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GameCube Demand Spiking in U.S.?
LlamaRama writes "Reuters reports that Nintendo has nearly sold out of GameCubes in the United States, with Nintendo spokeswoman Perrin Kaplan explaining: 'Store shelves are just running very dry... I'd say about 50 percent of our stores are out.' Seems like the holiday rush on GameCube might last a few months past December!" Kaplan also indicated that "...January hardware sales were up 60 percent year-over-year, while January software sales were up 101 percent" following last year's GameCube price cut to $99, though it's unclear how these increased totals compare with current PlayStation 2 and Xbox sales.
According to wordwide sales and ownership, Gamecube is not dying. In fact, in many countries it out-sells... Oh wait, sorry. I just assumed this was like all the other Gamecube articles.
But doesn't January typically increase sales for nearly every product out there? I mean, that's when the stores are trying to get rid of their old items and cutting down prices 'n whatnot. And...if you're a person that's not really loyal to any one gaming system, the gamecube would be the easiest to pick right now considering its cheap price. Well, at least, it has a cheap price compared to the PS2 and XBox. Personally, now I'm tempted to go get one. The only reason I wanted a gamecube was for Super Smash Brothers Melee..but now that they have Zelda, Final Fantasy, and a few other good games offered only on their system. And, of course, the cost is lower, though not so significantly lower to really save any money..but..significantly lower to make my mind automatically think I would be getting quite a bargain deal.
I decided to buy a GameCube last week. I went to *every store in Brooklyn* trying to find one. None of the game stores, none of the electronics stores. After about two hours I finally got to Toys-R-Us, which happened to have 2 in stock. No memory cards, though. Had to go back to Gamestop to get that.
Sheesh. It was worth it, though. I love the thing.
seriouslyexcited.net
It would be stupid for them to not have enough GCs to meet demand. This makes me remember when PS2 was launched, and there were not enough units in America to meer demand.
Since Nintendo, at some point stopped the manufacturing of GC, they must have keeped all this time a low hardware stock (at least GCs...GBA's stock must be huge). That hit them now.
Oh well, Nintendo moves in misterious ways.
I already bought an XBox, I already bought a PS2 - love them both. Variety is the spice of life, right? For $99, it's a great deal for something I know I'll use, but didn't want as my #1 system when I had a choice of 3. Probably the same for a lot of people.
This is an effin' joke. My store hasn't received ONE Gamecube system since mid-December when we sold out during the holiday. Not one. Neither have any of our other stores for that matter.
High demand during the holiday season is only half the story and in fact, it's a very skewed perspective. Why can't you find any Gamecubes? BECAUSE NINTENDO HAVEN'T SHIPPED RETAILERS ANY IN CLOSE TO THREE MONTHS. It's ridiculous to paint a picture like there's still this mad rush to buy Gamecubes, because that's simply not the case.
On the regular, I'm still selling Xbox and PS2 systems AND also being restocked on these items. I'm sitting on a number of used Gamecubes, of which I sell every now and then.
This isn't a knock on the Gamecube, but this story is absolutely ridiculous and total PR bullshit. By the same token, let's go ahead and say Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga for the GBA is the biggest selling, most popular game of the past three months because well, I haven't had but three copies, tops, sent to my store from Redmond, Washington in that time frame.
This spin makes me sick. I am, however, receiving a whopping FOUR platinum Gamecubes later this week. Yes, FOUR! Thanks, Nintendo! Limited edition color my ass.
Bottom line, Nintendo is notorious for under shipping and barely, if not at all, meeting demand.
January software sales were up 101 percent
This is bigger news, since games are what make the money. More systems being sold would mean more software being sold, chicken/egg etc.
The most important part of the software sales is what games were bought specifically. I'd like to see if 75%+ is Nintendo first and second-party games. It would look great if Prince of Persia and some other third-party games sold well.
It's very important that Nintendo keeps good relations with third-parties. Nintendo DS is going to need developers for this completely new hardware, the GameCube successor is going to need a lot of games also. In the meantime, support needs to be maintained for GBA/GC.
