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GameCube (Games) XBox (Games) Entertainment Games

Xbox And Gamecube's New Hardware Bundles? 59

Posted by simoniker from the shiny-happy-pack-ins dept.
Thanks to the Gaming-Age forum regulars for pointing to info on the EB Games site showing Microsoft's Xbox hardware bundle for Christmas, consisting of the online-friendly Star Wars: Clone Wars, Tetris Worlds, and 2 free months of Xbox Live, priced at $179. Meanwhile, GameInformer.com has a rumor (via unconfirmed sources) of a Zelda-related GameCube hardware bundle this Xmas, including "...a bonus disc that will include the following Zelda games and goodies: Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Zelda Documentary." While this GameCube bundle is still a rumor, new Player's Choice budget titles from Nintendo have been officially confirmed, including (from September 25th) Metroid Prime, Animal Crossing, and Super Mario Sunshine for $29.99, and Star Fox Adventures, Pikmin, and Luigi's Mansion for $19.99.
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Xbox And Gamecube's New Hardware Bundles? More

Xbox And Gamecube's New Hardware Bundles?

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  • New Zelda Stuff? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by the_riaa ( 669835 )
    I certainly hope that if this is true, that Nintendo would have the sense to also release this Zelda-packed bonus disc for sale commercially for all their loyal customers who already have made the jump and purchased a Gamecube. I applaud them for adding more titles to the Player's Choice lineup (looking forward to Star Fox Adventures for $19.99 finally), but if they screw all the current Gamecube owners over by making this Zelda anthology a holiday bundle exclusive, then I for one will not be happy. Besides
    • I would imagine that, if their OoT/Master Quest disc is any indication, that this new disc will be included as a pre-sale offer with one of the new Zelda games (Tetra's Pirates or the GCN version of Four Swords) and/or will be thrown in with a Nintendo Power subscription package.

  • Heh (Score:2, Funny)

    by acxr is wasted ( 653126 ) *
    I just beat Zelda II for the first time earlier this summer. That's, like, 13 years!

    Hardest game ever!

  • Desperation (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Drakon ( 414580 ) * on Wednesday September 10, 2003 @01:42AM (#6918640) Journal
    Have either of the other consoles gotten close to what the PS2 is still selling at? I look at this as an act of desperation to be profitable before 2004 numbers roll in.
    See what Gord had to say [actsofgord.com] when the GC was released (link on the page for Xbox stuff)
    I honestly don't see Sony losing it's grip on this market. Especially since the PS3 is promised to play PS2/PSX games.

    • Re:Desperation (Score:5, Informative)

      by edwdig ( 47888 ) on Wednesday September 10, 2003 @02:06AM (#6918763)
      Ignore Gord. A large part of his reasoning that the GameCube will bomb is because he claims Nintendo intentionally designed the system to be less powerful than the PlayStation 2. If you spend 5 minutes playing a GameCube exclusive game, you'll release the GameCube is significantly more powerful.

      He was constantly misinterpreting Nintendo's statements. The above issue came from "Rather than try to go for the best possible performance, we tried to make an easy to develop system with above standard power." Translation - better than PS2 technology, but not going crazy to outdo Microsoft.

      He also compared Nintendo's polygon count, which they stated was a very conservative minimum to be attainable with a full game engine running to Sony's numbers for the theoretical maximum the system could do.
  • A Majora's mask port for the cube? Sign me up!

    I would pay to get that game considering how much better OOT looked in progressive scan on the cube. The other two zeldas (1 and 2) is a nice bonus too. Why on earth nintendo doesn't sell them seperately i will never know.

  • Zelda Bundle Probably Real (Score:5, Informative)

    by edwdig ( 47888 ) on Wednesday September 10, 2003 @02:25AM (#6918850)
    Over the summer, I did a marketing research survery about video games for Nintendo. Although the woman running it wasn't allowed to say who the survery was for, when we asked, she did say "It's probably for who you think it's for."

    Most of the survey was spent establishing perceptions of the 3 major consoles. Another major part was breaking into groups, and deciding what each of the 3 companies would need to do to win the next round.

