Japanese video game maker Nintendo cut the price of its flagship GameCube console by 50 per cent to just €99 yesterday to spur sales in Europe, writes Jamie Smyth, Technology Reporter

From next Friday, Nintendo's GameCube console will drop its recommended retail price to €99, about €100 below the rival game consoles the Sony PlayStation2 and the Microsoft Xbox.

The new European price follows a 29 per cent price cut in Japan yesterday, and similar cuts in the US last week.

Analysts said video game publishers and retailers had been putting pressure on Nintendo to lower prices as demand remained weak and inventory backed up in the approach to the crucial Christmas season.

GameCube trails market leader, PS2, by a wide margin and is also losing ground to the Xbox, video games analysts said.

Dixon's Irish stores stopped stocking the GameCube about six months ago though it is still sold by the video games retailers, including Game and Gamesworld.

According to market research firm ScreenDigest, Nintendo had an installed base of 1.6 million units compared to Xbox's 2.3 million in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Australia. Sony recently said the PS2 had a total installed base of 15.6 million for the same region.

Nintendo's rivals indicated recently that they did not anticipate major price cuts.

Nintendo, which makes the popular "Pokemon" games, also forecast its first loss as a public company. It expects a net loss of three billion yen for the fiscal first half, against its May estimate of a net profit of 15 billion yen and a profit of 16.5 billion yen a year earlier.

The Japanese video game veteran blamed foreign exchange losses and slack sales of its GameCube video game console for the loss. Nintendo's projected losses are the first it has experienced since going public in 1962. - (Additional reporting Reuters)