Howard Lincoln Talks to Forbes
June 25, 1999 - Forbes.com spoke with NOA chairman Howard Lincoln about the future of Nintendo. Among some of the more interesting topics was a discussion of how Nintendo plans to make Dolphin software "counterfeit-proof" as they have been promising since Dolphin was officially announced. While not offering technical details of how this would be accomplished, Mr. Lincoln did explain that "counterfeit-proof" meant that copying Dolphin titles will be "financially unfeasible" for potential pirates. With respect to "convergence", the Nintendo chairman stated that, "We have no interest in making the consoles anything other than what we know them to be now," indicating that at least initially, Dolphin will be marketed as a game machine first and foremost. Forbes also noted Nintendo's shifting position regarding target audiences, a shift that Mr. Lincoln acknowledged.

It is an interesting interview, but it doesn't reveal much new information. I am now more intrigued, however, with how Nintendo plans to stop counterfeiting. It's certainly not a small problem, and no company that I can think of has successfully combatted piracy. I don't expect Nintendo to be the first to do so, but there should be some interesting innovations coming with this new technology.
Read the full interview at Forbes.com

Square Considers Dolphin
June 22, 1999 - At a company conference last weekend, Squaresoft revealed that they are looking into developing software for Nintendo's Project Dolphin. Questions from shareholders elicited responses from Square that revealed an interest in creating games for next generation consoles other than Playstation 2, making them no longer exclusive to Sony as they have been for the past few years.

There are really only two next generation consoles other than Playstation 2 that will be serious contenders, and I'm sure you know what they are (the disaster known as Nuon need not be discussed). Talks with Square brass in several publications have indicated that Dreamcast is not on their agenda, which leaves only Nintendo on the table. Back in May, Next Generation Online conducted an interview with Shinji Hashimoto and the topic of developing for Sega and Nintendo was brought up. Hashimoto only spoke of the "very good" relationship Square had with Nintendo in the past. Might Square actually break from Sony exclusivity? Not very likely, but perhaps. The possibility is greater now than it's ever been. Nintendo has a machine that probably caters to their every desire, so Square can't use the hardware excuse this time. The largest roadblock is Sony, and considering how important Square is to Playstation's success, I don't see Sony allowing Square to expand their horizons without a fight. In recent years we've seen Nintendo swallow its pride. Hopefully, they'll see no shame in some serious sucking up, particularly when a company this important is involved.
Read the full story at Videogames.com

Developers Being Told of Dolphin's Power
June 13, 1999 - IGN64's rumor report says that Nintendo is reassuring developers that their new console will be more powerful than Playstation 2. However, Dolphin will not be outperforming Sony's machine by much. "'Think Playstation 2 plus a bit more power,'" IGN64 claims as coming "straight from the horse's mouth."

This flies in the face of a previous story from Nintendojo that reports Gekko (Dolphin's CPU) "blowing away" Playstation 2's power, but is more in line with conventional wisdom. The Emotion Engine is packing a lot of punch, and I'm sure even IBM would have difficulty building an affordable chip that would significantly outpower the PS2 CPU. I still eagerly await more specific information (such as polygon count) regarding Dolphin's chipset. I can pretty much guarantee you that it will not fail to impress.
Read the full story at IGN64

Further Speculation that Nintendo Will Not Meet Its Deadline
June 10, 1999 - An anonymous Nintendo source reports that not only will Nintendo not meet its goal of a holiday season 2000 launch, but that the release will probably be delayed to the fall of 2001. One reason for the lateness is the hardware's incompletion. Also, development kits are not scheduled to be made available until January 2000, which does not afford enough time for developers to complete their software.

This, unfortunately, is no surprise as I and many others have predicted that Dolphin would not be available until some time in 2001. As IGN64 noted, Nintendo's claim of a holiday season 2000 release was intended to steal away some of Playstation 2's thunder, forcing potential customers to wait for the new Nintendo rather than buying Dreamcast or Playstation 2 as soon as they hit the market. I am strongly opposed to this strategy, as it only enforces Nintendo's reputation of massive delays and will probably lead to a loss of trust for Nintendo among much of the gaming public. While I don't believe that their little white lie will significantly damage their sales, I still would have liked to have seen a more realistic release date. A delay of a few months may acceptable, but not many people will wait an entire year.
Read the full story at IGN64

Gekko Shaping Up To Be Super Powerful
June 03, 1999 - Someone close to Nintendojo and IBM has offered some insight into the power of Dolphin's CPU, dubbed "Gekko". The chip has apparently been modified so many times that even those at IBM aren't sure of its full potential. Its development is being closely guarded within IBM and is said to be making "unheard of advances." Despite an incomplete design, Gekko is already purportedly "blowing away" the Playstation 2 hardware.

It cannot be said enough. The importance of Nintendo's alliance with IBM and Matsushita cannot be overstated. Certainly it was safe to assume that Gekko would outperform Sony's Emotion Engine, but if the story is true, the difference should be one of leaps and bounds. That should catch the attention of developers. Needless to say, I eagerly anticipate the release of actual specifications. Now if Nintendo could get some games ready, I think we can look forward to a very successful launch.
Read the full story at Nintendojo