I want Nintendo to start looking and sounding like a winner again. This is just the first step.
I'm on top of my game like I'm standin' on Xbox.
This explains a lot.
My brother's unit died over the weekend. Fortunately, he purchased the extended warranty from BestBuy (you know, that thing they bug you about every single time).
However, I found out the hard way that none of the stores nearby had a unit in stock (in any color). I visited 2 of the stores that are each within 15 minutes from my house, and then called a bunch of others. NOBODY had it in stock!!!!!
Well, I guess we'll have to wait a while then. Personally, I'm annoyed I purchased an XBox instead of a GameCube. Those games are fun (I love the blue sparks).
About a month and an half ago I decided to buy a GameCube. The first store I went to was sold out of several of the games I wanted, but had a few Cubes. The second store had no Cubes, and only one copy of Super Smash Bros Melee. Both were sold out of Nintendo Memory Cards, so I had to settle for a crappy 3rd party card. I ended up buying the lone copy of SSBM from store #2, and my Cube, memory card, and 2nd controller from #1.
A week later I go to buy more games. All the stores in my town were sold out of good GameCube games, yet were mostly full of PS2 and full of Xbox games. I ended up having to buy my games at an out of town Wal-Mart, the only place that wasn't sold out of good GCN games.
Additionally, while looking for my GCN games, I saw about 3 other parties come, and leave empty handed, which was more than I saw buying PS2 games.
In my area, at least, it sure seems demand for GameCubes shot up.
Mario Party 5 and Mario Kart Double Dash are amazingly fun, family games. I recently switched from PS2 to GameCube because my girlfriend loves Mario Kart and she thinks Manhunt is disgusting
(it really is, too). They've got a really wide variety and they focus less on adult-themed games.
I've noticed that the adults that I talk to - professional people, parents, etc - uniformly prefer fun games with mild presentation: ranging from Mario Kart to Project Gotham to Super Monkey Ball to Halo. Nobody is crazy for Postal or Manhunt or Xtreme Beach Volleyball. "Adult" themed games, like "adult" movies, would be more aptly named "adolescent".
Adults, typically, have grown out of their desire to see nothing but boobs and blood. Adults don't think "ooh, I can't enjoy this because the graphics are cartoony and that's baby stuff".
When people complain about Nintendo making kids games, they should at least get the criticism right: Nintendo doesn't fail adults, it fails wide-eyed 15 year old boys.
Let's not stir that bag of worms...
). I am very used to paying less than $20 to $25 for PS2 games and was disappointed to see most GC games were still above $25 to $30.
On average, I've paid $15-25 for most of my GameCube games, the exceptions generally being the newest titles (F-Zero, FF:CC, Mario Kart, Viewtiful Joe). Even the more expensive titles that were not new ran in the $25-35 range, and have since become "Players Choice" titles and dropped another $5-10. Generally speaking, though, the prices on the games seem to drop before they reach "Players Choice" status, to the point where they get the label around the same time they hit the typical price point ($30). If you look at the lists most people post of "must have" games for the Cube and take out the newest titles, you'll probably find that you can get most of the titles in the $15-30 range, especially if you're willing to buy used (but then new copies of games like Eternal Darkness have been going for less than $20 and it's almost not worth the couple of dollars difference for a used copy).
The PS2 has been out longer, of course, and has far more titles. Eventually you're going to end up with a handful of titles worth buying in the $20 bin. I've got to say, though, that in terms of proportions of good to bad titles in the price range, you're still better off on the Cube. If you're looking for pure numbers of titles, of course the PS2 is going to hit it off, you just have to be careful what you buy.
I saw $60 on the Zelda bundle and choked.
umm what Zelda bundle? I'm sure Wind Waker may still be going for $50 in some places (I got it with my Cube after finding Metroid Prime for $20), but anything else I'm aware of Zelda-related has been freely bundled with either the Cube itself or with a pre-order of Wind Waker. Either bundled disc can be picked up used on occasion for $10 (which could explain finding a Zelda bundle for $60, but they're not supposed to be selling new discs that way afaik).
-PainKilleR-[CE]