Rupert Goodwins' Diary

Thursday 23/08/2001

It's hard to get too worked up about games consoles when the weather is quite so gorgeous -- not that this has stopped Goodwins Junior on his regular summer outing to the rellies in Malta. Surrounded by crystal-clear seas and more bloodthirsty history than you can shake a Saracen at, he appears to have spent most of the time in a dark room shooting aliens. Perhaps if I mentioned that hot weather encourages women to wear bikinis? Ah, he'll notice soon enough.

Meanwhile, Nintendo is also feeling the summer lassitude and announces that its GameCube console will be two weeks late in the US. It's apparently spending the time getting a tattoo done, because when it makes its delayed arrival it'll be decorated with an IBM logo on the front. The same branding exercise will shortly follow for mobile phones, digital cameras and anything else with IBM goodness within.

IBM's never managed to make an impact on the home market -- the PC Jr was so extraordinarily embarrassing that the company's barely tried since. Doubtless it's looking enviously at the Intel Inside promotion, which has embedded that four-note riff into the minds of billions. But has that sold any more chips? Microsoft's attempt to co-brand the Sega Dreamcast with Windows CE did nobody any favours. But, speaking as a journalist whose wages depend on marketing and advertising departments of computer companies around the world, I can wholeheartedly endorse this brave, farsighted and potentially very lucrative act of genius. Way to go, Big Blue!