TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese video game giant Nintendo said it will seek to retain its dominance of the portable game market with the launch of wireless Nintendo DS, a hand-held double-screen console.
Nintendo DS will hit the US market in late November and come to Japan in December, priced at 15,000 yen (135 dollars).
Nintendo will make available 14 game titles by the end of the year.
In direct competition is Sony Computer Entertainment, which is introducing in the coming months PlayStation Portable (PSP), a hand-held game version of its popular PlayStation stand-alone game consoles.
The Sony unit has yet to release the retail price of PSP although reports estimate it will be around 250-300 dollars.
While PSP features multi- and high-functions, as it can play DVD-quality movies, Nintendo DS focuses more on easy-to-play features.
"Video game consoles have achieved a major breakthrough in terms of technology and function in the past 20 years, while the game market has been shrinking recently," Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told reporters.
According to the latest industry survey, the Japanese video game market contracted for a third consecutive year in 2003, with the market size dropping to only 60 percent of the peak in 1997.
"I feel a strong sense of crisis for the Japanese game industry's prospects but the launch of the Nintendo DS is our answer to the shrinking game market in Japan," Iwata said.
"We believe Nintendo DS is easy to play and fun to play, therefore it should appeal to anybody regardless of gender, age and experience."
The wireless console enables the user to download software and play games with other people in the wireless cyber world.