Publishers of video game software are starting to talk as if that might be the case, with support waning for Nintendo in the three-way fight for survival in the lucrative game console business.

Software executives interviewed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) trade show here said they're reconsidering the number of titles they plan to produce for Nintendo's GameCube in the wake of declining sales for the console. Total GameCube sales for Nintendo's recently concluded fiscal year fell dramatically short of company estimates, and sales have been particularly off in Europe, traditionally a weak spot for Nintendo.

Vivendi Universal Games, the interactive entertainment arm of the French media conglomerate, will produce fewer GameCube titles this year, as industry support for the console wanes, said Phillip O'Neil, senior vice president for sales and marketing.

"We're really focusing on Sony and Microsoft," O'Neil said, referring to those companies' PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles. "We'd like nothing more than to have three strong platforms. That was our hope when this console cycle started, that it would be a 1+1+1=3 equation. But it's starting to look more like 1+1+1=1 1/2."

Kathy Vrabeck, executive vice president of No. 2 games publisher Activision, was also concerned about the GameCube's position in the market.

"I think it's good for the industry as a whole if you have three strong players, but that's not the direction it's going," Vrabeck said. "We're really not seeing substantial steps from Nintendo to reverse that trend, especially in Europe."

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