Some pre Xmas sales figures from the UK

You can pick up a GC for £40 at some places and I don't think any gamer can deny it has some great titles, I'm shocked it didn't sell better than it has in fact it deserved to sell better than this for £40. I paid the full £130 at launch but still think I have had good value from the machine although it fair to say with Halo2 and GTA SA it has seen little action of late.
 
gcowned.gif


I reckon Xbox could have easily done 60k if it wernt for the shortages. PS2 easily 150k imo
 
It's widely believed that some retailers may once and for all drop the Cube...

http://www.cube-europe.com/news.php?nid=7310

A while ago Argos reduced the price of the GameCube console because they wished to get rid of their stock. After an incredible increase in sales they decided to carry on stocking it, but seem as if they wish to get rid of it now.

Argos have reduced the GameCube from the RRP of £79.99 to only £39.99 and have also reduced the cost of games and accessories by a drastic amount.

Meanwhile other retailers like Index and some Woolworths stores have cut the price of their games in a similar attempt to drop the GameCube from their line-up.
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Prine said:
gcowned.gif


I reckon Xbox could have easily done 60k if it wernt for the shortages. PS2 easily 150k imo
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?!?!?! Is that Sonny Chiba? Hmmm no I guess not... thought it was him... pretty funny clip though.
 
it just shows that gamecube isn't competing in the same market as ps2/xbox anymore. No other reason to explain the atrociously low sales while:

1.) they're priced lower than the "competition"
2.) their "competitors" suffer from heavy shortages

it just means they're not competing on the same plane anymore, since the above two had no effect on gamecube sales whatsoever.
 
As long as someone like GAME doesn't drop GC...

Nintendo need to wholly reconsider things in the UK, if not all of Europe (although they're doing better on the continent). I think most people in the UK are in particular just sick of the tardy release schedules and how nintendo treat their customers there generally. In Europe they have all the perception problems evident in the US and Japan plus many many more..

At least in terms of home hardware anyway. No word on GBA sales?
 
The reason is chav's see Nintendo as kiddy + no advertising AT ALL. (for gc or gba) = no sales

Still that article is full of scaremongering + gameradar I find to be a bit dodgy
 
At those prices, you'd almost be crazy to not own a GC at this point -- there's got to be at least one game on there that you're bound to enjoy.
 
human5892 said:
At those prices, you'd almost be crazy to not own a GC at this point -- there's got to be at least one game on there that you're bound to enjoy.
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Yeah, I almost feel guilty for not buying GC + Mario Kart bundle for a measly 79 euros (here in Finland). I mean, it must have some gaming value...even when I'm not the biggest fun of Nintendo games. But I guess I'm not alone...not buying even at these firesales prices.
 
MrPing1000 said:
The reason is chav's see Nintendo as kiddy + no advertising AT ALL. (for gc or gba) = no sales

Still that article is full of scaremongering + gameradar I find to be a bit dodgy
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Little Hitler needs to lose his hat.
 
nightez said:
The whole Nintendo UK and Nintendo Australia team must be fired.

Wheres Yamauchi, when you need him.
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Having done some on and off contract work for Nintendo Australia, I'm inclined to agree with this sentiment. It's fucking hopeless.
 
It is true that the UK (and often the rest of Europe too) have always preferred other consoles to Nintendo ones though. Even when Nintendo was the main name for videogames across the rest of the world, Nintendo consoles were quietly getting their asses kicked by the Master System and Megadrive amongst others, and last gen the UK was officially renamed Sonyland.

So it shouldn't be a surprise that a console doing worst worldwide than any previous Nintendo console is doing so badly in the UK, whether the games are there or not.
 
The UK mainstream does generally have worst taste in games than anywhere else with published charts. I mean, NFSU2 was at no.1 for five weeks over Christmas, beating even GTA:SA (at no.2). It is really the land of EA. The Incredibles was at no.3, Call of Duty's at no.4 Halo2 was at no.12 and MP2:Echoes wasn't even in the top 40. Electronic Arts had three titles in the top ten ranking - NFSU 2 at No.1, FIFA 2005 at No. 5 and GoldenEye: Rogue Agent at No. 8 - and seven in the top twenty, while no other publisher managed more than one title in the top ten, although Activision did have three in the top twenty.

