Will Gamecube drop to $150?

[BLACKHEART]

I've heard that Gamecube will follow suit with Xbox and PS2 and drop their price as well. Think about it. If PS2 is the same price and has more games and can play DVD's. Why is someone going to get a Gamecube? Well other than Resident Evil and Wrestlemania X8. Think about the common Joe who will see the price.

[JohnCrichton]

Or do like Penny Arcade said.... if they wanna stay in the game and pass up the rest; lower it to 150 and include a Game Boy Advance.

Now that would push Nintendo ahead of the game....

[Joe Tully]

Sounds like the answer is "no."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ims_xbox_price

Nintendo said Tuesday it has no plans to lower the GameCube's price.

That's kinda dumb, IMO. If I was in the market for a new game system, and could choose among 3 systems at the same price, I'd be much more likely to get the one that was also a DVD player. Especially if I didn't already have one.

Maybe they'll change their minds once they think about it for a while.

[JohnCrichton]

Yet another one of the many common sense things Nintendo isn't doing to improve its situation.

Nintendo just might end up becoming third party like Sega did....

[Failure]

Shoot, if I hadn't already bought a GameCube, I'd be mighty tempted to get an X-Box now or maybe a PS2. Obviously, Nintendo has to do something. I'm sure they will, regardless of reports that they won't.

[Borg4of3]

*Disclaimer: I can't believe I'm writing a disclaimer, but what I'm about to say, I say it as if it were fact - and, to me, it is. But, truth be told, most of this is probably more on the lines of speculation and opinion.


The other two consoles might have functionality, but Nintendo still has the big, must-have games in the works. And, as cliche as it may be - Its all about the games. Despite Slipknot's less-than-enthusiastic look at Nintendo's release date, Nintendo will be getting the lion's share in this market.

And, DVD player or no, the GameCube is selling tremendously well. Was it because of the price advantage? The games? Who knows, but I'll tell you this: Every system they put on shelves is sold, whether its $200 or not - so they'll keep it at the highest price because people will still buy it for Smash Brothers, Super Mario Sunshine, Resident Evil, Wrestlemania, Eternal Darkness, Zelda, Star Fox, Metroid, etc. etc., so on and so forth.

Lets do the simplified math: If they put 1000 $200 systems onto shelves on one day, they'll sell those 1000, and the retailers and Nintendo will make $200,000. If they put 1000 $150 systems onto shelves on one day, they'll sell those 1000 and retailers and Nintendo will make only $150,000. And Nintendo will sell those 1000 systems.

Unlike the other systems, Nintendo doesn't have to lower the price of its main console and look to software sales for its profits, because the GCN has only just been released and is still continuing to sell well, and so is the software.

The Nintendo Difference isn't the price - its the focus on games, the quality of those games, and the ease of playing those games. Less loadtimes, connectivity with the GBA, and all the major developers finally looking Nintendo's way - from Capcom and Sega, to Namco and Square. Add to that the future of online possibilities, and the promise of innovation and more games - for the most part Nintendo is releasing over 4 games with their main franchises in a single year, no delays announced... yet... Nintendo doesn't have reason to lower its price - as bad as that might seem to people who don't have a great cash flow, its the business truth. And I personally don't care because I'm getting those games, I already have a GameCube, and I already have a DVD player.

Originally posted by JohnCrichton
Yet another one of the many common sense things Nintendo isn't doing to improve its situation.

Nintendo just might end up becoming third party like Sega did....

Yes, Nintendo has made mistakes in the past... Big, horrible, unforgiving mistakes. But not lowering their price won't be one of them. The only thing Nintendo could possibly do to warrrant your second sentence would be releasing some failed add-on or something that really wastes consumer money (and they cancelled their 64DD for the N64 and half of the games that were going to be released with it - just so we and they didn't have to go through that). Sega's 32X and Sega CD, at worst, insulted a lot of people, lost loyalty in Sega (loyalty being the main thing that kept the N64 alive), and brought hostility to lots of retailers. So, basically, they had no one to sell to. And releasing the Dreamcast and Saturn (which are both great systems) so early didn't help them either. Not lowering the price, if you even count it as a mistake, is not that bad.

[BLACKHEART]

If all 3 systems stay at 200 bucks I bet you at Christmas time Nintendo comes in 3rd.

