DOLPHIN 2K
November 17, 1999

Well, we've been hearing this for a while, and despite everyone and his uncle believing Nintendo can't make the 2000 release, Hiroshi Yamauchi (head of Nintendo Co. Ltd.) is still insisting that the company will have Dolphin ready next year.

Yamauchi backed up Nintendo's earlier claims that they plan to keep Dolphin aimed squarely at the masses. Obviously referring to the relatively high priced PS2, he said: "A game machine that sells for close to 40000 yen… is too expensive to be aimed at children, the Dolphin will not be that expensive."

Yamauchi also continued to insist that the Dolphin will be out in Japan by the end of next year. He said: "We would like to release the Dolphin closer to the PS2, but since we're aiming for the Christmas 2000 shopping season, I don't think the time difference is that big of a handicap."

There are three scenarios that are most likely to occur. Two of them don't bode well for Nintendo, and the other is highly unlikely (read: the odds aren't with Nintendo on this one).

1. Nintendo is just stating that the Dolphin will come out in 2000, even though it has no plans to do so, in an attempt to make people delay purchasing the PS2 or Dreamcast. In that respect, it's just a stall tactic, and the company is hoping that it doesn't backfire when they announce the actual release date. If you are waiting because of Nintendo's claims, your best bet is to not wait only to be disappointed by a delay later.
2. Nintendo does have every intent in the world of meeting the projected release date, even if it means skimping some. What will this do? If you remember the North American Saturn release, you'll know how bad it can get for an early launch. Sega lost a lot of developers, launched at a high price, and had low quality and quantity titles to select from. The end result is that a lot of Sega fans jumped ship and went to Sony, and the Saturn's death was all but sealed.
3. Nintendo actually will meet the release date without rushing. If you consider that PS2 was unveiled in September and initially scheduled for a January release, it is highly possible that Dolphin, to be unveiled in August, will see a December release (any earlier than that is wishful thinking at best). This is assuming that nothing whatsoever goes wrong, as well as that you believe that Nintendo, whose release dates are frequently wrong, can meet a release. If that occurs, as it has with Sony (who is reportedly now struggling to meet the new March 2 release date), Nintendo is fighting an uphill battle.

All in all, it depends on your viewpoint as to which of these scenarios you think will occur. However, as time goes on, it's becoming increasingly more obvious that the first scenario is the most likely of the lot. Additionally, regardless of their aim, Nintendo's going to miss most, if not all, of the Christmas 2000 shopping season. Claims of capitalizing on a season when a product is only available after or (at most) at the very end of it are unfounded.

Source: Video Game Heaven.com