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Dolphin for $99? First off, Nintendo chairman Howard Lincoln said that the Dolphin will NOT play DVD movies and music. However, under the technology agreement, Matsushita (Panasonic in the US) will be able to use Dolphin's technology. This points to the idea that Matsushita could make a second version of Dolphin that plays DVD movies and music, as well as Dolphin games. Whether this is true or not, only time will tell. The Nintendo Dolphin as reported by Next-Generation magazine on page 10 of their latest issue states that the Dolphin could be a $99 system. Although this sounds unlikely at first glance, when you look deeper into it, you see its possibilities. First of all, Nintendo and Sony make almost no money on hardware. Most of the money made comes from in-house games and the cost of developers and publishers wanting to put a game on the respective system. (ie. Capcom wants to put Super Street Fighter 2 Alpha Plus Beta Championship Gold Edition vs. Marvel Super Heroes on the Dolphin, so they need to pay Nintendo $2 for every game sold.) Because hardware makes so little money, Nintendo could just shoosh away all profits, and sell the system making absolutely no money at all. Second, the $99 probably wouldn't be a system with a controller or two, a memory card, and a game. It would be more like the system alone, and any devices needed to hook up the system (AV Cables, AC Adapter, etc.). The controllers, memory cards, and games would be sold seperate, making the whole package to actually play a 1-player game with saving abilities around $185 (estimate based on current prices of these devices and what Nintendo announced game prices would be around.) So there you have it, the Next-Generation article all spit out into something believable. Oh, by the way, thank you Next-Generation for this information. |
