Game Boy Micro to launch next month

updated 8:59 a.m. ET Aug. 18, 2005

TOKYO - Japanese video-game maker Nintendo Co. said it will launch its latest hand-held game player, the cell-phone sized GameBoy Micro, in Japan on Sept. 13 and the United States on Sept. 19.

The company is expanding its portable offerings in part to counter sinking sales of its Nintendo GameCube amid rival offerings such as Sony Corp.'s PlayStation and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox.

The GameBoy Micro, to be priced at $109 in Japan and $99.99 in the United States, has a two-inch screen and comes in four colors — black, silver, blue or purple, the company said Thursday.

The GameBoy Micro will be 4 inches wide, 2 inches long, seven-tenths of an inch thin and weigh 2.8 ounces _ thinner, shorter and lighter than the identically priced Game Boy Advance SP. It will come with three removable faceplates that can be used to personalize the device and protect its screen.

Nintendo is targeting global sales of 4 million units by next March and plans to start selling the GameBoy Micro in Europe on Nov. 4, Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported.

The new product will be able to play all GameBoy Advance games, which include more than 700 titles.

Nintendo said in May that its net income surged to $794.7 million in its latest fiscal year, lifted by sales of its portable Nintendo DS, which stands for "dual screen."

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