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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.
Ok sales doesn't translate to popularity. It's a lot more complicated than that.
Of course, they could be lying.
What are these mind bullets you speak of and why do you want to destroy little children with them?
The press release is available at Planet GameCube.
from the they-musta-made-a-ton-of-the-things dept.
Well, there should be about 850,000 of them out and about by now, by my guestimation.
Someone set us up the bomb, so shine we are!
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.
Two reasons:
* Nintendo shipped about twice as many GameCubes to start with.
* The second shippments have already arrived in many places.
My other
Take note that the fastest selling console is not the same thing as the most popular console ever. I'm not sure who holds that honor, but I'm sure that other consoles have sold more than 750,000 units (heck games sell two or three times that on a regular basis).
Microsoft just failed to meet the demand for the XBox. Nintendo made several hundred thousand more units, so their supply is more suited for the corresponding demand. Yeah, it might be the best selling console, but that's just because there are more units out for sale.
And, if the Gamecube is a hundred bucks less, let Nintendo milk capitalism for all it's worth.
Fortunately most people in a video game store are like 12, so I can destroy them with my mind bullets.
From 200 yards I assume? That's telekenisis!
Computational Madness in a round package.
On their limited launch titles I assume at least 5 or 6 more games will be out by this time next year right?
(+1 Funny) only if I laugh out loud.
Fortunately most people in a video game store are like 12, so I can destroy them with my mind bullets.
At least CmdrTaco has found some group of people he can compete with and beat.
X-Box games, controllers, systems and accessories on the other hand are in every single store in midtown.
Let's wait till someone writes that he had to kill for CmdrTaco's console ?
VKh
How could they do any better than Playstation2 did this early? The only way they may be selling more Gamecubes than Sony sold Playstation 2s is by having more available... Playstation 2s completely sold out for a long time... I would think it would be quite some months before you could make a call like that... Since I can go to the corner K-Mart and pick up a Gamecube, I find it hard to believe that they are doing better now than Sony did last year when there were no Playstations 2s to be had moments within hitting the shelves.
Besides, the X-Box and Gamecube are only marginally better hardware-wise, if at all, yet the game selection is horrid thusfar. I predict it will be like the original Playsation all over again, first to market does better even in the face of superior consoles that follow, through sheer numbers of available titles.
But if the Gamecube truly *is* more popular, we'll have to wait until about April of next year to see for sure..
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
Most of the stores around me (Philadelphia, PA) have the Xbox in fairly frequently. I didn't think that the supply problem was that much of an issue here. I was at Electronics Botique last week and the guy said they had a bunch of them lying around.
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The reason it's easier to get a Gamecube than an Xbox is because there are a whole lot more Gamecubes to be had. Nintendo has shipped hundreds of thousands more Gamecubes than XBoxes, and so there are just plain more to sell. IGN also has an interview with a Nintendo spokeswoman about the whole thing, clarifing it a bit.
Not in my town anyway, I was at Toys R Us (in Arlington, VA) on Friday Night and I saw at *least* 15-20 Xbox's that were stacked up over the window into the video gaming area. I'd have to assume that they were probably stacked on top of more Xboxs, and I have no idea if they had any extra Gamecubes, as I didn't go over there, nor do I know if they are still there. Worth a shot if your local, though... or distant (and insane *cough* Taco *cough*)
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
Do us all a favor and save your mind bullets for the first person to propose a bewoulf cluster of Gamecubes.
Although, now that I mention it, that would be kinda cool--think about it, a bew--*ack*
Sadly this is not yet the case in Japan. As you may be aware the PlayStation 2 is the leading console in Japan. However, I suspect that the tide might be turning, so to speak.
Perhaps it is because Nintendo is occupied with producing consoles for America, but as of lately, the GameCube has been exceedingly hard to find in stores here. I have owned a GameCube since its launch here, but several of my friends who have not yet purchased one are currently unable to locate them.
With a number of games beginning to be released for it, I believe that the GameCube may now be increasing in popularity. Again, I do not have hard numbers to back this up, but it is a popular feeling here, in some social circles.
I think Nintendo will find great success with its console, especially considering its success in the United States. If the trend in Japan will continue it may be its most popular console since the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo.
Thank you.
R. Suzuka
I've got a product that sold a lot of units really quickly!
Note that this is the same way SEGA started out with Dreamcast. Dreamcast destroyed the previous record for 1st day sales when it came out (9/9/99 by the way). Nintendo is saying they've done the same, basically.
Popularity in the video game market is way more than preliminary sales figures. We'll see who really has the best games about a year from now.
/me predicts Xbox. Let the flames begin.
You should never take life too seriously - You'll never get out of it alive.
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.
Goldman Sachs did a survey among U.S. retailers in big cities, and so far 73% had sold out of the Xbox and 47% out of the Gamecube. Microsoft shipped an estimated 300,000 Xbox consoles around the nation, while Nintendo delivered some 700,000.
[from Shacknews]
Granted, this was a bit farther back in November, but the numbers seem plausible.
And as always: "There are lies, damn lies, and marketing!" (or somethin like that)
A friend that was visiting about two weeks ago bought one for her kids...she has lots of them, so getting 3 games and an accessory was no problem along with the console, but this bumps the total price to $500.
Still, its interesting that they're available this year at all. Remember PS2 last year? Impossible to find!
I don't know if that's a clever reference to something or not, but what a totally freaky thing to say.
Of course, it is nice to know that Nintendo is starting out with strong sales. I was predicting that Nintendo's niche market wouldn't be able to support them and they would eventually follow suit with Sega and go software only. Although it's still early, perhaps this will be a three-way race after all.
A steaming cup of soykaf would be real wiz right now.
It seems to be all over the place. At least, the package for 500 dollars with three games and and an extra controller seems to be. The stripped down version is sold out in alot of places.
What really pisses me off about the XBox: You can't play DVDs without that remote. You can't just use your controller. And that remote is another 40-50 dollars. Also, you can't save games without your memory card (also another 40-50 dollars). Meanwhile... doesn't the god damn thing have a hard drive built in? To be able to get the god damn console you'll have to buy a package, and the package doesn't even contain all the good stuff. It'd cost around 600 to get my ideal set up?
No thanks.
Maybe I'll just wait to attack the 12 year olds too. The difference: I'll wait till after they buy the XBox and walk out of the store with it to attack them.
Me smarts.
CT's comment about available GC units versus XBox systems is also dependent upon the area you live in. I live near a college town in California and both systems have been sold out since they arrived. Things may be different in a quiet town in Montana (not that I know anything about Montana...except that it's flat..right?).
So the lesson for the day is: don't assume, because there are still systems on the shelf, that it's less in (general) demand than the competitor. One should always take supply and local demand into account. Oooh, and a bunch of people order their systems online. That's not reflected in the "on the shelf" test.
Remember when a certain console that cost $199 at launch sold 410,000 units in the first week?
Look where it is now.
Not to knock it -- I love my Dreamcast, and especially now it is an incredible value.
Ian
...site X (pick any recently /.'ed website) declares itself the most popular website ever (accordint to projections based on website traffic immediately after being /.'ed)
in this age of communication i'm just not getting through
i think the comparison that people are making here is wrong and flawed, we cant compare teh populatity of a console by how many are avaliable, PS2 had a shoptage because it was quite popular and there was a greater demand for the console than were avaliable. You dont have to study econ to know what happens next. Xbox may be the same thing.. We all know that nintendo made an effort to pervent the artificial shortage seen with the Ps2. If we are really going to compare the popularity, we need to look at a larger time period, and also conside the number of units produced and then the sales duirng the time as well as the sales of games (so that we know ppl actuallu use the console)
The war with islam is a war on the beast
The war on terror is a war for peace
Fortunately most people in a video game store are like 12, so I can destroy them with my mind bullets.
I hope you're not putting on the pounds, cause you're in danger of turning into the fat comic store guy from the Simpsons.
