official: GameCube drops to $99

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

You guys have to remember a majority of parents who buy consoles for their children recognize the Nintendo name, they will be enticed by the $80 savings over an Xbox and PS2, and they will most likely buy a Gamecube for their child.

Ahahah kiddie console!!

IGNORE THE FLAME BAIT!!

I think you are dense. We are talking business here. A dollar is a dollar. When you are making shareholders money, I think they could care less if the gaming l33t thinks the Gamecube is a kiddy console.

Nobody is going to overtake Sony, but Nintendo will make a strong run for #2 by undercutting the Xbox's price by 40%.

EDIT: And I apologize if you were not talking about business. There are a lot of pre-teens on IGN's forums who would love to have console flamefests with you, junior.

 

[dr150]

Any price drop bodes badly for the company. The market pressure to drop isn't there as the other consoles are more expensive.

They simply aren't MOVING units.

1.) They stopped production.............then..............
2.) Do a substantial price drop to entice people to decrease their warehouse inventory (which is a carrying cost)

While people may take advantage of this deal, it shows that Nintendo is desperately trying to stay afloat in the States.

Unfortunately, it seems the end of this console is drawing near ala Dreamcast.

 

[IshmaelLeaver]

Originally posted by: dr150

While people may take advantage of this deal, it shows that Nintendo is desperately trying to stay afloat in the States.

Unfortunately, it seems the end of this console is drawing near ala Dreamcast.

Nah, handhelds will keep Nintendo super-profitable and allow them to have a console, regardless of how well it sells.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: IshmaelLeaver

Originally posted by: dr150

While people may take advantage of this deal, it shows that Nintendo is desperately trying to stay afloat in the States.

Unfortunately, it seems the end of this console is drawing near ala Dreamcast.

Nah, handhelds will keep Nintendo super-profitable and allow them to have a console, regardless of how well it sells.

Ding Ding Ding, we have a winner!

When your company is heavy in the black, year after year, it makes you wonder how many armchair economists will continue to predict the demise of your company.

 

[dr150]

Nobody is speaking of demise. We all know Nintendo is very profitable around the world and with the GBA in the States.

That doesn't stop the fact that companies can END product lines that are suppressing their bottom line.

I see the GC's demise in the States and perhaps certain countries in Europe.

The same can be said about the XBOX in Japan, which is proving to be a money pit.

 

[TheShiz]

gamecube is awesome. There are a bunch of solid games for it, and its cheap. I have all the systems and the cube easily gets played more than the others. if you are a casual gamer go play your crappy sports games, otherwise these are all great:

Metroid Prime
F-Zero
Zelda
Resident Evil
Mario
SSBM

Mario Golf -worth a try at least, i didn't think i'd like it, friend had it, played a few hours and was hooked, I don't play golf and never played all the realistic golf games, i'd rather have the crazy holes and arcade type controls.

Ikaruga

only games i like on the box are Panzer Dragoon Orta and Halo, to me it is pretty much a crappy PC, i shouldn't have bought it. PS2 has plenty of solid titles too, just not as many that i like on the cube.

cliff notes : $99, buy it.

 

[IshmaelLeaver]

Originally posted by: dr150
That doesn't stop the fact that companies can END product lines that are suppressing their bottom line.

I see the GC's demise in the States and perhaps certain countries in Europe.

Nintendo has said many times that they will never stop making consoles. They have yet to "pull the plug" on a console before the next one was on the market. The GBA is physically linked to the Gamecube console via the GBA Player and the GBA Link Cable. Nintendo and 3rd parties have a lot of time and money invested in upcoming games. Etc. The odds are strongly in favor of Gamecube staying on the market.

Lower sales does not mean that Nintendo is losing money on anything. Their hardware is cheaper to manufacture, they spend a lot less on advertising, almost all of their most popular titles are 1st party, they make a decent buck on licensing fees, and they don't lose money to piracy.

Got any other angles?

 

[BooGiMaN]

i think nintendo consoles are going he way of atari and sega...hey it happens your king of the world one day and can do no wrong then you come out with the n64 coupled with sucky games for yoru sytem and new big players in the console market and next thing you know your history.

anyone remember
turbo graphics 16
atari jaguar
colecovision

 

[Yossarian]

That is pretty crazy that a GC will cost the same as a GBA SP.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK
Nintendo has no desire to attract gorilla handed horny gamers. If the person requires blood and guts to acknowledge the greatness of a game, then they are the ones in need of growing up.

