Nintendo Joins Price-cut Game

The battle for supremacy in the video games market between Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo became a full-blown price war yesterday.

Nintendo cut the price of its GameCube console from £170 to £129 - even though the machine does not go on sale in Britain until May 3.

The 24% cut was mirrored by a reduction for mainland Europe, where the price fell from €250 to €199.

The move by the Japanese manufacturer - best known for its long-established GameBoy pocket games console - came five days after Microsoft knocked down the price of its new Xbox games console from £299 to £199.

"This is very positive for the industry," said Jo Taylor of Game, the specialist retailer formerly known as Electronics Boutique. "It's the first time we've seen a new console launched at an affordable price."

Microsoft's price cut came after disappointing sales in Europe and Asia, with its new machine being outsold by the GameCube and Sony's PlayStation2 consoles in the crucial Japanese market.

Analysts predict that Sony will shortly follow suit by cutting the PlayStation2's retail price of £199.

"Sony will respond with a PS2 price cut within a month at most," said Clive Savage of Forrester Research. "At the same price point as the Xbox, the PS2 now looks tame - Sony has to cut €50 off its console price in response to Microsoft's and Nintendo's moves."

David Gocen, managing di rector of Nintendo Europe, said the company had already taken 30,000 orders for the GameCube in the UK and expected that number to reach 50,000 by launch.

"We had originally planned to offer GameCube below €200 but needed to figure out specific production costs before actually announcing the price," said Hiroshi Imanishi, head of Nintendo's public relations office.

All three manufacturers are determined to build up a large user base. The consoles are sold at a loss, with the makers hoping to make profits from licensing and royalties from the game software titles, which retail for £40 to £50 each when first released.

The PS2 and Xbox differ from the GameCube in that the older consoles can double as DVD players.