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GameCube (Games) Entertainment Games

GameCube Sales Quadruple, Nintendo Debuts New Slogan 189

Posted by simoniker from the must-be-down-to-clever-advertising dept.
Thanks to GameSpot for their report that sales of Nintendo's GameCube have quadrupled, following the price cut to $99. The piece quotes an effusive GameStop spokesman as saying: "Our sales of Nintendo GameCube have increased more than fourfold. We are currently increasing our shipment requests for the system throughout the holidays." Meanwhile, the Chicago Sun-Times reports on the new Nintendo adverts, both TV and print, with the tagline "Who Are You?" - the print ads "...show the heads of Nintendo characters superimposed on famous images, including players in the rock band Kiss, a person straddling the now-demolished Berlin Wall and no less an icon than the Mona Lisa", and the massive $100 million ad spending will also feature "a 60-second cinema commercial... shot on location in Asia... [and featuring] more than 500 extras."
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GameCube Sales Quadruple, Nintendo Debuts New Slogan More

GameCube Sales Quadruple, Nintendo Debuts New Slogan

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  • Not very surprising to me.. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by YomikoReadman ( 678084 ) <[jasonathelen] [at] [gmail.com]> on Thursday October 02, 2003 @11:23AM (#7113801) Journal
    So am I the only one who is honestly not surprised by this? Gamecube is a really great system, with really great games, and people are obviously buying them in mass quantities now. To me, this shows that since PS2 hit the market first, and everyone hopped on that despite it's horrid launch and stuck with it, most of the gamecube sales to date have been from people like me who wanted the gamecube, not PS2. Now that Nintendo has slashed the price, people are going and buying it as a second system. Does anyone else smell the demise of the Xbox?
    • I'm quite sure I'm not the only one buying the GC as a THIRD system. Though really with a significant price difference the XboX is staying an apple while the GC has become an orange.

      With the price now even lower than it was more kids will be able to convince there parents to buy them a game system, especially since Big N is so cute and cuddly. Also I believe you need to consider that this price drop just when live not long ago and many people who already wanted a GC anyways, like me, were holding off becau

    • Nah, the xbox will be around. Are you kidding? It's a microsoft product. They could give every single one of them away for the next 3 years and still have money to light their cigars with. What I do smell is more games for nintendo. The typical rule of thumb (according to what I've heard), is that you develop for the top 2 (or 3 if you have money). Nintendo, was kind of hit or miss on this. They were #3 in USA, #2 in europe. So some game manufacturers would opt for an xbox release hoping to get more
      • Heh, too bad your line of thinking couldn't work with Microsoft Bob.
        • It's worked so far with MSN, set-top internet (now branded with the MSN name, probably a future addition to the XBox line), and a handful of other MS products.

          We can all name dozens of cancelled MS products if we've been around Slashdot long enough, but take a really hard look at how many products are grouped into the same division of Microsoft as the XBox, where the whole division basically loses money constantly, and how long some of those products have been around. If MS thinks someone else has a market

    • Not really...all three consoles are coming into the end of their lifecycles, and lets face it, $99-$69 isn't a bad price for a second console. None of the several computers I've owned over the past 8 years have run any sort of Microsoft OS. As a rabid anti-MS troll, I'm ashamed to admit that I'm really impressed with my XBox.

      I plan on picking up the GameCube sometime in the next week, but I don't see it as a direct competitor to the X-Box...it's purely a gaming console, and it's insane to pass up a chance

    • Hahahaha! You're calling for the demise of the Xbox because of this article? Let's break down these numbers. According to Nintendo [yahoo.com], this quadrupling took them to 61,000 for the week, after averaging 15,000 per week for the rest of the month and going all the way back into August. Catch the significance of that? That means that the Cube was heading to a 60,000 sales month in the US, the lowest in its history. Even with the increase for the week, that means that they're looking at monthly sales of less than 1
  • I guess there is a lot to this whole idea of capitalism. If you lower the price, the sales will increase. In the case of Nintendo, it sounds like their gross profit is going to increase because they lowered the price.

    Now if we can convince our governments that if they lower taxes, the tax revenue will actually increase....

    • Re:Lower the price, and sales increase (Score:5, Informative)

      by sabinm ( 447146 ) on Thursday October 02, 2003 @12:26PM (#7114499) Homepage Journal
      what you are talking about is price elasticity. it basically means that how much a product's demand is affected by a coeficcient of >/;+/-1 due to price increase or decrease. A product is price elastic if by raising or lowering the price you see a change in demand. how great that demand is of course how you determine the range of the elasiticity. FI, if I sell 100 gamecubes at 149us dollars, and then lower my price to 99 and sell 400, that is a massive price elasticity. by reducing price by 1/3, i increase sales drastically.

