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.

Comments

Re:114th birthday

[Snowspinner]

Nintendo started as a playing card company, and slowly evolved into a video game company as the technology came into being.

Losing Money?

[Snowspinner]

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.

Depends what $99 includes

[jvmatthe]

If it's $99 for a Cube and nothing else, then this is not a terribly significant event. Before it was $149 for a Cube and a game (Zelda, e.g.) or $149 for a Cube and GameBoy Player (GBP). Each of those extra items is roughly $50 retail, so the Cube itself could have been thought of as being $99 for a while. Regardless, they can now advertise is as $99 and people may actually think that it's a new deal. In a sense, it is, since now they can pick the game to go with their new cube (instead of having to buy a specific one) but the net effect is still that the Cube cost $99.

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.

Re:Anybody ever hack these?

[MORTAR_COMBAT!]

It's really too bad, but Nintendo really did a bang-up job of making the system very difficult to hack.

It's too bad, because the system itself is a great little system - standard PowerPC-based processor, ATI graphics - well suited to simple programming.

However the disc format being 'backwards' - the disc spins in the normal way but is read from the outside-in instead of the inside-out like other discs - makes it difficult to even read and write a disc.

However software exists which makes a good effort at reading the discs, so it is only a matter of time before we'll see Linux or NetBSD running on the thing.

But it's really too bad that it is so difficult, because Nintendo could have sold the devices at $199 for a nice profit, including a Linux disk or something, making it a simple browse the web from the set-top solution, etc.

Re:Anybody ever hack these?

[Guppy06]

" I know all sorts of stuff has been done to PS2 and X-box, but what about GameCube?"

<FLAMEBAIT>

You see, unlike those other two consoles, the Cube is fun right out of the box. :)

</FLAMEBAIT>

Look at it this way

[shoptroll]

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.

Re:Death Knell

[BTWR]

isn't lowering a console's price point below $100 a death knell?

While Dreamcast's $50 price was bad publicity, the Genesis, NES and SNES all went for below $100 during the middle part of their generations.

Another price drop?

[Mike Hawk]

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?