Gamecube Making A Comeback?

[baad bwoy]

This post is just my own speculative mind working, but I am amazed at how Gamecube is being pushed at the moment, Mariokart ads all over the tv, its as if the Sony ad people have taken over the marketing of the gamecube, I dont want to be too disrespectful to the big N but they have had their heads up their backsides reguarding the marketing, of what should be perceived as their flagship product, but everything seems to have changed, they seem to have awoken from their slumber.
And I wonder if they may be making a comeback in the west, (I realise they have retained a good measure of popularity and market share in Japan) With the Ps2 market fairly saturated, are Nintendo capable of taking advantage of this with a sustained push. Gamecubes are flying off the shelves of stores like hotcakes, can they keep this up? I wonder.

[Ginza]

Can they keep this up? I doubt it but i would love them to prove me wrong.

[2097]

I like to hope that this new stance will last but i highly doubt it. Its just like launch when there was a massive sales drive, the console exceeded all expectations and flew off the shelves, then NOE just stopped and the console completely lost momentum.

[angel_fear]

I agree, NOE made a few mistakes marketing the 'cube', but it is nice seeing it again like in the beginning.

[Tokyo Trash Baby]

FEAR THE BIG N

Read this news article to comfirm what you are saying.

http://nintendo.gamerfeed.com/gf/news/4733/

[Prine]

In US? Hell yeah, Nintendo will finish christmas as #2 doubt much can save GC in EU, with some retailers unwilling to stock cube.

I was talking to a Nintendo rep on friday (the joys of Xbox Live ), he told me GC is outselling Xbox by 180 percent each week since price cut (according to voicemails from NPD), so im pretty confident Nintendo have Xmas rapped up in the states, which is way more important than EU

[tamago]

3rd Party sales on the Cube though can have such a hard time taking off (The exceptions have been some titles from Square, Capcom and Namco).

Mario Kart will die away, as did Zelda and Mario Sunshine, and the Cube can't succeed through 1st/2nd Party titles alone.

Don't get me wrong, the Cube is my favourite console, but the system needs more 3rd Party success, rather than Nintendo ranking out reliable sequels.

[baad bwoy]

If only Nintendo can supply quality games on a fairly regular basis in Europe I can see them catching up, if they show some respect to this market Im sure it will pay off for them, as they do produce the best games, which deliver the most fun to the gamesplayer, imo. If they decide to neglect this market, they only have themselves to blame if no-one wants to buy their product.

[Concept]

It seems from my little end of the world that Nintendo's recent strategy could be paying off (at least in the short term). All the gaming shops I've popped into mid-afternoon over the past few days have generally been filled with a flurry of activity around the Gamecube sections. It wasn't like this a few months ago, when stepping anywhere near the console in a shop seemed indicitive of trying to avoid a lethal virus for most people. At that time, I was getting flashes of the DC nightmare all over again.

For now though it's thankfully a different story.

This could, however, also be attributed to the fact the likes of P.N.03, Viewtiful Joe, F-Zero GX and Mario Kart: Double Dash have just been released in PAL land for the GC.

[baad bwoy]

It seems from my little end of the world that Nintendo's recent strategy could be paying off (at least in the short term). All the gaming shops I've popped into mid-afternoon over the past few days have generally been filled with a flurry of activity around the Gamecube sections. It wasn't like this a few months ago, when stepping anywhere near the console in a shop seemed indicitive of trying to avoid a lethal virus for most people. At that time, I was getting flashes of the DC nightmare all over again.

For now though it's thankfully a different story.

This could, however, also be attributed to the fact the likes of P.N.03, Viewtiful Joe, F-Zero GX and Mario Kart: Double Dash have just been released in PAL land for the GC.

Perhaps they might learn to keep the releases flowing in this territory, I'm sure the fact that when a gaming drought hits this country the Gamecube is generally the worst affected of the game systems, is why they are in such a mess in the first place.
Anyway heres hoping they have learned from their mistakes

[Gr0ver]

I think the timing of the release of Double Dash in the UK is pretty inspired.

It seems that what the estranged Playstation generation were looking for all along was a Saturday-morning-cartoon, soap-box-derby racer to fill the void of slippy pills and Wipeout.

Viva nostalgia!

[AllYourBase]

The most amazing thing Nintendo have managed is releasing Mario Kart DD more or less on a worldwide release. (showing us that it is possible if they pull their finger out!) The price of the bundle is just right too. I can't speak for the US market but if NOE kept this up I think it'd improve PAL sales - for once I am a loser for going NTSC (I am sure NOE will revert to their old tardiness right after this one-off thou going by history!)

C'mon Ninty, we are impressed! Keep wooing us. How about a Donkey Konga Q1-04 release? bring it on!!

[2097]

also didnt they say the new paper mario would be PAL only??

[md_SATURN_dc]

The software charts in the US don't show the GCs boost since the price-cut. Or people are just not buying games with their systems.

In September, after the price-cut:
The GC has three spots in the top-20
The Xbox has eight in the top-20

[Valiant]

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is just around the corner as well. Another big game with wide appeal.