    The last part is where it became obvious the survey was for Nintendo. We had all mentioned how we all liked old Nintendo games, and that was one of the biggest things Nintendo had going for them (the group was all people in their early 20's). The woman asked if bundling a "Nostalagia Pack" which contained several old games would make us more likely to buy the system. Everyone agreed it would.

    Finally, we were asked why Metroid Prime didn't sell big, and then why Zelda didn't sell big.

    Took about an hour and a half, and I got $50 out of it. It's the second time I did one of these surveys for Nintendo. The first time was when the SNES was fairly new, and Nintendo Power was about to start their merchandice catalog. The survey was about how we liked different merchandice, and we got a free game for doing it.
    • So why didn't Metroid Prime or Zelda sell big (although in my mind Zelda sold just fine)? I'd be really curious of the answers, or any of the other info gleaned from the survey. That is, if you can/want to share.
      • It's been a while, so I don't remember details too well.

        I think the consensus on Metroid was that most people don't know about Metroid, due to the last one being during the SNES days. I don't remember anyone saying anything bad about the game.

        For Wind Waker, I think the graphics turned people off initially. But if you did get people to play the game, they usually changed their mind about it. The game being too easy came up too. I know one guy who only owned an Xbox was under the impression that most GameC
  • " new Player's Choice budget titles from Nintendo have been officially confirmed, including (from September 25th) Metroid Prime, Animal Crossing, and Super Mario Sunshine for $29.99"

    Two months ago I bought Metroid Prime, new, for $19.99 at Blockbuster. It was still selling for $50 elsewhere. Anybody else seen that at other Blockbusters? (I still can't figure out why I got that so cheap.)

    • Re:That's kinda interesting.. (Score:4, Informative)

      by PainKilleR-CE ( 597083 ) on Wednesday September 10, 2003 @07:27AM (#6919653)
      Anybody else seen that at other Blockbusters? (I still can't figure out why I got that so cheap.)

      I got the same thing. The lady behind the counter that sold it to me said they had a fairly large number of copies of the game and they weren't selling very well (probably because of the bundle deals). I picked up the $20 Metroid Prime and then got Zelda Wind Waker with my GameCube when I found out the GameBoy Player bundle didn't include a game.

      To the anon response:
      No, they weren't previously rented games or anything like that, they were definitely new. I'm also pretty sure they're still selling them for $20.
  • "Thanks to the Gaming-Age forum regulars for pointing to info on the EB Games site showing Microsoft's Xbox hardware bundle for Christmas, consisting of the online-friendly Star Wars: Clone Wars, Tetris Worlds, and 2 free months of Xbox Live, priced at $179."

    OK, the free Xbox Live starter kit is fine.

    But Star Wars: The Clone Wars? Tetris Worlds? Even the non-live Jet Set Radio Future/GT 2002 bundle had more fun than this, and there was only one decent game on the damn thing (JSRF).

    I hope they still

  • Milking Halo for all it's worth....still (Score:4, Interesting)

    by unclethursday ( 664807 ) on Wednesday September 10, 2003 @02:39AM (#6918900)
    Notice that the bundle for the Xbox has Tetris Worlds (MSRP $20, also included in new Xbox Live kits), and Star Wars: Clone Wars (Not sure of the MSRP on that title).

    So far, North America is the biggest territory in which Halo hasn't been bundled, ever.

    Halo has been bundled, and still is bundled AFAIK, in Australia since shortly after the Xbox launch in that territory, and the Xbox sees healthy sales in Australia.

    Last Chrstmas there was a bundle option in Europe that included not only the Sega GT 2002/JSRF disk, but also Splinter Cell (which had just been released) and Halo. This boosted sales in Europe as well.

    Yet, even though it is the best selling Xbox game ever, Halo isn't bundled in North America (which would increase sales of the Xbox, even now), nor is Halo part of the 'Platinum Hits' titles.

    Still, I suppose when you only have one consitently selling title on your console, you don't lower the price on it; but Microsoft could see more sales by putting Halo in the 'Platinum Hits' line, or by bundling it with the console.

    2 years at $50 is a bit much. But, I suppose by keeping it at $50, it does lower the operational losses on the Xbox division (it does sell pretty consitently, still). Now, if people would only wake up and see that while Halo is a great game, it isn't worth $50 anymore....

