register that confirm stories of arguing at executive levels. This bickering led to the lack of marketing, and hence the demise. And this demise is much to my dismay, as I am a avid Sega fan. NEED SOULCALIBUR! Any way...

Sega has done similar things in the past, as seen when they failed to market the Sega Nomad. The Nomad was essentially a portable Genesis, and it rocked. Information on it can be found here and here.

Sega has continually disappointed for years, making the same mistakes with several systems, including the Saturn, the Nomad, and the Dreamcast. I am at a loss for words at the mismanagement of this potentially groundbreaking company.

One thing I find interesting about this new console is the decision to use an 366 MHz Intel Celeron. I would assume that if Nokia wanted to really compete, they would use either a faster processor or at least the Pentium. I know that Linux would make excellent use of any CPU beyond a 486 (*grin*), but wouldn't the greater power be needed to compare to something like a 766Mhz Pentium 3? As Nokia has not released what kind of video processing/GPU/etc, we have little to compare to in the visual arena. Although looking good is not what determines how good a game is, it helps. So with what we currently know, I have some substantial doubts about this system.

The future remains uncertain....

The last paragraph highlights a comment from the president of Sega, Hideki Sato. The statment shows that the fault with their failure was not in the hardware or games, but in the lack of marketing. I have also seen other articles at The Register that confirm stories of arguing at executive levels. This bickering led to the lack of marketing, and hence the demise. And this demise is much to my dismay, as I am a avid Sega fan. NEED SOULCALIBUR! Any way...

Sega has done similar things in the past, as seen when they failed to market the Sega Nomad. The Nomad was essentially a portable Genesis, and it rocked. Information on it can be found here and here.

Sega has continually disappointed for years, making the same mistakes with several systems, including the Saturn, the Nomad, and the Dreamcast. I am at a loss for words at the mismanagement of this potentially groundbreaking company.

One thing I find interesting about this new console is the decision to use an 366 MHz Intel Celeron. I would assume that if Nokia wanted to really compete, they would use either a faster processor or at least the Pentium. I know that Linux would make excellent use of any CPU beyond a 486 (*grin*), but wouldn't the greater power be needed to compare to something like a 766Mhz Pentium 3? As Nokia has not released what kind of video processing/GPU/etc, we have little to compare to in the visual arena. Although looking good is not what determines how good a game is, it helps. So with what we currently know, I have some substantial doubts about this system.

The future remains uncertain....

The last paragraph highlights a comment from the president of Sega, Hideki Sato. The statment shows that the fault with their failure was not in the hardware or games, but in the lack of marketing. I have also seen other articles at The Register that confirm stories of arguing at executive levels. This bickering led to the lack of marketing, and hence the demise. And this demise is much to my dismay, as I am a avid Sega fan. NEED SOULCALIBUR! Any way...

Sega has done similar things in the past, as seen when they failed to market the Sega Nomad. The Nomad was essentially a portable Genesis, and it rocked. Information on it can be found here and here.

Sega has continually disappointed for years, making the same mistakes with several systems, including the Saturn, the Nomad, and the Dreamcast. I am at a loss for words at the mismanagement of this potentially groundbreaking company.

One thing I find interesting about this new console is the decision to use an 366 MHz Intel Celeron. I would assume that if Nokia wanted to really compete, they would use either a faster processor or at least the Pentium. I know that Linux would make excellent use of any CPU beyond a 486 (*grin*), but wouldn't the greater power be needed to compare to something like a 766Mhz Pentium 3? As Nokia has not released what kind of video processing/GPU/etc, we have little to compare to in the visual arena. Although looking good is not what determines how good a game is, it helps. So with what we currently know, I have some substantial doubts about this system.

The future remains uncertain....

Here's my favorite gaming sites to visit almost daily:

VoodooExtreme
Shacknews
Stomped
Computer Gaming Online
GamesSpy
3D News
Firing Squad
Avault
Games Domain
GamesMania
IGN News (PC)

• Gamers.com - Not too much info nowadays (they got bit too)
  
• The GIA - Fairly good coverage of major events. Very review and gameplay heavy, rather than industry news.
  
