According to this clip from FGN, the Dolphin isn't a popular choice in Japan. Not a good thing for Nintendo of Japan. I have a good gut feeling that when Nintendo starts to show their cards a bit more the Japanese will change their minds. The FGN report is as follows:

Japanese gamers are not overly excited about Nintendo's next-generation platform with only 5.1 percent of gamers who took part in a survey saying they'll buy it on the first day of release.

Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu Weekly conducted the survey, which online sources have picked up on today. The figures are not good reading for Nintendo with a quarter of those surveyed waiting to see how Dolphin turns out before deciding on purchase. A good deal of this hesitancy can be explained by the company's reluctance to give firm details of the project. By far the largest percentage (38.1%) are hanging fire and answered "I don't know," when asked if they would purchase the system.

As you would expect poor results for Nintendo mean the opposite for rival Sony. Despite misgivings about the price with over fifty percent thinking the tag is at least a "little" too high, a massive 34.3 percent said they would be parting with their cash for PlayStation2 on the day of release. Gamers, developers and distributors who were surveyed also unanimously voted Sony as number one after three years, placing Nintendo a very poor third behind Sega.

With PlayStation2's Gran Turismo 2000 being the most hotly anticipated game the survey leaves no doubt that Sony is the one to chase.