    Thursdae

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • You should remember that Canada is also part of North America, and we've had the Halo/Amped/Xbox bundle since February.

        Keep your flapping heads out of this. Nobody really know what Canada is aboot anyway, ya hoser. ;-p

        IIRC, FFX still hasn't seen it's price lowered either, or not much.

        FFX retailed for $50 when it first came out, it is now a Greatest Hits title retailing for $20. That's a $30 price lowering, which is signifigant. Thursdae

      • Base packages are 249.99$ CDN in all major centres, and FFX is a Greatest Hits game (29.99$ MSRP) as of early August...
    • "So far, North America is the biggest territory in which Halo hasn't been bundled, ever."

      Do you know what an Xbox Adrenaline pack is? It's a bundle of 1 Xbox system, 1 Controller S, 1 copy of Amped, and 1 copy of Halo for an MSRP of 279.99 Canadian.

      You're either ignorant that Canada has Adrenaline packs, or you willfully don't include Canada in your view North America (27 million people can be wrong! ;)). Either way, you should do research on what you post on Slashdot before posting it.

      You're not ignor

      • Re:Well, hello down there! (Score:4, Funny)

        by unclethursday ( 664807 ) on Wednesday September 10, 2003 @06:01AM (#6919442)
        Either way, you should do research on what you post on Slashdot before posting it.

        Blasphemy if I ever heard it.

        That's like RTFA before posting, it's simply not done on /.

        Thursdae

      • With the constant perception that the GameCube is a system only for younger people, Microsoft has to keep Halo expensive in the US so they can keep their older demographic happy.

        Sorry, but either you had a brain fart or I'm just not parsing this correctly. Are you saying that M$ has to keep Halo expensive (for whatever reason)?

        Trust me, lowering the price of Halo may not be a finacially sound/neccessary move (if it's selling well, don't mess with the pricing), but it would sure be the thing to do to ma

        • "Are you saying that M$ has to keep Halo expensive (for whatever reason)?"

          Until Microsoft can come up with some more first-party titles that fail to suck, they need to keep the one they do have expensive.

          Nintendo has lots of great first-party titles: Smash Bros, Mario Party series, Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, etc, etc, etc. I can name at least 10 titles that have come and gone on the 'Cube. What awesome MS titles have you soon on the Xbox?

          Halo? Yea, and maybe Mech Assault too.. Fuzion Frenzy? Bli
          • OK, this argument I can buy, but I guess I had (mis-)understood your previous post to be saying that they had to keep it expensive to keep a certain demographic (i.e. customers) happy... must have been a brain-fart on my end (unless that's exactly what you meant, in which case we should just forget it because then I'm totally lost). :)
  • Borrowed that game and never did beat it...

    Darn. Well I heard its on GBA... but i'm not really interested in handheld systems (my vision is really poor and I use a giant TV).
    • It's all about the GB Player.

      Other than that, it remains to be seen whether the GameCube version of Four Swords will have it or not (since Four Swords was part of the GBA Link to the Past title).

      I already found the OoT disc used and picked that up (I wasn't fortunate enough to get in on the pre-order deal). I hope that if this is true, there'll be some other way to get the extra Zelda titles without buying another console.
  • Think about it: for a minimum of time and money spent porting the games, Nintendo has a cheaply-made freebie that they won't lose money from and that will drive the fans crazy. It's perfect for everyone.
  • GameInformer.com has a rumor (via unconfirmed sources)

    Considering that Game Informer is owned by Gamestop [gamestop.com].
  • What a stinker. Anybody else played this game? It blows my mind how you can go from such a good, simple puzzle game, and muck it up so horribly. Tetrisphere on the N64 wasn't great either, but at least it was somewhat fun. Why can't a remake of The New Tetris (N64) be remade? Now
    • that

    was a fun multiplayer Tetris game.