• Gamasutra - Industry news in a simple format, though more finance and 3rd party tools related
  
• FGN Online - Pretty good coverage. It's now an IGN affiliate.
  
• SegaDojo - Fairly good SEGA related coverage
  
• MS Xbox - For the people who can get past the fact that Microsoft might just have a kick ass gaming machine
  
• Final Fantasy Online - For any Final Fantasy freak. The site's down at the moment, though
  
• IGN Games - Coverage of anything and everything in gaming
  
• GameSpot - Okay, so it's GameSpot. At least they publish all their media in downloadable MPEGs
  
• Core Magazine - All the random things that other people don't cover, including interviews and stuff straight from Japan.
  
• US Famitsu - Currently down, with no plans of coming back up, but it's the US branch of the standard gaming press in Japan - Famitsu
  
• Stomped - Lots of coverage of gaming in general, with some focus on FPS.
  
• Blue's News - Blue keeps going, and it's always focused on FPS for the most part.
  
• OMM - And of course, Old Man Murray.
  

And again, sorry, but please GOD let IGN be next. Living day to day without them pandering to my manly needs for babes and alchohol is sure to have it's downsides, but I think I can cope, and I really can't think of any.

And again, sorry, but please GOD let IGN be next. Living day to day without them pandering to my manly needs for babes and alchohol is sure to have it's downsides, but I think I can cope, and I really can't think of any.

I think Nintendo's only trying to gauge how they will price the NGC. Yamauchi has been frank about precious few release details, but console pricing is TBA in late May. This IGN update even points out that the price announce date is 5 days after E3.

They have a lot to consider. If the "all games, no CD/DVD" approach appeals to the general public, then Nintendo can afford to price the NGC as high as is competitive. If it gets a lukewarm response at E3 (for that or any other reason), they may try to fight a price war with Sony and MS, focusing on price in their marketing. That's a major factor with parents, if not with us wealthy geeks.

Even Yamauchi's announcements that NGC will be delayed in order to secure adequate chip supplies hint that pricing is still likely unsure within Nintendo. When (not if) NEC agrees to Nintendo's pricing for the Flipper chip, Nintendo will price the NGC.

Regardless, I'm getting an NGC for the Zeldariotroid games: Zelda, Mario, Metroid. Kids will buy it for Pokemon. Nintendo understands killer apps just as well as MS.

< tofuhead >
--

Nintendo have already shipped hundreds of completed dev kits to 3rd parties, whereas Microsoft haven't even shipped finalised kits yet. Even with this fact, the masses still seem to think that the Xbox will be out this year, and Nintendo are the ones struggling to meet their deadline.

As for your Oct 2001 comment, well, you're wrong there too; the GameCube is being released in the US in Nov 2001.

And Pokemon, well, where have Nintendo made the impression they plan on launching the GameCube hoping for Pokemon to support it? The games Nintendo seem to have the most 'console selling' faith in are their traditional Mario launch title, and Metroid.

Anyway, I think this is why that AC had a shot at you. Calling you a dumbfuck was a little harsh, but people that read cube.ign.com fairly regularly do know the 'truth' behind the common GameCube misconceptions. And I do think just pointing people at that basic FAQ was a bad move...

The GameCube will launch this year, and it will not be depending on Pokemon.

But Nintendo has a nearly guaranteed winner in the GAMECUBE because kids are going to want one no matter what, as Nintendo has trademarks on popular franchises such as Super Mario, the series formerly known as Zelda (when was the last time you saw Princess Z being rescued? A Link to the Past?),

Hmmm... Princess Zelda was the subject of rescue during Zelda: The Ocarina of Time

That was a N64 game.

Obviously your assertion that "kids are going to want [GameCube] no matter what," is based off of past Nintendo history. If you were up-to-date on the Nintendo games and franchises, you'd know there was a Zelda in Ocarina of Time. And you'd also know that kids love affair with Pokemon is fading.

Nintendo's first party franchise games will be on the GameCube, but they're going to be more than just a kiddie system. Check out some of those "kiddie" games slated for the GameCube on IGN.com.

