Digital
Media FX News Archives
Tuesday
- May 22, 2001
- Nintendo Undercuts Xbox's
Price
- Spy Kids Goes
Up Against Osmosis Jones in August!
- Disney: "That's Just
Life, Isn't It?"
- News Link of the Day
- Ogre Easy
Nintendo
Undercuts Xbox's Price
(by digitalmediafx.com) Nintendo says that it will sell its GameCube
console for $199, which is $100 cheaper that its main rival, the
Xbox. Furthermore, Nintendo will release the GameCube three days
before Xbox is released. GameCube will be released on November
5, 2001 while the Xbox, made by Microsoft, will be released on
November 8, 2001 at $299 per unit.
Nintendo is
also trying to gain market share by keeping a number of its strongest
titles exclusive to the GameCube. These are mostly titles related
to Pokemon and Super Mario Bros. In a press release, Nintendo
tried to push its position:
"At the
heart of the Nintendo difference, we have the best development
team lead by Mr. Miyamoto and an unrivaled number of superior
partner companies around the world whose game designers and engineers
are working exclusively for Nintendo," says Peter Main, executive
vice president, sales and marketing, Nintendo of America Inc.
"Together, we will deliver on our promise -- a dedication
to innovation, the highest in game quality, and our heritage of
creating the most loved franchise characters in the universe."
Nintendo needs
all the advantages it can get as analysts say that the Xbox is
a stronger console that is backed by Microsoft, which is pumping
hundreds of millions of dollars into the launch in order to gain
a strong market share of the gaming community.
> Return
to the top of page
Spy
Kids Goes Up Against Osmosis Jones in August!
(by digitalmediafx.com) Osmosis Jones is about to receive
some more competition on August 10, 2001. Miramax Films is planning
on releasing Spy Kids: Special Edition into theaters on
August 10, making a packed weekend even more crowded. Spy Kids:
Special Edition is the same Spy Kids movie released
in March, except with new footage that didn't make it into the
original movie. Some of the visual effects for Spy Kids
were too expensive at the time and thus ended up on the cutting
room floor. Those sequences are now being restored for the special
edition.
This news
does not bode well for Osmosis Jones, which is having trouble
finding an audience. Osmosis Jones was originally rated
PG-13 then later edited down to PG. The release date has already
been changed twice. Originally, it was to be released on July
27, then it was moved to August 3, then finally August 10. The
last date will put it up against Spy Kids: Special Edition,
American Pie 2, and The Curse of the Jade Scorpion.
In addition, it will be competing against holdovers from the previous
weekend including Rush Hour 2 and The Princess Diaries.
> Return
to the top of page
Disney:
"That's Just Life, Isn't It?"
(by digitalmediafx.com) Yesterday's New York Times reported
on Disney's economic movie problems and its decision to slash
4,000 jobs while cutting in half the salaries of its remaining
animators.
When asked
about the salary cuts and changes in the animation division, the
head of Walt Disney Studios, Peter Schneider, said, "I'm
not saying it's pleasant or easy, but that's what's happening.
That's just life, isn't it?"
The animation
cuts will greatly reduce the cost of future Disney animated films.
Recently Disney films, including Atlantis, have cost over
$100 million to make. Under the new structure the costs should
drop to the $70 - $80 million range, leaving room for greater
profits.
> Return
to the top of page
News Link
of the Day - Ogre Easy
According to the Philadelphia Daily News:
"The
title character Shrek is a surly green ogre who may be
just mean enough to knock Disney off its pedestal as the unquestioned
king of animation.
When the analysts
get done picking over the box office data for DreamWorks' "Shrek"
and Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire (due June 15), "Shrek"
is almost certain to be judged the bigger hit. (I've seen both,
and Shrek is the more commercial picture)
"
Click
here for the full story.
> return
to the top of page
> click
here for a printable version of this page
> return to
May News Archives
> return to
today's news
> return
to Front Page
|