      This does not often work in taxes and govt, becasue the revenue that is returned to the people is not always spent back into the govt. FI, the US tax cuts this time around went to paying down debt and in very secure, low yield securities, with no one selling and everyone holding because prices were so low that they had to go up. In a bear market, not only are prices low, but you buy stock at low price to reap a high reward later. So, in effect, in several years, yes, we might get more money from reduced taxes. However, this has nothing to do with tax revenue in the short run as a decrease in the cost of govt (taxes) did not increase spending one iota, and on top of that there was an increase in govt spending that decreaesd revenue to the point that the govt has taken to using future revenue (credit, defecit spending) in order to make up for the non-elastic outcome of lowering taxes. Don't worry, someone will have to raise taxes in the future to pay for lower taxes today.

      Needless to say, lowering the price on a gamecube is a bit more simple than fiscal and monetary policy of billion-trillion dollar economies
    • "Now if we can convince our governments that if they lower taxes, the tax revenue will actually increase."

      Yes, but only if it's done properly. Broad tax cuts (and, even worse, tax cuts for the wealthy) like Bush's aren't very expensive. The bulk of the money went to the upper middle and upper class individuals. Those individuals are likely to save the money instead of spending, which doesn't stiumlate the economy at all. Think about it: an upper middle class or upper class individual already has the money
      • Yes, but only if it's done properly. Broad tax cuts (and, even worse, tax cuts for the wealthy) like Bush's aren't very expensive.

        Aren't very expensive to who? The easiest way to increase the amount of money that a given tax cut will 'cut' is to reduce taxes on the wealthy a very minor amount. If you cut taxes on people making $20,000/year, there's very little tax to cut and very little money coming in from those people to begin with (if any, I don't remember where the cut-off point is, but it's certainly
        • Here's the way to look at it. The economy can be sluggish because of two things. Either too little demand or too little production.

          In an economy where there is too little production, then tax cuts on the rich are a good thing. This will pay for factory upgrades. Investment becomes crucial in getting the economy moving.

          However, right now the problem is one of not enough demand. Like it or not, those lower down the tax bracket do spend a higher % of their money, and faster at that. As well, more of it is sp
        • Actually people payed social security expecting to die before they collected.

          Average lifespan was lower then the social security.

          And the government is not propping it up either. Social security is propping up government spending.

          Don't spread missinformation. Unless you want karma.
          • And the government is not propping it up either. Social security is propping up government spending

            Social Security is propping up government spending, but because of that it's had to be propped up itself. Additionally, due in part to the way government likes to take money from Social Security to balance other portions of the budget, money that goes into Social Security today goes straight out to pay beneficiaries. This is why it can't support itself once the baby boomers begin to retire, or even any time
  • While the GameCube sales figure are much better, it seems to me like they could still be losing money on it. They lost a lot of third party support and can only churn out so many first party titles at a given time. If they still are losing money on each console sale, which would seem to be true, I'm not sure if they have enough titles to get into positive cash flow. Anybody with stats that say otherwise? Is the GBA enough to keep it afloat?

    • Gord [actsofgord.com] suggests that Nintendo was losing a small amount on the GC when it was released at $199. Fast-forward two years, during which time hardware costs will have fallen quite significantly and the price drop probably isn't breaking them.

      GBA selling like hotcakes at a hotcake addicts convention probably doesn't hurt either.

      • Re:Completely good news? (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        You know , I always get tired when people try to debate based on facts from this gord guy. What the hell does he know?

        As far as I can tell from his site, he's nothing more than an oversized young adult whose life revolves around his video game store.
        He hasn't demonstrated the ability to read a financial report; Where does he get off commenting on the manufacturing of multi billion dollar corporations? I can get lots of 'news' from the dorks down at my local EBgames as well, but I don't base any of my
      • Actually it says that $199 was probably a break-even point.

    • Re:Completely good news? (Score:4, Informative)

      by Acidic_Diarrhea ( 641390 ) on Thursday October 02, 2003 @11:42AM (#7114009) Homepage Journal
      From everything I've ever heard, Nintendo does not and will not sell consoles at a loss. This is a widespread rumor concerning the hardware business started by Sega when the PS1 was launched and Sega believed the price was too low. Now, the profit margin on the Gamecube at this point must be very slim but I believe there is still profit being made. Remember that since the Gamecube does not use DVDs, there is no licensing fee to pay for that. Furthermore, the PowerPC chip that the Gamecube has has probably come down in price since the Gamecube launched.

