GameCube delayed in USA
Nintendo insert foot in mouth
After a summer in which we have heard any number of rumours claiming that the launch of Microsoft's Xbox console would be delayed by anything from manufacturing problems to trademark infringement, today the boot was very much on the other foot as Nintendo admitted at Space World that it would be delaying the GameCube's American launch by two weeks. It will now appear on November 18th, ten days after the Xbox. Ironically just a few months ago Nintendo of America's Peter Main was insisting in an interview with Japanese magazine Famitsu that the "Gamecube will definitely launch on schedule", adding that "Microsoft has announced November 8 as its launch date, but I don't think that's final".
This isn't the first time the GameCube's release has slipped - in its previous guise of the Dolphin it was actually expected to emerge last year, a date which has been pushed back steadily ever since - but this latest delay leaves it on the back foot in the all-important run-up to Christmas. On the bright side, Nintendo say that the delay will allow them to meet demand with a total of 700,000 Cubes in store for launch day. Microsoft expect to have about the same number of Xboxes available for November 8th.
Neither company has confirmed details of their European launch yet, although the Xbox is widely expected to be available some time during March.