GameCube Sales Quadruple, Nintendo Debuts New Slogan

Thanks to GameSpot for their report that sales of Nintendo's GameCube have quadrupled, following the price cut to $99. The piece quotes an effusive GameStop spokesman as saying: "Our sales of Nintendo GameCube have increased more than fourfold. We are currently increasing our shipment requests for the system throughout the holidays." Meanwhile, the Chicago Sun-Times reports on the new Nintendo adverts, both TV and print, with the tagline "Who Are You?" - the print ads "...show the heads of Nintendo characters superimposed on famous images, including players in the rock band Kiss, a person straddling the now-demolished Berlin Wall and no less an icon than the Mona Lisa", and the massive $100 million ad spending will also feature "a 60-second cinema commercial... shot on location in Asia... [and featuring] more than 500 extras."

Comments

Not very surprising to me..

[YomikoReadman]

So am I the only one who is honestly not surprised by this? Gamecube is a really great system, with really great games, and people are obviously buying them in mass quantities now. To me, this shows that since PS2 hit the market first, and everyone hopped on that despite it's horrid launch and stuck with it, most of the gamecube sales to date have been from people like me who wanted the gamecube, not PS2. Now that Nintendo has slashed the price, people are going and buying it as a second system. Does anyone else smell the demise of the Xbox?

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[Anonymous Coward]

Dreamcast hit the market first in the current generation of consoles - not the PS2.

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[Metal_Demon]

I'm quite sure I'm not the only one buying the GC as a THIRD system. Though really with a significant price difference the XboX is staying an apple while the GC has become an orange.

With the price now even lower than it was more kids will be able to convince there parents to buy them a game system, especially since Big N is so cute and cuddly. Also I believe you need to consider that this price drop just when live not long ago and many people who already wanted a GC anyways, like me, were holding off because we knew the drop was coming. Obviously when you know something is about to get cheaper you will wait to by it so it's no suprise that sales suddenly took off. I believe that with in a month sales will die back down to what they were or less, as many people who wanted one have no reason to wait anymore.

Also, when already get things get cheaper they ALWAYS sell more. I mean come on this is dang near GameBoy priced now.

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[YomikoReadman]

This is true, and while as far as I am concerned DC is the best system ever, with some of the greatest games I have ever played, it was really hurt by the fact that sega did absolutely nothing as far as marketing is concerned, at least here in the US. The system did exceptionally well in Japan, however, which goes to show that they have way better taste than we do.

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[nocomment]

Nah, the xbox will be around. Are you kidding? It's a microsoft product. They could give every single one of them away for the next 3 years and still have money to light their cigars with. What I do smell is more games for nintendo. The typical rule of thumb (according to what I've heard), is that you develop for the top 2 (or 3 if you have money). Nintendo, was kind of hit or miss on this. They were #3 in USA, #2 in europe. So some game manufacturers would opt for an xbox release hoping to get more sales out of the USA (unless of course in Europe).

Perhaps this mean s more games for Nintendo?

I know that since they dropped the price, I'm asking my wife for a gamecube for X-mas, and I wasn't planning on buying a game console at all.

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[sporty]

Heh, too bad your line of thinking couldn't work with Microsoft Bob.

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't think that Spirited Away came from America do you, or that hentai is really all there is to the culture?

I know I shouldn't be feeding a troll like this, but this kind of sterotyping and misinformation really irks me. As far as a blanket statement putting down a group of people, which people? Americans like us? A people with our enormous crime rate, and everything else that is wrong with this country? Not that my comment had anything to do with that. I was talking about a fucking video game console you stupid, rascist, bigoted son of a bitch. Go back under your fucking bridge, you goddamned troll.

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[PainKilleR-CE]

It's worked so far with MSN, set-top internet (now branded with the MSN name, probably a future addition to the XBox line), and a handful of other MS products.

We can all name dozens of cancelled MS products if we've been around Slashdot long enough, but take a really hard look at how many products are grouped into the same division of Microsoft as the XBox, where the whole division basically loses money constantly, and how long some of those products have been around. If MS thinks someone else has a market they want, they're willing to spend a lot of money to stay in that market, even if it means they don't make any of it back for several years.

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[LeBlueBoy]

Not really...all three consoles are coming into the end of their lifecycles, and lets face it, $99-$69 isn't a bad price for a second console. None of the several computers I've owned over the past 8 years have run any sort of Microsoft OS. As a rabid anti-MS troll, I'm ashamed to admit that I'm really impressed with my XBox.

I plan on picking up the GameCube sometime in the next week, but I don't see it as a direct competitor to the X-Box...it's purely a gaming console, and it's insane to pass up a chance to get a good current gen console at this price.

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[Anonymous Coward]

End? They got at least 3 more years. Game consoles have a 5 year average shelf life before support gets nuked.

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[Delron Da Thugg]

You should have posted that with your ID, you dirty troll. How rude. Go move there if you love it so much...you'll do really well with all the women there that look like small boys. That seems to be what you're into.

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[Coco13]

Besides Metroid Prime, Animal Crossing, Star Wars Rouge Squadron II (soon to be III), Pikmin, Smash Brothers, Wind Waker, F-Zero GX, Mario Golf, Super Monkey Ball 1 and 2, and Eternal Darkness? None, really. And why would you want to play DVD's off a game console?

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[Anonymous Coward]

dont forget the updated resident evil and re0

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't understand why, given that MS has recognized that it was selling the Xbox at a loss, nobody has accused them of dumping.

Someone with a better understanding of Economy can illuminate me?

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[ChaoticLimbs]

I can't wait to play Rouge Squadron. The idea of starfighters in ladies' makeup interests me. Rougue Squadron, the one without the makeup, sounds pretty good as well.
/spelling nazi

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[Zico]

Hahahaha! You're calling for the demise of the Xbox because of this article? Let's break down these numbers. According to Nintendo, this quadrupling took them to 61,000 for the week, after averaging 15,000 per week for the rest of the month and going all the way back into August. Catch the significance of that? That means that the Cube was heading to a 60,000 sales month in the US, the lowest in its history. Even with the increase for the week, that means that they're looking at monthly sales of less than 110,000 (3 * 15000 + 61000). The Xbox has had exactly one month, which happened over a year ago, where it had sales within even 10,000 units of such a low number.

Get some perspective already.

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[romfffrom]

XBOX has online game capability, so I don't think GC can beat XBOX. I honestly think GC is a great game console, but its software line-ups are weak and most of them are targeted to younger people.

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[Baby_with_a_nailgun]

I can't wait to play Rouge Squadron. The idea of starfighters in ladies' makeup interests me. Rougue Squadron, the one without the makeup, sounds pretty good as well.
/spelling nazi

Spelling Nazi might like to know it's spelt Rogue.

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[Anonymous Coward]

Then why has nintendo sold more consoles than microsoft?

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[YomikoReadman]

I didn't write that reply but I am more than happy to write this logged in. As for me being a troll, They don't usually post this high to start, unlike yourself, posting at 0.

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[YomikoReadman]

So does Gamecube. They just don't have any software support. I already have my broadband adapter. Do you? Besides, as far as I am concerned, right now PS2 is the only console with a decent online game either out(Evercrack) or in the works(FFXI). Halo is much better played with a bunch of friends in a very large room. Not that a FPS is worth crap without a mouse/keyboard.

Oh, and before all the MS Zealots/Anti-Gamecube Sony Fanbois jump down my throat, yes, there are other games that can be played online, but for the most part, they suffer from the not really online problem, where you only get extra stuff, or the no good control scheme, as is the case of MechAssault. Now, if I could get a copy of Steel Batallion, you would see me, A Nintendork for well over 15 years, buying an XBox.

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[AllenChristopher]

"...why would you want to play DVD's off a game console?"

Particularly when the EB guy warns you when you buy the PS2 that if you play DVDs the laser will wear out 24x faster.

Re:Not very surprising to me..

[Delron Da Thugg]

WOW. Karma bashing. What an exceptionally pathetic retort. Of course you wrote that little anonymous trash...an anonymous coward who won't dare to speak up for fear of losing karma.

Lower the price, and sales increase

[jgardn]

I guess there is a lot to this whole idea of capitalism. If you lower the price, the sales will increase. In the case of Nintendo, it sounds like their gross profit is going to increase because they lowered the price.

Now if we can convince our governments that if they lower taxes, the tax revenue will actually increase....

Re:Lower the price, and sales increase

[sabinm]

what you are talking about is price elasticity. it basically means that how much a product's demand is affected by a coeficcient of >/;+/-1 due to price increase or decrease. A product is price elastic if by raising or lowering the price you see a change in demand. how great that demand is of course how you determine the range of the elasiticity. FI, if I sell 100 gamecubes at 149us dollars, and then lower my price to 99 and sell 400, that is a massive price elasticity. by reducing price by 1/3, i increase sales drastically.

