WILL Mega Duck do for Welback what Game Boy did for Nintendo? This is a question waiting to be answered as Welback, a Hongkong-listed company, prepares to do battle with the Japanese for a piece of the multi-million dollar, handheld computer game industry.
The people at Welback are under no illusion - they have their work cut out. But they are confident of making their mark, despite Nintendo's obvious domination of the world market.
After all, they say, Hongkong has had a long history of putting together many success stories for other countries. Now, it is Hongkong's turn.
Nintendo and another Japanese company, Sega, dominate the world's video game industry, which is said to be worth about US$7 billion a year. The US share of the market is 50 per cent, followed by 30 per cent for Japan and 15 per cent for Europe.
Like Nintendo's Game Boy, Mega Duck is a small handheld computer console in which a cartridge, containing a game, is inserted into the back of the console. Once switched on, the screen comes alive with whatever game has been chosen. In Nintendo's case, it is probably Super Mario, which has sold an incredible 85 million copies worldwide.
The character is then manipulated using a small console that has a four-way cursor for the left thumb and two buttons for the right, which ''zap'' the opposing forces.