Nintendo to sell Game Boy titles online

Nintendo plans to sell Game Boy Advance software on the Net

By Staff and wire reports

OSAKA, Japan (CNN) -- Nintendo will use the Net to sell and serve game titles for its new Game Boy Advance in a bid to attract older players who often go online.

With its latest update of the decade-old Game Boy, Nintendo continues to target a younger audience -- a niche market that is largely overlooked by rivals Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation 2.

However, the company has said that it must reach out to older players such as university students and yuppie executives to expand its reach in the portable video-game market.

Nintendo will package a new golf game with an adapter that can link the console to an Internet-compatible cellular phone, according to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

Able to send game results to friends

Gamers accessing the Nintendo service will be able to input additional information into the game software as well as send game results to friends.

The complete package will be priced at $46.63.

The new Game Boy Advance, which has been on the market since March, is faster than its predecessor, with higher resolution and Net access.

Analysts expect it to secure Nintendo's dominance in the handheld sector with sales of up to 80 million units by 2006.

Its software is priced around $40.20, about $8.04 more than games for the earlier model.

Nintendo unleashes Game Boy upgrade
March 20, 2001

Nintendo

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