This does not often work in taxes and govt, becasue the revenue that is returned to the people is not always spent back into the govt. FI, the US tax cuts this time around went to paying down debt and in very secure, low yield securities, with no one selling and everyone holding because prices were so low that they had to go up. In a bear market, not only are prices low, but you buy stock at low price to reap a high reward later. So, in effect, in several years, yes, we might get more money from reduced taxes. However, this has nothing to do with tax revenue in the short run as a decrease in the cost of govt (taxes) did not increase spending one iota, and on top of that there was an increase in govt spending that decreaesd revenue to the point that the govt has taken to using future revenue (credit, defecit spending) in order to make up for the non-elastic outcome of lowering taxes. Don't worry, someone will have to raise taxes in the future to pay for lower taxes today.

Needless to say, lowering the price on a gamecube is a bit more simple than fiscal and monetary policy of billion-trillion dollar economies

Re:Lower the price, and sales increase

[RzUpAnmsCwrds]

"Now if we can convince our governments that if they lower taxes, the tax revenue will actually increase."

Yes, but only if it's done properly. Broad tax cuts (and, even worse, tax cuts for the wealthy) like Bush's aren't very expensive. The bulk of the money went to the upper middle and upper class individuals. Those individuals are likely to save the money instead of spending, which doesn't stiumlate the economy at all. Think about it: an upper middle class or upper class individual already has the money to buy an expensive car (or they already own one); an extra $3000 isn't going to mean anything (they already had a spare $3000, another spare $3000 isn't going to mean a bit of difference). Someone who's living paycheck-to-paycheck may not have the money to buy a car or computer; an extra $3000 makes them much more likely to do so.

So, yes, tax cuts do stimulate the economy, but only if they go to the people who will spend it.

Sidenote 2: The US cannot stand any more tax cuts. We actually need tax increases. With $6 trillion in debt, a huge defecit, increased spending, and trillions in Social Security debt, this country needs to start being responsible with money.

Sidenote 3: Much of Europe is in the same situation as the US, if not a worse situation. Social programs cost money, and with the ratio of retirees to workers increases, so will the defecit. France has already had problems with the EU for holding too much debt, and Italy has the lowest birth rate in the world.

Re:Lower the price, and sales increase

[PainKilleR-CE]

Yes, but only if it's done properly. Broad tax cuts (and, even worse, tax cuts for the wealthy) like Bush's aren't very expensive.

Aren't very expensive to who? The easiest way to increase the amount of money that a given tax cut will 'cut' is to reduce taxes on the wealthy a very minor amount. If you cut taxes on people making $20,000/year, there's very little tax to cut and very little money coming in from those people to begin with (if any, I don't remember where the cut-off point is, but it's certainly not much lower than that).

The bulk of the money went to the upper middle and upper class individuals. Those individuals are likely to save the money instead of spending, which doesn't stiumlate the economy at all.

Are these people saving money in their mattresses? Are they putting it in shoeboxes in the closet? If they're saving it, they put it in a bank, or in a CD, or stock/bonds. Any of those things stimulate the economy just as much as (if not more than) spending it.

Think about it: an upper middle class or upper class individual already has the money to buy an expensive car (or they already own one); an extra $3000 isn't going to mean anything (they already had a spare $3000, another spare $3000 isn't going to mean a bit of difference). Someone who's living paycheck-to-paycheck may not have the money to buy a car or computer; an extra $3000 makes them much more likely to do so.

Ah, but if a 1% tax cut gives one person $3000, it'll give someone in a lower bracket $300, or $30, or $3. A $3000 tax cut for the top tax brackets is the equivalent of $21,000 or more in the bottom of the tax bracket, which is far more than someone in the bottom of the tax bracket even pays in taxes (or makes in some cases; in other words, you'd be giving people money rather than taking taxes from them).

So, yes, tax cuts do stimulate the economy, but only if they go to the people who will spend it.

Everyone spends money, especially when they get tax refunds (unless you're George Bush and you tell the IRS to keep it for next year, which most wouldn't do knowing they could get the interest for themselves at the very least, and banks invest the money you give them to save). I use my federal tax refunds to pay my state taxes most of the time.

Sidenote 2: The US cannot stand any more tax cuts. We actually need tax increases. With $6 trillion in debt, a huge defecit, increased spending, and trillions in Social Security debt, this country needs to start being responsible with money.

Why doesn't the US get rid of defecits the same way people get out of debt? Because it's unpopular. Don't spend money you don't have. If you have trillions in Social Security debt, fix Social Security. Spending is astronomical. Additionally, if you increase taxes, who are you going to increase them on? If you increase taxes on the people that contribute the most to the country's current tax bill, you're taxing the people that can most easily afford to leave the country for a place that will let them keep more of their money. How much is enough? 70%, 80%? I'm irritated enough at having to pay less than half that percentage in taxes, and I am living paycheck to paycheck most of the time.

Sidenote 3: Much of Europe is in the same situation as the US, if not a worse situation. Social programs cost money, and with the ratio of retirees to workers increases, so will the defecit. France has already had problems with the EU for holding too much debt, and Italy has the lowest birth rate in the world.

Most of Europe has a significantly lower birth rate than the US. The US, however (not knowing what the various European systems use) was supposed to be setup so that people got back the money they put in. My Social Security money was not supposed to go to my grandparents (or my parents). They paid Social Security money believing that they would get the money they put in, but the government spent it, so they give them my Social Security money. The government needs to fix the system so that it works the way it was supposed to, or scrap it entirely (put in a cut-off age or whatever, I don't care, as long as it's done soon). They've been propping it up for too long now, since it went bankrupt years ago.

Re:Lower the price, and sales increase

[pmz]

Don't worry, someone will have to raise taxes in the future to pay for lower taxes today.

Cutting spending is better.

Re:Lower the price, and sales increase

[CashCarSTAR]

Here's the way to look at it. The economy can be sluggish because of two things. Either too little demand or too little production.

In an economy where there is too little production, then tax cuts on the rich are a good thing. This will pay for factory upgrades. Investment becomes crucial in getting the economy moving.

However, right now the problem is one of not enough demand. Like it or not, those lower down the tax bracket do spend a higher % of their money, and faster at that. As well, more of it is spent locally, which creates added benefits from the spinoffs (Which are more important than the tax cut in and of itself).

The problem with the US economy right now, is one of a lack of demand. People are running in to more and more debt problems, cutting back on spending, hurting the economy and so on.

Personally, I don't think tax cuts are the answer either way. My theory is money is flowing up way too fast and is tend to be flowing right out of the US like a gusher. What I would do, is increase the minimum wage by a modest amount.

A minimum wage increase would both increase tax revenues, and create jobs that are not there due to a lack of demand. Combined with that, I would create a tax benefit for small businesses that might be hurt by a minimum wage increase. Combining these two things would help the economy.

Of course, it's still going to take courage to survive the "End of Work" period, when robots do more of the labour and we need to share the jobs, and get our personal satisfaction in other places. Although, if we get through it, the world will be a much better place.

Re:Lower the price, and sales increase

[ChaoticLimbs]

Wouldn't SPENDING cuts be more fiscally appropriate than tax increases? I mean, the real problem here seems to be governments spending money like it has no value. The rest of us have to tighten our belts when money is scarce, but the governments of the world just keep spending it. I don't mind military spending, the space programs, but what about the James Byrd Library or the James Byrd fricking mini-mall? The fact is that most of the Federal US budget goes out the window to build shit most people won't see, and nobody will benefit from. When Senators stop pressuring Congress to keep unnecessary and redundant military bases open in their states, we'll see changes. Until then, what gives them the fucking right to ask us for even MORE money?

Re:Lower the price, and sales increase

[AvitarX]

Actually people payed social security expecting to die before they collected.

Average lifespan was lower then the social security.

And the government is not propping it up either. Social security is propping up government spending.

Don't spread missinformation. Unless you want karma.

Re:Lower the price, and sales increase

[PainKilleR-CE]

And the government is not propping it up either. Social security is propping up government spending

Social Security is propping up government spending, but because of that it's had to be propped up itself. Additionally, due in part to the way government likes to take money from Social Security to balance other portions of the budget, money that goes into Social Security today goes straight out to pay beneficiaries. This is why it can't support itself once the baby boomers begin to retire, or even any time when unemployment is high. The money I've been putting in for the last 5 years is spent, and the chance of it being there when it's my turn to collect is slim to none.

Nixon alone put over $900 million into Social Security to prop up the expansions he made to benefits, including a 10% increase in payout, plus a cost-of-living scale that increased based on the year you retire, rather than the year you collect (though that, by it's very nature, reduces the payout to individuals over the way most people would expect it to work).

Re:Lower the price, and sales increase

[AvitarX]

I am not trying to say the social security is workable right now. But it is not yet bankrupt yet. And it was never setup put in the oney you take out.

From the start people were able to collect. There was no, anyone now under twenty gets to take out there money in 40 years. When it was established people got to collect even though they put nothing in.

Social security is unworkable in its present state and my generation is royaly fucked, but it was setup so that each generation pays for the previous at a time when birthrates were high.

The only way to save it in its current state is to increase the age of retirement to 2 years past life expectancy like it was when social security began. Of course people can;t be expected to be productive to that age.

Completely good news?

[illuminata]

While the GameCube sales figure are much better, it seems to me like they could still be losing money on it. They lost a lot of third party support and can only churn out so many first party titles at a given time. If they still are losing money on each console sale, which would seem to be true, I'm not sure if they have enough titles to get into positive cash flow. Anybody with stats that say otherwise? Is the GBA enough to keep it afloat?