FiGZ.COM - A waste of perfectly good web space
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What the hell is up with Mario and Luigi? Are they having a fight or something? When are we going to see a Super Mario Brothers game again? For this console and the last, all we've seen is them separately! Fuck that, I want multiplayer action. Not only that, I want co-op play! I want Mario and Luigi to act like they used to and be in the same game! Mario can come over to Luigi's mansion and argue over the Princess or something. Just get them back together in normal (non-kart/smash) game where they belong.
"I may not have morals, but I have standards."
because PS2 didn't ship nearly as many units. I'm sure we all remember the outrageous prices for the PS2. I'm willing to bet that if Sony had shipped as many units as nintendo did, they would hold the record.
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.
but if you want an X-Box, you have to kill for it.
...so it's not the games that cause violence, but the actual game consoles .
Founder, Americans Allied Against Alliteration
Nintendo knows they have a popular console on their hand and to meet demand, they needed product on the store shelves to buy. Microsoft also knows this, but they wanted to try and increase demand by limiting supply. This could hurt them because the purchaser might decide to buy Gamecube instead of Xbox, only because they can get their hands on it. Plus they can get 2 more games if they get NGC instead of Xbox or they can save $100. And me being my broke college self, I'd spring for the NGC anyways. Just my 2 cents...
Amigori
"The quality of life is determined by its activites."--Aristotle
I stand corrected. I guess the bastard at EB was just trying to sell me that damn memory card. He'll go down with the 12 year olds.
However, I am quite sure of the DVD thing.
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.
I took the advice of others from a recent Dreamcast story on /. and bought one. Got the one packaged with the three sport games for $69 at a local ToyRus. I have already d/l a few emulators and boot disks and they all are working fine. If you want to buy games BestBuy the store and BestBuy.com have the best prices I could find. They have many titles for only $10. I also got two VMU's for $10 a piece, and a gamepad with rumble pack for $14. I had to shop around for the other various accessories though (mouse, KB, S-video etc..)
If you want one I would get the stuff now.. Most stores have completely sold out and/or removed everything with the word Dreamcast from the store.
Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly.
Dwarfed? Huh? The population of the United States is more than double that of Japan.
japan has about 125 million people
The US has about 281 million people
meh.
Most popular? Maybe if this thing had come out in 1992. This thing is the LEAST popular system, as far as sales go, and it's pretty obvious that Nintendo's trying to cover it up.
here is some info about the GameCube that you might find interesting.
--- sig moved for great justice.
Nintendo makes brilliant, well-crafted, and (above all) extremely fun games, and that makes people want to buy Nintendo consoles.
Just a thought.
Yes you do need the RF unit to plug into the game port so the DVD pasrts will work... Though It's a pretty much standard RCA remote that comes with it (retail value $14.99), so once you have the RF unit you can use any universal remote (since the kit uses a RCA remote try RCA RF signals) or any RCA DVD player remote...
I wish theyed sell a RF unit by itself & let me use my 'master of all electronics' universal 12 device remote for the box withotu paying extra for a remote I don't need...
we are all invisible unless we choose otherwise
EB does suck....About the bundles, I bought my XBox at Gamespot. They didn't require you to buy a bundle but the salesclerk said that the only make money off of the games and the hardware (cards, AV packs, controllers, etc...).
As below, so above and beyond, I imagine drawn beyond the lines of reason. Push the envelope. Watch it bend.
Actually I think the supply issue CmdrTaco is refering to is just better planning on Nintendo's part. The Gamecube uses less powerful, more widely producable parts, and therefore I think they can keep up with demand better.
Having said that - good luck finding one in Northern VA where I am. You can't.
Take care,
Brian
--
Do you want a free Palm m100?
--
Further, according to Nintendo's 2000 Annual Report, their sales to third parties for Japan come in at US$1.486M, where as their American third party sales come in at US$2.865M
Rumor has it that Xbox had 300k initially, whereas Gamecube sent out 700k.
Both of these, of course, pale to the 20 Million PS2 units out there.
I remember reading a news article and CmdrTaco's "mind bullet" comment makes me wonder if it was him they were talking about.
:)
Xbox went for the same strategy as PS2, build up artificial demand by limiting the amount available after its release. They didn't want to be jerks about it like Sony, so they made it somewhat more available. Nintendo smartly identified that putting out as many units as possible would make a better statement, by comparison, after all with the Xbox's sold out and timmy at home wanting a game machine, they should get an upsurge in sales. Anyhow it won't help, anything built in the shape of a cube is doomed from the start.
not very polite!
Disclaimer: This post is either a parody or a bunch of opinions, whichever the author chooses it to be at any given time. It is a work of pure fiction and as such must not be taken as statements of fact, slander or libel. All persons, places or things mentioned herein are objects of the author's imagination. Any similarities to persons, places or things in the real world are coincidental and unintentional.
There are tons of GameCubes in the stores, but you'll have to kill for an Xbox, eh? Well let me tell you something: Xbox is a Microsoft product, and as such, I believe it sucks. For the uninitiated, I'm a biased, zealous, and most of all, sworn by blood oath Microsoft hater... who cares though? I got 50 Karma! Of course, this is because of some of my better posts, which ironically don't include any anti-Microsoft stuff. Well at least not excessive amounts of anti-Microsoft stuff. And I do admit that one of my computers has Windows 98 on it, but only because:
- It came preinstalled, which means I payed for it anyway. I never buy computers prebuilt but this one is a laptop. I haven't found a way to build my own laptop yet. For everything else, I first decide what purpose the thing is supposed to fulfill and then plan, buy and configure accordingly. I believe that knowing how things work, configuring them correctly, constantly increasing your knowledge and experience, improving the system, and above all, maintaining it often and properly... results in systems that work efficiently and without problems during operation. Except, of course, when running Windows. <bias off>I really, honestly do have a lot of problems with Windows locking up and crashing, when none of my other systems do. Yes, I admit that I've had problems with my other systems. They're made by humans and as such are not perfect, but when it comes down to it, I never worry about, for example, FreeBSD crashing. It just doesn't, unless I'm really pushing the system to the max and doing about 3,000 things that I really shouldn't be doing at the same time! FreeBSD has never crashed under normal circumstances by any stretch of the imagination. It really takes heavy duty abuse to bring that down. But I always worry about Windows crashing, even during "normal" operation (especially during normal operation!) and guess what? It does. Very annoying, but true.<bias on> Now where was I? Oh yeah, the reasons I actually have Windows 98 on my of my computers (and hate every time I have to boot into that defective system).
- I need to run several programs, which currently have no non-Windows replacement that I know of. Therefore, these programs run on my poor laptop... poor because it is forced to execute Microsoft code sometimes.
Luckily, I am writing this on a FreeBSD box, running Opera 5.0 for Linux, so you can't say I'm a hypocrite. And my laptop also runs FreeBSD and BeOS. Some of the hardware doesn't work under BeOS. Everything (to my knowledge) works under FreeBSD, thanks to the FreeBSD on Laptops site.) And I've established that I have no choice but to run Windows some of the time, due to programs which currently have no replacement, but this requirement is decreasing with every passing day, so that won't be a problem soon. Next time I get a laptop, I won't let them off so easy--I will pursue my refund from the manufacturer if it's the last thing I do.So where was I? Oh yeah, I was talking about how the Xbox sucks but went off on a big tangent. The Xbox sucks because it's a Microsoft product. Unless it will run Linux and NetBSD, in which case, it's quite possibly an adequate device when used as a cheap computer. Perhaps it could even serve as a good platform for graphics, as a "poor-man's SGI" (phrase shamelessly jacked--Be made that one up back in the days of their "one processor per person is not enough" days when they were still a cool company) of sorts. Anyone know how to cluster these things? (Or, even better, does anybody know how to take an Xbox, GameCube and PS2 and make one big graphics computer out of them? That would be a cool hack. Don't laugh--I know a guy who buys disposable cameras and uses the parts in real systems because it costs far less than buying the parts individually.)