Assuming Xbox still puts out quality games and doesn't go out of buinsess by then...

Parents and grandparents will be out shopping for gifts for the Holiday Season. They won't be getting Nintendo because slick salesmen will sell them PS2 or Xbox. They have more features. They have more games.

Do you know how many people got PS2 because PS1 games work with it? Nintendo doesn't have the cross over appeal. Trying put a 64 game into the Gamecube. It's not going to happen.

How many people have bought the PS2 to have a DVD player? That has a lot of appeal. A lot of people want a DVD player and they like to play games so why go Nintendo? Personally I hate the PS2 dvd player. Maybe it would be better with a remote. I don't know and don't plan on finding out.

[kiddiesunshine]

there is a remote for the ps2.

[Clayface]

And the remote works great. I've got the PS2, and I think I probably use it more as a DVD player than I do as a game console!

I think Nintendo is indeed going to have to lower their price if they expect to stay in the running in the console wars. As Slipknot said, the additional features and larger library (specifically of the PS2) is gonna make for better sales for PS2 than the GC. Most of the older gamers (like myself) are going to go for the PS2 or Xbox over GC just for those reasons. And I can't tell you how many parents I saw walk into game stores over the holidays and decide which console to get thier kids based strictly on what the salesman told them. And of course, the salesmen point out the added features and larger library of the PS2.

Frankly, I agree that the games are really what make the system. But its all rather subjective as to who has the "better" games. To say that that alone is going to save the GC isn't the best of arguments.

However, I don't thinkNIntendo is stupid either - I think they know very well that they're going to have to lower the price of the GC. The big question is, when and by how much?

[Borg4of3]

Originally posted by Clayface

Frankly, I agree that the games are really what make the system. But its all rather subjective as to who has the "better" games. To say that that alone is going to save the GC isn't the best of arguments.

Originally posted by Borg4of3

The Nintendo Difference isn't the price - its the focus on games, the quality of those games, and the ease of playing those games. Less loadtimes, connectivity with the GBA, and all the major developers finally looking Nintendo's way - from Capcom and Sega, to Namco and Square. Add to that the future of online possibilities, and the promise of innovation and more games - for the most part Nintendo is releasing over 4 games with their main franchises in a single year, no delays announced... yet... Nintendo doesn't have reason to lower its price - as bad as that might seem to people who don't have a great cash flow, its the business truth. And I personally don't care because I'm getting those games, I already have a GameCube, and I already have a DVD player.

And as for salesmen, that's subjective in their regard as well. Some of them are XBox fanboys, some are PS2 fanboys, some are GCN fanboys, and will laud their personal console to the fullest. And, of course, every console has its strengths and weaknesses, which the salesmen should point out. But just as they should point out the DVD features, they should also point out the gaming features. They should also point out the flaws - like, say, if you already have a DVD player, you'll be spending more money for something you don't need. Speaking objectively, price is, indeed, a selling point, but Nintendo has its own share of weaponry in this war. And, yes, all of it is based off the games, and, yes, that's where the focus should be.



EDIT: Thinking back on it, the focus doesn't have to be on games, since, as you said, people do put the DVD feature as a high-priority selling point. That said, I think Nintendo is right in concentrating on the games, to continue to individualize themselves in the market, since its low price definately isn't anymore.


EDIT: One more point worthy of emphasis: If you still count the lack of a price drop as a business error, then - fine. But one error does not make for the death of a system. I mean, PS2 has only 2 controller slots, but does that mean its going to be in 3rd place? I'm not going to start nitpicking at every console's flaws, but to say that Nintendo will be in 3rd place, or, worse even, a 3rd party because of this are unfounded and exaggerated.

[The Dark Knight]

Originally posted by Borg4of3
The other two consoles might have functionality, but Nintendo still has the big, must-have games in the works. And, as cliche as it may be - Its all about the games. Despite Slipknot's less-than-enthusiastic look at Nintendo's release date, Nintendo will be getting the lion's share in this market.

Nintendo does have big, must-have games in the works, but it hardly has all of them. Sony has already released an impressive amount of big, must-have games, not even counting the ones from PSOne. If games make a system then PS2 is winning by my count.

