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GameCube Under the Shadow of Xbox (IGN article)
An IGN article at:
http://xbox.ign.com/articles/380/380934p1.html December 20, 2002 - Xbox executives can pop a bottle of champagne. Apparently, people are diggin' the Xbox. The proof doesn't come from some over-enthusiastic PR spin or anyone's personal numbers. All you need do is take a look at the numbers and you'll see that Xbox is in the midst of crushing the GameCube. According to the NPD Group, one of the most respected market research firms in the industry, November marked the seventh consecutive month Xbox outsold GameCube in terms of hardware and has outsold GameCube in software in all thirteen months of its existence. Selling nearly 500,000 consoles in November, Xbox nearly doubled its sales numbers from October. Xbox consoles have edged GameCube by 20% in total sales, a considerable gap, especially when you look at the great first-party titles Nintendo has managed to release this year. In November, Xbox saw it's second best month of software sales to date, with 2.4 million units selling. That's 10% more than the GameCube, but still far below the might of PS2. In terms of GameCube versus Xbox, though, Microsoft's console has sold 34% more software overall than GameCube. The Xbox also maintains the highest attach rate to date for a console that's thirteen months old, with 4.7 games per unit sold. Further proof of Microsoft's growing dominance over GameCube comes when comparing the two bundle offers. Microsoft's Xbox bundle that comes with Sega GT 2002 and Jet Set Radio Future has outsold the GameCube Mario bundle by 335,000 units or 131%. However, it should be noted that the GameCube bundle is not nearly as widely available, which could contribute to the wide gap. The GameCube is often saddled with piss-poor ports of multi-platform games and it shows in terms of sales. The Xbox has managed 58% greater third-party sales than GameCube according to Microsoft. Though Microsoft has yet to come close to the PS2 in terms of installed base, the big MS can take comfort in knowing their online programs has bested PS2 from the get-go. Comparing their first month of sales, Xbox Live outsold PS2 Network Adapters by 14% and the three major Live titles (Ghost Recon, MechAssault, and Unreal Championship) sold over 300,000 copies combined in just the last half of November and managed an astounding attach rate of 80%. With far bigger titles on the horizon for Microsoft next year and very few big franchises left in Nintendo's bag for 2003, it could be an even merrier X-Mas for Microsoft a year from now. Of course, we'll be back to let you know how this little ol' console war is turning out. |
Yeah. I got a good laugh from this.
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It doesnt matter. Nintendo has already sunk enough into R&D that a successor to the cube is a certainty. Apparently they think theyre profitable enough.
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Ugh. Didn't Nintendo just release numbers saying they were selling more then Xbox? I know MS also had a release as well. The numbers above seem a bit crazy.
I don't know who to believe anymore. I felt that the xbox bundle would make the unit sell better then Nintendo's offering. But thankfully I don't really care as I have been getting some of the best games ever made to play on my GC. Keep them coming Nintendo. And Jolt is right, Nintendo will be present again next time around, and I think they will be playing a slightly different ball game. -This has been a crappy post, but I don't care as I am drugged. |
Nintendo needs to make a better bundle. It would be great if they had a Metroid Prime and Mario Sunshine Bundle, but they won't.
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Wait we have breaking news......
NPD is reporting that Sega is celebrating it's best November yet. The Sega Saturn has sold more units this November than the Atari Jaguar!! Sega officials are celebrating because now it's only a 2 horse race between Sega and Coleco. :whofart: |
:whofart:
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I wouldn't sale nintendo is under xbox's thumb just yet. both systems still seem to be going strong with no sight on anyone in the lead.
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This is probably based on US sales. Nintendo could just as easily claim they are selling more (but in Japan).
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At least the one from Nintendo was a press release and you could expect it to have major spin on it. This thing was written by the editors at xbox.ign.com. Pathetic.
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"At least the one from Nintendo was a press release and you could expect it to have major spin on it. This thing was written by the editors at xbox.ign.com. Pathetic."
Actually, that's not quite right. The IGN article cites numbers compiled by industry watchdog, the NPD Group. So, it's not like IGN just made these numbers up. |
The sales numbers are twisted a bit. You can buy a GameCube with the Mario bundle or without. Most people seem to be buying it without. The Xbox is now only available as a bundle. So sure the Xbox bundle is outselling the GameCube bundle, but its not outselling the GameCube hardware wise. It was dead even in November.
Considering the PS2 is firmly stomping the Xbox into the ground I find this article very funny. Nothing like bragging about who the best loser is. The Xbox and GameCube both seem to be doing okay considering the domination of the PS2, but there is no sense getting pumped up about being a distant second place. |
They kinda did just make it up, actually. The NPD numbers that I've seen, which were subsequently cited in an ignCUBE article (http://cube.ign.com/articles/380/380790p1.html) show the two consoles dead even for November sales, not including WalMart. Nintendo has always claimed that their sales are much higher in WalMart, for what it's worth.
