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[Deg]

The harsh response was really just to coincide with the statement I quoted.

Really?

 

[AirBrian]

Maybe its time Nintendo started offering the GC at a reduced price to those who purchase a GBA. Perhaps bundle a GBA:SP and GC together for $150 this holiday season. They are making a ton of profit on the GBA (last I read it was something ridiculous like $60-70 per unit sold) and it could offset the loses incurred by bundling the Gamecubes (they lose $20 now, plus another $50 if they were to bundle them at $150) while still turning a small profit. Plus it would freaking get Gamecubes into people's homes.

Exactly. I think Nintendo really dropped the ball on GCN. If they had games ready at launch (or for SP's launch) that focused on connectivity and bundled GCN and GBA, I really feel they could have made a killing. They were pushing connectivity so hard, yet didn't really have anything to back it with. Sure EA and some others had some games that took advantage of it, but nothing substantial until FF:CC and now 4 Swords. Imagine a GCN/GBA bundle that included Pac-Man Vs for $150.00. Or for even $200.00 back when GCN was $150.00. For the same price as a PS2 or Xbox, you get two systems – and Nintendo systems at that which you know have quality games.

But then again, look at the relative success GCN has had for Nintendo not doing much with it. It's just too bad that if Nintendo had put even a little bit of effort into GCN, it would have been much more successful.

 

[jarrod]

Hopefully the Revolution could raise Nintendo back to respectable levels in the home market :|

Considering GameCube is essentially tied with XBox for userbase, would you also say Microsoft has yet to reach "respectable levels in the home market"?

So only 150k for Nintendo's one of the biggest franchise this gen.. By the way I hope you're not supporting the "low sales" of riddick since it was an excellent game, if it was a crappy game, I wouldn't mind the bashing but that game deserves to sell, plain and simple.

Excuses, excuses. Let me ask you this, if I'd have said Zelda FSA outsold Riddick two days ago, would you have believed me?

It's not, but the simple fact is, GBA is the only game in town on the portable end...

Well, that's because consumers have chosen GBA over any competition. Nokia, SNK, Bandai and GamePark really do exist.

Yeah, but each successive example past the initial release on video offers something significant for fans...improvements.

Playing Zelda wherever I want isn't an improvement?

if the shoe fits... nah j/k, we butt heads a lot on gaf but I wouldn't be so mean to anyone. The harsh response was really just to coincide with the statement I quoted.

Well, you can at least see where that impression might come in right?

Although there are a ton of legal ways to play those same games for much cheaper... e-reader, animal crossing, etc.

True, but not on my GBA. At least not for Mario & Zelda, the only games in the line which I felt were really worth the $20. Sure nostalgia plays into it but both games really are timeless in terms of design and hold up surprisingly well... they're arguably the best games ever made.

 

[human5892]

It's not, but the simple fact is, GBA is the only game in town on the portable end...

It irks me when people say this, for reasons that jarrod alluded to. Stating it like this makes it seem as if the Game Boy franchise has never received any notable competition, when in fact, it's been assaulted by several worthy competitors over the years, the main one being a much more impressive (in a technical sense) handheld by Nintendo's then main competitor in the console market. Through all of these attempts, consumers have chosen the Game Boy time and time again.

Nintendo has earned their portable crown, simply put. They didn't just fall into it by being "the only game in town".

 

[SolidSnakex]

" it's been assaulted by several worthy competitors over the years"

The only 'worthy" competitor it had was the Game Gear. Other than there might have been companies that you liked that made handhelds, but they never stood a chance of even putting a dent in the GB's armor.

 

[human5892]

" it's been assaulted by several worthy competitors over the years"

The only 'worthy" competitor it had was the Game Gear. Other than there might have been companies that you liked that made handhelds, but they never stood a chance of even putting a dent in the GB's armor.

I don't know, I think the various iterations of Wonder Swan had a fighting chance for a little while there (in Japan, that is); they were technically superior to the GB hardware, and they even had Square backing them. In the end, though, the vast majority of consumers chose Game Boy.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Hmmm...why are people getting all defensive about that statement, anyway? It's the truth, regardless of how you want to spin it.

 

[Razoric]

I don't know, I think the various iterations of Wonder Swan had a fighting chance for a little while there (in Japan, that is); they were technically superior to the GB hardware, and they even had Square backing them. In the end, though, the vast majority of consumers chose Game Boy.

Wonder Swan was doomed in America from the start and Square mainly threw rehashes on the system. Hardly a contender. Game Gear was Sega and we all know how Sega is. Atari Lynx? LOL NGAGE? Tacos anyone??

Game Boy has never seen serious competition until now. PSP will be the first real attempt at challenging the Game Boy for the portable crown. It'll be interesting to see what happens from this.

 

[jarrod]

Game Gear and WonderSwan actually did fairly decently for themselves. Even NGPC was considered a success by SNK... Nintendo though has always maintained their handheld lead by simply delivering software that handheld gamers want. And 90% of that software comes from Nintendo themselves. Spin would be implying there were never any credible alternatives to the GameBoy line...

