It means their games don't have the space to store video and other materials that the other consoles do, it also means their systems can't play movie DVDs, a feature that is a good selling point for the other two systems.
Hopper
Hopper
The point of watching DVD's on your game console I find ludicrous. How many people that can afford one not afford the other?
Nintendo has done correctly with not making compatability with any media but it's own.
Piracy killed the Dreamcast, since you can simply burn the game and play no mod chip no nothing. Why didn't Sega just make the DC compatible with GDROMS? They made it compatible with Audio CD's and that was a mistake.
Today, Gamecube is the only console that isn't being pirated. It may be someday, but it really has been a long time already.
I didn't buy any of the next-gen consoles because they play DVDs. I bought them to play the games that are available for the system.
Demon-Xanth
Lifer
- Feb 15, 2000
- 20,551
- 2
- 81
I have a GC, DC, and PS2 sitting next to eachother, and I find the GC has the BEST mechanical design. (though the DC's the most well made console by far) The controller is well laid out for most games (just not fighting) and fits most hands well. The console doesn't take up a large amount of space so it fits almost anywhere. And here's something worth noting before saying it "failed":
There is a magic point where if a console drops below $100 the sales go up alot.
Nintendo just started a promotion there you can get a free game (worth $50) with purchase of a Gamecube. This makes the console+game a total of $150, not a bad deal.
Zelda is coming out on 3/24, there is a bonus disk (most stores are giving them out starting the 16th) if you preorder.
A few hot games have been put on the "Players Choice" list and dropped to $30.
So for less than $300 (after tax) you can get a GC, 5 games (Prime, SSBM, and the Zeldas), 2nd controller, and 251 memory card. Not a bad deal is it?
And world wide, the GC and the XBOX are about even on sales. So if the GC is a failure, so is the xbox. The difference being that Nintendo is making money on the GC, Microsoft is losing $1 Billion each year.
There is a magic point where if a console drops below $100 the sales go up alot.
Nintendo just started a promotion there you can get a free game (worth $50) with purchase of a Gamecube. This makes the console+game a total of $150, not a bad deal.
Zelda is coming out on 3/24, there is a bonus disk (most stores are giving them out starting the 16th) if you preorder.
A few hot games have been put on the "Players Choice" list and dropped to $30.
So for less than $300 (after tax) you can get a GC, 5 games (Prime, SSBM, and the Zeldas), 2nd controller, and 251 memory card. Not a bad deal is it?
And world wide, the GC and the XBOX are about even on sales. So if the GC is a failure, so is the xbox. The difference being that Nintendo is making money on the GC, Microsoft is losing $1 Billion each year.
Why has Gamecube failed?
Nintendo was #1, now they are #3.
There has historicaly not been enough room in the market for 3 game systems. Gamecube will chuge along, might even be profitable for Nintendo, but it is questionable if Nintendo will ever again be the force in game systems they once were.
Hopper
Success is not having your rival sell units twice as quickly. Small market share may be enough to get by.. but look what happened to Sega.
I think they were just trying to do in Japan what Nintendo did in America in the 80's, break into a new area. Only thing is, money isn't everything, you need determination, drive, ideas and tenacity.
The way Nintendo works is that they make damned high quality products.
They want cheap, small, innovative, quality games, not lots of liscences given out for really awful games. (Yeah, PS2 may have loads of games, but there are quite probably more crap ones thatn good ones, most games Nintendo release are actually good).
They don't need to be #1 to be profitable. I guarantee you that they are still making a TON of money. Most of their best titles are their own, not third party licenses.
- Mar 20, 2000
- 102,402
- 8,574
- 126
~1.2 gigabytes per disc, and discs don't cost that much. also helps the seek times. and how many people don't have a $80 dvd player yet are buying a $150 to $200 console? it also keeps nintendo from the PS2 phenomenon where people were buying the console to play movies but not games.
Nintendo has a very loyal following of fans. Their market share may not be as large as Microsoft or Sony's, but I am sure it large enough for the company to continue making consoles and games.
Just because they aren't making as much money as the other two consoles, that doesn't mean they aren't making a lot.
Queasy
Moderator<br>Console Gaming
- Aug 24, 2001
- 31,796
- 2
- 0
Well, I know alot of parents at my job bought their kid an X-Box or a PS2 over a Gamecube for Christmas simply because those played DVDs. They wanted something they could put in their kids playroom/bedroom that plays games and DVDs. Might not be a selling point to technophiles like you find on AT but it is to the parents who buy the systems.
Oh, and for those people saying the X-Box is too big...it fits nicely in my home entertainment system rack and doesn't look odd doing so.
But, back to the Gamecube being a failure, I think EA and Sega pulling their sports game support for the system is a bad sign.
They also have pretty huge sales of hand held "consoles", since pretty much no one else has competition in that arena. They are pretty much a monopoly in that area, thus get most of the profits. Even if they don't rock the home console world, they'll still have the Gameboy to keep them alive.
kami
Lifer
- Oct 9, 1999
- 17,627
- 5
- 81
Gamecube worldwide is probably close to XBox in sales. In the US, I believe it is behind (but maybe not by a lot).
It hardly matters, if it was PS2 that it was close to, Nintendo would have a shot. It is the 800lb gorillia that it is fighting with for second place, and Microsoft can simply outspend Nintendo until the cows come home.
As I said, Nintendo will be around for awhile, probably a long time, but that is more due to Gameboy than anything else.
Hopper
Exactly...
For the average Joes buying the systems, the DVD support is something that is expected. It is one less "box" that has to sit next to the kids TV.
Exactly, game systems have grown up and people do put them in with their entertainment centers. Look at the PS2 compared to the original PlayStation for example.
I see game systems going further along this line and ultimatly looking very much like a VCR or DVD player and fitting right in with the other boxes next to the TV.
Wireless controllers as standard may well be in the next version of XBox. I know that would be a selling point to me.
Hopper
Queasy
Moderator<br>Console Gaming
- Aug 24, 2001
- 31,796
- 2
- 0
I hope Nintendo is along for a long while and continues to make consoles. The competition between three console makers really helps from a consumer's point of view. Would you see the price drops we have seen if there were only two players instead of three?
Yes, and what happens if Microsoft comes out with something to compete with the Gameboy Advance?
That is the danger of being in the same business as Microsoft. They might leave you alone if it isn't worth their time, or they could crush you with the weight of their checkbook.
Hopper
That doesn't mean that the GameCube / games sales are NOT making them money. If Nintendo does make more money off of the GBA than they do with the GC, that has zero bearing on whether or not the GC has been a failure.
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