Unlike the other systems, Nintendo doesn't have to lower the price of its main console and look to software sales for its profits, because the GCN has only just been released and is still continuing to sell well, and so is the software.

All companies look to software sales for a profit, even Nintendo. They make more money on games than they ever will on hardware.

The Nintendo Difference isn't the price - its the focus on games, the quality of those games, and the ease of playing those games. Less loadtimes, connectivity with the GBA, and all the major developers finally looking Nintendo's way - from Capcom and Sega, to Namco and Square. Add to that the future of online possibilities, and the promise of innovation and more games - for the most part Nintendo is releasing over 4 games with their main franchises in a single year, no delays announced... yet... Nintendo doesn't have reason to lower its price - as bad as that might seem to people who don't have a great cash flow, its the business truth. And I personally don't care because I'm getting those games, I already have a GameCube, and I already have a DVD player.

This isn't a "Nintendo difference". All systems have, or will have, quality games, and it's in the focus of every company to make sure more quality games get on their respective system. And online games are hardly Nintendo's top priority. It's adopting a strategy similar to Sony's, but the difference is that Sony is actively attempting to get many online games on its system. It seems like Nintendo could barely care less. This would probably explain why games like Resident Evil Online are on PS2.

By the way, the PS2 and X-Box aren't simply glorified DVD players, so stop acting like that's their major selling point. Besides, since they cost the same as GC you're not "spending more money for something you don't need", but you are getting something extra for the same price.

[Ricochet_The_Sweet14]

i really hope they drop the price!

[Pilmedium]

Gamecube's price isn't dropping? Nintendo plans to only sell to die-hard fans, which sounds like trouble for them.

[grim15]

i still wouldnt buy a crap-box even if it was reduced to $200

[Borg4of3]

Originally posted by The Dark Knight

By the way, the PS2 and X-Box aren't simply glorified DVD players, so stop acting like that's their major selling point. Besides, since they cost the same as GC you're not "spending more money for something you don't need", but you are getting something extra for the same price.

True - sorry if thats what I implied, and I don't believe that (and that last viewpoint was very unfounded on my part). Maybe I still am a bit of a 'fanboy' too much

But I still say that I think Nintendo is simply maximizing their profits at the moment, so they don't have to lower their price. And that this hardly will cause their untimely destruction.

[The Mad Hatter]

Will Nintendo drop the price of the Gamecube? Yes. The problem is, we don't know when that'll be.

Honestly, I think Nintendo should cut the price to $150. The machine is actually sold at a profit at the $200 price point since the little lunch box is so ludicrously well designed, so they can certainly afford it. And, in all honestly, I think that DVD capability is still a big selling point. As said above, too many people simply look at the features of a game system in making their choice, rather than which library of games would appeal to them most. Keeping the price at $200 won't be the death of the Cube--there are too many rabid Nintendo fans for that--but lowering it to $150 would keep them darned competative.

And don't take "we have no plans" as the final word that the big N won't take a price cut. As a journalist, I talk to big companies all the time whose spokesmen say they "don't have plans" for something, yet in the near future they do it. Part of that is that the companies want to defuse discussion on a subject so they can announce it on their own terms. And part of that is that sometimes PR departments aren't kept in the loop. Remember that Sega's PR department kept saying that "we won't kill the Dreamcast" as late as 24 hours before the announcement came that the Dreamcast would be euthanized. So who knows, we might see a price drop at E3 yet. My bet is that the drop will come sooner than later.

[cjshoup]

Why stop at $150?

They should drop the price to $99.

*(even if they did, I wouldn't buy one. I wouldn't want one if they gave it away.)

[The Dark Knight]

Originally posted by Borg4of3
Maybe I still am a bit of a 'fanboy' too much

It's O.K.; we're all a little bit of a fanboy every now and then.

Nintendo won't lose the system wars just because they chose not to lower the price of the GC. When the GC and X-Box launched, several people, including me, thought the smart thing for Sony to do was to cut the price of the PS2 to $199, but they kept it at $299 and have sold a substantial number of systems since then. If you hate Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo then you're pretty much stuck, because in a few years they'll all still be around.

[ccffan01]

How much will ps2 drop by?

[The Dark Knight]

Originally posted by ccffan01
How much will ps2 drop by?

The price of the PS2 is being cut by $100, from $299 to $199.