 

[Izzy]

OK bitches:


June 2004 Hardware Sales

PS2: 427,000
Xbox: 262,000
GCN: 109,000
GBA: 521,000

Cumulative Installed Base

PS2: 24,128,000
Xbox: 9,165,000
GCN: 7,597,000
GBA: 22,184,000

LTD Tie Ratios

PS2: 8.43
Xbox: 6.88
GCN: 6.55
GBA: 3.60

Top 25 Software Titles

Rank Title Publisher
1 PS2 SPIDER-MAN:THE MOVIE2 Activision
2 XBX FULL SPECTRUM WARRIOR THQ
3 GCN ZELDA: FOUR SWORDS Nintendo
4 PS2 DRIV3R Atari
5 XBX SPIDER-MAN:THE MOVIE2 Activision
6 XBX CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK Vivendi
7 PS2 SHREK 2 Activision
8 XBX DRIV3R Atari
9 PS2 MVP BASEBALL 2004 Electronic Arts
10 PS2 HARRY POTTER: AZKABAN Electronic Arts
11 PS2 RED DEAD REVOLVER Take 2
12 PS2 T. CLANCYS PANDORA Ubi Soft
13 PS2 FIGHT NIGHT 2004 Electronic Arts
14 PS2 NBA BALLERS Midway
15 GCN HARRY POTTER: AZKABAN Electronic Arts
16 GCN SHREK 2 Activision
17 GBA MARIO VS. DONKEY KONG Nintendo
18 GCN SPIDER-MAN:THE MOVIE2 Activision
19 XBX HALO Microsoft
20 GBA SHREK 2 Activision
21 GCN POKEMON COLOSSEUM Nintendo
22 GCN MEGA MAN ANNIVERSARY Capcom
23 GBA HARRY POTTER: AZKABAN Electronic Arts
24 XBX RED DEAD REVOLVER Take 2
25 GBA SONIC ADVANCE 3 THQ

 

[human5892]

Ugh, lock this thread. We can't have TWO NPD threads going with figures in each one. That's just madness.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

And to the same consumers that voted and kept in the GB line, there hasn't been any 'credible' competition. No one's ever come close to taking on the GB. Sure, there are a few notable examples of competition from Sega, SNK, and Atari... All of them fell by the wayside thanks to Nintendo's nearly ironclad grip on the market. I'm not saying that Nintendo didn't earn their place as 95% world market owner of the handheld space, but they certainly haven't been really challenged, at least not since Game Gear's crash and burn more than a decade ago.

 

[jarrod]

I dunno, The dual WonderSwan/Neo Geo Pocket assault in Japan was pretty intense (with Sony, Sega and Square backing the rivals), but GB Color came out on top in the end. There's no denying the inherent quality in each platform's lineup either (people still argue NGPC being the best handheld ever).... the only real problem is consumers evidently want Pokemon, Zelda and Mario more than anything else.

In some regards one could draw broad parallels between NGP/DC and WS/GC in terms of lineups.... and most would consider DC or GC credible competition.

 

[sonycowboy]

Ugh, lock this thread. We can't have TWO NPD threads going with figures in each one. That's just madness.

It hurts my head! Make it stop! Matter and Antimatter cannot meet! Lol.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

In some regards one could draw broad parallels between NGP/DC and WS/GC in terms of lineups.... and most would consider DC or GC credible competition.

The thing is, IMO, DC and GC both had/have a substantial presence of competition and a significant portion of the market to back that measure up. Nothing's been even up to 30% of the market as compared to GB, as far as I know.

 

[SolidSnakex]

The Wonderswan and NG were decent competition in Japan but they were nothing that had Nintendo worrying because they only could do well in 1 market. Nintendo has all 3 markets.

 

[jarrod]

The thing is, IMO, DC and GC both had/have a substantial presence of competition and a significant portion of the market to back that measure up. Nothing's been even up to 30% of the market as compared to GB, as far as I know.

Actually, at it's peak (1993) I think GameGear managed more than that. The platform did sell something like 11 million units worldwide, which means it outsold Dreamcast even.

 

[jarrod]

The Wonderswan and NG were decent competition in Japan but they were nothing that had Nintendo worrying because they only could do well in 1 market. Nintendo has all 3 markets.

NGPC actually did pretty well here (4% of the market in 2000 iirc), it smashed SNK's own expectations actually which was amazing considering it's limited release and higher pricetag. In fact, SNK USA was planning on increasing distribution/marketing and signing on some western 3rd parties (Midway was the first) before Aruze pulled the plug on them.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

I'd be interested to know what percentage of the handheld market Sega controlled at their peak. I doubt it would've been even a third of the worldwide market... Still, my point was, there is no current (nor even recent) serious competition in the handheld space and thus my statement was made on the basis of that. The GBA is the only game in town and pretty much has been for the last 10 years if you factor in the GB line that preceded it.

 

[jarrod]

Actually, 10 years ago would be around GameGear's peak. And yes, GG was only really competitive in western markets, like Genesis and Sega in general.

Then again, looking at consoles only the dominant platform has ever really been viable in every market. All 2nd and 3rd place platforms have only done well in one or two out of three regions. If you disqualify GG, WS and NGP because they weren't credible competition in every market, then you'd also have to discount N64, Saturn, XBox, GC, DC, Genesis/MD and PC Engine. You'd have to say PS, PS2 and SFC/SNES were essentially the only games in town also.

 

[AssMan]

Hopefully the Revolution could raise Nintendo back to respectable levels in the home market :|

Didn't Nintendo say that they're heading in some sort of a different direction with Revolution? Will this attract more mainstream gamers? I don't think so, but who knows.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Didn't Nintendo say that they're heading in some sort of a different direction with Revolution? Will this attract more mainstream gamers? I don't think so, but who knows.

I'll believe it when I see it. They've got alot to change to actually attract mainstream and alot of that is to do something they've never done, and that's to start developing more adult oriented games inhouse (talking about in their Japan studios). If they don't do then they won't compete. They need a complete and total overhaul.

 

[bishoptl]

"The thread's dead, baby....the thread's dead."