      But regardless, Nintendo is very much in the black, as you seem to be implying that they are teetering towards the red. See this article [abqjournal.com] for information on this. (Basically, they made 95 million in their first fiscal quarter of the year.) They may not be making the kind of money that was coming in during the heyday of the NES but Nintendo is not in dire straits.

      • I want to know how if they dont sell at a loss, how on earth they produce that console and all the stuff that comes with it for a small enough amount that they can have it selling for 99 bucks in the stores and still be making a profit on it. or even breaking even. you gotta figure the GC is probably around 70-80 "cost," and then the stores make 20-30 profit on that. that's gotta be a VERY cheap thing to produce. this it's possible? I dont see how they could break even quite honestly...
        • No, the stores don't make that much profit on the consoles. The profit margins for the stores are basically nonexistent on the consoles. Talk to some people who work at EB or Gamestop or Circuit City. There's no employee discount given for console sales because there is no profit being made there.
        • You're overestimating the stores' profits on console sales, for one. The stores count on people buying games just as much as the manufacturers do, and, furthermore, the stores want you to buy *used* games, for which they make a great deal more profit than the new games. There have even been a handful of reports that stores have occasionally had to sell consoles at a loss.

          Second is that they're only selling the console and a controller at $99, so there's not a great deal coming in that box. (frankly, since
          • Exactly. I think this price cut is actually better for the retailers than the previous low price and a game deal. The previous deal forced the retailer to bundle a game with it. Sometimes these would have been games that they legitimately paid for, but with no price guarantees. That would have been a loss for them.

            Now, though, they sell the console at $99 and they likely get to sell a game on their own terms. And, if one is getting a cheap GC, one might want a used game, and as you said, all the profit mar
        • assuming i AM overestimating the stores profit, even if the store was making no profit at all, how could they produce it for 100 bucks?
          • assuming i AM overestimating the stores profit, even if the store was making no profit at all, how could they produce it for 100 bucks?

            How can i go down to the store and get a calculator for a few buck that has more computing power than ENIAC, which cost about half a million to make? Why is it that if i sell a computer i bought for $2000 a few years ago that i'll be lucky to get a few hundred for it now?

            As always, prices for electronics have dropped, and that drop is even larger when you're talking abo

    • Sony and Microsoft announced today that they're leaving the gaming business, thus ceding the entire market to Nintendo and its GameCube console. Slashdotters around the world wonder, "Is this the end of Nintendo?" Not that I'm trying to be smarmy or anything....
      • Not that I'm trying to be smarmy or anything.... No, you are just daydreaming and you know it.
        Nintendo is doing very well now, the gamecube is the one that is not going so good, developers are beginning to abandon it and they are not even building them anymore, of course the sales have quadrupled, they are practically giving them away.
        The PSP is about to be released next year, Nintendo is a big company but not as big as sony or MS if the PSP beats their GBA and its succesor they ARE going to be in troub

        • Re:News Headline from the Future (Score:2, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward
          Who knows the future? No one. But we know the past and the current. Nintendo hasn't had a money losing quarter in ages. Nintendo is debt free. Nintendo has $7,500,000,000 USD in cash.
        • No, you are just daydreaming and you know it.

          No, he was using hyperbole to good effect as a commentary about the people who try to twist any news about Nintendo, no matter the nature of the news, into something negative.

  • I suppose a jump from one to four *does* count.... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by skyknytnowhere ( 469520 ) on Thursday October 02, 2003 @11:30AM (#7113858)
    Kidding!

    I'm glad to hear their sales have jumped. Hopefully this nips the whole "Gamecube is dead" article blight in the bud, since I was getting sick of people claiming that, despite the excellent games.

    skye

  • Given than the gamecube can probably be made for $50 in quantity, it seems to make sense to sell them for as little as possible and make money off the games. I'm not suggesting losing money off the console, but breaking even (which is probably what the $99 retail price is getting them). Game consoles seem to be largely about two things: number of consoles sold (I want to be able to trade games with my friends, and I don't want to be stuck with a console no one develops games for), and secondarily the tech

    • My friends encouraged me several years ago to get a GameCube, because they already had PS2 or Xbox. When I go to the one's house we play PS2 (or Xbox, respectively) games, by mixing up the system we get more varity.