Well, here I done gone off on a tangent again. Anyway, I don't quite think that I want to support Microsoft by purchasing an Xbox. It's bad enough that I sometimes cause some of their code to be executed by allowing my laptop to boot that virus.
Oh yeah, but there was an opposing viewpoint that I wish to include here, just so you folks don't say i'm a biased, zealous, and most of all, sworn by blood oath Microsoft hater, because that's what I am anyway. :-) Someone commented in another story that Microsoft actually loses money on each Xbox, in the hopes of making big bucks from video game sales. So even after everything else I said above, about not wanting to support them, etc., if it's true that they lose money, then I could buy an Xbox to run Linux and NetBSD and just not buy any games for it. Then, I'd actually unsupport them! I mean, hey, I might build a 10,000 Xbox cluster someday!!!
Now let's see, I have to say something that's actually on topic, right? Hmmm, I'm at the Karma cap, so I must be doing something right, right? Well, for anybody who might be thinking of moderating this Offtopic, here's the ontopic stuff: The GameCube looks like a great toy.
This post is Copyright 2001, rice_burners_suck. All rights reserved.
Oh well.
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.
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.
Totally the opposite in the Walmart electronics department where I work. Gamecubes are seen for maybe ten minutes at the most on our shelves. I can't remember the last time I sold an Xbox. My theory is that everyone who wanted a CAN$449 console and DVD player already got theirs a year ago.
I can't find a GC here in the T. (Toronto, Canada). But I got an X-box. EB's still got X-boxes in stock, but I can't get a GC until I preorder and hope. I know Nintendo is going to get another shipment out by Christmas, but so is Microsoft. I was so desparte to play GC that i went to mcdonalds where they're displaying them to play... =)
-Shawn [ge6.org]
Nintedo declares their new product the best thing ever?
My father declares himself to be "The emperor of california" but it dosen't make that either.
Free Techno/Jazz/DNB/MI Music by guys obsessed with monkeys!
GameCube has a/v ports and optical out. And, yes, the games (Rogue Leader, at least) are designed for DD5.1.
Do you like German cars?
hell, here in toronto, canada the gamecube was sold out everywhere, unlike the x-box. but, thankfully today there were more delivered everywhere in the city.
bad shipping schedule? maybe it did better here than other places? who knows, all i know is that where i work was sold out of the NGC's for days while we had dozens of x-boxen cooling on out shelves.
Paul K.
I bought one myself too. I could NOT pass up a decent console for the cost of a typical x-box or gamecube game(50 bucks). Games under 10 bucks? Count me in!
I'm happy with mine. I wonder if Sega will get some sort of incentive to produce or at least translate more DC games from its surge of sales.
No it doesn't have optical out. Factor 5's work with prologic 2 is itself just a clever hack. Not that I'll ever know, since there is absolutely no chance I'd pay the money for a DD5.1 setup. Actually, jut getting prologic 2 receivers would set you back a few hundred dollars, but it would certainly be cheaper than going for 5.1.
--
Ikaruga scoreboard (supports netranking)
I garner enough stress from Windows 98, 2k and now XP. Do I really want _another_ crashy, buggy Microsoft product... in my living room? no thanks. It's a GameCube for me.
-- "The best way to predict the future is to invent it."
Plenty of Xbox's on the floor. Their Demo is dead though, the Xbox overheated, according to sales rep, after two days. He claimed they sell as many PS2's as Xboxes and that the GameCube is selling "well". This despite the fact CompUSA is not really the best outlet for Nintendo.
Help fight continental drift.
They want at least the profit of a game if you are going to use it as a movie player especially since game makers today are not only making no profit on the hardware but infact losing money on every console sold.
If you like a system buy more 1st party software for it, thats how the parent company will survive.
"You can now flame me, I am full of love,"
This is one of those sites that actually treats press releases as news... When will they learn?
LS
There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
I have declared myself the greatest systems engineer ever. Praise me.
funny, here in charlotte :
gamecubes are completely gone, but people are tripping over xboxes at mediaplay to spend 27$ to buy tomb raider on dvd so they can play the scene where they show the sides of her boobs in super slomo.
meanwhile i walk away with judgment night for 8$. yay for me!
your jesus is another mans xebu. chew on that hypocrites.
Dolby Digital 5.1/DTS receiver, $299. Sony, so midrange consumer quality. Not perfect, but good enough unless your ears are much better than most.
Chasing Amy
(We all chase Amy...)
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws"-Tacitus
Don't kid yourself. There is no shortage of XBoxes. Microsoft is very carefully and deliberately manipulating the distribution and marketing of the XBox to create an astroturf-like imitation of the "Tickle-me Elmo effect." They want people to believe that XBox is so hot that you'd better run out and snatch one before they're all gone, but the reality is that everyone who wants an XBox will eventually get one. Mark my words: inventory will find its way into stores in plentiful supply two weeks before Christmas.
Tired of FB/Google censorship? Visit UNCENSORED!
No, the correct acronym is NGC (Nintendo Game Cube).
My other first post is car post.
...Where Robert's being all "oldskool" sci-fi geek to this 11-year-old kid, telling him all about Logan's run (to which the kid replies: "I like Men In Black.") So he takes him off to edu-ma-cate him...
"Man, that guy will talk to anybody."
"Yes, but it's rare that he'll find his intellectual equal."
She-zor. Who knew?
Karma: Non-Heinous
There are four stores close by to my house that sell consoles. EB, Circuit City, Wal-Mart, and KB Toys. Only Wal-Mart and EB carried X-Boxes, but you can still find an X-Box or someone willing to book you one from a shipment in the next few weeks. All four of the store carry(ed) Game Cube, and all four stores have all their shipments untill christmas sold out. From what I understand Nintendo shiped more Cubes then X-Box...
Of course it doesn't help that the local EB has blown five (5) X-Box demo kiosks since 2 weeks before release and have finally given up and dismantled the thing. (That's five blown consoles in one store in less then a month!) I know of alot of people that canceled their preorder or decided to go with a Cube because of that.
Someday I'll own a Cube......
No, that's for games. Some games will start to take advantage of Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, especially since the standard gamer soundcards for PC have supported it since the Live! 5.1 and Hercules GameTheater. Now the newer cards all have it unless you buy a bargain basement card.
Aside from which, some of the things he mentioned are very usable for games from a visual standpoint. HD video output is naturally much better than standard A/V or even S-Video out if you have a HD screen to view it on, since standard NTSC and PAL TVs don't even show standard 640x480 or 800x600 at full quality thanks to their interlacing and weird pixels.
Personally, back when I still had an N64, I had it set up to send the RCA video to a good quality A/V switch so that when I wanted to play multiplayer I'd put it on the TV, but when I wanted to play with myself (err...) I'd press the switch button and send the N64 output to the video input on my ATI card, set the card's input to fullscreen in my OS, and play games on my 21" ColorSync monitor. Much better visual quality than on the TV--more detail, cleaner, crisper, and perfect for a PC gamer who appreciates what a monitor can offer over a TV.
Chasing Amy
(We all chase Amy...)
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws"-Tacitus
simple. they get one and wait until slashdot posts about someone hacking linux on it. screenshots, patches and all. the rest is up to nature.
tuxracer would absolutely rule on one of these...
--- sig moved for great justice.
You are trying to say that GCN is the fastest selling of _just_ the next gen systems and trying to bash the poster. Well, your wrong on both counts. Quoting the article you read:
"To have outpaced any other videogame console launch ever would be notable in its own right, but to accomplish this under the current economic conditions is truly remarkable."
I would take that to mean that it _is_ the fastest selling console in history. You could also have read the post where a link was given to the actual press release where they also confirm the same thing. No media source is rearranging things as you say. Really.