Seriously, just talking about the UK gaming makes me sad.
 
MrPing1000 said:
The reason is chav's see Nintendo as kiddy + no advertising AT ALL. (for gc or gba) = no sales
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It might seem stupid but I can vouch for that. If you think the Gamecube is seen as kiddy in the US you really have no idea. Here, Gamecube is just an embarressing (sp!) console to own. Nintendo really is teh kiddy. That is one of the reasons NFSUG2 was so popular, it is a cool game. A Chav wouldn't be caught dead mentioning anything related to Nintendo.

I would really like to see the spread of ownership of the Gamecube. I reckon that it will peak at pre teen and 30+ but in between (where a lot of the money is) will have a serious dip for sure.
 
I dont understand how you can blame casuals for thinking GC is kiddy. Its an easy mistake to make. If you dont know much about videogames, you'd autmatically assume its a system for children.

Is it wrong? No, but most of the casuals get turnerd off by childish looking games. Its got nothing to do with them being insecure, its just doesnt meet their criteria of interest.
 
human5892 said:
At those prices, you'd almost be crazy to not own a GC at this point -- there's got to be at least one game on there that you're bound to enjoy.
Click to expand...

When you add the price of one game + console & a memory card you hard a total of £85.
 
GC's big achilles heel has always been that there's no piracy of games. Nothing enders a console to the UK like cheap games for a fiver down the car boot sale.
 
This is true. Combine the lack of piracy with a mainstream gaming culture that views cool over all else (and that doesn't just go for gaming) to the degree that it does, mix in a bit of dislike for Nintendo going back to the beginning of their systems and you've got one hell of a problem selling GCs.
 
Mama Smurf said:
It is true that the UK (and often the rest of Europe too) have always preferred other consoles to Nintendo ones though. Even when Nintendo was the main name for videogames across the rest of the world, Nintendo consoles were quietly getting their asses kicked by the Master System and Megadrive amongst others, and last gen the UK was officially renamed Sonyland.

So it shouldn't be a surprise that a console doing worst worldwide than any previous Nintendo console is doing so badly in the UK, whether the games are there or not.
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The only problem with your theory is that, at one time GC was selling good... better than Xbox. The problem is that Nintendo was not able to adapt to the changing market and lost the mindshare of the consumers.
 
You could probably buy 2 Gamecubes for the price of an Xbox or PS2. The interest just isn't there with the market. The average UK gamer wants graphic first person shooters, realistic racing games and sports games which you can't get elsewhere.

I'd wager that the only people buying Gamecubes are hardcore gamers and people/parents looking for a dirt cheap console for a few laughs. Hence why new releases debut (relatively) high on the chart and then completely flatline in the following two weeks.
 
jedimike said:
The only problem with your theory is that, at one time GC was selling good... better than Xbox. The problem is that Nintendo was not able to adapt to the changing market and lost the mindshare of the consumers.
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That actually kind of ties into my theory. For a start, even in the UK there are rabid Nintendo fans who will buy the system no matter what, unlike for the Xbox, so they could sustain sales for a while. Then there's the fact the Xbox wasn't considered cool for a long time either. I mean, the very idea of something by MS seeming cool just seemed laughable at the start of the generation. But over time they marketed it right, they dropped the price and they started to gain that image.

And all Nintendo systems have sold to some degree, it's only to be expected. Nor does every other system do better than Nintendo's. The DC for example. It's just a lot do.
 
Pug said:
PS2 EVERY LAST PS2 IN THE COUNTRY
Xbox EVERY LAST XBOX IN THE COUNTRY
GC EVERY LAST GC THEY COULD SELL TO PEOPLE WHO WANTED XBOX OR PS2 BUT COULDN'T BECAUSE EVERY LAST ONE IN THE COUNTRY HAD ALREADY BEEN SOLD
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Fixed.

