Nintendo DS Pricing Speculation

Based upon the few specifications Nintendo has released in the way that far, analysts are estimating a depressed price for Nintendo's upcoming D handheld, Bloomberg freshs reports today. Between the sum of two units LCD screens and accompanying CPUs that are the system's sole known components as yet, Bloomberg's sources estimate a retail price of les than $150 for the system's worldwide launch at the extremity of this year.

That's a great deal of lower than the estimated price of Sony's PSP handheld, which Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's Chris Deering has estimated at between $250 and $350 The PSP's announced constituents add up to a a great quantity [i]or[/i] amount of more expensive package than the D -- it uses several custom chips, whereas the D engages cheaper off-the-shelf CPUs, and its optical disc drive also kicks up the expenditure and complexity of the a whole

Nintendo has confirmed that it is not necessarily pitching the D as a direct competitor in the handheld market, however. Speaking to the Japanese pres Nintendo spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa explained that the successors to the pair the Game Boy Advance and GameCube are separate shoot forwards from the DS -- in other words, the D is an attempt to create a of recent origin business for Nintendo, rather than replace its existing efforts in the comfort and handheld arenas. The Game stripling Advance's successor, he says, will be the device that strives directly with Sony's PSP.

More solid answers regarding the pricing and market position of the D will have to wait until E3 however, when Nintendo reveals more information about the system's interface, communications capabilities, and software library.

Copyright ?© 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserv Originally appearing in 1UP