Independent research includes Dolphin among a potential group of pioneering game consoles

A report on the future of videogaming from DFC Intelligence, an independent research company specialising in interactive entertainment, mentioned Nintendo's Dolphin as one of the gaming consoles that will help bring consumers and broadband services to each other. The report, available directly from DFC Intelligence for the modest price of $2,500 (around £1,500), also commented on the depth of the upcoming next generation console war and how this and broadband service marketing will be connected.

"The game industry is forecasted to become a $20 billion worldwide business in the next two years," said David Cole, President of DFC Intelligence. "However, the impact of the interactive entertainment industry is much greater than the revenue it generates. Game hardware systems are likely to become hybrid devices that consumers use for many forms of digital entertainment including music, movies, web access and interactive television."

The report suggests that consumers are about to see the first wave of all-encompassing set-top entertainment boxes that experts had been promising throughout the '90s. Cole feels that multiple function machines like PlayStation2 and Dreamcast will succeed in finding a permanent and prominent place in the homes of consumers, where devices like WebTV failed. Next generation consoles from Microsoft and Nintendo were mentioned by name and were included among those units that will be familiar and non-threatening to consumers as videogame machines, yet powerful enough to do many more things, such as playing DVD movies and web surfing.

The report from DFC Intelligence presupposes that Microsoft's rumoured X Box is indeed a reality and that Nintendo's Dolphin will have some as yet unannounced comprehensive Internet capability. Nintendo have neither confirmed nor denied plans for online gameplay, web surfing or any other Internet-based services for Dolphin. Whether or not DFC Intelligence have access to some very privileged information or if they are merely speculating is unclear.


Courtesy of IGN.com