Christopher N Emmick

I don't think that quote was taken in context. Based on this article at IGN, Yamauchi made this comment in regard to the recent announcement that Gamecube will be delayed in Japan. His intentions aren't on scrapping the Gamecube, but merely rethinking their marketing strategy if there's a negative response at E3. At any rate, the number one priority for Nintendo is releasing their system in time for the holiday season.

I'm hoping gamers looking for a GameCube won't move towards the Xbox. I just don't like Microsoft in the game counsel market. They've invaded my home enough already.

Don't base your consel purchasing decisions on stats. The PS2's new system design gives it un-told power. The early demo of the MGS2 show off the PS2's real power. Amazing.
--

Details here on Nintendo's official GameCube accessories page, and IGNcube has a more in-depth look here.

Hope this is of some (somewhat offtopic) interest...

Why do people forget that as failed as the Nintendo 64 was Nintendo still sold double the gaming software of it's closest competitor, EA? Sure, this is due in large part to Pokemon and the Game Boy, but don't forget that while the PSX outsold the N64 in units, the N64 sold more games for the past few years. Nintendo and Rare have made a good number of the best console games in the last generation and I can't wait to see what they do with the GC.

My point is this: Nintendo doesn't have to 'learn' anything. Some people just need to figure out that they really are in their own league. Sony and Microsoft are making computers to play video games, Nintendo is making games that just happen to run on a computer. I'm not saying Nintendo is going to "win" any kind of "console war", but they'll do just fine because they know how to make games that are fun, unlike a large number of the PS2's mature titles, which tend to seem like a chore you undertake just to get to the next cutscene.

The other thing that bothers me is the assumption that Nintendo's games are for kids. I'm 23, I've been playing video games since I was four, I play Q3A, UT, Metal Gear, Total Annihilation, and a whole bunch of other "mature" games, and I still think that Mario Tennis is one of the most fun games I've ever played. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the best example of level design in any game, period. Video games are supposed to be fun, if they happen to have blood and guts or "mature" themes, fine, but that isn't necessary. However, if it makes you feel any better, there do appear to be a good number of rated M games headed to the Cube at or just after launch, although Nintendo will probably only publish one of those (Perfect Dark 2, maybe, although it's my candidate for 'most likely to be delayed').

As for the non-standard media, this is seen by many as a great move on Nintendo's part. Because you can't pick up black GameCube disks a Best Buy, it's harder to pirate the games (probably not impossible, but much harder). This is a nice selling point to developers trying to decide which console to publish for. Also, they are much cheaper to manufacture than the cartridges, and the licensing fees for the GC are said to be as good as, or better than the PS2 (source: IGN GC FAQ).

The 3D maze was in Excel 95. The flight sim is in Excel 97.

They can be found in the archived /. at http://slashdot.org/articles/99/12/01/1424204.shtm l

and in the Easter Egg Archive.

Heheh. Everyone time Easter Eggs comes up, I remember the ones back in Need For Speed (PSX).

Mine was this one: Players can only enter names with that a maximum 8 chars. I was a little annoyed that my name wouldn't fit, so I had the name entry screen automatically append the "I" when you entered in my last name.

And I remember the day Dave (fiziks guy) put in the machine gun cheat. Lost productivity that day :)

Now only if we could find that nude cheat in Dungeon Keeper. :) (Hey, Peter Molyneux said no one found it, at last years GDC talk or at Blue's new's link)

Sigma is a game being developed by Relic, the studio that created Homeworld (Game of the Year by some accounts, etc, etc.) Anyway if you dig B&W, you might also dig Sigma (when it's out, late this year?) It involves crazy creatures, a B-movie plot, genetic wackiness, a pretty impressive rendering engine, etc. I'm sure the dev team of Sigma has watched B&W closely (it's been in development for about as long), though the gameplay and objectives seem to be different enough. Homeworld cameras and gameplay were great, so I have high hopes for Sigma!

In the words of Relic's CEO, Alex Garden, (who has brushed shoulders with Peter Molyneaux)... "We prefer to think of Sigma as what happens when a geneticist smokes far too much crack."