Microsoft won't be willing to lose money forever on their hack boxes. Next generation flop.

You speak as if Nintendo is a moral paragon. They don't care about morals - they want to make money, and currently they are the 3rd place out of 3, so they are doing something wrong. I don't think their shareholders give a damn - they just want nintendo to do better and they need to do something better!

jpeytonEh he, you can call me junior all you like but I already flame baited the thread which vicariously armors me from it, so I find no offense at it, friend!

 

[BooGiMaN]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK
Nintendo has no desire to attract gorilla handed horny gamers. If the person requires blood and guts to acknowledge the greatness of a game, then they are the ones in need of growing up.

Microsoft won't be willing to lose money forever on their hack boxes. Next generation flop.

You speak as if Nintendo is a moral paragon. They don't care about morals - they want to make money, and currently they are the 3rd place out of 3, so they are doing something wrong. I don't think their shareholders give a damn - they just want nintendo to do better and they need to do something better!

jpeytonEh he, you can call me junior all you like but I already flame baited the thread which vicariously armors me from it, so I find no offense at it, friend!

no desire my ass....i have yet to see a company refuse money, refuse to attract buyers, and refuse to cater to the will of the consumer.

nintendo better get their act together and start showing more carnage, boobage and whatever else we might want in their games

 

[dr150]

The boobage and carnage is exactly what the WWF did to catch up and ultimately surpass WCW in the cable wars. Now the WWF owns WCW. How's that for irony?

Nintendo's visionaries will never go that way. Which is why they will unfortunately be a "has-been" in the American market.

 

[Chaotic42]

Man, I hope Nintendo keeps it up.

Nintendo releases the kind of games that aren't just games. They are parts of your life. Zelda, Mario, Metroid, those aren't just normal games. Maybe I should buy a GC... A small way to help out.

 

[IshmaelLeaver]

Originally posted by: BooGiMaN
i think nintendo consoles are going he way of atari and sega...hey it happens your king of the world one day and can do no wrong then you come out with the n64 coupled with sucky games for yoru sytem and new big players in the console market and next thing you know your history.

anyone remember
turbo graphics 16
atari jaguar
colecovision

Yes, I remember. But I also remember that N64 was very profitable and had some great games.

 

[IshmaelLeaver]

Originally posted by: dr150
The boobage and carnage is exactly what the WWF did to catch up and ultimately surpass WCW in the cable wars. Now the WWF owns WCW. How's that for irony?

Irony is when someone who doesn't know the definition of irony posts about irony.

Nintendo's visionaries will never go that way. Which is why they will unfortunately be a "has-been" in the American market.

Based on the credibility of your posts, I guess you're right. See-ya, Nintendo.

 

[Lvis]

I bet they aren't losing much money at a hundred bucks. They can make it up on game sales. Just because they aren't selling as many as the other guys doesn't mean they are about to go under.

 

[Tom]

Personally I think they make money even at $99. Even if they don't they make a fortune on 1st party software for each Gamecube they sell.

And the price reduction is normal for this point in the product cycle.

And Nintendo isn't number 3 worldwide, they're number 2.

And Nintendo is very profitable, including Gamecube software titles.

Additionally the Gamecube is the only console of the 3 that can be sold for $99 without losing a ton of money.

$99 is a magical price point for a huge market that wouldn't consider spending more, the only question is how well Nintendo will market it at the new price.

 

[Dragnov]

Originally posted by: dr150
Any price drop bodes badly for the company. The market pressure to drop isn't there as the other consoles are more expensive.

They simply aren't MOVING units.

1.) They stopped production.............then..............
2.) Do a substantial price drop to entice people to decrease their warehouse inventory (which is a carrying cost)

While people may take advantage of this deal, it shows that Nintendo is desperately trying to stay afloat in the States.

Unfortunately, it seems the end of this console is drawing near ala Dreamcast.

Well that makes absolutely no sense. The Gamecube has only dropped $100 now from its original selling price. Meanwhile, the X-Box and PS2 have dropped $120 from their initial selling price (and have done so for a while now.) So essentially, Nintendo has now matched the price drops of their competitors. (Well still $20 off even.) Furthermore, Nintendo has been making profit off of each system. That can't be said for the other systems now.