Re:Completely good news?

[alwayslurking]

Gord suggests that Nintendo was losing a small amount on the GC when it was released at $199. Fast-forward two years, during which time hardware costs will have fallen quite significantly and the price drop probably isn't breaking them.

GBA selling like hotcakes at a hotcake addicts convention probably doesn't hurt either.

Re:Completely good news?

[Acidic_Diarrhea]

From everything I've ever heard, Nintendo does not and will not sell consoles at a loss. This is a widespread rumor concerning the hardware business started by Sega when the PS1 was launched and Sega believed the price was too low. Now, the profit margin on the Gamecube at this point must be very slim but I believe there is still profit being made. Remember that since the Gamecube does not use DVDs, there is no licensing fee to pay for that. Furthermore, the PowerPC chip that the Gamecube has has probably come down in price since the Gamecube launched.

But regardless, Nintendo is very much in the black, as you seem to be implying that they are teetering towards the red. See this article for information on this. (Basically, they made 95 million in their first fiscal quarter of the year.) They may not be making the kind of money that was coming in during the heyday of the NES but Nintendo is not in dire straits.

Re:Completely good news?

[Anonymous Coward]

You know , I always get tired when people try to debate based on facts from this gord guy. What the hell does he know?

As far as I can tell from his site, he's nothing more than an oversized young adult whose life revolves around his video game store.
He hasn't demonstrated the ability to read a financial report; Where does he get off commenting on the manufacturing of multi billion dollar corporations? I can get lots of 'news' from the dorks down at my local EBgames as well, but I don't base any of my judgements from it.

Re:Completely good news?

[Scyber]

Actually it says that $199 was probably a break-even point.

Re:Completely good news?

[rwven]

I want to know how if they dont sell at a loss, how on earth they produce that console and all the stuff that comes with it for a small enough amount that they can have it selling for 99 bucks in the stores and still be making a profit on it. or even breaking even. you gotta figure the GC is probably around 70-80 "cost," and then the stores make 20-30 profit on that. that's gotta be a VERY cheap thing to produce. this it's possible? I dont see how they could break even quite honestly...

Re:Completely good news?

[Acidic_Diarrhea]

No, the stores don't make that much profit on the consoles. The profit margins for the stores are basically nonexistent on the consoles. Talk to some people who work at EB or Gamestop or Circuit City. There's no employee discount given for console sales because there is no profit being made there.

Re:Completely good news?

[PainKilleR-CE]

You're overestimating the stores' profits on console sales, for one. The stores count on people buying games just as much as the manufacturers do, and, furthermore, the stores want you to buy *used* games, for which they make a great deal more profit than the new games. There have even been a handful of reports that stores have occasionally had to sell consoles at a loss.

Second is that they're only selling the console and a controller at $99, so there's not a great deal coming in that box. (frankly, since the previous bundles involved the retailer taking an item from their shelves normally sold seperately and giving it to you with the box, I really don't see much difference here, except that your 'bundle' price and items are much more flexible, and no bundle is required).

Re:Completely good news?

[n0wak]

Exactly. I think this price cut is actually better for the retailers than the previous low price and a game deal. The previous deal forced the retailer to bundle a game with it. Sometimes these would have been games that they legitimately paid for, but with no price guarantees. That would have been a loss for them.

Now, though, they sell the console at $99 and they likely get to sell a game on their own terms. And, if one is getting a cheap GC, one might want a used game, and as you said, all the profit margins are on used games. Packed bundles are bad for retailers.

Re:Completely good news?

[rwven]

assuming i AM overestimating the stores profit, even if the store was making no profit at all, how could they produce it for 100 bucks?

Re:Completely good news?

[Anonymous Coward]

Those of us who have had actual conversations (in my case, as a customer) with Gord have long known that he is an unnecesssarily rude, self-important, and not particularly intelligent person. I know EBX managers who are more in tune with retail economics than he. Truth is (and I'm not trying to be condescending, I worked retail when I was young), it doesn't take an excessive amount of brainpower to handle little league retail like a mom & pop store. His site is only wothwhile for his anecdotes of the even stupider clientele that he seems to attract.

And if by "oversized" you mean "fat," well, yes, he is a chubster. But I don't judge him on that basis. I just think he has no greater insight into the games industry than you or I.

Re:Completely good news?

[Daetrin]

assuming i AM overestimating the stores profit, even if the store was making no profit at all, how could they produce it for 100 bucks?

How can i go down to the store and get a calculator for a few buck that has more computing power than ENIAC, which cost about half a million to make? Why is it that if i sell a computer i bought for $2000 a few years ago that i'll be lucky to get a few hundred for it now?

As always, prices for electronics have dropped, and that drop is even larger when you're talking about something that is being mass produced in a single configuration.

Re:Completely good news?

[rwven]

well, if i'm wrong, i stand corrected. it just didnt make sense to me. I guess if the prices fell fast enough that could be. :)

Re:Completely good news?

[alwayslurking]

In the original body, yes. The edit made in February 2001 acknowledges a quote from someone at Ninendo;

"We expect to incur a small loss on the GameCube hardware initially, and you're right that it hasn't been our habit in the past but we expect it to turn okay early next year."

So there were some initial losses at $199, before scales of economy or hardware cost reductions managed to shift the break-even point down to or below that level.

I suppose a jump from one to four *does* count....

[skyknytnowhere]

Kidding!

I'm glad to hear their sales have jumped. Hopefully this nips the whole "Gamecube is dead" article blight in the bud, since I was getting sick of people claiming that, despite the excellent games.

skye

Razor/Razor-blades...

[rthille]

Given than the gamecube can probably be made for $50 in quantity, it seems to make sense to sell them for as little as possible and make money off the games. I'm not suggesting losing money off the console, but breaking even (which is probably what the $99 retail price is getting them). Game consoles seem to be largely about two things: number of consoles sold (I want to be able to trade games with my friends, and I don't want to be stuck with a console no one develops games for), and secondarily the tech.
The thing is, the tech doesn't make the games. I've played with my friend's PS/2 and while the graphics were nice, the game play seemed to suffer greatly: lots of boring transition 'movies', fights that consisted of pushing a bunch of buttons in any order as fast as posssible, and illdefined objectives.
I know it's just because I'm _really_ old now, but I'll take the games of my youth over the current crop. Wizardry, Wings of Fury, Crystal Quest, Ripoff, Joust, Star Castle, Gauntlet all had something that the latest FPS lacks.

Nintendo Campaign Confuses

[cdneng2]

I'm sorry, I'm under the same opinion as IGN, that the ads cause more confusion, then the image Nintendo is trying to market through the advertising campaigns. Just take a look at how ridiculous this picture looks. It obviously doesn't look like Nintendo is aiming for the Xbox GenXer or teen. I have to say that most marketing campaigns, at least when they start out, are meant to be confusing. They are supposed to entice you with your curiosity. Let's hope Nintendo's hyped commercial changes my opinion.

IMHO, they should have marketed games themselves, not the brand.

Re:Nintendo Campaign Confuses

[Schnapple]

Well remember the PS2's "PS9" commercials? Everyone was like "WTF?". Still, PS2 is the #1 console today.

To me, Nintendo is marketing the fact that they're still Nintendo after all these years. People oftentimes are unhappy in the present, and the future is a scary proposition, so they generally take solace in the past. Look at all the 80's revival shows on VH1, the new Garbage Pail Kids cards, retrogaming, etc. People love being reminded of all the cool stuff about their youth (as opposed to the crappy things) and that, to me, is what Nintendo is selling. They're saying "Hi, we're Nintendo, and we still make games with Mario, Donkey Kong, the Princess, etc. Come buy a GameCube for $99 and remember what these games are like."

Plus to me the Nintendo ads have style. Xbox ads are always MTV music videos with James Earl Jones at the end. Nintendo's ads are like those pieces of art most people don't get. Besides, everyone talks about them and remembers them - and remembers Nintendo. Pretty effective ads if you ask me.

Then again Sega's consoles always had pretty cool ads....

Re:Nintendo Campaign Confuses

[Anonymous Coward]

Yea, sega has definitely always been the king of ads. Who could ever forget that crazy sounding guy screaming out "SEGA!!" at the end of every ad, sounding like someone had lopped off a limb while he was saying it or something. That was the best.

Re:Nintendo Campaign Confuses

[shadowcabbit]

Xbox ads are always MTV music videos with James Earl Jones at the end.

Is that James Earl Jones? Doesn't sound like him. Some other well-known actor, of course, whose name escapes me. Maybe Laurence Fishburne, perhaps, but I'm fairly certain it's not Jones.

Re:Nintendo Campaign Confuses

[Schnapple]

The ones I'm thinking of have JEJ, but now that I think about it some of the recent ones probably have someone else. Yeah since JEJ is the voice of CNN I presume MS could find his price (these are the guys who forked over the millions to the Rolling Stones for the Windows 95 campaign).

