Nintendo Head Talks About Dolphin

In an interview with Bloomberg Financial Magazine, Nintendo of Japan's president Hiroshi Yamauchi confirmed the Japanese release date of its upcoming next-generation platform and revealed other interesting details. Yamauchi announced that the console would indeed see a Japanese launch in March 2001. He also confirmed the Internet compatibility of the console, stating that as a latecomer to the market, Nintendo's system would "have to outperform Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 2." In conjunction with the Internet functionality offered at launch, Nintendo also plans to form a new web-based business in Japan, similar to the Internet companies launched in all territories by Sega Enterprises.

Finally, Yamauchi confirmed the obvious by stating that the name "Dolphin" will not be the final moniker used for Nintendo's next-generation platform. "We will change the name of the console," said Yamauchi. "I can't tell you what the name will be right now."

The release date for the US version of Nintendo's next console has been tentatively set for "sometime in the first half of 2001" by Nintendo of America.