Sony, Nintendo Sleeping Easy
LOS ANGELES, May 14, 1999 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- With Sega's latest
foray into the $6 billion video game market on display at the
industry's annual gathering attracting hordes of eager gamers, you
might think rivals Sony and Nintendo are looking nervously over their
shoulders.
Not even close, according to representatives for both companies at the
Electronic Entertainment Expo.
Nintendo stole a bit of Sega's thunder earlier this week, announcing a
deal with IBM and Matsushita to create the technology for its next
generation console, a 128-bit device currently code-named Dolphin.
In March, industry leader Sony announced it would begin selling the
so-called PlayStation II, a DVD-based system which is comparable to the
Dolphin's computing muscle and twice as powerful as Nintendo's current
model, the cartridge-based N64.
And Sony has one huge advantage over its rivals -- all the current
PlayStation games work fine on the new machine.
Both products should reach the market late next year, and both use DVD
technology as a software medium. ''There won't be any significant
difference in graphics quality,'' said Howard C. Lincoln, chairman of
Nintendo of America Inc. ''The fight will be over who can make the best
games.''
Prices have not been announced for either machine. The Dreamcast debuts
in September for a suggested retail price of $199.99.
Both the PlayStation and N64 currently retail for $129.99, with Sony on
top mainly because it has far more games available than Nintendo. Sony
charges about $10 a game as a licensing fee, about half Nintendo's
rate, which attracts developers. Also attractive is PlayStation's CD
format, easier to work with than the cartridge Nintendo uses.
Sony, which controls about 60 percent of the U.S. market to 30 percent
for Nintendo and about 5 percent for Sega, has few concerns.
''''Industry experts are not generally supporting Dreamcast.'' said
Sony vice president Phil Harrison.
Visitors to Sega's vast display, featuring dozens of hands-on Dreamcast
players, gave mixed reviews.
''It's OK,'' said Joel Goodman of San Diego, as he tried to avoid
extermination while playing ''House of the Dead 2.'' ''It's got high
resolution, but I don't know how it will do against PlayStation II.''
Goodman said he would rent the machine before deciding if he wanted to
purchase one.
Christian Magat, 19, of Gardena, was much more positive.
''It's a great system,'' he said as he pounded on a friend in a
Dreamcast version of Virtua Fighter. ''It's like getting arcade games
at home. I have two ordered.''
Perhaps the real question is: How does Sega, whose PlayStation rival
Saturn sank like a stone, plan to compete with its bigger,
already-entrenched rivals?
It will be the first on the market, giving it time to gain valuable
market share. It will also be the first Internet-ready home console,
allowing gamers to go online, play against others a continent away and
even send e-mail.
However, Electronic Gaming Monthly editor John Davison thinks Sony,
with a PlayStation in one of every five American homes, will remain the
boss after all the latest systems are in stores. ''As long as Sony
prices PSII carefully, they will clean up.'' |