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This thing was written by the editors at xbox.ign.com. Pathetic. |
Originally posted by Kellehair Seriously. It sounds like it came from some fanboy website. Kellehair, don't you as an Xbox owner feel glad you own it because there are some cool looking games in the future for it? Not to mention right now with XBL being great. |
I also own all three systems and really have no vested interest in this issue one way or another. But, for what it's worth, it seems like more outlets agree with the IGN article than with the Nintendo press release. Check out GameIndustry.biz take on this story (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content...e=ret&aid=1073). It tracks pretty darn close to the IGN report. Further, check out this follow-up news story correcting a "typo" that had Nintendo leap-frogging over Microsoft in console sales in November (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content...me=ret&aid=924) which may be contributing to some of the misinformation floating around out there.
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Kellehair, don't you as an Xbox owner feel glad you own it because there are some cool looking games in the future for it? Anyways, this is all besides the point. I just think the IGN article seems like it was written by a fanboy. |
Originally posted by Kellehair Nope. I bought the Xbox because I thought there were some cool looking games for it (and becasue it was free :D) but I've been mostly disappointed. Halo, Sega GT 2002, JSRF, Shenmue 2, and others didn't live up to my expectations. Couple that with the fact that it seems like almost every big name Xbox game turns out to be a flop and I'm not gonna get my hopes up for any future Xbox titles just yet. I know all that might sound harsh, and I know a lot of people here don't agree, but that's how I feel. Anyways, this is all besides the point. I just think the IGN article seems like it was written by a fanboy. |
Then sell it. |
"But, for what it's worth, it seems like more outlets agree with the IGN article than with the Nintendo press release."
Yes, but which IGN article? The one that is linked in the original post, or the one from the Cube IGN site that I linked in my last post? The two contradict one-another. I know that the 468k number for both systems is accurate, as I've seen it elsewhere, outside of these IGN articles. |
Ok, now that I'm not drugged...
I'm not impressed by this write up, like most. Comparing a bundle pack vs another is useless when there is a large amount of non bundle GC's being sold! Are they dumb? MS isn't offering any option. I know lots of people that would rather pay 150 bucks for an xbox then 200 for it and those 2 games. Also as mentioned, NPD does not refelct all sales either, including walmart, which is one store where the GC display is actually on par with the xboxes. Bah... I know that numbers are interestin for lots of reasons, but since we arn't going to get a clear picture for a good while, lets just not worry about it. We are all going to get plenty of nice games, no one is leaving the market. ugh, where are my drugs??? |
IGN? ign is as reliable as urine journalism.
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that article reads almost identical to the one released by microsoft, it even uses the same (in their words) "over-enthusiastic PR spin" and numbers.
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*enters thread*
*reads* *leaves* |
I dont beleieve in anything what companies say anymore. I remember back in 1999, nintendo kept spindoctoring press statements and thru magazines like Game Informer (who always rated n64 gmes higher than psx games) that their nintnedo64 is crushing PSX sales both in consules and games, kept boasting Duke Nukem 64 to Fighters destiny to Quest 64 and their endless racing games was out selling the Tekkens to Final Fantasys to Resident evil, to Grad Tsurismo, and the head of nintendo claiming his systems out sells PSX due to lack of mature rated games as they "divert from family togetherness" or some crap.
Even as early last year, nintendo claimed their n64 counsole was outselling psx counsole, for remmeber they came out with 5 different colors for their system? They claimed many people bought one of each, then they re-bought the system when they released the pikachu n64 system, and the banana donky kong system as well. but when in reality, nintendo did those incredible numbers for they counted units SHIPPED, but not actually went into homes of the customers. I know alot of independent game store owners fed up with carrying n64 games for nintendo refused stock balancing, while PSX dealers did. And in the end, we all know PSX won the counsole war over N64, dreamcast and saturn. These are probably shipped, not sold. |
salamander2: I can't verify your dates in any of those mags I have sitting around my house. Could you please tell me what issue you read this in? If you don't have that on hand, do you remember what was on the cover?