At the conclusion of the interview (which involved searching my house to which I aqueisced) the agents told me that probably nothing would come of it, but the decision on whether to prosecute or not was up to the attorney general's office.
I'm still not entirely sure how my comment can be construed as an actual threat, but I do understand why secret service agents are a bit high strung about now.
Regards,
Lee
Ugh.. this is the most uninformed drivel I've ever read. His argument is basically - Wellllll, the Playstation sold the most console ever sooooo that means the Gamecube will be the worst system ever. He goes on and on with this argument. Guess what... Atari was the force to be reckoned with in the video game business before Nintendo, and look where they are now! Obviously this guy is a Sony zealot, and thinks that because he pronounced himself "Gord" (*sigh*) he knows the future. His "prophecy" about the XBox says that he is an expert on video games because he owns a video game store, and went on to compare Nintendo and Sony to Nazis. A real class act...
I think Microsoft's survival isn't going to be threatened in the near future.
Does a Christian soccer team even need a goalkeeper?
It is.
What, then, you say, will propel gamecube sales to a competitive level? To answer you, a simple recipe is required: it involves grandparents, parents, christhmas, children and Link.
ZELDA, MARIO, METROID*, MARIO KART, DONKEY KONG RACING, BANJO*
*to a much lesser extent then the others
You see, children read Nintendo magazine. And they talk. The ample supply of middle-school aged chilrdren ALONE will sell enough cubes to keep nintendo fine.
Then, you argue, there is the Dreamcast problem: Great games don't necessarily sell consoles. WRONG! Great games DO sell consoles. Just not great 15-and-up games. KID games sell consoles more than Final Fantasy sells consoles. The children's market was, is, and will continue to be solely nintendo's. The difference this time is that the teenage market and up is held by Sony and (perhaps) the X-Box. It doesn't mean that Nintendo is losing huge chunks of market, it means that the market is growing. Original nintendo owners are getting older.
And nintendo has the handheld market, hands down. The only difference THIS generation of launches is that older gamers have an alternative.
-----
Score 3? For what? Being wrong, at length? - smirkleton
That claim sounds like it came out of nintendo's advertising documents, wait i mean magazine nintendo power where all first party nintendo games were all perfect. "Nintendo's Batman is great says Nintendo! 5 stars Nintedo Seal of appoval"
In my area, all the big stores are out of ... And I see no evidence of anyplace
Gamecubes: Best Buy, Toys R Us, Wal-Mart,
Target,
to buy them on-line either (except for ebay).
His argument is basically - Wellllll, the Playstation sold the most console ever sooooo that means the Gamecube will be the worst system ever.
Actually, it's more like, GameCube is a less powerful system, with few games, with less developer support, which doesn't play DVDs, didn't actually have strong opening sales, is aimed primarily at small children but with inappropriately fragile media, and is trying to enter a market which is already deliriously in love with it's competition.
Everyone who likes video games wants the PS2, and will buy the PS2 in preference to anything else. GameCube is relegated second system status in a market where few buy a second system, and then it's most commonly to correct their mistake of overenthusiastically picking up the less popular system (he backs this point up with hard numbers).
The point that it would take a couple of years for Nintendo to sell as many GameCubes as there are PS2s out there is a bit of an aside, an explanation of why the developer support is weak, since the GameCube market is going to be miniscule compared to the PS2 market for some time.
But the way he says it is entertaining.
This wouldn't surprise me, but given the fact that it's readily available in some places and less so in others, my guess is that they didn't have the marketing data to ship the right amount of units to the right areas. Some places they overshipped, others they undershipped. All in all, I'd bet you're right that there's enough supply, but I think that the supply just isn't where it needs to be at present.
I think all their crafty marketing tricks are involved in over-advertising the thing, to the degree where there are X-Box banners and fliers everywhere, but nary a gamecube one to be found. They just spent so much money that they saturated the ad space. That's what creates the illusion that they're so hot, walking in to the store and seeing big green X's everywhere will overwhelm most people.
"I may not have morals, but I have standards."
Why is the abbreviation for Gamecube 'GCN'? That's even stupider then PSX for Playstation.
It doesn't hurt that Asians have nonewhatsoever loyalty to Microsoft. Asian countries in general eat up small, cute, and cheap (small and cute are paramount, as seen in Gameboy and Apple's PowerBook 2400). The Japanese are especially brand-conscious, and Microsoft is not seen as a desirable brand (shoddy localisation support). Japanese gamers do not see a new console called XBox, they see a Microsoft product that plays games. Besides, with Sony and Nintendo owning the rights to the most historically desirable games, there's nothing left for Microsoft to do but get something innovative on their system...HA HA HA HA,
Not since Marie-Antoinette played milkmaid has looking simple and honest been so fake and complicated.
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.
I live in minnesota and I have found it very easy to find an X-Box, which stores around here seem to have plenty of, where as the gamecube seems to be in pretty short demand.
I think Microsoft's survival isn't going to be threatened in the near future.
Obviously, because they have huge amounts of money at hand and they don't know when to back out. By my calculations, ignoring games sales (which will put a heavy slant on this figure) they lost 45 million buckaroos on its initial shipment of consoles.
This hasn't been helped by their paying in full for the production of several X-Box titles, which AFAIK have nothing stopping the developers from making quick ports to at least one of X-Boxes competitors for real cheap.
Then count the snafu where the factory making the X-Box made about four working X-Boxes on its first day, and I see alot of bullet holes in Microsoft's foot.
Someone set us up the bomb, so shine we are!
Where can I download bootdisks and emulators? I have wanted to, but can't find anywhere that makes it easy and simple.
This Wiki Feeds You TV and Anime - vidwiki.org
Huh? According to the CIA factbook Japan's population is ~ 1/2 the United States'.
Perhaps I'm being nit-picky, but I hope you are referring to the console-buying population or some other population
-Ted
-=-=- Quantum physics - the dreams stuff are made of.
There are jet black GBAs, as well as spice orange ones, both made to match the black and orange Japanese GCNs like the purple GBA matches purple cubes. They'll be available soon.
You say you've got money to burn, eh? Go import some limited edition Suicune, Celebi, Hello Kitty, and Yomiuri Giants GBAs. I'm quite happy with my own LE models, particularly the Suicune model. (oooooh...shiny bluuuuue...)
< tofuhead >
It is still the dark of night.
So you are saying that selling more consoles at alunch puts Nintendo at a disadvantage? The Dreamcast was and is a cool system, the first of the next generation consoles. What killed it was the fact that everyone was all hyped up about the PS2 by Sony. That's ok though, Sony got killed by the hype of the X-Box and Gamecube. Right now the Gamecube is less expensive, more powerful (pure numbers, and the proof is in the games, they look better, way better), and has lots of good games now, with some really great games scheduled every few weeks for a while down the road. The X-Box has Halo. Madden and NFL Fever are great games, but won't sell the system because you can get Madden and NFL 2k2 for gamecube and PS2. Dead or Alive isn't making the spash I thought it would, and all the other games just aren't strong enough. The X-Box had three racing games, two snowboarding games, two footbal games, a FPS, a Fighting Game, and a Party game. They didn't need the redundancy. The Gamecube's games are original and very fun, and aren't rehash's of older stuff. They are what people want, next generation games, not old games with better graphics.
I have played Tony Hawk 3, Rogue Leader, Luigi's Mansion, Wave Race, and Super Monkey Ball and they are all fantastic. Super Smash Bros Melee is getting higher praise then the original, Extreme G is shaping up nicely, and Madden, Courtside, Fifa, Crazy Taxi, and Pikmin round things off so that everyone should have a game that they would buy the console for.
This Wiki Feeds You TV and Anime - vidwiki.org
+tax and/or shipping and it magically becomes $40+
Q.
Thanks a million
This Wiki Feeds You TV and Anime - vidwiki.org
Don't you mean IR?
