So...Is The GameCube Doomed Or What?

We have to face it lads and lassies, the gameCube is showing distinct signs of struggling.

Yep, impossible as it is to imagine, not everyone loves our beautiful little box of delights and now it has started to be recognised by publishers and 3rd party developers that GameCube IN EUROPE is not selling well enough.

Have Nintendo got time to turn things around? Will Wind Waker, Resi Zero and Metroid Prime stimulate enough sales to make the people who are talking about pulling out of GameCube projects change their minds?

Why are these industry heavy hitters talking of abandoning GameCube?.....is it possible that Bill (the wanker) Gates has anything to do with it? If so, let's take'im out Bond stylee. :bond:

Fair enough it's not doing as well as PS2 but it's hardly going to go the wat of Dreamcast and Nintendo is not going to do a Sega.

The line up of games for this year is amazing (i'm not going to list them all) and you can garuntee Mario Kart will shift many, many units.

A $5,000,000 advertising project for Metriod should help too and anyway, not many 3rd party developers have actually beeCONFIRMED as junping ship, there are just loads of rumours.

LONG LIVE NINTY, YOU ROCK MY WORLD!!!!!

perhaps if nintendo advertised better it would be more popular. hardcore gamers must hate nintendo because of it's attitude towards europe. doesn't it know that europe will become a larger market through advertising?

I think that the next few months are vital for the survival of the GC with the arrival of Zelda, MP, etc which will ultimately decide its fate.

Tempo addressed this issue in his letter in GamesTM and it was hinted that Ninty could never end up like Sega - or could it ...? Whatever ultimately happens, Nintendo will continue to make their wonderful games. Its just a case as to whether it will be for their own machine or as a third party developer.

I have mentioned elsewhere that Pokemon is Nintendo's cash cow and love it or hate it, the continuing love affair with all things Poke can only be a good thing.

I there a Pokemon game comng out for the GC (apart from the GBA link one?)

Well, i've just grabbed a conversation between me and simon from the GTM forum on this subject, so here it is.

Simon@CUBE/gamesTM
Administrator
Member # 20
Member Rated:

posted 17 January 2003 09:05 PM
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For one thing, it's totally impossible to know with any certaintly that Nintendo is going to make another console... If Nintendo said tomorrow that after the GC it would no longer make consoles confidence in the current hardware would drop, share prices might plummet and the GC would almost certainly die a death... Which is why SEGA denied it for such a long time when most people knew the DC was about to be slain. So Nintendo is going to bullishly admit to doing a spot of R&D for its next console, isn't it? Has Nintendo ever admitted such a thing so early on in the life of a new console? Nope. Why?
Look at what is happening at Nintendo. The GBA is essentially being relaunched (which is a good and bad thing – it will actually work properly but there are some people who are going to be miffed about the prospect of having to buy another one), Sony could well be working on a PlayStation handheld variant – surely something that would sell. Couple that with Microsoft mooting the possibility of a handheld and you see that even the one market where Nintendo dominate could become less secure.

Then look at the GC – damn fine, nay beautiful console. However, the Xbox is challenging it for second place (some industry insiders have already disputed Nintendo's figures and placed the GC in third place) and I don't see Nintendo battling against Microsoft all that aggressively... Look at the Xbox bundle, look at the fact that Microsoft is spending money to market all its first-party and even key third party titles. Then look at Xbox live... I can name several people who have now got access to Broadband. 2 months ago, I could name none... What is Nintendo's broadband strategy? Er...

Nintendo is being out gunned by its major rivals – the GC is not perceived as a mainstream console but the Xbox seemingly is, which is a shame because I love ole' Ninty. No doubt the likes of us will revel in Ninty's consoles and games. At times there really isn't anything better. However, the many simply are not turning to Nintendo for gaming pleasures which isn't good for business – which is why SEGA left the hardware business to those companies prepared to spend the money and market their machines.

I hope that I am wrong, I would hate a world without a Nintendo console but to quote Han Solo: 'I got a bad feeling about this'.

Rgds,

Simon

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Posts: 877 | From: UK | Registered: Feb 2001 | IP: Logged

J E b U S
Member
Member # 1638
Member Rated:

posted 17 January 2003 10:41 PM
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You seem slightly pessimistic today Simon...
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I have FreeLoader, and Metroid Prime is amazing!

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Environmentalists say that an area the size of Wales is destroyed every day....Why is it never Wales?!

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Go and get the guitar, Gareth

Join The Best Website Ever: Cubed

well...... tbh I used to be a big PS addict, and i really wanted a N64 once it came out, but I didn't get it - why? because I felt it didn't have enough games to satisfy me and by the time I had the

While it is worrying, nintendo have brought alot of this on themselves, which is a shame as we all know. I got converted to nintendo at the launch of the gamecube, i traded in my ps2 for it, and apart from the few games, nothing has made me which i had a ps2 still. Nintendo has alot under its belt, but its not using it, and its a shame, as me, you and the whole gaming industry knows nintendo's potential for advertising, just not nintendo itself

Peletboy wrote:
I there a Pokemon game comng out for the GC (apart from the GBA link one?)

I don't know the answer to that. The Gameboy stuff have made Ninty a mint though.

hmm.... all very good points

I'm pretty sure Nintendo use those assets in japan to market the GC - but they don't here, which could be causing this whole 'the GC is doomed' reaction

i think that nintendo are concentrating more on Japan at the moment where the cube is doing pretty well!

when nintendo bring out their next console (in my opinion they definately will) hopefully they will have a good foothold in Japan and can then concentrate on the rest of the world!

This is my 500th post!

[ Edited by Thomashand on 2003/2/22 17:56 ]

This is my 500th post!

Mazeltov!

Anordara wrote:

This is my 500th post!

Mazeltov!

say what!

Its Yiddish for 'Congratulations'.

I reckon JEbUS knew that!

[ Edited by Anordara on 2003/2/22 18:19 ]

Thanks, much appreciated!

Anordara wrote:
Its Yiddish for 'Congratulations'.

I reckon JEbUS knew that!

[ Edited by Anordara on 2003/2/22 18:19 ]

Erm...of course!!!

i think the xbox will go out before the gc, even if MS keep pouring in money

hopefully none of them will go out because they are all great consoles!

let's take'im out Bond stylee :bond:

was that an excuse to use that emoticon or what?!?

annnnnnnnnnnyway, methinks that aslong as Nint are buggered in europe 3rd parties will split, thems be the brakes

On both the Xbox and PS2 i can list the exclusive games i fancy on the fingers of one hand

Well, with the XBOX I'd most likely be able to count the exclusives on one hand...wait, make that one finger actually...

PS2, on the other hand, has bugger loads of games I want. Wild Arms 3 and Breath of Fire 5 are flying to me at the moment. Grandia Xtreme and XenoSaga should be here within a matter of weeks...and then there's Star Ocean 3 and FFX-2 later in the year. RPG mania here we come!

without other consoles, theres no competition.

Without competition you get high prices, and poor quality. The market NEEDS competition to survive at this level!!!

So, I think that all the consoles should stay, even if its only to prove the GC's superior!!

Well, with the XBOX I'd most likely be able to count the exclusives on one hand...wait, make that one finger actually...

that was a worthless point to make jesusraz as you know perfectly well that it isnt true!

Okay, you got me there TH...It was a blatant lie...I actually can't count.

Hehe...

Ferchris sake Jesusraz!

You're maing my side hurt!!!

so much that he cannot spell properly!