Some links for more info...
http://forums.relicnews.com
http://pc.ign.com/previews/14840.html
http://firingsquad.gamers.com/features/gamestock01 /page2.asp
http://www.gameweek.com/features/gamestock01/pc/in dex3.shtml
http://gamepen.ugo.com/gamepen/Features.asp?itemid =92&pageid=5
http://www.gamesmania.com/articles/PC/sigma/previe ws1.asp

How does Relic afford to fund a game that has also been something like 3 years in the making? Microsoft dollars. Sierra funded Homeworld. Not sure why MS is backing this one, and say what you want about the evil empire... but they've got money to risk on crazy games like Sigma. And I think that's pretty goddamn cool...

And of course the DX3, DX5, DX7, DX8 interfaces never changed eh? :)

Anyway, who knows what the future of OpenGL is? It doesn't have anywhere near the support it used to.

Eh? NVidia loves OpenGL. Alias|Wavefront loves OpenGL. etc

As for "crippling" your software to fit hardware specs, well, you always have to do that, whether you use OpenGL or DirectX or any other API.

Er, yeah, that was my whole point.

of course, Dx has always been more flexible in making assumptions involving synchronicity and state, so this is only true if one really wants Linux

Or GameCube, which will have an OpenGL-like API (according to these guys, and some other links I've since lost).

Ryan T. Sammartino

405 is also very well done; it was somebody's personal project that turned out to be extremely succssful. They also provide materials that could be useful in a teaching environment.

Flay is a Lightwave-specific site, but they post animations (including 405, above) as they are discovered.

The Internet Raytracing Competition has numerous animations...some of them appeal to you.

Actually, not by that much. Here's an article where XBox suddenly doesn't look *that* impressive anymore.

The dreamcast operating system was developed by microsoft.

Wrong. The Dreamcast operating system was developed by Sega. WinCE is an option for developers to ease the porting of PC games. In such cases, WinCE is booted from the GD Rom. Practically nobody uses CE on the Dreamcast. On a side note, the only times my DC crashed was when I was playing one of those games.

[snip]... Sonic the Hedgehog died along with Sega's plan to stop making consoles.

Nintendo makes more money than anyone else. Nobody is even close. You may think that as a grownup geek that has an interest in games, you're top of the heap. Not so. It's the kids that have parents that buy things for them that really make the money for these companies, and I don't think that'll change any time soon.

Despite the kind of games that you like, Nintendo *has* the top spot. They have money in the bank, and no debt.

BTW, people are finding out what a bad idea Sony's PSX2 DVD playback was. Apparently, it was implemented badly enough that not all DVDs work on it. Besides, buying a PSX2 for a DVD player only causes Sony to lose money. They're facing that as a very real problem in Japan right now. People aren't buying the games for it, and Sony is getting soaked on it.

Here are the numbers for 2000:
http://ign64.ign.com/news/30185.html

The gamecube won't just find 'some' popularity. I'm sure that it'll once again blow everyone out of the water.

I'm sorry, but Nintendo will NOT be taking Sony's top spot, whether we like it or not (M$ does have a chance though).

Why? Because the majority of Nintendo's games are still marketed at the 6-12 age group. For every Goldeneye and Conker, there's 50 Pokemon and Hot Wheels games.

The inability of people to see the advantages of Nintendo's target demographic is part of the genius that is Nintendo. What is particularly amusing is that you fail to realize that Nintendo makes more money than Sony from console games sales. In fact last year Nintendo made over $700 million more than Sony from games sales (in fact it made more than Sony and Sega combined). This is besides the fact that Nintendo licensing deals give them a bigger chunk of change than Sony's do.

Think about it for a second. Who has more money to buy games? Baby boomers and soccer moms who want to give their spoilt little angels whatever they want including every considerable flavor of Pokeman merhcandise or teenagers who can't even afford to buy $17 CDs (let alone $35 - $55 games) and get most of their music from Napster?

Think about it.

The cube will definetely get a spot next to my PS2 when it comes out. The zelda game alone should be a reason to buy it(not to mention mario and metroid). Check out those insane shots of link at ign's preview. Man, can you imagine fighting ganon like this?

The cube will definetely get a spot next to my PS2 when it comes out. The zelda game alone should be a reason to buy it(not to mention mario and metroid). Check out those insane shots of link at ign's preview. Man, can you imagine fighting ganon like this?

