NINTENDO FINALLY ADMITS IT
March 9, 2000

According to Nintendo, "Project Dolphin, will feature the largest and strongest library of hit games for any system introduction in Nintendo history when it launches in North America and Europe in the first half of 2001. Development work on a wide variety of games for Project Dolphin's debut is well advanced."

Granted, it won't take much to top the amount of games available at the N64 launch, but this does tell us a couple of things. First, Nintendo will hopefully not be releasing only 3-5 games as was previously noted. Second, the system has been "delayed", which hardly comes as a surprise as has been mentioned before (more).

Clearly taking a shot at Sony's all-in-one PS2, "We're building a machine with only one purpose--to play video games," says Minoru Arakawa, president, Nintendo of America Inc.. "This is what Nintendo has always known best, and what consumers have always wanted most. Project Dolphin's eventual success will come from the combination of Nintendo's dedicated, world-class game designers and our beloved franchise characters-the proven recipe for the world's best interactive fun."

"A 2001 launch for Project Dolphin is not only in keeping with the normal product lifespan for our home consoles, but provides two important benefits," adds Peter Main, Nintendo's executive vice president of sales and marketing. "First, it allows the millions of current Nintendo 64 owners to devote their video game dollars to the best lineup of new games in our history-without having to buy a new system. Secondly, the new launch date for Dolphin means that our system will come to market next year with a portfolio of game names across all genres that simply can't be matched by any other company."

Many people were expecting a third quarter release, so this first half release might sound a bit early. However, it makes sense in one way. A third quarter release would mean the system would come out very close to X-Box, whereas a first half release would give them some breathing room.

The last time this tactic was attempted was by Sega with the Saturn against the PSX. Hopefully, Dolphin won't pan out the same way Saturn did. Fortunately, since Nintendo's planning this first half release relatively early in the game (whereas Sega shifted gears much later), it shouldn't be problematic.