Don't know if this has been mentioned, but the price drop goes into effect today! http://news.com.com/2100-1043_3-5081411.html Nintendo cuts GameCube price Last modified: September 24, 2003, 10:02 AM PDT By David Becker Staff Writer, CNET News.com Japanese video game giant Nintendo on Wednesday slashed the price of its GameCube console to less than $100, in an effort to revive sagging sales. The company announced that, effective Thursday, the console will sell for $99.99 in North America, down from the current price of $150. George Harrison, senior vice president at Nintendo of America, said the company expects the price cut to boost GameCube's market share--currently at about 20 percent worldwide--several points. The cut is intended to appeal to mass-market consumers who don't have a game machine and to experienced gamers who are looking for a second console, he said. "We think this represents an opportunity for us to sell a GameCube to someone who bought a (Sony PlayStation 2) three years ago and is looking for something new," he said. "We believe this is the best value in the history of video games." GameCube sales have waned over the past year, eroding support from third-party game publishers and forcing Nintendo to halt production for several months to eat up excess inventory. Nintendo's move was not expected to trigger an immediate wave of retaliatory price drops by competitors Sony and Microsoft, as has happened with previous price moves. Billy Pidgeon, an analyst for research firm Zelos Group, said the price cut may not inspire a major sales boom for Nintendo, given that previous bundling deals had already effectively lowered the GameCube's price to $100. He expected that Microsoft will wait to gauge the sales effect of the price reduction before making any retaliatory moves. "It's possible Microsoft could see this as a competitive move by Nintendo and might cut prices on the Xbox, in which case you'd have a sort of bottom-up round of price cuts," he said. "But I don't think they're going to do anything right away." A Microsoft representative said the company would stick with the Xbox promotional package it recently announced for the holiday shopping season. The price drop also could signal a shorter life cycle for the GameCube, as console makers have traditionally waited until the last year or so of a game machine's life to hit the $100 point. Nintendo executives have vowed that they won't enter the market behind competitors, as happened with the current generation of consoles, meaning details on a new Nintendo console could come as early as next year, Pidgeon said. "They may announce sooner than Microsoft or PlayStation," he said.
Has anybody played Wrestlemania XIX? I don't even like wrestling anymore, and that game is still bad ass...
Actually it is more a matter of them being too picky with what they approve, and also MS and PS2 having so much more content. Nintendo badly underestimated MS entry into the console wars. Our publishers are no longer even interested in discussing Game Cube games...they are just not profitable. And X-box is still a hard sell, while PS2 is a slam dunk. However, that will flip in the next round as X-box is MUCH easier to make a game for.... DD
I heard it was great other than there wasnt a season mode, which was replace by a Revenge feature, where u have to fight construction workers to get your job back? WTF is that? BTW, I did mention this last week in the "New XBox bundle thread." http://bbs.clutchcity.net/php3/showthread.php?s=&threadid=64543
The revenge feature is kind of cool, actually. You fight in all kinds of different places...construction site, mall, parking lot, etc... The feature that stands out is the create-a-wrestler. More detailed than you could ever imagine. You can even customize the camera angles and pyro for your wrestler's intro
Also, KB may be having a sale(30%off purchases 30$ or more) oct 8th-14th because of this: http://www.kbtoys.com/help/legalnotice.html?place=bfnt&ls=default So you may be able to get a GC for 70 bucks, a new game for 35, etc.
Mario Kart should boost the sale of GC some. Very little though. Gamecube might be a good machine, but they barely have any freakin games on it. No online play either. Xbox has three awesome games coming out in the next 6-8 months: Halo2, Halflife 2, and Doom 3. I personally can't wait till Halo2 comes out. Whatever happened to the rumors of GC and Xbox merging? Isn't PS3, GC2 and Xbox2 suppose to come out at the same time in the future? Nintendo is always late in introducing a new console.
I was curious, DD, if GC is that difficult to write code for, or is it the limited market? (or both )
Deckard, It is not that hard to write code for it as it uses a graphics chipset that is close to X-box. However, Nintendo charges a major premium on each game for their system. This alone, and the fact that the market for it is a distant 3rd makes it unprofitable for most developers and publishers. Heck, our Tusk engine works on all 3, but we are only doing X-box, PS2 and PC primarily now. DD
I played WM XIX over the weekend. It was at best, ok. Revenge mode was "eh". It was different but there were some really annoying things about it. the first few missions were fairly easy. Then you come across a couple of missions that are ball-bustin' hard. The problem with Revenge mode was that it had no replayability. Throwing cops and construction workers over the side of a cliff got old fast. I am looking forward to the new Smackdown PS2 game coming in October. It will have an Elimination Chamber match and according to some of the previews, it will have a pretty solid career/season mode. I do have to agree with A-train. The CAW section was excellent. Changing pyros and camera angles for your wrestlers is great. It was easy to use and gave a whole new side to creating CAW ring entrances.
I have always been a Gamecube hater, but I have to say that recently I've become a fan. This guy down the hall from me in my dorm has a GC and I've played the hell out of a multi-player James Bond game and some Star Wars game with him. Also, has anyone ever played Monkeyball on game cube ever? One of the most addicting multiplayer games ever!
Both Monkeyball games were programmed by Satan himself. Some of those levels are somewhere between Impossible and "Where the hell is my gun, I think I'm going to blow my brains out"
Any body played Jek n Daxter (sp?)? The games look pretty damn good and I am thinking about getting the new one to help me waste some more precious time. To keep me away from class work...
The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker, Metroid Prime, and Super Mario Sunshine are 3 no-brainer reasons to buy a Gamecube. Plus, if you're still on the fence, there's always F-Zero and Mario Kart. With that said, though, I haven't touched the 'cube since I beat Zelda. Ever since upgrading my computer, I've been exclusively playing PC games (damn you, Planetside, and your addictive gameplay!). DaDa, you got any PC games coming out in the near future? Weren't you working on a LOTR game?
Buy it now! Why? MK: Double Dash is coming out soon! Up to 16 simutaneous players, 4 player grand prix, new types of battle modes... this is going to be the best Mario Kart ever!!!
I had heard that Nintendo dropped their premium for third party games and were trying to improve relations. Did that not happen? Also, Nintendo first party games are great....but one of the reason the third party ones don't sell is the quality. Seriously...everyone seems like a lackluster port that no one took time with. IF the third party releases were of high quality, they'd sell more. Example: Soul Calibur 2. I believe the GC version sold the best of the title....
i love my gamecube...resident evil has never looked so pretty and rogue squadron rocks. but out of all of the systems i own the least amount of games for the GC...
i sold my gamecube shortly after i beat metroid prime but might have to get one again because of the price. wow same as a gameboy advance sp.