      I didn't have the money back then though. Today I'm thinking about going the MAME/emulator route. Nothing like a good game of MULE/PacMAN, or such to remind everyone that this is about fun.

  • I'm sorry, I'm under the same opinion as IGN [ign.com], that the ads cause more confusion, then the image Nintendo is trying to market through the advertising campaigns. Just take a look at how ridiculous this picture [ign.com] looks. It obviously doesn't look like Nintendo is aiming for the Xbox GenXer or teen. I have to say that most marketing campaigns, at least when they start out, are meant to be confusing. They are supposed to entice you with your curiosity. Let's hope Nintendo's hyped commercial changes my opinion.

    IMHO

    • Well remember the PS2's "PS9" commercials? Everyone was like "WTF?". Still, PS2 is the #1 console today.

      To me, Nintendo is marketing the fact that they're still Nintendo after all these years. People oftentimes are unhappy in the present, and the future is a scary proposition, so they generally take solace in the past. Look at all the 80's revival shows on VH1, the new Garbage Pail Kids cards, retrogaming, etc. People love being reminded of all the cool stuff about their youth (as opposed to the crappy th

      • Xbox ads are always MTV music videos with James Earl Jones at the end.

        Is that James Earl Jones? Doesn't sound like him. Some other well-known actor, of course, whose name escapes me. Maybe Laurence Fishburne, perhaps, but I'm fairly certain it's not Jones.
        • The ones I'm thinking of have JEJ, but now that I think about it some of the recent ones probably have someone else. Yeah since JEJ is the voice of CNN I presume MS could find his price (these are the guys who forked over the millions to the Rolling Stones for the Windows 95 campaign).
    • I agree with you, it seems like a strange and stupid campaign just based off of the description and that one screen shot. Maybe i'll change my mind when i see one of the commercials. (If we ever make it out of crunch time here at work so i have time to watch tv again at least)

  • Mass market price point. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by dstyle5 ( 702493 ) on Thursday October 02, 2003 @11:52AM (#7114145)
    If the sales numbers stay high for an extended period I believe Microsoft will be forced to drop the price of the Xbox. I told my brother about the price drop of the Cube and the next day he bought one. I know a few other people who may pick up a cube now also. The price drop, in combination with a good library of games and some great new upcoming games like Mario Kart Double Dash (drools in anticipation, Nov. 17 is to far away!) should help improve Nintendo's situation in North America.
    • I agree - I have a PS2, but am now seriously considering getting a cube for the Mario cart game. At 149, no way - but 99 sounds a lot more appealing... I miss the Mario games I used to play as a kid.

      • A Letter To My Son (Score:1, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Dear Son,
        I miss the Mario games you used to play as a kid too. They occupied you for hours, during which time I was able to make sweet love to your mother. Now you're always just sitting around making it impossible for me to get her clothes off. Why don't you move out of the house already? You're 27!!!

        sincerely,
        dad

      • Hmm, $99 plus $49 for the game, or $149 with a free game, and sales are up 4x...

        Looks like people are as dumb as they seem...
  • I'm wandering whether this 99 dollar price drop will last for the long haul. Is it possible that once Nintendo gets enough purchases, that it will raise the prices due to a newly found supply and demand? Also, how long can they keep up the demand? regardless of the price, are they doing anything to change their game software strategy any? I still feel that the online gameing found in PS2 and Xbox keeps the GC from being used by a larger sum of people.
    • I still feel that the online gameing found in PS2 and Xbox keeps the GC from being used by a larger sum of people.

      The GC has online play, it is just that so far hardly of the game developers have got their heads out of their collective asses long enough to realise that those of us who own GC want to play online as well.

    • Re: Will it last? (Score:2, Insightful)