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
Saying you don't like the "flavor" of current PS2 games is just about like saying the only flavor you do like is white bread and water!
Don't get me wrong, I'm definatley in the camp with GC being more powerful than the PS2 and will probably get one befoore too long. But the PS2 has quite a broad range of truly great titles - take Devil May Cry, MGS2, Frequency, SSX Tricky (GC also), Grand Theft Auto 3, ICO (amazing adventure puzzle game, light action), GT3, Rayman, Twisted Metal Black, Klonoa 2 (GREAT 2d/3d platformer), Zone Of The Enders, Herdy Gerdy (OK, not out yet but looks to be amazing). I left out a lot of decent games that while not amazing, are at least fun to play.
Granted, there's nothing like Pikimin or Luigi's Castle for the PS2 (unique games like that is a great reason to get a GC). But I have to say there's a lot of great variety out for the PS2 to satisfy just about any taste, even not considering the rather huge PlayStation library you have access to as a bonus.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Microsoft hasn't been in the game long enough to understand their market. A console doesn't sell worth shit without games to play on it. In the console world the most important thing you've got are your licensees and the franchises they control. The Playstation's early hits were the games fresh out of the arcades from Capcom and Konami. There were a bunch of arcade games the Genesis and SNES couldn't come close to touching so there was demand for a more powerful system. Then it came into its own with games you couldn't get on any other system (FF7, MGS, GT1&2, Tekken, lots more) or games that really whomped the Saturn's ass. When they launched the PS2 everyone knew the money making franchises were going to have new games for the system so there was a huge demand for it. The fact it's sold 20 million units is testament to that. Sega unfortunately didn't have that sort of demand because they just didn't have the franchises everybody wanted. Nintendo is similar to Sony, they've got franchises that are nearly 20 years old. With the GC there's a be demand because they've got everything from Metroid to Pokemon and that is really selling the system. If the XBox survives long enough to develop its own franchises Nintendo and Sony will be releasing another generation of console. I really think dispite all of the cash Microsoft can infuse into the XBox it is going to go the way of the Jaguar. The Jaguar was a badass system but it was expensive and had no franchise support from anybody. It had really awesome specs but no games so it died a sad death as did Atari.
I'm a loner Dottie, a Rebel.
Nintendo has a tremendous fan base from its NES/SNES days. Unlike PCs which have lots of original games and some sequels, console games are heavily about franchises and sequels. The franchise concept is an interesting one that doesn't seem as popular in the PC market.
:)
Nintendo's Mario franchise goes back to Donkey Kong. They milk this for all it is worth, and it has quite a fan base. We played Mario Kart 64 for months (still do occaisionally). It isn't a particularly amazing game, but the fact that you are playing SMB characters (complete with Stars and Turtle Shells) just makes it a little more enjoyable.
Nintendo has a family of franchises with well known characters.
As a result, Nintendo doesn't NEED to carpet bomb the media. They need to maximize their profits. They aren't subsidizing the hardware, nor do they NEED a huge initial adoption. They'll have a successful holiday season. Realize that the abysmal failure of the N64 was only a failure compared to the NES/SNES dominance. They shipped 30m units over time and made some cash. When the Pokemon craze hit, they rode that all the way to the bank.
Nintendo's MAJOR problem is that they squeezed the Third parties too hard, and they bolted for the PSX instead of the N64. While the N64 has some AMAZING games (great replay factor, Bond, Hang Time, Kart... all playable for years), the companies that were "MADE" selling NES games stayed through the SNES but left to the PSX.
The shame is, I'm mostly interested in Nintendo games. However, because of whatever business decisions Nintendo made, I may pick up a PSOne or PS2 for some games that bolted in this time that my fiancee really wants.
Microsoft has a problem, NOBODY trusts them. If you are a game maker, you have to see the shit that they pull in the PC space. Nintendo's garbage let Sony pull off a coup, they established themselves as the non-game company. As a result, game makers weren't threatened by Sony.
Sega (my brother has owned all their systems since the Master System) has LOTS of great games. Their franchises aren't as good as Nintendo's, but they innovate and create new ones all the time. However, their hardware was NEVER impressive, and they NEVER had third parties like Nintendo. You used to buy a Sega system for their games, now you can get them wherever. I still play some of my Genny games.
The problem with Microsoft is that they have their own games division. They also have shown that they will hide APIs, etc., to help their products over the competition.
If I was a game maker, I might take their subsidies to make games, but I'd be VERY nervous about cozying up too much. I would guess that the independant game makers helping XBox with games are hoping that XBox does well enough that they do well, but not too much that MS EVER has the power that Nintendo did 15 years ago.
Sony was SMART with the PSX. They didn't carpet bomb the airwaves. They let the system get a following. People slowly fell in love with the system. Sony was a new player and played it smart. They courted developers.
Microsoft seems to think that it get bully its way into the market. I'm not sold on that. Sony has a following because the Third Party companies LIKE working with them. They have GREAT game support. Nintendo has a GREAT audiance (including people over 21... most of the people I know want the new Nintendo system). Microsoft would be smart to play this cool and use their DirectX similarities to get games to the market.
If you are launching a game for the PS2 AND PC, there is little reason not to make it a three-way launch for the PS2/PC/Xbox. The Xbox's superior hardware should help it with games on the PS2 AND Xbox.
MS shouldn't be playing for this Xmas, they should be playing for next Xmas. PS2's market lead is HUGE, they need to be careful in playing catchup.
Personally, I think that the market will be a two company market, Sony and Nintendo. As long as Nintendo's franchises remain popular AND they can sell the systems at a profit/break even, there is NO reason for them to be a software only player. Sega's hardware always seemed flimsy and while their games were always fun, they don't have the nostalgia factor that Nintendo has,
The Tickle-me Elmo effect is a LOT easier to do with a doll than a game system that costs $500 with accessories...
Alex
Damn, Super Mario Bros. 1 is still one of my most favorite games and while I personally think that the PlayStation (1 and 2) has better games, the Mario and Zelda Series are reason enough to buy any Nintendo console :-) Those two game series just kick ass, and they kick ass for a long time now.
Because of that I can easily imagine that the GameCube is the fastest selling console ever, but I'm still sceptical... I'd like to see some independent numbers.
Microsoft said they would get 600,000-800,000 units out by delaying Japanese shipments.
d _1 512000/1512354.stm
(see story below). This was quite a recent announcement.
I'm just not convinced they sold out, even the story quoting dealers who had sold out on the first weekend said 30% still had stock of XBox. This doesn't seem like the same sell out that PS2 achieved. If they only got 300k out then where are the other 300k-500k units?
Strikes me the reception was pretty muted, kindof - 'yeh XBox is quite a nice PC for the money' which doesn't exactly stirr my spending juices.
So this Nintendo story rings true, but take it with a pinch of salt till we see the Xmas sales figures.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsi
If you didn't know, the WSC is a Japanese handheld system that was never released in the U.S. It's a largely unremarkable system, but Square has been supporting it with re-releases of their old games. I've never considered getting one, since I own all of the Famicom and Super Famicom originals anyway.
< tofuhead >
It is still the dark of night.
" they lost 45 million buckaroos on its initial shipment of consoles"
...
..(whole).. lot more than $45M on initial advertising and promotional costs. That money is gone even if they don't make a single XBox (and if production problems keep the units off the market so that people can't buy them, then a certain % is just wasted).
Microsoft dropped a
That was my own calculation regarding specifically the hardware itsself. Obviously their overpumped ad blitz would suck another huge wad of cash from them. And if I didn't mention that earlier then just add another virtual bullet stuck Microsoft's poor mangled foot.
I'm not sure how well X-Box has been selling out so I can't begin to guess how much they wasted on advertising.
Someone set us up the bomb, so shine we are!
To an extent console releases have always relied on the 'oh my god - its sold out everywhere - it must be the most popular thing on the planet!' story to hype themselves.