When did mario die? Nintendo games are selling extremely well, and the Game Boy is unchallenged in the portable gaming market.

Of course, to call a victory to Nintendo's return is probably premature, as we have no idea what kind of games they will offer. For all we know, the games offered with Nitendo's cube (as well as MS's X-box) may be just as uninspiring as the games on the PS2.

The strange thing is, we will have little idea what the games will be like for a couple of months still. Nintendo is purposely keeping quiet about the games in development and they have bound all licensees with NDAs. Developers are allowed to announce what they're working on, but no playable demos (other than Miyamoto's surreal Mario demo) have been shown - the video reel shown at spaceworld was made up of non-interactive cut scenes and FMV. Supposedly the secrecy will allow Nintendo to keep a lid on the hype so they can blow us all away at E3.

In short I think if there are some good playable games showing at E3, Nintendo's future is virtually guaranteed. If it looks like the games won't be ready, they could languish in Sony's (or Microsoft's) shadow for a few more years still. Actually, if key games aren't ready in time for the console's launch, Nintendo will almost certainly delay the release.

--

http://ps2.ign.com/news/32701.html

The PS2 is a great system. It just tears my head off on my 55" toshiba television and my 500W pioneer receiver with surround setup. SSX rules. Had a blast last night playing nhl 2001 with my friends while having a beer(we're canadians). Still waiting for GT3, WWF smackdown 3,anything from square(haven't tried the bouncer yet). Me and my roommate had a blast last weekend playing track and field. We thought it wouldn't be fun but once we started competing in the events we really got into it. I don't know what people dissing the graphics are smoking. This system really is meant to play and have fun, and boy is my couch more confortable than my computer chair.

Microsoft currently have a 0% share of the video game console industry, and no product on offer at all, and will not until next year*. Yet, they are still sending out advertising aimed at consumers telling them not to buy products avalable NOW but to wait for their eventual product. What do you think the impact of this will be on stores that sell only video games? In displaying the Xbox advertising a retailer is trying to strangle their cashflow for the following 10 or more months. Obviously it would stop people buying products now, and of course that would be a bad thing for the industry.

But do Microsoft care if that would be bad for the industry now. Hell no! Why not? Look at their current market share: 0%. Do you think Microsoft care if they make 20% less profit from a market share ok 0%. Of course not. 20% of nothing is still nothing. Microsoft are attempting to rape the industry now so things are good when they finally get in.

Yes, Nintendo are somewhat biased, yes they have 2 consoles out trying to make profit at the moment. Yes Nintendo have a next generation console and a new handheld coming up that will be out before the Xbox. Yes it IS in Nintendo's interest for stores not to advertise the Xbox. But Nintendo are the old men of the industry, and they can also see that this will cause it serious damage if sales in consoles, not only theirs but the PS2, grind to a halt due to Microsoft FUD advertising. Nintendo don't want some new compnay just strangling the industry.

Back in 1984 with the NES, Nintendo brought the video game market back from the death Atari had caused it, and turned home video games from a fad into an international multibillion dollar industry. Something tells me that they might have SOME idea about what they are talking about.

Before you tell me that this is all bullshit, just ponder this: In the 'Linux Myths' Microsoft said that Linux did not have USB support at a time when their current business operating system was Windows NT 4.0 (also USBless), but said "Windows 2000 will have it, it'll be out soon". They wanted to stop people using Linux because of a product they had not shipped yet. Now they are doing the same to the video game industry.

Also, have a look over at IGNcube here for an interview with Nintendo's vice president of marketing George Harrison all about this very letter. He states that Nintendo won't being in-store advertising of the GameCube until August- two months before it's release. Much better then a year.

Microsoft Xbox: Bringing the blue screen to the living room. With a FREE copy of Photoshop for those post-game touch-up...

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* The Xbox will be delayed, the thing doesn't even have final dev kits out yet. People say that Nintendo's GameCube will delay even though 3rd parties have had final dev kits for months, but have blind faith in Microsoft shipping on time, a company well known for delays and FUD in the past ("Don't get a PS2 or GCN, look what will be out... eventually...").

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