      by dstyle5 ( 702493 )
      Yes, it will last. Once a console or any other consumer electronics device drops its MSRP it will not go back up again. Since the technology is getting older and hence closer to obsolescence day by day, consumers are not willing pay a higher price for something that was cheaper yesterday. Are they doing anything to change their game strategy? I believe they are doing a bit by enabling LAN play in some of their upcoming games (like Mario Kart) which helps a little, but if they would have gone with full int
    • I'm actually not all that interested in paying $10 another month for online services.
  • As I write here [switchbox.cc], I think that this price drop coupled with their new ad campaign is mostly a good thing. However, I do question some aspects of Nintendo's strategy [switchbox.cc]. As far as price point is concerned, it is likely that this is the first time that Nintendo is losing money on per-console sales. For a long time, only Nintendo broke even on each console, so now they're on par with Sony and MS (MS losing the lion's share at an estimated $110 per console upon release). However, Nintendo will seek to make this
    • Losing cash on hardware is the norm. Console developers always make their cash more on the software and third party hardware licenses than anything else.
      • In the video game industry, losing money on the hardware is not the norm. This is a long standing rumor that people continue to tell. The first time this was even mentioned as a possible business model was when the PS1 came out in the U.S. and Sega said the price was too low and thus Sony was dumping. If you have any evidence that Nintendo or Sony have ever sold their consoles at a loss, I would love to see it. Until then, MS loses money on an X-Box sale and Sega lost money on Dreamcast sales but beyond tho
        • I wasn't speaking as a general look at the video game industry historically, I'm simply saying that today in 2003 this is what's going on. And if you have any evidence to the CONTRARY feel free to present it :)
    • As far as price point is concerned, it is likely that this is the first time that Nintendo is losing money on per-console sales.

      OK, so let's look at this for a minute:

      Nintendo was making a good profit selling a console bundled with a game or a GameBoy Player for $150. With the games I can see that, it really doesn't cost much to bundle a game, except any sales you might have gotten of that game and whatever profit difference exists. Microsoft cuts this cost by bundling low-selling games in cheap package
      • You have it, part of the reason Nintendo went to bundling was that the cost of the game was already covered. Any games sold beyond a certain point only cost as much as the media they're written on. So while I agree that bundling the game and the Gamecube did make it pretty much the same as the $99 price drop, the reality was that the the game was virtually free to produce and the GC wasn't.
  • "...show the heads of Nintendo characters superimposed on famous images, including players in the rock band Kiss, a person straddling the now-demolished Berlin Wall and no less an icon than the Mona Lisa"

    looks like the advertising budget was slashed to $99 too

  • They dropped the price $50. To pay for the ad campaign, they'll have to sell what, 2M units to break even? Skip the marketing. With a 4X increase already, the news is out. BC
    • They dropped the price $50. To pay for the ad campaign, they'll have to sell what, 2M units to break even?

      Err, your math only works out if it costs nothing to make or ship a GC, and they also can't make any money selling games.

      Skip the marketing. With a 4X increase already, the news is out. BC

      Ehh, that could be. But who knows.
  • I bought mine and also got Pikmin ($20), Animal Crossing ($30), and Metroid Prime ($30), and a used memory card ($10). New system with 3 fun games and card all for less than $200. That's a pretty good deal, considering that all I play on my PS2 is NCAA Football 2004.
    • Got mine on ebay. Black in color.

      Metroid Prime
      Animal Crossings
      Batman Vengence (think that was the name)
      Skys of Arcadia Legends
      Mario Sunshine
      Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time (didn't get the Windwalker, oh well)
      StarFox
      Lost Kingdoms
      Resident Evil

      Wavebird Wireless control
      A MadCatz small control
      S-Video Cable
      Carrying Case with a clip on disk holder
      Modem

      Used for about three months, and not well used eaither. All of this stuff looked like it was taken out of the original packaging and placed into the carry-all b
  • The Microtendo Travel Agency: "Who are you and where do you want to go today?"

  • Next slogan... (Score:5, Funny)

    by nitehawk214 ( 222219 ) on Thursday October 02, 2003 @12:58PM (#7114785)
    What do you want?
  • Is using Beowulf clusters of them to make weapons of mass destruction....
  • Probably due to the fact that most Games Consumers are Zombies, and buy whatever the company that owns the console market. The largest userbase being Sony's Playstation 2, and the most marketed game being Britian's GTA shows that. Ditto with EA's sports games, which barly change year-to-year. Most people just can't think for themselves...
    • "Most people just can't think for themselves..."
      Yeah, and they often blurt out fanboyish opinions without ever giving other games a chance too.
      All too often I see, say, the latest Rockman or Sonic title being criticised by these Zombie Gamers for being too "cute" or "kiddie", when they haven't even attempted to play or enjoy them. It's a sad state of affairs.
      • YOU think its sad? You should see my friend who works at my local EB Games. He gets to work there and watch gullible fools help his store sell dozens of Madden games every year only to return them for $5 the next year to buy the newest edition.
  • but has anyone noticed the price drop making it way over to the rest of the world? I still see the machine going for 200 euros. A price higher then the price in america BEFORE the drop. With the current 99 it is easily twice as expensive, note that the dollar is worth less then the euro.

