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To: Bill Fortune III who wrote (3142)	8/7/2002 12:17:36 PM
From: Ms. Baby Boomer	Respond to of 4149

GameCube beating Xbox, to fall behind in '03 -study Reuters Company News SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 6 (Reuters) - The GameCube video game console has opened a wide lead in its user base over the rival Xbox, but the Xbox is closing fast as the two jockey for position to challenge the industry-leading PlayStation 2, according to a study issued on Tuesday. Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s (7974.OS) GameCube is installed in 4.8 million homes, compared to 3.8 million for Microsoft Corp.'s (NasdaqNM:MSFT - News) Xbox, the Ziff Davis Media Game Group reported in a study of some 2,000 video game players. However, the study showed 15 percent of those people polled want to buy an Xbox, compared with just 9 percent for GameCube. Based on those figures, Ziff Davis projected that in 2003 Xbox's installed base will rise to 13.7 million homes, compared to just 11.2 million for GameCube. Neither matches industry leader Sony Corp. (Tokyo:6758.T - News) and its PlayStation 2. The publisher of gaming magazines said the PS2 has a user base of 14.1 million units now, expected to rise to 24.1 million by 2003. The study also showed 50 percent of Xbox users have a broadband Internet connection, compared with 41 percent of PS2 owners and 31 percent of GameCube owners. All three will launch online broadband gaming later this year. Ziff Davis also polled people on their favorite game franchises, with Nintendo's "Mario" franchise top-rated. The latest title in that franchise, "Super Mario Sunshine," will be released later this month. The video game market has become big business, with sales of game hardware and software expected to reach $30 billion internationally this year. Financial analysts are predicting a multiyear cycle of record growth and profits for game publishers, owing to the heated competition in the industry. The study was conducted for Ziff Davis by the Strategy Group biz.yahoo.com