from cube.ign.com

DVD GameCube Release, Price

Matsushita announces the price and release date for its DVD-player version of GameCube.

July 19, 2001

Major Japanese publication the Nihon Keizai Shinbun reported today that Matsushita has announced the official price point and release date for its upcoming "Fusion" DVD-player / GameCube hybrid.

The system, which allows gamers to play DVD-movies and GameCube game software, will retail for approximately 40,000 yen, or just under $325 US dollars. Matsushita sources said that the company had originally planned to price the machine higher, but decided to drop the price in order to compete with sales of PlayStation 2, which retails currently for 35,000 yen, or $285 US dollars.

Matsushita will release the DVD-player / GameCube hybrid in Japan in "early November," reported the Japanese news source. Previously it was thought that the player would ship in September to coincide with the release of the base Nintendo GameCube hardware, but Matsushita insiders told the publication that the company needs more time to finalize production of its version.

A US release date for the device has been set for sometime between March 2002 and March 2003. No pricing specifics have been announced regarding the machine's North American release.

More in the coming weeks.

i would assume that the production costs of the gamecubes would have decreased somewhat by the time this machine actually is released here, so I think it would probably be cheaper in the US when it is released.

wouldn't it have been cheaper to put a normal size dvd rom drive in than build a special unit and have to maufacture special sized discs with less capacity. when will nintendo learn

they always have to be different.

Actually, it's pretty smart of nintendo to make special size disc. It would take a lot more effort to make "casual" copies of software.

It cost nothing to develop, the technology is basically the same as dvd only the physical tray is smaller. If anything it costs less, which is important as the Gamecube is probably being sold for a loss.

gcribbs, Nintendo is at the forefront of using proprietary technology. they always seem to want to do something different. with that said, the mini-dvd is actually a great idea. it's the same as regular dvd, but smaller. sort of like those mini-cds. the huge benefit for nintendo to use these is piracy. it will be much harder to copy these discs than even a normal dvd.

Guaranteed it will be cracked within the first 3-6 months.

Cracked so that there is an economically feasible way to copy games? The N64 was cracked, but you didn't see many people with Doctor 64's. The Dreamcast took 9-10 months to be cracked, and that was only because a developer leaked a bootdisc.

Exactly, even if this is cracked, a person would have to buy a special burner to copy games, unlike the PSX and DC where any jackass with a CD burner can rent/borrow a game and burn it, or even download the Rom of the net and burn it to a cd. There will still be some problems with people buying these and selling pirated Gamecube games, especially in Asia, but the average game player isn't going to spend the money to by a special burner to pirate games.

As for "why didn't they just use normal dvds?", in addition to the piracy, this cuts down on the cost a little bit as they don't have to build in all the necessary controllers for dvd video playback. The fact is that most people want a game system to play games on, not to use as a "set top box" to play games, watch movies etc. There are some that would like a system that would play games and movies, and that's what this Matsushita system if for. It allows us that already have dvd players to avoid paying for something we have no use for, and allows others to get a game system and dvd player for cheaper than they could buy both seperately.

Cracking the copy protection and mass producing bootleg copies is a whole different ballgame. I think it will be a long time before people can legitimately copy Gamecube games. The mini-dvd format practically ensures that for Nintendo.

it holds less data which does limit future uses by developers. i agree it will hurt piracy. it also adds to the cost to have to use special proprietary parts. also it limits capacity since only plants equiped to burn these specials dvds can make them. this can lead to shortages if the system takes off. personally i think this will harm the system in the long run. yes Nintendo will profit as they always do due to the kid market however the system may not be as mainstream as it could.

too bad really

as far as cutting down the cost to not allow dvd playback. make it an option. software dvd players would be available for a purchase of course. now it is not an option and they have to build a whole new unit to get dvd playback and it is more expensive than a PS2- not too bright.

the reason they went this way was the same they continued to use cartridges- control and profits. they want to prevent piracy and control the distribution of the software as much as possible.