New Nintendo console for China

Nintendo has today announced that it will release a new game console in China in mid-October. The iQue Player, which has been developed specifically for the piracy-plagued Chinese market, will sell for around 498 yuan ($60) and will allow players to download games priced at just 48 yuan ($6) to a 64-megabyte flash-memory card at stores.

"We have targeted people in developed countries such as Japan, the US, and Europe with sophisticated machines," said Satoru Iwata, Nintendo president. "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."

The iQue player will be capable of running games designed for Nintendo's SNES and Nintendo 64 consoles, and, although no specific titles have been announced for the new platform at this time, Nintendo has confirmed that a Chinese-language version of one of the Mario games will be among the 10 available at launch. We'll bring you more information on Nintendo's iQue Player as soon as it becomes available.