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FishyJoe on 11 October 2007
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http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/690310/

NINTENDO TO TEAM WITH NTT TO LEVERAGE WII'S INTERNET CAPABILITY

NINTENDO TO TEAM WITH NTT TO LEVERAGE WII'S INTERNET CAPABILITY
Wednesday, October 10, 2007; Posted: 11:14 PM
TOKYO, Oct 11, 2007 (AsiaPulse via COMTEX) -- NTT | charts | news | PowerRating -- With rival Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. seeking to revive sales of PlayStation 3 game console through price cuts, Nintendo Co. (TSE:7974) is looking to help users tap the Internet connectivity available via its hugely popular Wii game system.

Nintendo on Wednesday said it will partner with the regional carriers of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (TSE:9432) to open a call center within the year for assisting Wii users connect their machines to the Internet. In addition to fielding questions, the call center will help supply Wii users with the necessary circuitry and devices.

The Wii comes equipped with an Internet connection function, but only about 40 per cent of its users around the world have hooked the machines up to the Internet. By opening the call center, and then launching a software downloading service in March, Nintendo hopes to increase the percentage of online Wii users to 50 per cent by the end of 2008.

In addition, Nintendo plans to release a new Wii game for the upcoming year-end sales season. Wii Fit is expected to hit store shelves on Dec. 1. The game is designed to improve fitness by prompting users to move their entire bodies while playing. It is sold with a specially designed board equipped with a scale function for measuring weight. Players are to stand on the board and play such sports as soccer and ski jumping. The game's suggested retail price is 8,800 yen (US$75.07).

With cumulative sales of 3.57 million units in Japan alone, the Wii is far ahead of rivals. Domestic sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 console total around 1.21 million units. On Tuesday, Sony announced plans to cut the price of two existing models by 5,000 yen and introduce a new version costing less than 40,000 yen before the peak shopping season at the end of the year.

Nintendo's Wii is priced at 25,000 yen.