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GameCube Outsells PS2, Xbox After Price Cut
Thanks to Gamesindustry.biz for their story that the GameCube outsold the PlayStation 2 by 20 per cent in the U.S. last week, as well as "racking up more than twice the sales of the Xbox - with a 145 per cent lead over Microsoft's console", following the GameCube price cut to $99 of a couple of weeks back. The piece suggests "we'd expect to see the console slip behind the PS2 in the rankings next week", but also argues that "...unless Microsoft reacts to the recent price-cuts, it could be outsold by the Cube this Christmas in the USA, as Nintendo rolls out one of its strongest ever ranges of first and third party titles."
Man, it took me a long time to find a copy of this game, every store was sold out!
But, this game rocks. 2D side scrolling action to its finest. It is not an easy game (almost NES era hard), but it is just so fun, you enjoy replaying it just to see whats next. Highly recommended.
Wow, this is definately a good thing for the GameCube. Now I own a GC and have since they were $200, and for me it's the only console I own. Though for another player who might not want to get one because it is seen as being too childish, they now can pick up a new one that would work great as a second console for them without breaking the bank.
Honestly now... I know that GameCube games *look* childish, and I'm not going to deny that, but give them a shot. Most of them are a complete blast to play and they're great party games. Like the "monkey fight" game in Super Monkey Ball. It's very simple to play, but when you're trying your hardest to keep your friends from knocking you out of the ring with a big boxing glove, it's actually pretty fun. And other games like Zelda or F-Zero GX are very polished and just great all-around games since there's not a lot out there like them in general.
I hope this trend continues. More people will find out just how good the Cube really is.
-Through the server, over the router, off the firewall... Nothing but 'Net!
Sure, it's a short term gain, but the real question is how much is it going to taper off. No one really expects it to stay ahead of the PS2, except in short bursts as new 'must-have' titles come out, possibly. A 20% drop from the current rate is not a big deal, but puts them behind the PS2. On the other hand, is it really likely that GC sales will cut in half and then some before XMas? That's what it'll take for the XBox to come back (and it's unlikely that XBox sales will increase without GC sales decreasing).
As for $50 per game, that's probably one of the additional benefits of coming into the system later: there are plenty of low-priced games worth buying, whether new or used. Sure, people will want some of the newest games, but there are still plenty of top-notch games in the $20-30 range (and I have seen Eternal Darkness lower than that quite a bit lately, ~$12-16).
Right now, my PS2's getting most of the play because I recently picked up Amplitude. Before that, I hadn't played it much at all in a few months (and then mostly PS1 games). Of course, who really cares how many of the people now buying Cubes have PS2s? They're buying Cubes, it must mean they see something worthwhile, even if it's just a small number of titles and the price of the system. If they already have a PS2 and they're buying a Cube, there must be a reason for that purchase, because it's not like they don't already have a console (hell, I have a DC, PS2, XBox, and Cube, what does it really matter?).
-PainKilleR-[CE]
Here are the numbers that I've found for the week:
Gamecube 64,405
Playstation2 53,834
XBox 26,290
However, I don't think that includes all retailers, hence Nintendo sticking with the percentage rather than a total number. And, this is the second week of the price drop. As I understand it, the sales were even higher the first week.
These pretzels are making me thirsty.
I've seen plenty of worthwhile games under $30 for the Gamecube at EB. There's a vast amount of old PS2 games for $20 but from my casual check of the bins, it seems like there are similar amounts of cheap games for the XBox and Gamecube.
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It might be a good time to figure out how to make a Beowulf Cluster of these...
"Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
Yes, $99 at this time of year is going to spurn alot of sales by owners of the other two consoles. Anyone who considers themselves to be a 'True Gamer' cannot ignore the stellar titles that have shown up on the GC. Platform is irrelavant when it comes to good games!
However, come the end of november you won't be able to find a cube ANYWHERE. Every little kid without a game system is going to be getting a gamecube for xmas. The installed base is about to go up. Way up.
I don't really mind double posts on
Most people only get one or two consoles, very few buy more than two active consoles. I used to have a N64, then bought a PS1 back in the day, now I own a PS2 and just picked up a GC last week as my second console. What Nintendo has done as put themselves in the position to become the second console in most people's home. If Microsoft dropped the Xbox to $100 first, theres a good chance many of the recent GC purchasers would have went the the Xbox as their second console. Now that Nintendo has virtually established themselves as the 2nd Console of choice, Microsoft just lost that entire market..again.
On a side note, I picked up Legend of Zelda, Metroid Prime and Eternal Darkness with my cube and have been playing Zelda non stop for the past week. Great fun, totally justified the Console purchase. The other 2 games are still in the shrink wrap..greatly underappreciated system.
So I think there's more than just a short term gain here BUT the possible gain is not a guaranteed one - there are still many factors that could doom Nintendo's next launch but having the GC sell well has more ramifications than you seem to believe. (But then again, you've marked me as a foe so your judgement must be a bit off.)
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