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Publishers say delay

by Billy Berghammer - February 24, 2000, 1:18 am EST
Source: IGN64

Delay in the cards for Dolphin?

According to IGN64, four separate publishers have been saying Dolphin and GBA will be delayed until Q3 of 2001. Nintendo supposedly has been giving publishers the official marketing plans for the two systems. Both are slated for a Q3 2001 ship date. Note, this is the US date. The Japanese release dates have not been given here. Also what is noted is Nintendo is still charging developers high licensing fees. Not the brightest way to turn on game developers. Read on...

Four separate publishers confirmed to IGN64 today that Nintendo's Dolphin system and Game Boy Advance will not be released in the US this year as planned despite other rumblings from the Big N itself. Evidently the company has been circulating official marketing plans for the two systems and, according to Nintendo of America's own intentions, both are firmly scheduled for a "third-quarter 2001" ship date.

Not only does this solidify a delay for the Dolphin system to 2001, but it also pushes back the announced November 1 release date of Game Boy Advance in the US. With Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color still going strong in the US (and with expected bold sales throughout the holidays), the delays, while unwanted, make perfect sense.

More surprising is what publishers are saying about Nintendo's internal strategies for Dolphin and Game Boy Advance, particularly that the company is still charging a high licensing fee to develop for the systems, thus driving up production costs considerably. "It's almost like developing for the cartridge format again," confided one publisher we spoke with on the condition of anonymity. "We've put all of our Dolphin and Game Boy Advance projects on hold because of it." These statements clash with previous remarks made by Nintendo regarding the Dolphin system, which it claims will be very cheap to develop for. Also, it is unknown just how comparable the licensing fees for PS2 development are. Any which way you cut it though, costly licensing fees mixed with an arrival almost one year later than PS2's 2000 launch do not bode well for Nintendo's next-generation console.

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