Its refreshing to see Nintendo take the other tack- and talk about actual numbers.
I could release a new console, I'd call it Kylie ("just going to play with Kylie a couple of hours"), and issue a 'oh my god...' press release having sold ONE. I'm sure in a lot of territories the PS2 DIDN'T actually sell out for very long, but the common perception is that it was unavailable for MONTHS worldwide. I had no trouble buying mine!
OK, it's completely unofficial, but all of the people I work with are buying Game Cubes as oppossed to Xbox. The main reasons I get include they are familiar with Nitendo, trust Nitendo and believe that great games will be coming in the near future. However, I must say , even more already own the PS2 and believe it is the best choice. Some PS2 owners are talking about getting a Game Cube as well.
One interesting note on Game Cube - the biggest PS2 hit of all times , "Resident Evil" will be only be on Game Cube in the future This Is making many PS2 owners consider buying a Game Cube in additon to their PS2. This will hurt PS2.
>>>please remove "nospam" from email address
As geeks why don't we sit down and hack :-)
http://beri.tripod.ca/specs.html
http://www.gcunlimited.com/gc/console.shtml
While GCN does not seem to be as PC-ish as XBox, I still think some of us can have a way to deal with it... They use a customise PowerPC as MPU. It should still be easier to handle than Saturn, I think... Any comment?
>>Fortunately most people in a video game store are like 12, so I can destroy them with my mind bullets
Sorry, but I can't miss an oppurtunity to quote Tenacious D, even at risk to my karma.
"What Powers you ask? How about the power of flight? Does that do anything for you? That's levitation homes.
How about the power to kill a yak? From 200 yards away. With mind Bullets!!.
That's telekinesis Kyle.
How about the Power, to move you?"
- Tenacious D, Wonderboy
Of course, who wants to have to experience the green screen of death in the middle of a game? The thing doesn't even have a 3 button keyboard with Ctrl-Alt-Del. As described on /. of course.
Laws affecting technology will always be bad until enough techies become lawyers.
I live in Massachusetts, along with /. and I'm finding just the opposite. I can't find a GCN to save my life but I could walk into Toys R Us right now and pick up an Xbox.
How you see the world is how the world sees you.
not sure where you are, but here in central VA, if you cant find a Xbox or GCN then your not looking. just yesterday at the local BestBuy, there were plenty of them available.
ps...Santa, Ive been a good boy this year, right? hows about that GameCube?!
:)
the history of the world
Personally, I never have really gotten into the whole video game console thing. But, I will say that here in Chicago, there seem to be a whole lot of GameCubes, and not an XBox to be seen. Judging by the comments posted thus far, that doesn't seem to be the case everywhere.
I will say that upon seeing all three (PS2, CameCube, and XBox) that the XBox does seem to have the best graphics, thought that superiority is marginal at best. XBox suffers from not having PS's existing user base and not having a marketable icon like Mario. However, I am confident that MS will dominate the market sooner or later.
Reason being, Microsoft is living proof that you do not have to be the best to be #1. Windows consistently comes up short, yet constantly reigns supreme. I cannot imagine that a company that seems to always come out on top with a crappy product like Windows will fall on their faces with a game console that actually has better hardware than it's competition.
.
I am Slad.
I have to say, in my little town I can't find a gamecube for the life of me. Every store sells out the day they get their shipments... on the other hand, there are always 5 or 6 XBox consoles sitting on the shelf.
$40-50? In my area (near Philly) they go for about $35.00 and www.ebworld.com has them listed at $34.99. Same for the memory cards.
This being the case, $50 is a bit exaggerated.
In regards to availability, the nearby stores (such as EB and Babages) don't seem to have the Xbox or the Gamecube. They do, however, have the accessories for both.
Personally, I don't care how well the Gamecube sells. I like my Xbox and am happy I can get a lot of games for my PS2 (including the old PS games!). I'll wait for a cube...maybe early next year. I just don't like the games I have played on it so far.
Maybe it's a regional thing, but if I want to find an X-Box, all I have to do is look on any street corner collecting dust with it's ludicrous pricetag.
But I *STILL* can't get my hands on a Gamecube. Every store I call has sold out within the first 2 or 3 days.
There's a fine line between genius and stupidity. Genius has limits.
Best Buy: "Some mumbo jumbo crap, a nice menu."
/where/?!
Me:
Some chick: "Hello, Welcome to Best Buy."
Me: "Hello, do you have any Gamecubes?"
Chick: "No."
Me: "Do you expect any soon?"
Chick: "We will get more but we don't know when."
Chick (voice dropping to a whisper): "We were supposed to get some today but they didn't come in. Stop by later tonight."
Either Best Buy employees are just looking to have fun (either way) or there is mass hysteria over this console.
This cloak-and-dagger shit has been going on for two weeks. If Gamecubes are readily available, could someone tell me
Lies about crimes
I don't know what state you're living in, but XBox?? Damn. I was at college in Rochester, NY. Now I'm on break in Trumbull, CT, and I stopped in NY City. Major video game/electronics stores in all 3 of those locations seem to be in the same situation. GameCubes sold out on the 18th, but Nintendo shipped a whole bunch more real quick, and those are selling pretty fast. Stores that didn't have any either just sold out, have like 2, and all of them are getting more really soon. XBoxes it seems did not sell out on launch, and they have plenty of them. The XBox seems to be getting a lot more advertising, but we all know it needs it.
I'm not dissing the XBox just because it's MS. (even though I feel like I should). I'm dissing it because the only reason there is to buy it right now is DoA. And frankly I don't like that game that much.
However the XBox is a computer. A better computer than the one I have anyway. And it's only 300$!! If I could jam linux on that hard drive it would rock. Cheap servers will cool chassis for all! It may be big for a console, but it's small compared to an ATX tower.
I own a GameCube. The reason for that is, well reasons, are Mario, Luigi, Samus Aran, Smash Bros, Donkey Kong, oh yeah LINK/ZELDA woo ha!
Games for GameCube I must have = many
Games for XBox I must have = 0
Maybe Nintendo is lying about GameCube being the most popular console ever, and I wouldn't doubt it. They're probably adding up number from around the world or something. But who cares about that?
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
Someone was making fun of GameCube's initial line up? I went to the store yesterday and there were nearly as many different GC games on the shelf as X-Box games. Then I looked more closely. There were about twice as many GOOD GC games on the shelf than there were X-Box games. Just goes to show quality over quantity.
I've got a computer. A damn nice computer at that. If I REALLY want to play X-Box games, I think I'll just save my money and wait till the emulator comes out in a month. I mean, come on...runs off of windows, uses basic computer components...it can't take them too long. The only game I've seen that I want to play on X-Box that isn't out on another system is DOA3, and I still have more fun playing Soul Caliber than I do DOA3.
So, while you guys finish debating which to play, I think that I'll keep playing Tony Hawk 3, XtremeG-3, and Super Monkey Ball while I get ready for Super Smash Bro's and Pikimin next week...
My friend works at the local K-Mart and they have a ton of X-box consoles, as well as Game Cubes. Then again, who thinks to shop for this kinda stuff at K-Mart but they do carry them. Personally I think anything made by Microsoft goes pretty well with the other cheap crap you can get at K-mart as well.
--Won't that be grand? Computers and the programs will start thinking and the people will stop. - Dr. Walter Gibbs
If there's anything that history has shown us about how video game console sales tend to go, it's the true Christmas season (which, according to malls, lasts from before Halloween now until after New Year's; or for most sensible people, the week before the 25th of Dec).
First of all, Nintendo definitely has a leg up with the $100 cheaper price tag. Most parents I know would jump at the chance to save $100 on a video game system they can get for their kids.