    Tetris Worlds? Sorry American Xbox fans - that's such a weak pack-in. I imagine the 2 free months of XBL will bring more people in than either one of these crap titles. As much as some peop

    • I play it on Live all the time and it's a lot of fun. There is this thing called preference that people have. The Adrenaline Pack works out to about $200US which is a damn good del last time I checked.
  • I guess I'll be buying Luigi's Mansion, Pikmin and SF Adventures after all. I wonder if that "Legend of Zelda" will be the updated version that was released only in Japan for the Super Famicom
  • I hope that Zelda series collection disc becomes a trend over at Nintendo. A Mario series disc would be another logical choice, and so perhaps F-Zero and Star Fox discs.

    One question: Shouldn't the Zelda disc also include A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, and Oracle of Seasons/Ages?

    Nintendo has the distinction of being the only company from which I have bought games without owning the systems. I later get the systems, but if I see something like Metroid Prime or Pikmin for under $20, I'm not about to
    • One question: Shouldn't the Zelda disc also include A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, and Oracle of Seasons/Ages?

      A Link to the Past just got released for GBA, so that's why that isn't included. The Oracle games are still available, although in limited supply. I don't know why Link's Awakening wasn't included.

      Actually, scratch that reasoning. There's a much simplier reason.

      Animal Crossing included a pretty good NES emulator - capable of emulating Zelda 1, and probably Zelda 2.

      Ocarina of Time on the
      • I can understand the NES emulator for the old games. It's easy that way and the games are old and simple by modern processing samples.

        N64 emulator? Thats rough since the 64 was a 64 bit system and the cube is 32. A reliable 64 emulator is hard to come up with and I doubt Nintendo integrated it. Are you sure they didn't just run the Ocarina of time through the Cube compiler, maybe even a code converter then compiler? Granted they're both Nintendo systems but the 64 is just to much of a pain in the ass
        • I originally thought that Zelda was simply recompiled, but now I don't think so.

          There are N64 roms of Ocarina of Time: Master Quest floating around. The rumor is that the ROM was ripped off the Bonus Disc that came with Wind Waker.

          I think the easy way to test it would be to download the ROM and try it in an emulator. The action buttons at the top of the screen are colored to match the colors of the corresponding controller buttons. The bonus disc version had the colors changed to match the GameCube button
        • I think that in ALL respects, the GC is more powerful than the N64.

          The N64 was likely not truly 64-bit. Using funky techniques to decide the number of bits a system has is old hat in the console industry.

          I believe one system (Atari Jaguar???) was marketed as a "128-bit" system, when in the PC world it would have been considered a 16-bit or 32-bit system.

          In the PC world, the usual rule is the size of the GP registers. Anyone who makes "larger" claims is usually accused of false advartising.

          AMD could ea
          • I agree, the Cube is more powerfully than the 64 in all respects. The N64 IS a true 64 bit console. [binghamton.edu] This isn't saying that it's more powerfull than the 32 bit cube, it just means that it has to break it into chunks and reassemble, very messy. CPU emulators exsist in the PC world, they're usually used for pre-release developmental reasons (as AMD released well ahead of their first 64 bit CPUs) and for running some task that an older CPU can't handle. Since these things exsist don't expect them to be smoo
    • I hope that Zelda series collection disc becomes a trend over at Nintendo. A Mario series disc would be another logical choice, and so perhaps F-Zero and Star Fox discs.

      I've been hoping the next Smash Brothers title includes the original games each of it's characters came from as unlockable bonuses. It'd make sense, I think. Though translating some of the games previously only released in Japan might not be a good use of resources.
  • If nintendo dropped the price to $99 and threw in Pikmin or some other $20 game, granted they'd lose a bit more as a lost leader, but damn, I think they'd sell a buttload more systems. There are still a lot of households out there where $50($54 w/tax) makes a lot of difference.
    • I think they'd actually do better if they raised the price (okay, maybe not now, but if they'd priced it higher at launch). The fact that the Gamecube is the cheapest of the three consoles implies that it's the least powerful and valuable of them, which is very far from the truth.
  • I have to question the legitimacy of this Zelda rumor, as the supposed bundle is missing "A Link to the Past" from the SNES. Ocarina of Time borrowed much from this game, and any compilation of classic Zelda titles would have to include it. Such evolution took place between the second and third games, and subsequently from the third to "Ocarina," that gamers would be missing a critical "link" in the chain. (har, har)

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