Re:Nintendo Campaign Confuses

[Daetrin]

I agree with you, it seems like a strange and stupid campaign just based off of the description and that one screen shot. Maybe i'll change my mind when i see one of the commercials. (If we ever make it out of crunch time here at work so i have time to watch tv again at least)

Re:Nintendo Campaign Confuses

[TiredGamer]

You are thinking of Keith David, who is variously known as Goliath (Disney's Gargoyles animated series in the early '90s) to Spawn (HBO's animated series) to hundreds of advertisements, bumpers, trailers, etc.

Re:Nintendo Campaign Confuses

[vdo2000]

Keith David is probably best known for playing the father in "There's Something About Mary". He was also in "The Thing", "Platoon" and "Requiem For A Dream".

Re:Nintendo Campaign Confuses

[Anonymous Coward]

Man, I want one of those masks...

Marrrrioooooo

[Anonymous Coward]

For some reason, the article reminds me of the commecials Nintendo had in the early or mid 90's. You remember, the ones with a horde of people wearing red, blue, white, and whatever else to make a giant picture of Mario?

Mass market price point.

[dstyle5]

If the sales numbers stay high for an extended period I believe Microsoft will be forced to drop the price of the Xbox. I told my brother about the price drop of the Cube and the next day he bought one. I know a few other people who may pick up a cube now also. The price drop, in combination with a good library of games and some great new upcoming games like Mario Kart Double Dash (drools in anticipation, Nov. 17 is to far away!) should help improve Nintendo's situation in North America.

Re:Mass market price point.

[hawkbug]

I agree - I have a PS2, but am now seriously considering getting a cube for the Mario cart game. At 149, no way - but 99 sounds a lot more appealing... I miss the Mario games I used to play as a kid.

Re:Mass market price point.

[ivan256]

Hmm, $99 plus $49 for the game, or $149 with a free game, and sales are up 4x...

Looks like people are as dumb as they seem...

Re:Mass market price point.

[Anonymous Coward]

hey jackass, not all games cost $49. in fact, the games that nintendo was bundling the gamecube with can all be had for less than that. so now you pay $99 and then spend between $20 and $49 on a game you actually want. but you're fucking stupid so you don't get it. it's okay, be a nintendo hater - it's fine. talk about someone who's dumb - you don't even know that the price of games vary.

Re:Mass market price point.

[hawkbug]

Who said I was going to pay $49 for a game?? Ebay or used game shops are the way to go. Hell, maybe I'll just rent it.

Re:Mass market price point.

[ivan256]

Well, you did mention a brand new, sure to be priced at $49 game in your post. I didn't think I was going too far out on a limb...

Re:Mass market price point.

[prockcore]

but he specifically mentioned Mario Kart... so he'd have to spend $150+$49 for mario kart since it's not likely to be part of the bundle.

Re:Mass market price point.

[ivan256]

Until the $99 "price drop", the EB in my area was including any game as part of the bundle. The official bundle included the new Zelda game right when it came out... I don't see why Mario Kart wouldn't be available in the bundle...

Not trade

[bluGill]

My friends encouraged me several years ago to get a GameCube, because they already had PS2 or Xbox. When I go to the one's house we play PS2 (or Xbox, respectively) games, by mixing up the system we get more varity.

I didn't have the money back then though. Today I'm thinking about going the MAME/emulator route. Nothing like a good game of MULE/PacMAN, or such to remind everyone that this is about fun.

Will it last?

[ePIsOdEOnline]

I'm wandering whether this 99 dollar price drop will last for the long haul. Is it possible that once Nintendo gets enough purchases, that it will raise the prices due to a newly found supply and demand? Also, how long can they keep up the demand? regardless of the price, are they doing anything to change their game software strategy any? I still feel that the online gameing found in PS2 and Xbox keeps the GC from being used by a larger sum of people.

Re:Will it last?

[Anonymous Coward]

I know of exactly 0 people that use the online capabilities of the xbox and ps2

Re:Will it last?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nintnedo can keep up with demand for forever and a day, so don't expect them to run out of consoles anytime soon. As far as this price drop goes, they have never, ever raised a console's price after dropping it, even if they started a bundle deal later. This is Nintendo we are talking about, not Sony who will say "We are dropping the Price on PS2s from 200 to 150. We are also going to stop selling them at 150, because we are packaging in a broadband adapter which raises the price back to 200".

Re:Will it last?

[MORTAR_COMBAT!]

I still feel that the online gameing found in PS2 and Xbox keeps the GC from being used by a larger sum of people.

The GC has online play, it is just that so far hardly of the game developers have got their heads out of their collective asses long enough to realise that those of us who own GC want to play online as well.

Re: Will it last?

[dstyle5]

Yes, it will last. Once a console or any other consumer electronics device drops its MSRP it will not go back up again. Since the technology is getting older and hence closer to obsolescence day by day, consumers are not willing pay a higher price for something that was cheaper yesterday. Are they doing anything to change their game strategy? I believe they are doing a bit by enabling LAN play in some of their upcoming games (like Mario Kart) which helps a little, but if they would have gone with full internet support their games would be more attractive to more people. Nintendo states that their is no money to be made with online gaming. The replayability factor of a game is increased tremendously via the internet. Replayability + positive word of mouth and reviews = increased sales = increased profits. That's how you make money with internet gaming and if they don't have an internet strategy for their next console they don't have a chance.

Re:Will it last?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm wandering if the englis langauge is going to survive the internet.

Re: Will it last?

[Anonymous Coward]

While that logic reads soundly in an argument, I'm not certain it seems to be applicable in the real world...

There are a few counter-arguments to the 'online gaming is the future' claim. First and foremost, the Dreamcast versus PS2 situation. Outside of the XBox no console has had a better setup for online gaming, and yet that didn't save the Dreamcast. Also, there's the factor of current useage statistics... I forgot the exact figures, but the online capabilities of the current consoles are only being used by trivial portions of the gaming population. Given that only a small portion of console gamers are using the online capabilities present in current systems, then it seems rather a stretch to claim that online capabilities make or break a new console...

Re: Will it last?

[Anonymous Coward]

Xbox Live 500K users vs total Xbox units in the world (a number about 20 times higher).

Re:Will it last?

[Anonymous Coward]

Likewise. Strange as it may sound, I personally know more people (well, one is greater than zero) who play Phantasy Star Online episodes 1&2 on the GameCube regularly.

Re: Will it last?

[Anonymous Coward]

Sega.net (for the Dreamcast) had 800,000 subscribers. Compare that to Microsoft's 500,000 Xbox Live subscribers - WORLDWIDE. Xbox Live is not a success, and it is not making money.

Re:Will it last?

[JVert]

I'm actually not all that interested in paying $10 another month for online services.

This is good, but it has some bad ramifications

[dade_murphy]

As I write here, I think that this price drop coupled with their new ad campaign is mostly a good thing. However, I do question some aspects of Nintendo's strategy. As far as price point is concerned, it is likely that this is the first time that Nintendo is losing money on per-console sales. For a long time, only Nintendo broke even on each console, so now they're on par with Sony and MS (MS losing the lion's share at an estimated $110 per console upon release). However, Nintendo will seek to make this up in game sales. According to GI.biz their ratio is 8.4 games to every console, so that adds up to a very healthy profit in the long run.

Re:This is good, but it has some bad ramifications

[Winterblink]

Losing cash on hardware is the norm. Console developers always make their cash more on the software and third party hardware licenses than anything else.

Re:This is good, but it has some bad ramifications

[PainKilleR-CE]

As far as price point is concerned, it is likely that this is the first time that Nintendo is losing money on per-console sales.

OK, so let's look at this for a minute:

Nintendo was making a good profit selling a console bundled with a game or a GameBoy Player for $150. With the games I can see that, it really doesn't cost much to bundle a game, except any sales you might have gotten of that game and whatever profit difference exists. Microsoft cuts this cost by bundling low-selling games in cheap packages, as one example of how this can be done (something that wasn't done with the Nintendo bundles). With the GameBoy Player, you have a piece of hardware that sells for $50 seperately.

Now, granted bundle deals are usually going to cut some profit in favour of better sales and perceived value, but the perceived value of the Cube itself was around $100 anyway with these bundles, and the way the bundles were done usually meant that the retailer was taking a $50 item out of their stock and selling it with the Cube at $150. As the cost of the games went down, the game bundle obviously decreased in perceived value (increasing the perceived cost of the system), but overall you're still getting the Cube today at the same price you got it 2 weeks ago if you bought the GBPlayer bundle/bought the Cube and a Player today (unless you can find the Player cheaper than $50, which could be done in some areas).

In other words, unless they were drastically marking down the items they were bundling with the Cube, there's really not much difference on their end between the current deal and the previous deal, except that they may not push as many Players or copies of certain games (though most of the previously bundled games are now at a lower price, too).

The end effect, Nintendo was making money on each console sold before, and there's little evidence that this is not still true. The exception, of course, would be if they make a lot of money selling GBPlayers at $50 a pop like they presumably do with top-selling games at $50 a piece, and were using the perceived value to cover the GC's price. The beautiful thing about bundles, though, is that the profit on a bundle increases over time at a faster rate than it normally would selling the console alone (assuming that the console's rate of cost decrease is slower than what is being bundled; software costs, for instance, decrease drastically once the development cost is recouped).

