Slashdot Mirror
GameCube Dropped To $99 At Online Retailer
JFMulder writes "Retail partners Amazon.com and Toys 'R Us announced today that they were dropping the Gamecube console price down to $99. Even though Nintendo is probably losing money now on the GameCube, this is the move that Nintendo may be hoping will close the little gap between Xbox and GameCube in worldwide sales, and help it gain a solid lead over Microsoft in the coming months." A Reuters story mentions further indications that an official announcement is on its way, and all on Nintendo's 114th birthday, too.
So can anyone explain to me how Nintendo has been making video games for longer than we have had computers?
Even the original tube type calculator didn't appear to somewhere in the 1950's? Now if they are just talking about some person whose name is Nintendo they should really just say so.
As for me my ps2 still working just fine.
If ignorance is bliss, the world is full of blissful people
A have a girlfriend that loves the cartoonish Mario style games. I couldn't justify a Gamecube before, but I can now. Thanks Nintendo.
For every annoying gentoo user, are three even more annoying anti-gentoo crybabies. Take Yosh from #Gimp for example.
what's to stop Microsoft from cutting prices too, If they're already losing money with each XBox they sell?
the original NES was $99 if I remember correctly. How much were NES games back in the day? I don't remember them being $50 each, the way GameCube games are now.
MORTAR COMBAT!
Actually, I doubt Nintendo is losing money on the Gamecube. Most sources will say that Nintendo was turning a very small profit on the Cube when it launched at $199, and that was a couple of years ago - the prices on the components have fallen off considerably since then, as electronics tend to do, and production efficiency has increased. I'd guess that if Nintendo is taking any kind of loss on the GC, it's only since the price cut to $99, and it's very, very slight.
Philip Sandifer's academic website
Now, if in fact the $99 price still includes either a game or a GBP then this is a significant deal. Honestly, with the GBP the Cube becomes a great little system to have. I recently finished Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow entirely on the GBP and that was a GREAT experience. Other GameBoy, GameBoy Color, and GameBoy Advance games also benefit from the big screen format, although you may finally realize how awful some of that 8-bit sound was on your older games. Those older games are relatively cheap to get used, so you can get by inexpensively on those. Add in Animal Crossing and other great games on the Player's Choice list and then you're talking a good time. Heck, you can even play Soul Calibur II, if you want.
Sure, you won't be playing Halo 2 or the next Grand Theft Auto, but there is still some good gaming to be had on that cheap Cube.
Curmudgeon Gamer: Not happy
I know all sorts of stuff has been done to PS2 and X-box, but what about GameCube? Anything interesting that we can do to it now that it's "under" $100?
I'm starting to think this isn't the best place to promote my Anti-Sig Campaign.
... doesn't mean it wasn't successful. How much cash did Nintendo rake in?
Now I'd be worried if Nintendo was shaking up its executives...
"Derp de derp."
Anyway, I'm planning on buying one. I already own a PS2 and would really enjoy some of the exclusive games that the Gamecube offers. It seems like it's nearing the end of its life cycle, which is actually a decent time to pick up a system. Now I can get all the great games for it at a less than new price.
I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
I don't know if that perceived value will make up completly for the deficiencies, real or imagined, of the Gamecube vs. the Xbox, but it will certainly help.
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
"Even though Nintendo is probably losing money now on the GameCube, this is the move that Nintendo may be hoping will close the little gap between Xbox and GameCube in worldwide sales, and help it gain a solid lead over Microsoft in the coming months."
Actually, Nintendo doesn't want to close the gap between XBox and Gamecube in worldwide sales... because that would make their lead smaller. I get my facts from this GameSpy article which Slashdot linked to less than a week ago.
GameCube worldwide sales: 9,550,000
XBox worldwide sales: 9,400,000
Granted this is not a "solid lead," but it is a lead, and one that Nintendo would want to extend, not close. If you're talking about Europe or America, Nintendo is in third, but in Japan, they're in a commanding second. Any comments about worldwide sales should reflect this.
-Kyle Orland
The Video Game Ombudsman
Let's look at it this way
1) M$ just got done in an interview proclaiming that Nintendo wasn't an issue anymore. If Nintendo wants to beat out the Xbox they're going to have to do it by pushing more boxes out than XBox. This will guve them what... a $100 advantage to the XB, which M$ probably can't afford to drop any lower since they're already losing money on each console manufactured
2) Nintendo has already cut production of new units and are trying to clear out the warehouses. Simple supply and demand here.
3) Nintendo has a lot of hot stuff coming in November. A lot of people aren't really in the know but this is probably a pre-emptive shot in the upcoming Xmas console battle.
4) This also puts the GC on the same value as the GBA, which should prevent Nintendo from "shooting themselves in the foot" (not really happening though) with the price difference between GC and GBA SP. (My next guess is a buy one get one half off deal if this doesn't work.)
5) If Nintendo is still doing the free game with purchase deal then microsoft is seriously going to be in a lot of hot water. You're talking a $150 difference in the setup fee for a GC vs. Xbox.
Insert Sig Here
Guppy06, if moderators slap you for this, it just goes to show you that these kids don't know humor. Of course, all moderators are 13 year old kids anyway, so that's to be expected.
