ad info




CNN.com
 MAIN PAGE
 WORLD
 ASIANOW
 U.S.
 LOCAL
 POLITICS
 WEATHER
 BUSINESS
 SPORTS
 TECHNOLOGY
   computing
   personal technology
   space
 NATURE
 ENTERTAINMENT
 BOOKS
 TRAVEL
 FOOD
 HEALTH
 STYLE
 IN-DEPTH

 custom news
 Headline News brief
 daily almanac
 CNN networks
 CNN programs
 on-air transcripts
 news quiz

  CNN WEB SITES:
CNN Websites
 TIME INC. SITES:
 MORE SERVICES:
 video on demand
 video archive
 audio on demand
 news email services
 free email accounts
 desktop headlines
 pointcast
 pagenet

 DISCUSSION:
 message boards
 chat
 feedback

 SITE GUIDES:
 help
 contents
 search

 FASTER ACCESS:
 europe
 japan

 WEB SERVICES:
COMPUTING

Nintendo, Konami venture aimed at mobile gaming

September 7, 1999
Web posted at: 3:06 p.m. EDT (1906 GMT)

by Michael Drexler

From...
IDG.net
mobile

(IDG) -- Nintendo and Konami will establish a joint venture to develop gaming software for next-generation video game systems, the companies announced yesterday.

Kyoto-based Nintendo, known for its Nintendo-64 game console and its handheld Game Boy, and leading software maker Konami said that they will each invest 150 million yen (US$1.4 million) in the joint venture.

The two gaming giants plan to offer shares in the new venture, to be named Mobile 21, to the public within two years of its October opening date.

Mobile 21 will develop game software for two new Nintendo products that are now on the drawing board -- the Game Boy Advance, planned to be released in Japan in August 2000, and the tentatively named Dolphin console, scheduled to hit stores in December of that same year, according to a release.
MORE COMPUTING INTELLIGENCE
IDG.net   IDG.net home page
  Make your PC work harder with these tips
 Reviews & in-depth info at IDG.net
  IDG.net's personal news page
  IDG.net's products pages
  Questions about computers? Let IDG.net's editors help you
  Subscribe to IDG.net's free daily newsletters
  Search IDG.net in 12 languages
 News Radio
 * Fusion audio primers
 * Computerworld Minute
   

When connected to a cellular phone, the handheld Game Boy Advance machine will offer a host of Internet functions, including Net surfing and online gaming, according to the companies. The device will be equipped with a digital camera so that online combatants can see each other while gaming.

The new Game Boy will run on a 32-bit RISC-CPU (reduced instruction set central processing unit) designed by ARM Ltd. of the U.K. It is scheduled to ship outside Japan by the end of 2000, the companies said.

The Dolphin gaming console is being jointly developed with electronics maker Matsushita Electric Industrial. It will run on a 400MHz PowerPC-based processor built by IBM especially for the new machine.

The Dolphin console is widely seen as Nintendo's attempt to challenge Sony's highly anticipated PlayStation 2, due out in Japan later this year. Sony, which is planning to show a model of the machine on Sept. 13, says the PlayStation 2 will have the graphics processing power of a high-end workstation and will use a processor three-times faster than Intel's Pentium III.

Mobile 21 will initially be staffed by software engineers from Nintendo and Konami, the companies said.


RELATED STORIES:
It's a grind at video-game college
July 23, 1999
Game Boy, the teacher
June 4, 1999
'WWF Attitude' rocks the PlayStation
September 2, 1999

RELATED IDG.net STORIES:
Play Games on Your Cell Phone
(PC World Online)
IBM, Nintendo announce $1B PowerPC deal
(Computerworld)
Konami Takes Game Boy to Heart
(Games.net)
A Coming Together for Microsoft & Konami
(Games.net)
Year 2000 World
(IDG.net)
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

RELATED SITES:
Nintendo
Konami
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
 LATEST HEADLINES:
SEARCH CNN.com
Enter keyword(s)   go    help

Back to the top   © 2001 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.