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Nintendo Declares GCN Most Popular Console Ever
PhReaKyDMoNKeY writes "According to IGNCube, Nintendo has declared GCN the fastest selling console ever. Additionally, Nintendo claims that Luigi's Mansion is the most popular launch title in history as well. I couldn't seem to find the actual press release, but here's a related news story from Nintendo's site. I don't know how valid the claim is, since it's in their best interest to exaggerate, clearly, but it seems like the console demand in general is pretty high. " Now mind you every store in town seems to have plenty of Gamecubes in stock, but if you want an X-Box, you have to kill for it. Fortunately most people in a video game store are like 12, so I can destroy them with my mind bullets.
The press release is available at Planet GameCube.
Here is the original press release from yahoo
t en do_reports_record_gamecube_launch_1.html
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/cn/20011129/tc/nin
THANK YOU!
It does my heart good to see someone remind others that just because you can find it, doesn't mean it's not selling well...
And of course add on to this the fact that something like 100,000 more GC's are shipping every week.
Other fun facts:
Gamecube hardware made more money on its opening day than Harry Potter did in its opening weekend at the movies...
Gamecube sold twice as many units as Xbox did in its first week...
etc. etc. etc.
Yes, Microsoft didn't start production of the X-Box until only a few months before the GC came out, so they had hundreds of thousands fewer consoles. This is one of the reasons Nintendo delayed the GC a few days, so that they would have many more consoles available.
All this being said, I still haven't been able to get my GC yet....
You do NOT need a memory card to save games. You only need a memory card if you want to transfer your saved games to another XBox.
As below, so above and beyond, I imagine drawn beyond the lines of reason. Push the envelope. Watch it bend.
The initial shipment of X-Boxes was 200,000, whereas the initial shipment of GameCubes was 700,000. In addition, 97% of X-Box vendors claim they sold out during the first week, whereas 49% of GameCube vendors claim to have sold out. Nintendo claims a better launch than Microsoft. That makes sense in light of the total units, no?
Seems like there's enough numbers to prove Mark Twain correct yet again.
The Gord's Prophesy of the GameCube
Love the Gord. Fear the Gord.
Do you maybe mean the video game market in Japan?
The population of Japan (according to the CIA World Factbook 2001) is approx. 126,771,662, whereas the population of the US (according to the same source) is about 278,058,881. So, unless these are some sort of freakishly large dwarfs i think your statement might be erroneous.
Me: "dialing the local Target"
Target: "some mumbo jumbo crap, a nice menu"
Yevette: Electronics department, Yevette speaking"
Me: Hi, how many of the new X-Boxes do you have in stock, my kids are wanting one for Christmas and I was wondering if I should wait or go ahead and pick one up now.
Yevette: Lemme see, I see 6 in the case, and we may have a few more in the back. But with the Christmas rush coming and [I stop her there]
Me: Okay, I'll be down to pick one up tomorrow, thanks.
Yevette: Thank you for calling Target blah blah blah.
What do you mean you have to kill for them?
This is true, I actually called today before leaving work.
remote is another 40-50 dollars
Where 40-50 dollars is actually 35
memory card (also another 40-50 dollars).
Where 40-50 dollars is actually 35 again.
Or even less if you're willing to shop around a bit.
Actually, GCN is the acronym Nintendo uses (their site appears to be down right now, but do a google search for "site:nintendo.com gcn" if you don't believe me). I don't get it either.
REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 20, 2001 - Young wizard Harry Potter may have worked box office magic over the weekend, but his potion of profitability actually was trumped by the powerful new NINTENDO GAMECUBE video game system. Movie industry sources put ticket receipts for the three-day opening weekend of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone at $93.5 million. But combined U.S. retail revenues for NINTENDO GAMECUBE (including hardware systems, games and accessories) reached more than $98 million in just its first single day of availability on Sunday, November 18.
Found here.
Another good reason that Microsoft has not produced as many physical consoles at release than Nintendo is that Microsoft is not outfitted to manufacture anything.
Sure, they [Microsoft] could probably print money, what with the technology they flaunt in their Certificates of Authenticity, but they do not have the resources to manufacture electronics. This is where Microsoft brings in a subcontractor to make the XBoxes for them.
In this case, Microsoft has hired a company who specialize in manufacturing electronics for other people. These are the same folks that manufacture some routers for Cisco and some cellphones designed by Eriksson. For the North American XBox release, they utilized a couple of factories they have in Mexico. I am not even joking.
Microsoft sat down at a big mahogany table somewhere, slapped together components made by NVidia, Intel, et al, and then tossed the plans to this company (whose name escapes me) to manufacture it for them.
They had a very specific number of consoles they wanted at release, and gave the guys a mere several months to churn them out. With supply trucks coming and going from the factories daily, they were putting out as many consoles as they possibly could. And that's their job.
Nintendo, on the other hand, is a veteran of the video gaming console market and are perfectly well outfitted to manufacture these beasts for themselves. Also judging by how underpowered the GC is in strict technical comparison to its competitors (namely the XBox), it appears as though they solidified the specifications and design plans for this console LONG before Microsoft came into the picture, and they've probably been planning the release schedule more rigorously as well.
Naturally Nintendo would have you believe that their console is selling bigger, it's the hot ticket, everyone wants one, etc., etc. I think the fact of the matter is that Microsoft is getting into an area (hard-core supply/demand hardware manufacturing) that they are not as familiar with as Nintendo, and this is probably the reason why Nintendo was able to churn out more consoles.
I'm pretty sure that the XBox release was a very last minute rush to beat the Christmas season, and to beat Nintendo after they announced the GC release date. I read stories about MS's manufacturing company trying to overcome some last minute overheating issues (we've all seen the XBox GSOD (as in green screen of death)) due to the PC parts being jammed into a small box they were not made to operate inside of. I think that the GameCube has the potential to be a better planned out console, if not a superior one, but I'll leave the criticisms of the consoles to someone else, like Gord, that knows what he's talking about.
Personally, I bought a PS2, and I'm EXTREMELY pleased with it; I doubt I will buy either of the new consoles.
--
The Bailiwick - DESIGNHUB2005
I haven't found that to be true. Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and most of the toy stores don't even offer bundles.
I just went to a bunch of stores looking for a GameCube and finally found some at Walmart. Looked like they had just gotten a shipment in since they had about 5 in stock. There were XBox's each place I looked though.
I have yet to see a gamecube at all (except a busted demo at the local Best Buy), but X-Boxes are everywhere. After hitting several stores today, I discovered that Wal-Mart, and Target have full shelves of X-Boxes, and only empty spaces where the gamecubes were...
Not selling as well as M$ would have us believe?
- Turbo