OT: Console News - GC $99

[MizzouRah]

Gamecubes are now $99? Wow, that's $80 better than a ps2 or xbox, I guess Nintendo's trying to get some share come this Christmas?

Ps2 Hard Drive is coming in March, a 40GB drive that comes preloaded with Final Fantasy XI. It will also ship with a media player that enables viewing of digital photos, playback of mp3's, storage of audio cd's, and game save management tools.

I can't wait to show the family photos to everyone on a big tv come xmas time!!

East installation, as it slides into the expansion bay of the ps2.




Todd

[sterlingice]

If you're going to get a Gamecube, wait a week or two. If you get one then, not only will it be $99 but you'll get a zelda promo disk with Zelda 1 and 2 from the NES and Ocarina of Time and Majoras Mask for the N64. No Link to the Past since they just released it for GBA but it does have a Wind Waker demo and some other goodies, as well.

Plus, Mario Kart is coming out soon (next week or two).

SI

[tucker342]

I heard that they aren't even producing Gamecube anymore cause they have so much back stock.

[sterlingice]

Actually, they just restarted this production the past month because of increased sales. After the $99 price cut, they've taken solid command of 2nd place for recent sales.

SI

[Taur]

Game cube took over 2nd place from x-box sometime this sommer.

With both PS2 & X-Box going after the older teenage market with Gore & Sex, Nintendo decided to go after the younger gaming market. Within 2-months they had taken over 2nd and have never looked back.

The drop in price will probably allow Santa to place the cube under a lot of trees this christmas.

[HeavyReign]

Originally posted by sterlingice
If you're going to get a Gamecube, wait a week or two. If you get one then, not only will it be $99 but you'll get a zelda promo disk with Zelda 1 and 2 from the NES and Ocarina of Time and Majoras Mask for the N64. No Link to the Past since they just released it for GBA but it does have a Wind Waker demo and some other goodies, as well.

Plus, Mario Kart is coming out soon (next week or two).

SI

Thanks. I'm getting my sister one for christmas so I'll have to make sure to grab the one with the Zelda promo. The original Zelda was one of her favorite games when we were younger.

[STK]

I bought a a $99 Gamecube a few weeks ago along with Zelda: Wind Waker and Super Mario Sunshine. I haven't played it since the day I got it, but hey, 99 bucks...

[MikeVic]

Yeah, makes me mad that I bought one the day Platinum came out. At least the games are very affordable, though. Got Smash Bros. Melee for $30CDN, and got Viewtiful Joe for $50CDN.

PS2 and XBox have to lower their prices to match the Cube's, or else they'll suffer during the holidays. I mean, if I was a parent, and knew nothing about video games, and went to a store looking to buy a system for my kid... it doesn't matter if Xbox or PS2 was twice as good, I'd get the Cube because it's so much cheaper.

Oh, I'm not saying that PS2 and XBox are twice as good as Cube.. I think each eystem has a strength and weakness, and I chose to get the Cube.

[SackAttack]

Originally posted by Taur
With both PS2 & X-Box going after the older teenage market with Gore & Sex

Wasn't that Clinton?

Nintendo decided to go after the younger gaming market. Within 2-months they had taken over 2nd and have never looked back.

Uh, lotta folks would argue that that has been Nintendo's market all along. There was never a 'conscious' decision to go after the younger gamers, and Nintendo themselves would tell you that they would rather make games that appeal to everybody than to pigeonhole themselves by making only 'kiddie' games or only 'mature' games.

That said, two things are happening here, I think.

1) the #2 spot is a worldwide thing. Nintendo is #2 worldwide, but still #3 in the US.

2) the market share they've gained has largely been as a 2nd console. I guarantee you a large percentage of the people who bought GameCubes at $99 were people who already had a PS2 or an Xbox, but couldn't pass up the chance to play Metroid Prime, Zelda: Wind Waker, or Viewtiful Joe on a $99 GameCube.

Honestly, I see this as largely a hardware move for Nintendo. They aren't ever going to move the same quantities of software that the Xbox and the PS2 do, but they may well wind up with more installed units than Xbox. The difference is, most of the software will continue to be sold on the other two platforms, at least domestically.

The 'Cube at $99 will remain attractive for people who want to play just a couple of its titles, but the only market where it will be the exclusive console in a home is going to be small children. Otherwise, it'll share the shelf with a PS2 or an Xbox.

[daedalus]

For anyone with interest and inclination . . .

According to [ this thread ] on GoneGold, the 'cube/Zelda bundle will be on sale for $79.44 at Wal-Mart during the "Black Friday" sale (which I guess is the day after Thanksgiving?) between 6AM to 11AM.

[Craptacular]

Uh-oh! "Zelda: Ocarina of Time" is my favorite video game of all-time, and I love the other three on the bonus CD. I'm one of the idiots who shops on Black Friday (tradition with my wife), so I might have to go to WalMart first thing and make a small purchase. The only console I have is an NES. Damnit, with a brand new house and all, I know my wife would kill me if I bought both FOF2004 and a GameCube! Decisions, decisions, decisions.

[daedalus]

Mayhaps you can excuse the 'Cube as a "family entertainment" purchase.

[Samdari]

Originally posted by SackAttack

1) the #2 spot is a worldwide thing. Nintendo is #2 worldwide, but still #3 in the US.

You sure about this? I was pretty sure that Nintendo was #1 worldwide, selling more units in just Japan and South Korea than either other system sold worldwide.

[Bee]

Originally posted by Samdari
You sure about this? I was pretty sure that Nintendo was #1 worldwide, selling more units in just Japan and South Korea than either other system sold worldwide.

The PS2 is #1 worldwide by quite a large margin.

Edit:

Here's the numbers (this is after the Gamecube price drop) for the first of November.

Worldwide Console Sales Update

Here is an update on the overall console sales worldwide, courtesy of the BBC. The total units sold are listed below:

PlayStation 2 - 51,200,000
GameCube - 9,550,000
Xbox - 9,400,000

[Easy Mac]

supposedly at ebgames (electronic botiques, ebx...) you can buy any 2 PLatinum Hits (x-box), Greatest Hits (PS2) or Gamers Choice (GC) for $25. So you can get a game cube and 2 more games (plus Zelda) for about $110

Gamer's CHoice Games:
Metroid Prime
Luigi's Mansion
Spider-Man (GCN)
Pikmin
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
Star Fox Adventures
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
Animal Crossing
Super Mario Sunshine
James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire
Resident Evil

[Abe Sargent]

I picked up a Cude this weekend. I have a PS2, but I wanted SC 2 on GC because I wanted Link, and I wanted Mario Kart and Mario Party. Ergo, a Cube. Add some controllers, memory card, and it ended up being around $330.

-Anxiety