About the N64 in general: I do know that at times the N64 was selling better then the PSX. At one point Nintendo had 30 million units sold just like Sony, it was a dead heat. It actually looked like it was going to be another Nintendo revival ala Sega Genisis days, but it wasn't. Shortly after that point N64 hit it's peak and PSX kept selling in high volume and ran away with a much larger user base. This is attributed to all the new gamers of the era brought in my Sony's wide advertising capaign and audience. Nintendo still did quite well and made lots of money. This is all pulled from the last 3 pages of Game Over: Press start to Continue if anyone is interested. |
Originally posted by Pitchman "At least the one from Nintendo was a press release and you could expect it to have major spin on it. This thing was written by the editors at xbox.ign.com. Pathetic." Actually, that's not quite right. The IGN article cites numbers compiled by industry watchdog, the NPD Group. So, it's not like IGN just made these numbers up. Microsoft's claims of selling 30% more software than Nintendo and Microsoft's high tie-in ratio both come from them counting the two bundled games as software sales. The fact is, the Gamecube really should be "under the shadow" of the Xbox. Microsoft has been very aggressive in their pricing and their promotion, and they've pushed the Xbox very hard, and they've been willing to lose a lot of money to gain market share. But Gamecube is running pretty much neck-and-neck while operating on a model that makes money. |
Funny
The Xbox also maintains the highest attach rate to date for a console that's thirteen months old, with 4.7 games per unit sold.
ROTFL. That is hilarious. Of course that number is going to be higher. For the past 2-3 months the only XBox you could get was the bundle that comes with two games. They get a jump start right there, not to mention Halo is still probably bought with every system sold. So they are at 3 games per unit sold right at the first purchase. Ha. That is too funny. |
Originally posted by ScandalUMD Gamecube is running pretty much neck-and-neck while operating on a model that makes money. |
I'm going to finally give my XBox a chance and move it to my main tv, I've only got 2 games for it and haven't played either of them (my son plays the N64 and Dreamcast over the XBox). Nothing on the XBox has intrigued me enough yet, I won it at a MS lecture. I'm getting a PS2 for Xmas (for Kingdom Hearts) to complete the sweep, so far the Cube is still my favorite. It's been a nice string of titles from Mario to StarFox to Metroid to Zelda. Kingdom Hearts will fill the gap for me until March...
My son will be excited to take possession of the PS1 after Christmas... I'm with others, I don't care who sells more, I just want good games, now they can be for any system and I win. |
Originally posted by joltaddict You always state this like a fact when the truth is theyre most likely losing money on the Cube. There is nothing to even show that theyre breaking even let alone making money. If they were Im sure they would be broadcasting that not releasing aggregate numbers that include the GBA. With the software sales their first party titles, I very much doubt Gamecube is losing money. |
Originally posted by ScandalUMD I very much doubt Gamecube is losing money. |
Originally posted by joltaddict Oh! Well then I stand corrected! |
Originally posted by darkside I doubt the Cube is losing them very much money if any. |
If Nintendo did not advertise they would be making money for sure, as the system currently costs them less to make then what they sell it for. That is a fact that Nintendo has stated.
However, with advertising dollars in effect it would be a close call to say it's going one way or the other. The GC is clearing plenty of software so there is money being made, but how much I do not know. Also worth mentioning is people always assume that if the GC is losing money, then it's eating the GBA's profits. This also may or not be true. People are forgetting that the GC is resposible for some GBA and accessories sales as well because of the link between the two. How many people have bought a GBA after getting Animal Crossing? The E-Reader? The cards for animal crossing? etc. Also how many people have gone and looked at games and been influenced by that link up? For example I can easily see someone justifying buying a crappy game such as Crash because they think,"Well I can link it with my GC/GBA, that will be cool". You are never going to get a clear picture at one units profits because they are interconnected at this point. And as time moves on it will only become more so. |
Originally posted by jeffdsmith If Nintendo did not advertise they would be making money for sure, as the system currently costs them less to make then what they sell it for. That is a fact that Nintendo has stated. However, with advertising dollars in effect it would be a close call to say it's going one way or the other. But anway Im not saying the loss leader business model is unprofitable. You lose a little early to reap the benefits later. But for people to constantly say the cube is making money is disingenuious at best. |
Originally posted by joltaddict But anway Im not saying the loss leader business model is unprofitable. You lose a little early to reap the benefits later. But for people to constantly say the cube is making money is disingenuious at best. I have to look at Nintendo as a whole. They are making lots of money as a video game and hardware maker. Thats really all we know until Nintendo gives better data about just the GameCube profit wise. Nintendo did release a statement saying the Cube would be profitable within its first year. Since I can't find any information to contradict that statement I will have to assume its true. |
Jolt, you are right. I completly forgot about that one.
You are also right about the engineering, it is fantastic. Have you ever looked at the bottom of the cube? You could knock off another 1/2 - 3/4 " if those expansion slots wern't there taking up space. *On a side note: I used the handle today to carry the unit from upstairs to downstairs in my parents house. This is the 5th or 6th time I've used it. I find it quite useful. :) |
Originally posted by darkside Nintendo did release a statement saying the Cube would be profitable within its first year *drunk as hell right now give a little latitude :p |
Originally posted by joltaddict *drunk as hell right now |
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