Second, it has the Nintendo brand attached to it. Parents *still* remember the old days when every video game console (to them, at least) was a 'nintendo.' Also, the video game characters that Nintendo owns and places in games hold appeal for parents for two possible reasons: (a) they had an old-school NES, and they remember how fun those characters were, or (b) their kids *definitely* know who Mario, Luigi, Pikachu (a.k.a. Electric Satan), and the rest are. There's recognition there.
Third, it's on the shelves. I seem to remember a lof of Christmases (especially one involving the... what was it called... the GENESIS) where parents bought one system and it sold like crazy simply because it was the one system they could find. Now according to what a lot of people are saying, the shelf factor could translate to Xbox sales, but it doesn't really seem that any of the three consoles are in *that* short a supply right now. It would largely depend on the retailers (and I'm looking at *you*, Best Buy).
History has always shown us that the video game console market cannot tolerate three competing systems. It's never worked. The market usually boils down to two major systems, and an also-ran. The PS2 is firmly entrenched, don't get me wrong. It's the Xbox that the GCN has to contend with. The problem with this is MS's proven track record of shoving complete shit right down our throats with pure marketing muscle - fortunately, they don't have the advantage of market momentum in this case.
One reason parents may not buy the Xbox and switch to the Cube for children is the advertising. Xbox adverts are clearly targeted at the 16-24 year-old age group or so. Parents don't like them very much because of this. Also, the Xbox is FREAKING HUGE and it fairly hefty - I wouldn't trust my kids around it, either.
Another thing - I wouldn't expect MS to back down on this anytime soon, even if they end up as the also-ran. They have spectacular PC translation support from developers, they have the capital to swallow up even long-term deficits from dismal sales of the units, and they definitely don't like not being in first place. I think that MS will keep coming back to the video game console market until they fully dominate it, just like the PC market. Just a thought.
On the other hand, I guarantee you that Sony's already contracting with Hell to get the PS3 development up in full swing (they might find that Microsoft has cornered the market this time on pure evil jammed into a set-top box...).
********
--achernar
"Mind if I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"Okay. It's morning. You're getting ready to go to work. You pull on your pants. Do you fasten and then zip, or zip and then fasten?"\
"What kind of a question is *that*?"
What's this about every store in town having gamecubes in stock??? Not in this town :-(
The only online places I've been able to locate the darn thing (new) have been toysrus.com and walmart.com (no links, they get enough publicity already). And the former has some scheme going on where you have to check daily for "24 hours notice of our next sale" of cubes. Grr. Don't even talk to me about used ones; darn scalpers for the most part with outrageous prices. Double grr.
As I have a 14yo son who is very antsy to get a gamecube for Christmas, I'm eager to hear from ya if you know anyplace near Central Virginia that has one.
-- This
Fortunately most people in a video game store are like 12, so I can destroy them with my mind bullets.
Someone's been listening to a little too much Tenacious D lately!
From the song Wonderboy
"how bout the power to kill a yak from 200 yards away? WITH MIND BULLETS!!! Thats telekineses Kyle."
As with the sun's light
My mom was magnificent
Unquestionable
Here in SF (at toys R us) they finished off a shippment of cubes that was larger then a shippent of xboxes in only 2 hours. The xboxes took about 6 hours to go.
Most of the people in the store were solo 20year old dudes, or parents with knifes that needed to kill for a Nintendo this christmas.
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
I declare myself the coolest human ever
Nintendo learned from the N64. In the beginning, the N64 was rushed out the door without stockpiling a supply, and there were mass shortages, so people just bought a Playstation for Christmas. I have a feeling they wanted to avoid that situation again. Just because there are more available GCNs does not mean the GCN is less popular than the XBox. It just means Nintendo properly anticipated the demand and shipped enough units to retailers.
Also, the GCN is $100 less than the XBox. $100 is a non-trivial price difference. Sure, the XBox has "hacking potential" but Joe Consumer doesn't even know that the XBox has a hard drive nor care. With Microsoft and Sony going for the hybrid set top box/game console, Nintendo went back to the basics and designed a game console. Kudos to them on that.
So, you base your opinion of the platform on a brief chat with - a game store employee???
GTA3 is interesting not because "you can shoot cops in the face" (which right away tells you how valuable his opinion on anything is), but because it's such an open game. You can do things the way you like.
Look at the list I provided, try renting some of those. There are some amazing games there. And not all "Racing Games" either as some OTHER posters seem to think.
As for also playing PS1 games - I don't see how that can be anything but a great advantage. Who cares if most of the titles you have and enjoy are PS1 games - it still plays them better than the PS1 itself can (at least the graphics are sharpened up a bit) and the quality of a game is not determined by its graphics alone.
Like I said, the GC looks amazing and I'll probably get one (I also had an N64 and liked it quite a bit) - but I don't think it's fair to say the platform is not diverse, even if you ONLY consider the PS2 library.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I do not want to sound offensive, but I have seen an incresing number of articles without an actual source to back them up. An example of this is when the gamecube pre-release was announced. I took this as truth, because I viewed slashdot as a creditable source. However, I did a small amount of research, and found out that nintendo made an offical statement that that was a roomer.
Now I see an aritcle that says they can find a similar article, but nothing to back up their claim. This makes me seriously question slashdot's creditbility. If you want to post that Nintendo's Gamecube sold better than Harry Potter, great. The press release says that directly, and it is a reliable source. However, the "yeah, that sounds like it could be approach" of the approval of articles is beginning to wear on me. At this point I see Slashdot as more of a roomer mill than a news source.
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OK, now let's at least be reasonable, and try to get our facts straight. Coming off as fanatics is not politic in today's climate, and fanatics are usually the ones who make up facts and get all upset about them without anybody bothering to check them against reality.
/. everytime a new competitor springs up in the software market. Why would we want Sony / Nintendo to just draw a line at age 12 and agree to let Sony have those above and Nintendo have those below? Why isn't it a good thing that Microsoft is climbing in over the corpse of the Dreamcast?
Wednesday night I paid $29.99 for my DVD remote kit at Target. I have been saving games since launch day on the hard drive without a memory card.
Now, start looking at your criticisms and think: Can I save PS2 games without a memory card? Will any amount of money allow my GC to play DVDs? This sort of rabid mentality adds to the ammunition of those who think the open source movement is populated only by irrational zealots.
Regarding bundling:
I bought my XBOX on the morning of the launch at a Wal-Mart with just the console, an extra controller, and one game, exchanging my TRU pre-order bundle deposit for another game, though they would have been happy to just refund my $. TRU was ecstatic that I cancelled and one clerk was dialing the next guy on the list before the first clerk had finished ringing up my game, so it was possible to do an end run around the bundles, and I don't see anything about post-launch bundling at all...where are these people shopping?
On competition:
A cheer rings out on
Dude, if they lowered the price to $50 for the console and $10 for the games, they're probably not even covering the manufacturing costs. Dreamcast is dead and buried, sorry.
"The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than that of whether a submarine can swim" -EWD
In the videogames business (and in retail in general), there are two figures which are typically quoted depending on what makes a better press release. When Nintendo "sells-in" to the distribution channels, it means that distributors have purchased a certain amount for resale. It does not mean that end-users have purchased them all though. "Sell-through" numbers are a better guide since they count the number of units end-users have purchased from dealers. (The other big number that matters is "returns", which are not accounted for in the sell-through numbers.)
Press releases which mean sell-through tend to use the phrase "sell-through" explicitly. The Nintendo press release doesn't use these words. Combine that with the evidence of GameCube's availability, and one has to assume that these are sell-in numbers.
_-_-_
There are 0x40000000 types of people: those who understand 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point, and those who don't.
Mario Kart64 does, but that's because the piece of shit game cheats.
All the Mario Kart series games cheat:
Adding one new feature, namely the ability to replay the race from the point of view of any Grand Prix computer player, would force the developers to concentrate on making the computer follow the same rules as human players.
( Read More... )
Will I retire or break 10K?
