Nintendo Resumes Production Of GameCube

Thanks to Gamesindustry.biz for their article revealing that GameCube consoles are rolling off the production lines in Japan once again, as revitalized demand for the system "finally outstrips the backlog of units which had built up at Nintendo's warehouses", following the suspension of GameCube manufacturing earlier this year. The article points out that "Recent price-drops combined with the roll-out of key software titles [including the Zelda bundle] for the machine in all three major markets have given the Cube new life in the run up to Christmas", as Nintendo VP George Harrison "...told the Wall Street Journal that he expects to sell two million Cubes in the US market this Christmas."

Not surprised.

[nemui-chan]

I'm not surprised. For $100 I'd consider buying one just for the hell of it. There's nothing that I really want on it (until Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles comes out), but for that price, if I spend a few hours playing it EVER, then I've gotten my moneys worth.

Re:Not surprised.

[scot4875]

There's nothing that I really want on it

Then you're either not looking or too picky. There are plenty of top-notch titles in just about every genre available for the system. Far more than 'just' Mario and Zelda.

Two suggestions I'll throw out are Eternal Darkness and Viewtiful Joe. Fantastic, unique games that you won't find on any other system. There are many more if you look.

--Jeremy

Re:mmmh

[Anonymous Coward]

1. Nintendo never claimed that they were ceasing production indefinitely, or that they were stopping games production or development. If you were confused about this, I can hardly imagine how many others were as well. That kind of confusion is hardly the kind of thing that Nintendo would want to risk.

2. The last thing Nintendo (or Sony, or M$) wants is for people to ignore the current generation in anticipation of the next. That simply leads to lost revenue for both the console manufacturers and the game publishers they are supporting.

3. The price drop was designed to clear inventory, but it was an easy step to make. The fast and loose rumor on the net is that the Cube costs $20 to manufacture. I don't support that low number, but I have no reason to doubt that Nintendo is still profiting from Cube sales at the $99 price point, either. The raw materials at face value are less expensive than for either the PS2 or the Xbox, and prices at the component level must be comparable. But the lack of DVD Consortium licensing fees must help here, same way it helps Microsoft (DVD software is in DVD pack, can't play DVDs without it).

4. Nintendo's statistics gamesmanship is no different than anyone else's. Trumpet your wins and ignore your losses. Sega did the same thing in the Dreamcast days, and we lost them for good. Not enough people fought the good fight and supported them (DC games are awesome). But Nintendo was smart in its timing. Starting the holiday season with good news is brilliant, because shoppers who do any kind of research at all see this and take it into consideration. Microsoft is currently trying to play this game by bragging about how 83,652 gamers played on Xbox Live this past weekend. Well, that's chump change when the installed base of console owners are in the XX millions, but I digress. The point is, everybody dresses up for the media.

5. Bingo. I was responding to your points on a point-by-point basis, so I didn't know you had come to this conclusion when I typed what I typed above. Eh, I'll leave the paragraph alone.

Re:Not surprised.

[Alizarin Erythrosin]

You could always do what I did... I bought an N64 and a 'Cube for the same reason... Super Smash Bros (Melee in the case of the Cube).

It's an awesome party game to play with friends, much like Mario Party 4 (which I have played but haven't purchased yet). And with the impending release of Mario Kart Double Dash (or whatever it's called) I'm glad I bought one when the price hit $99.