Nintendo To Launch Color Game Boy This Year
KYOTO, JAPAN, 1998 MAR 10 (Newsbytes) -- By Martyn Williams, Newsbytes.
Nintendo Co. Ltd. says it will begin sales of its first Game Boy hand-held
video system with a color LCD screen later this year. The unit will be
launched in Japan, Europe and North America. Similar in size to existing
units, Nintendo says the new Game Boys will include a new proprietary
technology that is capable of displaying color graphics on a new type of
color reflective screen. The system will allows for simultaneous display of
up to 56 colors, from a palette of 32,000.
An obstacle to production of color units in the past has been the
technology and demand on battery life - something the new system overcomes,
said the maker. "As the first to surmount the technical obstacles, we're
able to introduce a whole new generation of color games to the millions of
people who love Game Boy," said Howard Lincoln, chairman, Nintendo of
America, in a statement. Other new features include the ability to be
connected to a Nintendo 64 games system. Nintendo said the new Color Game
Boy will be capable of playing cartridges from the existing monochrome
unit. They will be displayed in one of ten color hues, selected by the
user, it said. More details of the device will be announced later this
year.
Nintendo previously forecast 1998 Game Boy sales to be 9.5 million units,
with software selling 28 million units. The news follows the disclosure,
one month ago, by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. that it has developed a
miniature size "personal digital assistant" for use with its PlayStation
video games console. The system is still under development and SCEI said it
expects a commercial product to be available at the end of the year.
The release of the new Color Game Boy and SCEI's PlayStation PDA could
signal the start to a new round in the fiercely competitive computer gaming
market. Sony currently claims leadership in the home console market, with
its PlayStation. Earlier this year, Nintendo slashed the prices of its
Nintendo 64 games, from between 6,800 yen ($53) and 9,800 yen ($77) per
game to 4, 800 yen ($38) per game. PlayStation games retail for between
4,800 yen ($38) and 5,800 yen ($45). Exchange rate: $1 = 127.50 yen.
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