Is the GameCube dead at this stage?

Lord Oz

I visited 3 shops today trying to find Resident Evil 4, Smyths, GameStop and Xtra-vision or whatever it's called. These shops weren't just missing RE4, the didn't have any gamecube games at all! It's a bad sign when the only place the games for a console is online, which is where I've to go now. I remember the N64 dieing out before the PSX but surely it lasted longer than the GameCube.

Retr0gamer

I don't think so. I think most gamecube gamers are hardcore and therefore have the cop on to buy online instead. I've never had any trouble finding games online. Nintendo also have messed up on the distribution many of it's games such as Resi 4 meaning they are hard to find in shops. However Zelda will probably be the last great GC game this Autumn.

bada_bing

i noticed the same thing too over the weekend, most game stores no longer sell any gamecubes. As disappointing as it is i reckon Nintendo have no one but themselves to blame, for feck's sake they seem to have lost the plot lately.........e.g mario party 5,6,7, mario tennis, mario golf, donkey konga, zelda four swords with snes graphics..............need i go on????

Raskolnikov

The small game retailers like HMV and Xtra-Vision have stopped supporting the GC long ago. In the larger outlets like Smyths and Game, I've noticed the GC shelf space being reduced, often at the expense of the new handhelds and xBox. Still, even if there isn't much in the way of new GC titles, there are a ton of older games that are worth getting.

Rhyme

Ive found the same thing, GAME Henry Street have relegated them to the corner, HMV the same... im having to really hunt for a copy of Timesplitters 3, cant find it anywhere

LookingFor

bada_bing wrote:

zelda four swords with snes graphics

Yeah, the graphics hardly helped its commercial prospects, but it's a wonderful game IMO (I know, completely seperate from your point, but felt it should be said).

My GC will rest easier once Twilight Princess is done and dusted.

It's sort of sad to see Nintendo's home systems lose popularity..I guess the Nintendo fan in me keeps hoping their next system will turn things round. At least Revolution won't be straddled with a "toy-box" look

TerrorFirmer

Yeah, GAME and Xtra Vision in Galway still stock some stuff, but Gamestop have stopped....and even in Game and Xtra Vision, they have tiny sections, not even noticable unless you really went looking for it!

In Game, its 99.00 for a GC console, Mario Kart Double Dash, and the DK bongo drums and game! Now, thats a real bargin.....the GC has really gone downhill since it came out really, with regards to retail stores, but now its almost vanished....even faster then the n64 did.

Poor Nintendo. I don't think the Revolution is going to set things right either to be honest. Are Nintendo the new Sega? Possibly not in the same sense, but their competitiveness in the console market has been ravaged. Handhelds all the way from here on?

Or, in a few years, might we see Nintendo games licensed on Sony and Microsofts machines?

rainbow kirby

Rhyme wrote:

Ive found the same thing, GAME Henry Street have relegated them to the corner, HMV the same... im having to really hunt for a copy of Timesplitters 3, cant find it anywhere

We have one copy of the GC version in Tallaght. And RE4.

Stephen

Nintendo of Europe = morons.

"Hey guys, lets not advertise our products at all, whilst delaying releases for europe until months after they are available in the US and japan. The consumers will be BEGGING for our stuff!"

Ri_Nollaig

MobileInfantry wrote:

Are Nintendo the new Sega?

they r still much much more popular in japan where the xbox doesnt sale at all! might change in time tho... but tbh (barring nintendo fanbays) who cares? wats the last game they released that wasnt a sequel or featured a cartoony style main character? altho the new zelda does look like a great improvement but once again a sequel...

Kare Bear

Even if there large in Japan the games market there is ****e compared to europe and america.I was a big gamescube fanboy before but stoped when there was no games coming out for it.

SixShot

The GG is Dead RIP Games are droping in price & Most Game type Shops have desided to do a clearance. I have Not a Thing Agenst Nintendo The GG is a Great system Im more of an X-Box PS person myself I look at nintendo & think whats to become of them the same faith as SEGA's Dreamcast. Microsoft & Sony have the market & when the PS3 comes out we can see X-box Close to Faceing the same faith as Nintendo & Sega, I hope not but with the new PS3 Games Blue something disc's will do it

Ri_Nollaig

SixShot wrote:

when the PS3 comes out we can see X-box Close to Faceing the same faith as Nintendo & Sega, I hope not but with the new PS3 Games Blue something disc's will do it

m$ has next to botton-less pockets and can bail the xbox out of any trouble another reason the future doesnt look good for nintendo as it doesnt have a spot on the overall wealth of sony and microsoft.
but i wouldnt b too quick to say that the xbox360 isnt going to b a match for the ps3 neither are out yet... and both are probably bullsh.iting what their machines are able to do
so just let time tell the story

another note i heard (cant remember the source so cant comfirm) that nintendo are actually more profitable then xbox and ps as they produce their stuff cheaper

TheAlmightyArse

Ri_Nollaig wrote:

... or featured a cartoony style main character?

Just...

Just, go home.

Rhyme

rainbow kirby wrote:

We have one copy of the GC version in Tallaght. And RE4.

Must check that up... whereabouts is the GAME in Tallaght?

TheAlmightyArse

It's tucked away in a secret corner at the top of the Square. I completely advise checking one of the shopping centre maps first.

Rhyme

Game.net Storefinder wrote:

Dublin - Unit 37, The Square, Tallaght, Dublin (00353 14522700)

*Plans trip to town*

Blub2k4

Which console never made a loss at all?
Which company is around since 1889?
I think Nintendo has planned the sunsetting of this device and this company does not work to the same "throw" money at it until it becomes profitable strategy as PS and MS.
The device is being sunsetted and we'll see the next one in due time and the same cycle of doubters and naysayers will be rubbing their hands gleefully at their imagined demise and in the meantime us fans will be playing the best games about.