Re:This is good, but it has some bad ramifications

[dade_murphy]

You have it, part of the reason Nintendo went to bundling was that the cost of the game was already covered. Any games sold beyond a certain point only cost as much as the media they're written on. So while I agree that bundling the game and the Gamecube did make it pretty much the same as the $99 price drop, the reality was that the the game was virtually free to produce and the GC wasn't.

Pathetic advertising idea

[DrSkwid]

"...show the heads of Nintendo characters superimposed on famous images, including players in the rock band Kiss, a person straddling the now-demolished Berlin Wall and no less an icon than the Mona Lisa"

looks like the advertising budget was slashed to $99 too

$100M ad cmpaign?!?!

[BigChigger]

They dropped the price $50. To pay for the ad campaign, they'll have to sell what, 2M units to break even? Skip the marketing. With a 4X increase already, the news is out. BC

Re:$100M ad cmpaign?!?!

[kisrael]

They dropped the price $50. To pay for the ad campaign, they'll have to sell what, 2M units to break even?

Err, your math only works out if it costs nothing to make or ship a GC, and they also can't make any money selling games.

Skip the marketing. With a 4X increase already, the news is out. BC

Ehh, that could be. But who knows.

Count me as one of the new buyers

[Rappy]

I bought mine and also got Pikmin ($20), Animal Crossing ($30), and Metroid Prime ($30), and a used memory card ($10). New system with 3 fun games and card all for less than $200. That's a pretty good deal, considering that all I play on my PS2 is NCAA Football 2004.

1 x 4 = 4

[stryck9]

While it is great that sales quadrupled, the big N is still isn't selling as many GCs as they projected or expected. 1 x 4 = 4

Re:1 x 4 = 4

[bobibleyboo]

They are selling more units worldwide than microsoft.

Re:1 x 4 = 4

[sporty]

Yup.. so if your units of measurement were in the millions, 1mil * 4mil = 4mil. 1(2mil) * 4(2mil) = 4(2mil).

Glad you know your math. :P

Re:1 x 4 = 4

[sporty]

Erf.. meant 2mil(1 * 4). Troll on me now for making a mistake ;P

The asshole replies:

[pecosdave]

Got mine on ebay. Black in color.

Metroid Prime
Animal Crossings
Batman Vengence (think that was the name)
Skys of Arcadia Legends
Mario Sunshine
Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time (didn't get the Windwalker, oh well)
StarFox
Lost Kingdoms
Resident Evil

Wavebird Wireless control
A MadCatz small control
S-Video Cable
Carrying Case with a clip on disk holder
Modem

Used for about three months, and not well used eaither. All of this stuff looked like it was taken out of the original packaging and placed into the carry-all bag.

$230 with shipping.

Re:The asshole replies:

[Gehenna_Gehenna]

I traded in a bunch of old PS2 games I had lying around and paid $0.00 FOR GC, Wavebird (yowza! Sony, why can't you dp this for PS2?), Metroid Prime, and RS II.

I love my PS2, but the Cube ROCKS. MP is probably one of the most unique games I've ever played.

Coming soon from Redmond, WA

[dal3]

The Microtendo Travel Agency: "Who are you and where do you want to go today?"

Frequently Spouted Untruth

[Acidic_Diarrhea]

In the video game industry, losing money on the hardware is not the norm. This is a long standing rumor that people continue to tell. The first time this was even mentioned as a possible business model was when the PS1 came out in the U.S. and Sega said the price was too low and thus Sony was dumping. If you have any evidence that Nintendo or Sony have ever sold their consoles at a loss, I would love to see it. Until then, MS loses money on an X-Box sale and Sega lost money on Dreamcast sales but beyond those two systems, I do not know of any systems that have been sold at a loss when the system was still being actively sold. Two consoles in a market that's been around for over twenty years does not a "norm" make. You are correct that most hardware companies are making more money from the licenses and the game sales.

Re:Frequently Spouted Untruth

[Winterblink]

I wasn't speaking as a general look at the video game industry historically, I'm simply saying that today in 2003 this is what's going on. And if you have any evidence to the CONTRARY feel free to present it :)

Re:Frequently Spouted Untruth

[Anonymous Coward]

Nice backpedal but you're still wrong. Neither the Gamecube nor the PS2 are sold at a loss. If you want I can do some digging and find interviews where people at Sony and Nintendo have said this. Do I really need to though? I think you might just be arguing at this point for the sake of argument. I am quite sure that these consoles are not sold at a loss. It's not your fault that you've got this idea - it's been a widespread rumor for awhile now that all consoles are sold at a loss. Do a little digging and you'll see that it's not true.

Honsestly...No

[Anonymous Coward]

the price difference of gamecube and xbox has not changed. Gamecube has been $99 for awhile, you just had to buy a game or a gamecube player. Nintendo is just now realizing for people to see that, you have to thrust the pricepoint in their face.

So the price is $80. You do realize that's a whopping difference of the cost of a game and a half. That's it.

There are still specific advantages in the Xbox over the Gamecube. Networked games, higher quality output (audio and video), DVD player, hard drive.

Oh and I don't know where you're living but it is exactly priced the same as a Gameboy (SP is pretty much the norm) at 99.99.

I still don't really care for my Gamecube, but I bought it off of someone for $60, I couldn't pass it up to play all my Gameboy and Nintendo games (via PocketNES) on my TV again.

Re:Honsestly...No

[Metal_Demon]

Gamecube has been $99 for awhile, you just had to buy a game or a gamecube player. Nintendo is just now realizing for people to see that, you have to thrust the pricepoint in their face.

Actually it was 150 for the GC with a free game or player, the difference there being that it was a very limited selection of games (none of which did I particularly care for).

specific advantages in the Xbox over the Gamecube...DVD player

Not fresh out of the box.

Oh and I don't know where you're living but it is exactly priced the same as a Gameboy (SP is pretty much the norm) at 99.99

Thats basically what I said...though I wasn't sure about SP price which I why I just said GameBoy (though actually I was thinking GBA, my bad).

Lastly you seem to have missed the point of the entire post. I'm in no way attempting to say that the GC is selling now because it's good (not that I don't like it), I am however saying that the only real reason for the sale increase is that it's cheap (which actually more implies thats it's not all that). Also as I said, my GC (when I get around to buying it) will be my THIRD console. I already have both the PS2 and XboX as well as my computer set up primarily for games.

Re:Honsestly...No

[PainKilleR-CE]

There are still specific advantages in the Xbox over the Gamecube. Networked games, higher quality output (audio and video), DVD player, hard drive.

As the other poster mentioned, the DVD player is a $30 addition. Internet games is $50/year (GC network adapter is an additional cost and more games are coming that support network play, though not internet play atm). Higher quality output is another additional cost (I don't know what the A/V pack costs since I have a fairly old TV). The hard drive is it, and without any of the other additions functions as an extremely large memory card and storage for music files (which I use quite a bit on certain games).

Re:Honsestly...No

[Anonymous Coward]

You haven't disproven either of my points.

GC has been $100 for months if you take a pick from 4 games or the player. You're expressing the same blind thought I was trying to point out. And that wasn't a limited selection, those were key GC titles and the Player was an option almost from the day it came out. I sold a Gamecube this weekend (I work at a GAmestop) to someone, he bought hte player with it today. When I asked him why he was buying it now he said it was because Nintendo dropped the price on the GC. That is my point. He didn't pay any more or less for the system than he would have before.

"Not fresh out of the box"

Dunno what you (or Painkiller) talking about, you're apparently being exceedingly picky, the option is there, that is my ONLY point. Last I checked, the DVD player IS in that box where there will never be a DVD in that Nintendo Gamecube box no matter what you do to it. Pay $30 to add DVD functionality to your Xbox with a wireless remote, you have to spend more than that to bring the PS2 to the hardware level of the XBox. And you didn't choose to say anything with regard to my other points on the XBox. And to address Painkiller. XBox and Song have a year on network gaming. Not to mention without a harddrive, the system is extremely hindered (which is why PS2 is pushing out the hard drive early next year, Nintendo has no intention of releasing a drive). Nintendo released the adapters that's about the extent.

My points are: the price point has not changed all that radically, XBox and PS2 still have more offerings out of their consoles to match the price difference. XBox is not going anywhere, PS2 is not going anywhere, and even with developer loses, the GC is not going anywhere.

Re:Honsestly...No

[Anonymous Coward]

"Higher quality output is another additional cost (I don't know what the A/V pack costs since I have a fairly old TV)."

This is a non-issue, all systems out of the box have the same outputs, the XBox however sports better graphics.

And my point with the DVD player is that you CAN get it out of your xbox, you never will with the gamecube no matter what add-ons you buy.

Re:Honsestly...No

[Metal_Demon]

My points are: the price point has not changed all that radically

In your example of the guy who bought one with the player after the price drop yeah you right he was ignorant to the sale. However my point is that to people who don't want the player or one of those 4 games, there is a big difference.

XBox and PS2 still have more offerings out of their consoles to match the price difference. XBox is not going anywhere, PS2 is not going anywhere, and even with developer loses, the GC is not going anywhere.