In my opinion it's one thing to be biased against a company due to their business ethics/tactics but it's wrong to be biased against something because a lame ass store hooked the product up to the cheapest TV they could get.
Unless Microsoft forced the stores to either agree to such a condition (Xbox on best TV) or receive zero Xbox units.
Will I retire or break 10K?
The rub is that people will have to get the new one, since the GBA's screen is horrible.
It's not horrible, just dark. The gamma of the Game Boy Advance display is 4. Gamma-correcting a game's graphics before running it on the hardware will fix the display, especially if you have a cover light or a worm light. The Doom Advance developers knew this and cranked up the brightness, and the game looks wonderful (even though it may look washed out in magazines that assume that all screenshots have a gamma of 2.2 like a CRT). The fact that Castle of the Moon 1.0 didn't gamma correct is a bug that may be fixed in later printings.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Go import some limited edition Suicune, Celebi, Hello Kitty, and Yomiuri Giants GBAs. I'm quite happy with my own LE models, particularly the Suicune model. (oooooh...shiny bluuuuue...)
To clarify: Unlike DVD and Nintendo TV-top consoles, Game Boy platforms have never been region locked.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Gamecube does not support Dolby 5.1 sound at all (no digital out). Some Cube games do support Dolby Prologic II, which offers pseudo-5.1 sound, matrixed into a stereo signal (and yes, there's still a latency).
PS2 supports only pre-encoded DD5.1 sound (for cutscenes & background music), though I have heard that a new game or two manage realtime DTS 5.1 encoding, by dedicating half the graphics engine to the task.
Xbox has the only Dolby 5.1 realtime encoder, done by a dedicated DSP in its MCPX chip (nVidia's nForce PC chipset does too). This adds only ~10ms latency, less than one frame's worth. There's no special effort required by the developer to use it (a single line of code instructs the sound engine to enable the encoding, and any DirectSound3D source is automatically positioned in 3D by the realtime Dolby encoding and Sensaura HRTFs).
Using the Dolby encoder on the Xbox does not take resources from the game, whereas any realtime multichannel encoding must be done by the CPU (on the Cube), or possibly one of the vector processors (on the PS2).
And yes, from personal experience of Halo on my 5.1 system, the sound is stunning - the best feature of the Xbox, IMHO.
Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
I like multiplayer games, and I'm disheartened that I have to buy expansions for the PS2 to get that.
Are there a lot of good 4 player games for the PS2? It's a prime consideration for me choosing one game system over another.
I will not choose the alien-egg Xbox because of who oens it. So shoot me with your mind bullets, I don't care.
I have a N64, and I'm not biased towards Nintendo.
I have played both systems, and I like the games of both, but I do prefer the GCN's controller better because it's much more ergonomically designed and more comfortable than the PS2 controllers.
Anyone else pissed about Jet Set Radio Future being made exlusive for the Xbox? It's the only reason I'd consider buying one. (especially after looking at those videos IGN has)
The only reason Luigi's Mansion is such a hot seller is because most retailers are only selling GameCubes in bundles that include Luigi.
Then of course, there's the really weak number of GameCube games available to choose from. If a retailer (such as EBX here) requires you to buy 3, 4, or now 5 games of your choosing with your console, you don't really have much choice but to buy Luigi.
He stole them from Jack Black and Kyle Gass of Tenacious D.
Are you sure they're not Sapphire Bullets (Of Pure Love)?
- Mike
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
Sorry, this piece is not a winner, please play again.
According to the 2000 CIA World Factbook, the population of Japan is 126,549,976, less than half the population of the US. Granted, they're far more densely packed, but their whole nation is smaller than the state of California.
I wouldn't mind seeing the above comment modded down for being clearly false.
my sig's at the bottom of the page.
Will any amount of money allow my GC to play DVDs?
Easy. Get the $300 Japanese DVD/GCN combo unit and then put in the mod-chip to play American software and Region 1 DVDs.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Besides Halo was supose to be a RPG
So was Quake 1. It became a FPS only because id Software was gasping for $$$ at the time.
Will I retire or break 10K?
However, why do you think the game should play fairly?
It's more fun that way. In a fair game, you can use the same tactics against the computer that you use against other human players, and it becomes almost as fun as playing online against humans. However, MKSC gives you NO way to hurt the computer players.
On a separate note, how do you feel about games where the computer-controlled player-characters do intentionally worse than they could?
The goal of a game is to be fun, not to be as difficult as possible. Consistent 100% accuracy by a computer is worse than play that statistically makes the same mistakes that a human player of the appropriate skill level makes.
Will I retire or break 10K?
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.
For all of you loyal Gord readers out there (www.actsofgord.com), you should probably read this as well:
this
-Vic
Here in central NJ, everyone store I visited is out of gamecube stuff. Couple of friends at work who live in different areas also said that they couldn't find any gamecube stuff. When I asked staff about gamecubes, they said come back next week. Next week comes, "come back next week." Repeat.
As for the xbox, I found a few stores that have them on sale! When I asked why they were already on sale, the first response I got was in preparation for the holidays. When I pressed a little more, I got "we just can't sell these things." I couldn't get them to elaborate further.
At least in my area, no one wants the xbox and everyone wants the gamecube. Don't know why, but there it is.
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
Actually one of the big benifits with MS using commodity hardware in thier console is that by the time the 2nd run of consoles comes off the line and the new contracts for parts is made, the hardware cost will be less than the price on the box. MS was not planning for this (not sure how they missed it) so thats at least an upside to the story. That coupled with the fact that 99% of xboxes sold were part of a bundle with 3 software titles, I think that MS is doing much better than even they planned initially.
"You can now flame me, I am full of love,"
Actually one of the big benifits with MS using commodity hardware in thier console is that by the time the 2nd run of consoles comes off the line and the new contracts for parts is made, the hardware cost will be less than the price on the box.
I'm sorry, what part of the X-Box is commodity parts, beyond the drives and CPU?
Someone set us up the bomb, so shine we are!
Gamecube has every right to declare itself the most popular system ever because even if it weren't true (tho it is), it would win by default because Microsoft apparently did not have a television last Christmas. The demand for the PS2 was among the highest the world had ever seen for a console, Sony underestimated this, and lost HUGE when they knew that last year was when they were going to have to install their fanbase before the upcoming XBox and Gamecube were launched. They screwed up and didn't launch enough units. Now XBox has made the same mistake again, so there will be a lot of purple boxes under Christmas trees this year. What does that translate into? Well developers go for the easiest platform to create games on (already Gamecube), and now not only that, but they will have the second largest base users to sell to! Only a moronic company WOULDN'T develop for gamecube..why would you develop games for a system that only 300,000 people have versus a system that 700,000+ people have? Microsoft f'd up big this time, I fear...dare I say it...that we will soon be calling it Microsof xBOB....remember MICROSOFT BOB?!! Nintendo has learned from its mistakes and other's....it has learned very well.
Wouldn't it be cool to make a Namco Musuem-esque game for the Game Cube that has every single Mario Brother's game on it? Kinda like the All-Stars game for SNES...but with Mario64, Luigi's Mansion, Paper Mario, etc. That would be good for all of the classic gamers like me. :)
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
Jack Valenti and the MPAA are to technology as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone
that you don't smoke pot
He gave his information away, same as I do. From the post, you can get to his account information, which has the URL of his home page; from his home page, you can get any information you want. It isn't that hard --- and lee is an honest geek, and wouldn't want to hide from what he said anyway.
If the general public in the US is forgetting that, it is an alarming sign of a striking need for reeducation. You should keep VERY quiet about any human rights violations until you remember what human rights are all about.
Kiwaiti
Member of the Legion Of Microsoft Haters
Yes. Nothing to hide. And, unfortunately, it is exactly that attitude that furthers the 'If you have nothing to hide, why do you insist on us having a search warrant? Why not just let us in?' attitude used increasingly more often by cops everywhere.