The lack of pimping GC has been getting in the high street stores (I'm looking at you here, GAME) has been disgusting. Don't know whether to blame Nintendo or the GAME XBox Fanboy Coalition, but...

No, who am I kidding? It's Nintendo's fault.
 
Timbuktu said:
The UK mainstream does generally have worst taste in games than anywhere else with published charts. I mean, NFSU2 was at no.1 for five weeks over Christmas, beating even GTA:SA (at no.2). It is really the land of EA. The Incredibles was at no.3, Call of Duty's at no.4 Halo2 was at no.12 and MP2:Echoes wasn't even in the top 40. Electronic Arts had three titles in the top ten ranking - NFSU 2 at No.1, FIFA 2005 at No. 5 and GoldenEye: Rogue Agent at No. 8 - and seven in the top twenty, while no other publisher managed more than one title in the top ten, although Activision did have three in the top twenty.

Seriously, just talking about the UK gaming makes me sad.
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IAWTP... this is so damn true.
 
Timbuktu said:
The UK mainstream does generally have worst taste in games than anywhere else with published charts. I mean, NFSU2 was at no.1 for five weeks over Christmas, beating even GTA:SA (at no.2). It is really the land of EA. The Incredibles was at no.3, Call of Duty's at no.4 Halo2 was at no.12 and MP2:Echoes wasn't even in the top 40. Electronic Arts had three titles in the top ten ranking - NFSU 2 at No.1, FIFA 2005 at No. 5 and GoldenEye: Rogue Agent at No. 8 - and seven in the top twenty, while no other publisher managed more than one title in the top ten, although Activision did have three in the top twenty.

Seriously, just talking about the UK gaming makes me sad.
Click to expand...

I will never understand UK game charts.
 
But arent almost all EA games also on GCN? And Nintendo is paying some of the EA's advertising costs? So it must be the exclusive GCN games that people arent interested. And quality of taste is just a matter of opinion,heh. Its not like Fifa 2005, NFSU2 etc are really crappy games. One could easily prefer them over some GC exclusive games. Especially if you dont see the world through Nintendo colored goggles.
 
Nintendo deserves whatever happens to them in Europe. NOE is possibly the worst company ever existed in the surface of this planet.
 
TheTurtleTitan said:
Oh come now, NOE isn't that bad. The 11-month wait for Mario Golf could've been longer.
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:lol Exactly, it could have been worse and get released -Animal Crossing style- after 2-3 years (I've lost count). Damn they're horrible.
 
Gamecube has been £40 in Argos before, and prices went back up.

I think it's inevitable that it'll disappear from Argos, Index, Dixons (multi purpose electrical stores and high street catalogue stores) and stuff like that in it's last year, but you're an idiot if you think the game centric areas of GAME, HMV, Virgin etc will drop it.

Are they chart track numbers for that week?

It's very rare that you see chart track hardware numbers divulged/leaked, although these are old I guess..
 
radioheadrule83 said:
*Gamecube has been £40 in Argos before*, and prices went back up.

I think it's inevitable that it'll disappear from Argos, Index, Dixons (multi purpose electrical stores and high street catalogue stores) and stuff like that in it's last year, but you're an idiot if you think the game centric areas of GAME, HMV, Virgin etc will drop it.

Are they chart track numbers for that week?

It's very rare that you see chart track hardware numbers divulged/leaked, although these are old I guess..
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Shortly afterwards they dropped the Gamecube...
 
The only problem with your theory is that, at one time GC was selling good... better than Xbox.
Click to expand...


Yeah but that was when the XBOX was way overpriced in Europe at about the equivalent of $450 US. Once MS corrected the price problem the XBOX quickly overtook the GCN in the UK as well as the rest of Europe (Except for a country or 2)
 
What people need to understand is that the Nintendo image has been hit here really badly. Owning a Gc is like saying you are an effiminate cross dressing person :p GBA also doesnt sell that well here in the UK. Crossed with the retail environemnt for the UK, poor advertising, poor promotions, poor fanbase etc. the brand doesnt have any value to anyone. Say GC has 'some' good games. People will not believe you.