Here is where I think you were misunderstanding me from the start, because I absolutely agree. Like I said I have had my PS2 and XBox for a long time (PS2 since not long after it came out, XBox not TOO long ago), and I love em. I'm no Nintendork, if anything I'm a Sony Fanboy.

Next slogan...

[nitehawk214]

What do you want?

Re:Next slogan...

[Cap'nCrunk]

Who is your daddy, and what does he do? (insert image of Mario's head on Arnold Schwarzenegger's body here)

News Headline from the Future

[cloudwilliam]

Sony and Microsoft announced today that they're leaving the gaming business, thus ceding the entire market to Nintendo and its GameCube console. Slashdotters around the world wonder, "Is this the end of Nintendo?" Not that I'm trying to be smarmy or anything....

Re:News Headline from the Future

[AzraelKans]

Not that I'm trying to be smarmy or anything.... No, you are just daydreaming and you know it.
Nintendo is doing very well now, the gamecube is the one that is not going so good, developers are beginning to abandon it and they are not even building them anymore, of course the sales have quadrupled, they are practically giving them away.
The PSP is about to be released next year, Nintendo is a big company but not as big as sony or MS if the PSP beats their GBA and its succesor they ARE going to be in trouble and they know it.
if they actually end up losing the console war, there future may be pretty bleak.

The headline of the future probably is:
Sony continues leading the way, PSP sales through the rough XBOX2 gets delayed MS announces the XBP, the Gamesphere bundled with Mario 2004 and the GBA ultra drops price to $50 sales quadrupled.
Or maybe the next GBA will be really something and nintendo will end up beating all. Hey! who knows? is the future after all.

Re:News Headline from the Future

[Anonymous Coward]

Who knows the future? No one. But we know the past and the current. Nintendo hasn't had a money losing quarter in ages. Nintendo is debt free. Nintendo has $7,500,000,000 USD in cash.

Re:News Headline from the Future

[cloudwilliam]

I'm sorry if I conveyed an actual hope; I was really just joking about how so many people who post to this website seem to have it out for Nintendo. It seems odd that even when the news is good for Nintendo, some people want to spin it into prophecies of doom. I'm not sure what the impetus for that attitude is and I don't suppose it matters; I just find it funny. Take it easy; they're just games, after all.

Re:News Headline from the Future

[Daetrin]

No, you are just daydreaming and you know it.

No, he was using hyperbole to good effect as a commentary about the people who try to twist any news about Nintendo, no matter the nature of the news, into something negative.

Re:I suppose a jump from one to four *does* count.

[Anonymous Coward]

I traded my PS2 for a GameCube. >^..^

Maybe the Evil Empire

[HotNeedleOfInquiry]

Is using Beowulf clusters of them to make weapons of mass destruction....

A Letter To My Son

[Anonymous Coward]

Dear Son,
I miss the Mario games you used to play as a kid too. They occupied you for hours, during which time I was able to make sweet love to your mother. Now you're always just sitting around making it impossible for me to get her clothes off. Why don't you move out of the house already? You're 27!!!

sincerely,
dad

Re:A Letter To My Son

[Anonymous Coward]

Dear Dad,
I'm sorry you are so confused. When you say "mother", I'm afraid you are referring to the dog. You didn't think us kids noticed when you took the dog into the back room and had your way with it - well you are wrong. Sorry to say we also found the farm animal porn on your laptop.

sincerely,
your disgusted son

Video Game Zombies...

[happykitsune]

Probably due to the fact that most Games Consumers are Zombies, and buy whatever the company that owns the console market. The largest userbase being Sony's Playstation 2, and the most marketed game being Britian's GTA shows that. Ditto with EA's sports games, which barly change year-to-year. Most people just can't think for themselves...

Re:Video Game Zombies...

[FortissimoWily]

"Most people just can't think for themselves..."
Yeah, and they often blurt out fanboyish opinions without ever giving other games a chance too.
All too often I see, say, the latest Rockman or Sonic title being criticised by these Zombie Gamers for being too "cute" or "kiddie", when they haven't even attempted to play or enjoy them. It's a sad state of affairs.

Re:Video Game Zombies...

[MMaestro]

YOU think its sad? You should see my friend who works at my local EB Games. He gets to work there and watch gullible fools help his store sell dozens of Madden games every year only to return them for $5 the next year to buy the newest edition.

Re:Video Game Zombies...

[Acidic_Diarrhea]

There are differences between each Madden game. If you compare Madden 2003 to Madden 2004, the improvements are vast. The running game is much improved, with more realism involving waiting for holes and making the right cuts. The playmaker mode adds a lot to the gameplay experience as well. Many people who don't enjoy playing a video game based on football don't understand that the games are more than just roster updates. I am not a fan of the Sims but I do not criticize people who buy the expansion packs so why do you feel the need to criticize people who buy Madden each year?

I know this is an american forum

[SmallFurryCreature]

but has anyone noticed the price drop making it way over to the rest of the world? I still see the machine going for 200 euros. A price higher then the price in america BEFORE the drop. With the current 99 it is easily twice as expensive, note that the dollar is worth less then the euro.

Is nintendo once again pissing on european customers despite the fact that in europe they were 2nd?

Re:I know this is an american forum

[Anonymous Coward]

Wouldn't have anythign to do with the tarrifs the UK (and I assume other European countries) place on the imports of game consoles would it?

Nah, couldn't be. It must be NOE (Nintendo of Europe) pissing on their european customers.

Re:I know this is an american forum

[cloudwilliam]

I read somewhere that Australia was getting a price drop too, but I can't remember where I saw it.

Re:I know this is an american forum

[Anonymous Coward]

This may shed some light as to the GC being more expensive in Europe. Could it be mostly due to the taxes on it being a gaming system?

http://games.slashdot.org/games/03/10/01/0546219 .s html?tid=127&tid=186&tid=212

consumer perception

[bigbigbison]

So with a game it was 149.99 now without a game it is 99.99 and a game costs 49.99. Wow, I saved a penny! Honestly it just shows that people look at the price and do not look at what you get for the price. I will admit, when I first heard about it, I was tempted to go out an buy one untill I realized that it wasn't as good of a deal as it sounds.

Re:consumer perception

[cloudwilliam]

Actually, you can get some of the better games for cheap now. Amazon is listing Metroid Prime at $29.99. I think Super Mario Sunshine and a few others have dropped in price as well.

Re:consumer perception

[tordia]

Forgive my ignorance, but when the GC was $149, did you get to pick the game that came with the system? If not, then I think the price drop makes sense. This way I spend $150 and have 1 game that I want to play, as opposed to having to pay $200 for 1 game I want to play and 1 game that I was "forced" to buy.

If that was not the case, however, then you are completely right and this price drop is nothing more than a publicity stunt.

Re:consumer perception

[Anonymous Coward]

Every game available for the Gamecube costs 49.99? That's odd, I believe I saw some very worthy games for much less than that. You should shop somewhere else.

99 for the system + 20-30 for an award winning game and you save between 20-30 dollars.

Re:consumer perception

[Anonymous Coward]

Except that all of the games that were available in the "bundle" deal are now Player's Choice titles, and available for US $29.99 or less new.

So, bundle = 149.99
GC alone + Player's Choice title = 129.98

Re:consumer perception

[PainKilleR-CE]

You had a choice at $149 between a few games (Zelda, Metroid, a couple others I don't remember because I wasn't interested), or, more recently, the GameBoy Player. I went with Zelda because I found Metroid at Blockbuster (new) for $20.

For $150 you can probably get a couple of good games with a GameCube now, especially if you buy used and/or stick with older games. The majority of the games I have for my Cube cost less than $30.

Re:consumer perception

[Nakamiya]

Some people buying them already have games though... I for one was waiting for the price drop to get one for my little brother, so now he can stop bugging me to let him play mine ^_^

Re:consumer perception

[GiMP]

True.. and I wouldn't doubt that some people would think, "wow.. I got the gamecube so cheap that maybe I'll buy TWO games".

They might actually sell more licensed games because of this.

Resume production?

[EvilOpie]

I wonder if this means that Nintendo will resume production on the GC again soon? After all, quadrupling the sales by lowering the price as we start to slide into the Christmas season... that could certainly burn up some inventory.

Re:Resume production?

[edwdig]

In the press conference where they announced the price cut, they also announced that they would be resuming production shortly.

Re:Resume production?

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder if Nintendo took this opportunity to make any hardware changes.

I know that after they restart production of the GameCube, I'll be getting another one and taking a look inside (need another one for my girlfriend's apartment anyway). Prolly be lurking in the game forums looking for info on whether Nintendo pulled a Sony and rev'd the machine at all, what with everything that's been going on with the Freeloader and import copies of F-Zero GX being a possible sign that maybe Nintendo is inerested in keeping domestic sales strong for American publishers by clamping down on importing. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the production hold was primarily for a hardware change - it wouldn't be out of the question, although Nintendo isn't known for this nearly as much as Sony is (with 9 PS2 revisions so far, keeping the modchippers on their toes).