I'm not much into video games, so I may be completely off the mark here... but isn't lowering a console's price point below $100 a death knell? The only two recent consoles that have gone that low are the PS One and the Dreamcast. PS One had a replacement already (the PS 2), before it reached the $99 point, but we all know how the Dreamcast turned out...
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde
Two things immediately pop into my mind with this news...
#1 I remember someone at Nintendo taunting Microsoft for their Sega GT/JSRF bundle deal saying that bundles and price drops are an insult to early adopters. Well, insult on then.
#2 I think of the fast food industry. They also did the price war thing. Then prices hit like $0.49 and customers realized that if they can sell it for so cheap it must be a piece of crap. The consoles might run into that soon. Hmmm, these consoles are $149 and this one is only $99. Whats wrong with this one that it is so cheap?
Either Amazon/Toys R Us made a premature announcement with no gamecubes in stock, or they've sold out of their entire inventory.
Can't recall where it was originally pointed out, but if Nintendo gave away a system to everyone in America, they would make a signifigant amount of money.
270 million people in America, how many do you think will become loyal N-fans from getting a free system? Better still, how many do you think will purchase 1 new game within the next 30 days after getting a free system? Even better than that, how many do you think will continue to buy games?
The video game industry already works on loss-lead economics (since manufacturers are losing money on the system hardware). They're just not pushing the equation far enough.
It wasn't really an issue when this was first pointed out to me, since Nintendo was -the- video game company at the time (the SNES was clear leader versus the Genesis), but now, with the GameCube lagging behind the PS2 pretty badly, they might want to consider throwing some free systems around.
On the other hand, Nintendo will probably start de-emphasising the 'Cube, and focus almost entirely on the GBA, since they do have clear dominance (currently) in that market.
Happiness is relative, Based upon the way we live.
BTW, what's this FUD?
Insert Sig Here
FUD means "Fear, Uncertainty, Dismay" it's a term for marketing strategies based on spreading (usually) false information designed to make people have negative opinion about a competing product.
I'm using the term slightly wrong, in that Microsoft isn't directly targeting Nintendo, but is doing so by reference. Microsoft is taking the data for America and Europe, and ignoring the data from Japan and probalby a few other places, and using that selective set of data to construe their "facts."
Microsoft would be correct to say that they are #2 in America, but they never say that. Thay always say plain out that they are #2, implying an overall dominance. For whatever reason (i suspect large amounts of cash spent on marketing have something to do with it) the news people have picked up on this and started to refer to Microsoft as #2 in the same unqualified manner.
The point of this of course is that some people allow themselves to be influenced by the popularity of something. If A is more popular than B, A must be better, and they'll go buy A. When the press buys into the same mentality the effect cascades. When just about every journalist talks about how the XBox is in second place ahead of the GameCube, it presents a kind of doom and gloom atmosphere, which is why i consider it to be a mild form of FUD.
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. I think it is originally from a Digital exec who was refering to IBM's marketer's speak on DEC's products. It seems to have taken on the meaning of any marketing message that makes you think worse of other companies products. As a side note this is what is always blamed when the less elegant solution wins.
Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
Quite frankly I couldn't care less how much the console costs. The game prices are what annoys me. I refuse to pay more than $30 for a game unless it is really really good. As a GameCube owner, I am now down to buying about one game every 6 months because of this.
I remember buying games typically from $10-30 though the high rollers were sometimes as high as $40 (I remember picking up the original Final Fantasy for $10 at Toys'R'Us ironically). But there has been inflation since the 1980s.
There are other factors on both sides. Games now have addins inconcievable a decade ago. That copy of Starcraft you bought also helps pay AT&T to maintain Battle.net. While games are bigger and more complex than ever, tools have made it easier (programming a console game 100% in assembly is a thing of the past), media has gotten cheaper, and games are generally selling more (allowing the amortized cost to be less).
-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
What I always find entertaining is how Nintendo abused everything during their topdays....Kind of makes Microsoft not look so bad...But then, maybe not. The Nintendo and SNES actually kicked ass.
The real profits are made by the software, not the hardware. Even if Nintendo is now losing money on the GCs (not bloody likely), they'll still be selling plenty of games to keep the GC owners entertained. Since Nintendo still has some A-List titles to release (such as Mario Kart and Mario Golf), they won't be suffering anytime soon.
Goo goo g'joob.
...because Metroid Prime (which is GameCube only BTW) doesn't let me. Hey, PS2 and XBox owners... Do you know a game for your console that is so cool that you have no time to care about Nintendos financial status? I don't think so ;-)
Yes, I've heard more than once that it isn't so much that Microsoft fucks you in the ass, it's that they don't offer the decency of a reach-around.
Oh well. Not like I was going to buy one anyway. Just wondering where the hell the price difference comes from. And please don't say thing like sales tax or wages. The tax difference ain't that big and the damn things are produced in china.
Just pissed off because I pay nearly twice for HD what americans pay. I am okay now.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
"Senior analyst Billy Pidgeon of the Zelos Group commented on the price drop, saying"
In other words, "Some random guy with no real insight into Nintendo's productions costs says...". Talk about pulling things out of your ass.
With guys like this out there, it makes you wonder if it's just a conicidence that 'analyst' starts with 'anal'.