Nintendo Co Ltd, boldly skipping the 32-bit games generation and going straight to 64-bit with a custom version of the MIPS Technologies Inc R4000 RISC, is finally able to announce the machine – but not for delivery until April, even in Japan. It will also cut prices on its 16-bit software in preparation. Called the Nintendo 64 or Ultra 64, the new machine will be in the stores in Japan on April 21 and is likely to be introduced in the US in April too, at a suggested retail price of $250, three games to be launched alongside it will sell for $98 each, pricing it in line with analysts’ expectations and rivals’ systems. It uses a new three-grip controller for 360 degree movement. New C Buttons change a player’s perspective, and there’s a Z Trigger for shooting games. The controller features a Memory Pack accessory and players can use a Memory Card to save game play information on their controller and transfer it to another machine. The 64-bit games software is again stored in a mask ROM cartridge, but Nintendo also said that at the end of next year it will have 64-bit game software on a magnetic medium that users will be able to modify themselves – Flash memory cards presumably. Nintendo is estimated to have sold some 37m 16-bit games machines globally, and is likely to sell up to 15m 16-bit games over Christmas, which means Nintendo has a stiff task to get the new 64-bit players out fast enough to maintain momentum. Silicon Graphics Inc designed the Nintendo 64 architecture and chip set.
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