After all, I've always found the reason that they are trying to clear inventory kind of suspicious. I see plenty of GameCubes in the wild, and there never seems to be an overabundance of Cubes still left at any of the stores I visit, and that was before the price drop.

Rejected slogan

[Sentry21]

This sure beats the one they were tossing around at Nintendo before: 'Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket?'

Seriously, from being in the game industry, I had given up on the Gamecube as dead (even though I bought one last month, and love it), and figured Nintendo had as well. I thought ok, they'll put in a token effort, and keep their heads above water, and then wo wus all with a fresh release of a brand new console earlier than anyone else. Awesome.

Then the Gamecube came down to $99 ($139 in Canada). That's cheaper than the GBA SP for crying out loud. Hell, why NOT buy one?

And that's exactly what people did. We've been selling quite a few of them lately, and at that price, no one needs to be told twice. Not to mention the new releases that are coming out (I checked through EB's new release list and found over a thousand dollars of just games that I can't wait to play - Starcraft: Ghost, Freedom Fighters, Rogue Ops, NFS:Underground, Beyond Good and Evil, and dozens more).

They also dropped the price of the GBA SP in Canada to match the GC, and brought some of their hottest titles into the Player's Choice lineup at $39.99 (including Animal Crossing, which was at $70 before).

In short, they blew me, a loyal fan, out of the water. I'll be glad to see those GCs flying off the shelf, but I can't help but wonder what else it is they have in the wings. Hopefully, it'll be something awesome, but we'll see.

--Dan

Re:Rejected slogan

[Retzy]

They've already stated that they are going to try to have their newest system out by X-mas 2004, but it's doubtful. The best thing Nintendo can do right now is try to keep the Gamecube afloat long enough to develope their new system and get it out before Sony and Microsoft. Also, don't change the game format again. It really makes customers mad when they have to buy all new games 4 times in a row. This is why Sony has been and Microsoft will be so successful, you can still play the crappy version of Tomb Raider II on your brand new PS2. Another point Nintendo needs to focus on is getting online with their systems and not bombing it again. They are losing millions of dollars not investing in this.

Re:Rejected slogan

[31 Flavas]

They are losing millions of dollars not investing in this.

Boy, you're right, Nintendo is missing out on so much cash. Just look how much Microsoft is making with xbox and xbox live!(It's none, by the way!)

Re:Rejected slogan

[Anonymous Coward]

Microsoft is not just NOT making money on Xbox Live, they are losing money on every bit of it (technical infrastructure, customer handling, advertising, the whole works).

500,000 subscribers to an add-on service is peanuts in this industry, where GAMES can sell multiple millions of copies each. That's why no Xbox games REQUIRE Xbox Live to play (I'm talking about games with no one-player mode) - because if they did, they'd be limiting themselves to a market of 500,000, instead of a market of 9 million. When Nintendo sees this, the choice is proven obvious: The market for online games is so much smaller than the market as a whole that it is wiser to wait for now, and try to develop a successful strategy later.

Re:Rejected slogan

[Anonymous Coward]

How are they not making any money? First, you have to buy Xbox Live ($50), then you have to buy a game, ususally another 40 or 50. Plus all the advertising. Nintendo would make a killing if games such as Mario Kart DD or a shooter.

Durable Gamecube

[RedWolves2]

Surprisingly Gamecube is very durable...it will survive a dragging behind a car. Just Watch!

Re:Durable Gamecube

[Incoherent07]

Nintendo products in general are very durable... how many people do you know that actually managed to break their old tank-sized Game Boy? (Well, until I left leaking batteries in mine...)

Re:Durable Gamecube

[Anonymous Coward]

I kept mine in poor conditions and it works well, except for the screen. The screen cover came off, ten years after I received it as a Christmas present. Also, as with many devices from the early era of large LCD screens, I have a column of bad pixels that developed after the screen cover came off and I continued to store it improperly.

But then again, I have a few Nintendo Game and Watch systems and a SNES that have seen plenty of use, and they are running perfectly fine to this day. Nintendo makes extremely durable goods (with the sole exception of the 72-pin connector on the original American NES, but that's a mistake they have never replicated since). Compared to Sony's disposable Playstation crap and even my beloved but fragile Saturn systems (Radiant Silvergun!), that's saying a lot.

Re:Durable Gamecube

[dstyle5]

The first part of the video when they are dragging the cube around is pretty funny. Watching it bounce and skitter across the road was hilarious. And it still worked after that!!!

Re:Durable Gamecube

[31 Flavas]

Hey, i've got an idea, let's see how the PS2 and Xbox will hold up! Nah, maybe not. Some how I don't think that they would play games anymore even if we let them play the games upside down. Like you would have to on the PS1.

Well, it seems to have hit the magic point

[M3wThr33]

Since this latest drop, I've been hearing a LOT more people interested in the system. It's sort of like the people who picked up the PSOne, but with better games and a smaller installed userbase, meaning more sales potential.

And I'm even more surprised to see an ad campaign involving the word "millions", "dolllars" and "Nintendo" in it, being that aside from simple commercials, they've survived on pure word-of-mouth advertising for over 100 years.(Yes, they're over 100 years old, they used to make playing cards in 1890ish)

Re:Well, it seems to have hit the magic point

[Anonymous Coward]

Nintendo has a history of marketing in the US dating back to the NES. The NES was heavily advertised on television. Nintendo also used viral marketing - e.g. nintendo power, which used to be the nintendo fun club. Heck, they even sent out free Dragon Warrior 1 cartridges to anyone who subscribed to Nintendo Power back in the early days. Nintendo also uses magazine advertisments, and even banner ads (in Postal 2, a Metroid Prime banner ad is immortalized on all the computers, albeit unintentionally)

messed up slogan translation..

[Flunitrazepam]

The correct translation of the new slogan is:

"Who is your DADDY.. and WHAT does he DO!?"

Re:messed up slogan translation..

[Anonymous Coward]

I want to ask you a bunch of questions, and I want them answered IMEDIATELY

Quadrupled sales, therefore...

[Thedalek]

Increase the advertising budget tenfold!

I thought the purpose of advertising was to increase sales, not to affirm sales already made. Why not just continue with the current campaign of the "Now just $99.99"?

Oh well. At least with an uncracked system, they can't blame low sales on piracy.

Re:Quadrupled sales, therefore...

[Anonymous Coward]

"Oh well. At least with an uncracked system, they can't blame low sales on piracy.

They have a high software sold to consoles sold ratio because the system is uncracked.

It was the same with the Nintendo 64 as well - Nintendo made more money for each N64 sold then Sony did for each PlayStation sold.

Re:Quadrupled sales, therefore...

[thdexter]

By that logic Coca-Cola should never advertise.

Re:Quadrupled sales, therefore...

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds like an excellent idea. Whom can we call to get this plan of yours in motion?

Re:Quadrupled sales, therefore...

[Thedalek]

No, by that logic, Coca-Cola should have a consistant advertising budget, which they do.

Honestly

[Retzy]

I mean honestly, out of everyone that has played Animal Crossing, who hasn't enjoyed it? Also, it's kind of interesting that XBOX has all these games, yet they all suck. Out of the top 10 games of 2002, one was an XBOX game, rightfully Halo. 4 were Nintendo-brand products, including what I believe to be the best game in a while, Metroid Prime taking the top spot. Nintendo is not dead, they have never been dead, they will probably never be dead. People will always buy their products because you always get a good time from Nintendo. No matter which system you are on, there are always awesome games being made.

You have to wonder...

[raygundan]

if there isn't some counterintuitive truth to this. Although the only "piratable" console I own is the Sega Dreamcast, I remember in my poorer years thinking about buying a PS1 just because you could get "free" games for it. Invariably, though, even the worst pirates end up buying a few games over the years, so even kids who buy consoles because of the vast piratable library and never buy any of their own will pick up a game or two for christmas, etc...

The very fact that the nintendo gamecube *isn't* cracked may actually be turning away potential customers.

I have a 'cube and i love it, but i can certainly see how people might make a decision like that.

Aww Damn it

[dakryx]

I was about to go buy a game boy advance too. But hell I refuse to pay the same price for a gba as the gamecube. Especially since I have a gamecube already

Re:Aww Damn it GBA runs about $50,

[pecosdave]

half the cost of a cube. I got an SP for myself, that was closer to $100, but back in February I got my wife a brand new one for $78, that was a classic and they're quite a bit less now. She got my daugter one for her Birthday, used for $30. New classic models are only about $50. Do it. The GBA is worth having, especially if you have a Cube. I haven't actually attached my Gameboy to the Cube yet, but I will, I've got a game or two that supports it.

Havent you noticed?

[AzraelKans]

Has anyone noticed they are just advertising the COMPANY not the gamecube?

This campaign ad is not for upcoming gamecube games, actually there are no plans for big gamecube games next year (other than twin snakes which was delayed and metroid 2 which we know nothing about except they will use the same engine), the gamecube has dropped its price to 1/2 its real price and ITS NOT being produced anymore, I would check on those "details" before shelling $100 bucks for it.

If nintendo sales have quadrupled with the price drop and it still is number 3 (or 2) on sales.. doesnt that mean that their sales were incredibly low before the drop? I mean the console has been around for almost 2 years! and those are not even new consoles, those are the ones that werent sold! (they dont make gamecubes anymore!)

