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DS LCD screen makers investigated for price fixing

When video game makers fix prices for consumers, it's considered the normal state of business. When LCD makers fix prices for game makers, they get raided by the Japanese Fair Trade Commission. So it goes.

AFP has the report on the investigation on screen-makers Sharp and Hitachi, which have long been suspected of organizing a bid-rigging cartel to limit price competition for portable screens. Between them, the two companies provide all the LCD screens used in the Nintendo DS, though Nintendo couldn't confirm that they were the ones that complained to the commission. No one else involved, included the commission itself, had much comment on the actual investigation, but if it bears any fruit you'll be sure to read about it here.


[Via Engadget]

Profile: foreign systems that America missed

MSX & PC-FX1UP profiles four systems that never made it to the US:
  • MSX (1983) - Metal Gear and Dragon Quest debuted on this platform, which had a enough support to compete with Nintendo's Famicom in Japan.
  • X68000 (Sharp, 1987) - its power came with a price: $4,000; it did feature some impressive ports of Castlevania, Ghosts 'n Goblins, and Strider.
  • PC-FX (NEC, 1994) - TurboGrafx-16's successor; easily trumped by PlayStation, degrading into "a breeding ground for crappy anime and porn games."
  • WonderSwan (Bandai, 1999) - Bandai had an exclusive license to port the original Final Fantasy titles ... until the games eventually landed on GBA.
Good news is Americans didn't miss much.

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