Project Midway said:
hawkins-2.gif


"NOE SUCKS!! NOE SUCKS!! Its not about the games, NOE JUST SUCKS!!"

:P
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You are absolutely right. Mario Golf and Animal Crossing were hardly going to save GC. They didnt even sell much when they came out. Nevertheless the GC fans are mostly pretty dumb here. You only need to read the GC mags here to see that.

KeithFranklin said:
Yeah but that was when the XBOX was way overpriced in Europe at about the equivalent of $450 US. Once MS corrected the price problem the XBOX quickly overtook the GCN in the UK as well as the rest of Europe (Except for a country or 2)
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People in this thread have it wrong. Even when Xbox had its first price cut(necessary price cut) GC was outselling Xbox. It wasnt until successive price cuts and bundling that XBox overtook GC. In that time Nintendo didnt react one bit. While Sony did.

MS were always overaggressive where as Nintendo didnt even do anything. At one point Xbox's were being sold with free games below the price of a GC. Right now GC is in a better position compared to last year(sales wise) since its priced below Xbox again. Value wise Xbox still comes out better if you look at bundles. Which is what everyone buys anyway. No one buys a standalone console anymore.

The GC was badly designed and all the usual stuff like lack of cool software also apply. Nintendo's second console tactic really failed in general but in the UK the situation is amplified.
 
Once MS corrected the price problem the XBOX quickly overtook the GCN in the UK
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Remember 2 years ago at Christmas they bundled FOUR free games with the xbox. (halo, splinter cell, jsrf and something else)

After that they kicked Nintendo's ass in the UK. I live in the UK and have had a great time playing Metroid Echoes and Paper Mario recently but the console is more dead here than anywhere else in the world. Those sales are shocking though, last year Mario Kart made a big difference and they had respectable sales.
 
People in this thread have it wrong. Even when Xbox had its first price cut(necessary price cut) GC was outselling Xbox. It wasnt until successive price cuts and bundling that XBox overtook GC. In that time Nintendo didnt react one bit. While Sony did.
Click to expand...

The first Europe bundles didnt happen until October 2002 and prior to that in August 2002 MS lowered the price of the XBOX to aproximatly the same price as the US from the outrageous $450 US price. Almost immediatly the XBOX started outselling the GCN in the UK. In October they released the Holiday Bundles and just accelerated passing the GCN. And in the US the XBOX has outsold the GCN for every month since release except for like 4 months (I believe the 4 months are April 2002, Zelda TWW release month, November and December 2003.).
 
bigNman said:
Remember 2 years ago at Christmas they bundled FOUR free games with the xbox. (halo, splinter cell, jsrf and something else)

After that they kicked Nintendo's ass in the UK. I live in the UK and have had a great time playing Metroid Echoes and Paper Mario recently but the console is more dead here than anywhere else in the world. Those sales are shocking though, last year Mario Kart made a big difference and they had respectable sales.
Click to expand...

The 4 game bundle wasnt by MS. It was started by a distributor.

KeithFranklin said:
The first Europe bundles didnt happen until October 2002 and prior to that in August 2002 MS lowered the price of the XBOX to aproximatly the same price as the US from the outrageous $450 US price. Almost immediatly the XBOX started outselling the GCN in the UK. In October they released the Holiday Bundles and just accelerated passing the GCN. And in the US the XBOX has outsold the GCN for every month since release except for like 4 months (I believe the 4 months are April 2002, Zelda TWW release month, November and December 2003.).
Click to expand...

It wasnt until the second price cut that things started to happen, the first price cut inline with Ps2 had GC still outselling it. The next price cut had GC at £130 and Xbox £160 with better retailer bundles on the XBox side. Then MS added two games afterwards. Later distributors and retailers then added more games on top of that which made a huge difference at christmas. GC simply wasnt good value for money at all at the time as a result of successive price cuts and bundling. Lack of any reaction from Nintendo added to it all.
 
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