Maybe nintendo wants their fans on their side again because they are about to release their new handheld next year? maybe they are doing it because the gamecube is not doing so well? and PSP is around the corner (which means big trouble for their GBA?)

Nothing is what it seems.

Re:Havent you noticed?

[kmhebert]

Whatever the reason behind the price drop, the fact is it definitely boosted their sales. You can easily get a GameCube and a dozen great games for it, today. Even if they did ditch the system tomorrow (unlikely, especially now that the sales are surging), you could still get a bunch of great games (Pikmin, Star Wars Rogue Leader, Eternal Darkness, Super Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, Animal Crossing, Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Super Smash Bros. Melee, etc etc et-CETERA!!!) and get a lot of enjoyment from a system which, at $99.00, is a fantastic deal. I expect to see Nintendo clearing out their inventory on the shelves then starting up manufacturing on the GameCube again. It's a great system and the games are fantastic. The biggest selling point? It's the only place to go to get games developed by Nintendo (well, except for GBA of course). You can't play Nintendo games on the PS2 or XBOX and this gives Nintendo more of an edge that people appreciate.

Re:Havent you noticed?

[FortissimoWily]

"(they dont make gamecubes anymore!)"
That's very bad misinformation, good sir. The production of the GameCube console was temporarily halted, in anticipation of sales picking up, which they now have. It'll likely be back in production in a couple of weeks.

"and PSP is around the corner (which means big trouble for their GBA?)" Again, horrendous misinformation, I'm afraid. The PSP, with all of it's three-to-six hour battery life and ludicrous specifications too overblown for a portable machine, simply won't be able to compete with the Game Boy Advance. Nintendo's strategy for the GBA focusses on gameplay over graphics, whereas it appears Sony's strategy for the PSP is exactly the opposite - graphics over gameplay (as usual).

Re:Havent you noticed?

[31 Flavas]

Oh boy, if the PSP is going to blow the GBA out of the water. Why were GameGear, Lynx, and the Turbo Grafix portable slaugtered verses MONOCHROME gameboy?

Re:Havent you noticed?

[edwdig]

the gamecube has dropped its price to 1/2 its real price and ITS NOT being produced anymore

It was a temporary stop in production. The same press conference that announced the price drop also announced that production was starting again soon.

This campaign ad is not for upcoming gamecube games, actually there are no plans for big gamecube games next year

You mentioned Metal Gear and Metroid. There's also:

Star Fox Armada (or Star Fox 2, or whatever they call it)
Zelda (another cell shaded game)
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
3D Kirby game
Pikmin 2
Resident Evil 4
Wario Ware
Mario 128 (working title)

Re:Havent you noticed?

[Anonymous Coward]

3D Kirby game

Wait, what?? To what do you refer?

If you mean Kirby's Air Ride, that comes out next week...

Re:Havent you noticed?

[edwdig]

Check the announcements when the head of HAL resigned. They mentioned that HAL was working on a 3D Kirby game to be released next year. It might've even been mentioned back at E3, because I remember hearing about it a while ago.

Re:Havent you noticed?

[Sage of Lightning]

"Check the announcements when the head of HAL resigned. They mentioned that HAL was working on a 3D Kirby game to be released next year. It might've even been mentioned back at E3, because I remember hearing about it a while ago." yes its called Kirby's Air Ride it's a racing game.

Re:Havent you noticed?

[edwdig]

No, Kirby's Air Ride was already finished when he resigned. There's another Kirby in the works. A 3D platformer.

The price has been dropped to $199 in Australia.

[Xenex]

Nintendo Australia are flaunting it on their front page right now.

Depends which list you used....

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sure I could find a list where 6 XBox games dominated the year. It doesn't make it right.

This line says it all.

[AzraelKans]

*Well, we gotta say this much: They sure went out with a bang.

*actual code from the article.

Re:This line says it all.

[Anonymous Coward]

When written text is in article and not a program, it is often referred to as "text" or "line(s)" i.e. "actual text from the article". Not code.

So, all game sales stats are based on Gamestop?

[DaveCBio]

It's just one chain of many. Now, if Wal Mart reports the same then you have a real number.

Um.. huh?

[mcc]

Has anyone noticed they are just advertising the COMPANY not the gamecube?

Yes, this is called "building brand image". They are probably advertising the company, not the gamecube, because they have more products than just the gamecube.

actually there are no plans for big gamecube games next year

This is where you are just wrong.

Never mind for the moment that there is a BIG bunch of gamecube games still to be released before the end of the 2003, that the best bunch of games are always likely to be released at the end of the year to fit the holiday season, and that Nintendo's historically been tight-lipped until E3. So far, here are a few of the scheduled GC releases for 2004:

• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
• Pikmin 2
• Pokemon Colosseum (rumored to contain a GC pokemon RPG)
• Wario Ware GC
• Tales of Symphonia
• Resident Evil 4
• Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes
• Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow
• Harvest Moon

And these are *just* the headliners that have been announced so far. Nintendo is sure to announce a bunch of stuff once E3 comes. Somehow I don't really see what your worry is, this seems like a pretty impressive tenative lineup to me.

Re:Um.. huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ahh! Where's Baten Kaitos!

Having some exclusive high-production value Japanese RPGs on the GameCube is going to be good for the system in the upcoming years, at least among RPG players.

What really pisses me off...

[Delron Da Thugg]

What really rubs me the wrong way is that Nintendo has the audacity to charge $29.99 for their "Greatest Hits" games when MX and Sony charge $20 for theirs. Unbelievable. And none of them are anywhere near as good as the better Sony or MS hits IMHO. I'm still waiting for SSBM to drop to 20 to pick it up, and they give me Luigi's Mansion and Pikmin for $20!!! Excuse me? I will usually rent what I've heard through the grapevine is good, if it's really, really good like Halo, GTA VC or Zelda I'll buy it when it comes out, otherwise I'll wait for the price to drop or even until it becomes a hit. For game available on all 3 systems I always buy the XBox version because of better graphics and usually having more features (the HD helps too). But it pisses me off that Nintendo has their hits at $20. But when Metroid Prime hits $30 I'll definitely hit that up.

Thanks for asking...

[UltimaL337Star]

I am a cheap bastard that's who I am... hmmm.. i never really thought about it till now, i guess ill go buy a gamecube

Guess waht really pisses me off...

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks for sheding some light on whatever it is you were just talking about.

Hopefully somebody that speaks cave-man will come by and translate your post so the rest of us might enjoy whatever nugget of wisdom you saw fit to share.

Piracy and Price Drops

[carbona]

I think we can all agree that market share and game sales is what all 3 major console manufacturers are aiming for. Considering that the Gamecube is the only console that has effectively stifled large-scale piracy as a result of their non-standard storage media format, I think this is long overdue. Nintendo is confident that the majority of the people that buy a system will definitely buy games. And that is the bottom line.

Looking for a Linux/Windows/Mac admin/support tech monkey in the Los Angeles area? Please see my resume.

Phantasy Star Online Ep I & II For Xbox....

[unclethursday]

REQUIRES Xbox Live to play, even for single player mode. It's something left over from the Japanese launch of Xbox Live and the bundle of PSO with it. They wanted to make sure people couldn't just sell PSO separately.

It shouldn't have remained in the North American version, but it did.

And sales weren't very high....

Thursdae

Not all

[KalvinB]

games are $49.99.

And frankly I'd rather pay $99.99 for a system and choose from any game I want rather than pay $149.99 and be forced to choose between a small selection of games.

Maybe I'd rather get two older games that are used or whatever and save money there as well. Bundled packages don't give me that option.

For people who wanted that $50 game anyway it doesn't make sense but for people with budgets who would rather stick to $20 titles, it makes perfect sense.

Ben

Re:Aww Damn it GBA runs about $50,

[dakryx]

My mistake meant to say that I planned on buying a gba sp

Re:I suppose a jump from one to four *does* count.

[AvantLegion]

>> I was getting sick of people claiming that, despite the excellent games. Didn't stop them from doing it to the Dreamcast.

to fifteen years ago

[Kanasta]

fifteen years ago when I was young, game consoles cost about $100.00 and games $20.00 . People bought them.

why the hell do they now cost several hundred dollars and each game over $50.00? Nowadays the game's don't last as long, Story line games cannot support more than one player at the time, no wonder people don't want to spend money anymore.

Re:to fifteen years ago

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps because of inflation and the mass amounts of money and time invested into the games and systems?

Re:Guess what really pisses me off...

[Delron Da Thugg]

I suggest you learn to speak and read English yourself, pathetic coward. Obviously one with such a limited vocabulary and brain capacity is incapable of understanding a simple message.

Re:Guess what really pisses me off...

[Anonymous Coward]

. Obviously one with such a limited vocabulary and brain capacity is incapable of understanding a simple message.

Or writing one for that matter.

What was that simple message again? Was it "Don't send your kids to public schools"?

Re:Guess what really pisses me off...

[Delron Da Thugg]

No, the message was to not be an Anonymous Coward, particularly if you're a smartass halfwit. Peon.