New Nintendo console revealed and named! Full details inside, first games announced

Chinese move spawns new hardware.

Posted by Staff
Nintendo Japan has announced a new home console specifically designed for use in the piracy-riddled county of China.

Carrying the name iQue Player, Nintendo is hoping to tap into the increasingly lucrative market, beating both Sony and Microsoft to the punch.

The machine will sell for around £40 and will come complete with Flash game card that is specific to the console. The card can be taken to shops whereupon one or two games are downloaded onto it. Players then go home and upload the content to the iQue.

“We believe that the encryption for the iQue and the iQue card will mean that the integrity of Nintendo’s intellectual properties will be preserved,” said the Kyoto-based firm in a statement.

Each game downloaded at retail will be fingerprinted and registered with Nintendo. Only the game card supplied with the individual iQue will operate successfully, removing the risk of using generic or swappable media.

Nintendo also announced the first games for the iQue, stating that it is underway with Chinese language versions of several Super Mario Bros games.

“We have targeted people in developed countries such as Japan, the US and Europe with sophisticated machines,” said Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. “To reach a wide range of people in China, especially those inland who are not as rich as those in coastal areas, we thought we needed to deliver a cheaper console.”

Iwata went on to say that the iQue will be able to make use of existing software from all machines predating the GameCube, mentioning the Nintendo 64 by name, hinting that iQue will be based around the 64, perhaps using a 64DD variant.
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