salamander2

I figured since many are jumping on the xbox deal, think gamecube, which is selling slightly less than xbox I hear, might do something to bring in the sales?

Aghama

Um, like the Mario Sunshine bundle perhaps?

zig

Yeah, they announced a bundle which went for sale last week with the indigo GC w/ controller, Mario, and a Memory Card 59 for $190 a couple months before the xbox bundle was even a rumor.

Gizmo

Oy!

Gallant Pig

I think that mario sunshine bundle is very weak.

Flay

It's the pricing structure that's weak.

Nintendo adds Mario with memory card and jacks up the price 40 bucks to $190. If you bought them seperately, Gamecube for $150, Memory card 59 for $10, and Mario for $50 bringing the total to $210. You are only saving $20.

Microsoft gives you Sega GT and JSRF for $199, the same price as the original package. Sega GT would cost you $50 and JSRF would be $40. You are saving $90.

If Nintendo really wanted to be competitive, they would have kept the price the same.

zig

Yeah, but when you look at it from the outside, GC+mario for 10 bucks less than xbox+2 relative unknowns.. it's hard to say who has the advantage. Then again, sales have shown that mario doesn't quite have the selling power he used to, so they probably should've kept it at 150.

Liver&Onions

Compated to the Xbox bundle, yes it is very weak.

Aghama

Nintendo should have thrown in the 251 for that price; it's not like it costs them much (if anything) more to manufacture.

evenflow

The Nintendo bundle at $190 isn't very tempting. The X Box bundle is $200 and you get 2 games. Nintendo should reprice the bundle to $150.

Aghama

The difference between the bundles is that the GC comes with a first tier title, and the Xbox with two second tiers. Nintendo is banking on the game selling the system, while Microsoft is banking on the value. It should be an interesting contest.

Gizmo

I picked up the Xbox bundle, and will only be playing Sega GT. Jet Radio shows no intrest for me.

Liver&Onions

I'm really intrigued by JSRF, never got to play either of the titles, but always have wanted to. As for GT2002, Could take it or leave it. I'm really waiting for Fable to come out....

Gallant Pig

The thing about the 59 card is they give it away like candy nowadays. Animal Crossing came with it free and it didn't effect the price of it. In Japan, they added it to RE and probably other games with no increase in price.

Gallant Pig

Have you played Jet Radio yet?

Gallant Pig

And considering you don't need a memory card for an Xbox, you can factor even more value in. It comes down to getting 10 bucks off of Mario.

darkside

The Xbox bundle is a better value, but Nintendo is banking on the power of Mario to sell systems and I really can't blame them. You can't give away a game like Mario Sunshine, but JSRF and Sega GT on the otherhand are poor sellers and this is probably the best way to use them.

If I didn't already have both consoles I would be very tempted by both bundles. I can live without JSRF which I played and didn't like, but Sega GT is a pretty good game and I will get it at some point.

V-ism

I think I saw Mario on sale somewhere for 39.99.

Josh H

Exactly.
I agree that it would be better business since for nintendo to give away Mario, but it would also mean a big hit on software profits for them, as it is a first party game.

In MS's case, only Sega is suffering on the software side as it's their games being given away, and even they aren't going to get hurt much as neither JSRF or Sega GT has sold very well.

At any rate, I'm very interested in seeing how this turns out. It will come down to whether casual gamers (and parents) find the value of getting 2 free games they probably know nothing about, or getting Mario and a mem card at lesser savings.

darkside

Sega is not suffering. Microsoft is probably paying Sega for the rights to put those games in the bundle. Microsoft is taking the loss on the bundle not Sega.

Aghama

Yeah, there is absolutely no way Sega is doing this out of the kindness of their own hearts.

Josh H

True. But my point still stands. Nintendo can't give away Mario. It's a first party game, and one they have no problems selling at $50.

Sega/MS are just passing out a couple of games that aren't selling well anyway, so neither company there is losing out on many potential game sales.

Sega probably got a sweet deal from MS, that will help them turn a profit on 2 games that might have been unprofitable otherwise.

Basically, they have nothing to lose by giving those games away, where as Nintendo would lose a good deal of profit if they gave away Mario, as a lot of people that buy a gamecube would buy it too. By raising the price some, they at least make some money (or cut their losses down some) on each copy of Mario in the bundles.

Aghama

MS has nothing to lose except more money by paying off Sega. And money is really the whole point.

darkside

I wasn't arguing with you there. Nintendo can't give Mario away any more than Microsoft could give away Halo. Those games will sell no matter what. So Nintendo giving you a $10 break on Mario and a free memory card is still a good deal.

Josh H

But MS has made it clear that they're willing to spend whatever it takes to be successful in the industry.

So they have 2 Sega games that aren't selling well, and aren't moving consoles, so they say "lets pay sega some money, and put the games in a bundle for no extra charge, and see if that entices some people to buy our system."

So MS probably doesn't really see it as a loss (even though financially it is), they likely see it as an opportunity to capitalize on a couple poor selling games by giving them away for free. It's likely much cheaper than MS developing a killer game (or paying for one as an exclusive) and putting it in a bundle.

Nintendo isn't willing to throw that kind of money around. They're content to pretty much do things there way and keep making money of their fanbase.