Press Release | Analysts dismiss Nintendo.

Today, several industry analysts provided a press release detailing their rather misconcluded insights into Nintendo's path and what they predict the company shall strive to do in the future of the gaming industry. Also provided are details of the analysts' views in comparison to Microsoft's Xbox and Sony Playstation 2 consoles respectively.

Below is a copy of the information provided to the press with details from the industry analysts.

The GameCube and Microsoft's Xbox lag far behind the industry leader, Sony's PlayStation 2. But Microsoft expected to lose nearly $3 billion just to get a foothold in the $27 billion worldwide video-game market, said Schelley Olhava, an analyst with IDC.

The Japanese company, a fixture of the video-game business since "Donkey Kong," may not be so patient.

"Nintendo is slowly being squeezed out the market," Olhava said.

She added that Nintendo could go the way of Sega Corp., which abandoned its Dreamcast system in 2001 to concentrate on software. Nintendo's games, including the Pokemon and Mario franchises, continue to be bestsellers.

In August, Nintendo temporarily halted production of the GameCube to clear out a retail backlog. But even if the company continues making the purple boxes, Olhava said Nintendo may decide not to compete against the Xbox 2 and PlayStation 3, which are expected in 2005-06.

"Right now the jury's out on whether they will create a next-generation system," she said.

Nintendo officials said a new console is in development, and denied that the software defections would hurt the GameCube.

"The GameCube library will expand to 320 games by year-end, the biggest support for any Nintendo console ever," said George Harrison, the company's senior v.p. for marketing. "Some of the biggest developers in the industry, including Electronic Arts, LucasArts and Capcom, are all on board."

Eidos is the second software maker to abandon the GameCube. Acclaim, producer of titles like "NBA Jam," dropped the system in June. Olhava said other smaller producers could follow suit if the incremental costs of developing for three systems prove too high.

Nintendo also is hurt by its reputation for targeting younger gamers, Olhava added. "Although it has supported more "adult" games (including the "Star Wars" titles), the average Nintendo buyer is about 10 years younger than the owner of a PlayStation 2."