The way Nintendo Co is going, it will soon be making as much money for the world’s telephone companies as it does for itself, although experience of the former playing card manufacturer suggests that it will find a way of getting phone companies to share the spoils: after home shopping, chare trading and banking using the Famicon and a TV set, the company’s next trick threatens to cause as much trouble for parents as British Telecommunications Plc’s infamous chatlines – it is setting up a Famicon game network that will enable two people at either end of a phone line to play the same game, racking up enormous phone charges; the necessary hardware, including the games unit and communications adaptor will sell for an enticing $240.