    Is nintendo once again pissing on european customers despite the fact that in europe they were 2nd?

  • consumer perception (Score:5, Interesting)

    by bigbigbison ( 104532 ) * on Thursday October 02, 2003 @01:19PM (#7115064) Homepage
    So with a game it was 149.99 now without a game it is 99.99 and a game costs 49.99. Wow, I saved a penny! Honestly it just shows that people look at the price and do not look at what you get for the price. I will admit, when I first heard about it, I was tempted to go out an buy one untill I realized that it wasn't as good of a deal as it sounds.
    • Actually, you can get some of the better games for cheap now. Amazon [amazon.com] is listing Metroid Prime at $29.99. I think Super Mario Sunshine and a few others have dropped in price as well.
    • Forgive my ignorance, but when the GC was $149, did you get to pick the game that came with the system? If not, then I think the price drop makes sense. This way I spend $150 and have 1 game that I want to play, as opposed to having to pay $200 for 1 game I want to play and 1 game that I was "forced" to buy.

      If that was not the case, however, then you are completely right and this price drop is nothing more than a publicity stunt.

      • You had a choice at $149 between a few games (Zelda, Metroid, a couple others I don't remember because I wasn't interested), or, more recently, the GameBoy Player. I went with Zelda because I found Metroid at Blockbuster (new) for $20.

        For $150 you can probably get a couple of good games with a GameCube now, especially if you buy used and/or stick with older games. The majority of the games I have for my Cube cost less than $30.
    • True.. and I wouldn't doubt that some people would think, "wow.. I got the gamecube so cheap that maybe I'll buy TWO games".

      They might actually sell more licensed games because of this.
    • games are $49.99.

      And frankly I'd rather pay $99.99 for a system and choose from any game I want rather than pay $149.99 and be forced to choose between a small selection of games.

      Maybe I'd rather get two older games that are used or whatever and save money there as well. Bundled packages don't give me that option.

      For people who wanted that $50 game anyway it doesn't make sense but for people with budgets who would rather stick to $20 titles, it makes perfect sense.

      Ben
  • I wonder if this means that Nintendo will resume production on the GC again soon? After all, quadrupling the sales by lowering the price as we start to slide into the Christmas season... that could certainly burn up some inventory.
  • This sure beats the one they were tossing around at Nintendo before: 'Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket?'

    Seriously, from being in the game industry, I had given up on the Gamecube as dead (even though I bought one last month, and love it), and figured Nintendo had as well. I thought ok, they'll put in a token effort, and keep their heads above water, and then wo wus all with a fresh release of a brand new console earlier than anyone else. Awesome.

    Then the Gamecube came down to $99 ($139
  • Surprisingly Gamecube is very durable...it will survive a dragging behind a car. Just Watch! [mediagab.com]
    • Nintendo products in general are very durable... how many people do you know that actually managed to break their old tank-sized Game Boy? (Well, until I left leaking batteries in mine...)
  • Since this latest drop, I've been hearing a LOT more people interested in the system. It's sort of like the people who picked up the PSOne, but with better games and a smaller installed userbase, meaning more sales potential.

    And I'm even more surprised to see an ad campaign involving the word "millions", "dolllars" and "Nintendo" in it, being that aside from simple commercials, they've survived on pure word-of-mouth advertising for over 100 years.(Yes, they're over 100 years old, they used to make playing
  • The correct translation of the new slogan is:

    "Who is your DADDY.. and WHAT does he DO!?"
  • Increase the advertising budget tenfold!

    I thought the purpose of advertising was to increase sales, not to affirm sales already made. Why not just continue with the current campaign of the "Now just $99.99"?

    Oh well. At least with an uncracked system, they can't blame low sales on piracy.
    • if there isn't some counterintuitive truth to this. Although the only "piratable" console I own is the Sega Dreamcast, I remember in my poorer years thinking about buying a PS1 just because you could get "free" games for it. Invariably, though, even the worst pirates end up buying a few games over the years, so even kids who buy consoles because of the vast piratable library and never buy any of their own will pick up a game or two for christmas, etc...

      The very fact that the nintendo gamecube *isn't* cra
  • fifteen years ago when I was young, game consoles cost about $100.00 and games $20.00 . People bought them.

    why the hell do they now cost several hundred dollars and each game over $50.00? Nowadays the game's don't last as long, Story line games cannot support more than one player at the time, no wonder people don't want to spend money anymore.

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