Gilgamesh

Kare Bear wrote:

Even if there large in Japan the games market there is ****e compared to europe and america.I was a big gamescube fanboy before but stoped when there was no games coming out for it.

/ me gets big stick o clobber Kare Bear


Where the hell did you hear that load of rubbish from?????
EU has always been a niche market for all the big Game corps except for the ones based in EU.

Nintendo and also Sony do not require Europe to survive, they have always made the least profit in this country, just because most of the players here don't know a good game if it would ravage their mother and burn their house down!!!

Nintendo are the only company in that business who have been around since before the two world wars and are going VERY strong.
Ninty is the only company who is still making plus, they have not gone into loss for a long time, and at the moment, allthough their Profits dropped by near 70%, they are still covering every bill thrown at them and are also funding the R&D for the future and carrying the costs.

MS and Sony are... well..... sick, just from the fact that they have been on the Market for over 6 years with their consoles and still have to push money in them to actually sell their stuff.
tey have not made profits on their consoles AT ALL to date and that will not change

:mad:

monkeyfudge

Didn't I read somwhere recently that Microsoft were very happy that they got their losses for the xbox down to $400,000,000 for the year ending?

On a global scale there is very little difference between the sales of the Gamecube and the xbox, but Sony has always had a huge stanglehold on the Irish market and they probably deserve it too as they actually go through the expense and effort of marketing directly to the Irish market. Microsoft on the other hand clearly pay for preferential placement in most shops, just look at Game the nest time you go into it... the one on Henry Street in particular is really stupid. You have this big spacious xbox section up the front with absolutely no-one in it and then you have the PS setion in the middle were if you are browsing you are squashed up against the bargin bin and people queuing up to be served.

Oh and the Gamecube section is over in a little corner were only one person can see it at a time.

segadreamcast

monkeyfudge wrote:

Oh and the Gamecube section is over in a little corner were only one person can see it at a time.

In fairness, I doubt there'd ever be more than one person wanting to see it at any given time...

Deadwing

poor old gamecube..i loved that console, but the lack of games and poor marketing really crippled it. I think twilight princess will be the GC's swansong, but what an ending itll go out on, that game is gonna be amazing

Gilgamesh

do you guys seriously think that the GC is going extinct just because this little hole of a place called Ireland and UK are not stocking them, then I must say, alot of you are more narrow minded than I would have guessed.

Ninty has always had their biggest market back in Asia, outseling any of the other consoles by far, and that for years on end.

Europe is a niche market, where they have to show presence here, just because their competitors are here

Vebor

Gilgamesh wrote:

do you guys seriously think that the GC is going extinct just because this little hole of a place called Ireland and UK are not stocking them, then I must say, alot of you are more narrow minded than I would have guessed.

Ninty has always had their biggest market back in Asia, outseling any of the other consoles by far, and that for years on end.

Europe is a niche market, where they have to show presence here, just because their competitors are here

No, you're completely wrong with practically all your statements.

For example, lets look at Japan's console sales for the week of July 17-24th.

DS - 41,982
PS2 - 25,980
PSP - 19,043
GBASP - 10,935
GC - 2,995
GBA - 397
Xbox - 163

This shows how little the GCN sells in Japan.

The rest of Asia is more geared towards the PS2 as well, thanks to it's low security against modders. The GCN is rather hard to mod, so it sells little in countries like China, where hardly any games are bought.

And to Europe being a niche market, where the hell did you get that from? It's a far bigger market than Japan sales wise and population wise. If you meant for the GCN, the GCN outsells the Xbox in most of Mainland Europe. FFS, they released the minish cap first in Europe.

Have you ever tried thinking, or are baselesss comments just your thing?

TerrorFirmer

Gilgamesh wrote:

do you guys seriously think that the GC is going extinct just because this little hole of a place called Ireland and UK are not stocking them, then I must say, alot of you are more narrow minded than I would have guessed.

Ninty has always had their biggest market back in Asia, outseling any of the other consoles by far, and that for years on end.

Europe is a niche market, where they have to show presence here, just because their competitors are here

Eh, no. The PS2 outsold the GC in Japan this year, and the GC was in fact also beaten by the PSP.

Europe is a niche market, where they have to show presence here, just because their competitors are here

Talk about ridiculous

LookingFor

monkeyfudge wrote:

Microsoft on the other hand clearly pay for preferential placement in most shops, just look at Game the nest time you go into it... the one on Henry Street in particular is really stupid.

Yup. Just so you're aware, the staff are encouraged to "push" Xbox aswell (at least there was a time when this was the case). How many PS2 sales can you "convert" today? The advice by staff is not necessarily independent or the person's own opinion, although I do know some adamently refuse to "tow the line" and just advise as they see fit. Just be aware of that if you ever go console-shopping in Game..I've heard some quite funny stories about the yarns spun to sell a particular system there.

I think for a while, though, Nintendo actually bought the best space..I'm not sure if that's done on a per-branch basis or across the whole chain, though. But for a while, at least, the Game in Blanchardstown had game boy and GC up at the top where the PC stuff used to be. I think it's all changed again, though (and they've been refurbishing too..haven't been back since they started that).

edit - also, about Europe, it's larger than Japan, as pointed out already, and could well become the largest market in the next 5 to 10 years. Some publisher recently during their earnings report actually came out and said they were forecasting this to happen quite soon (for them at least).

Gilgamesh

Vebor wrote:

No, you're completely wrong with practically all your statements.

For example, lets look at Japan's console sales for the week of July 17-24th.

DS - 41,982
PS2 - 25,980
PSP - 19,043
GBASP - 10,935
GC - 2,995
GBA - 397
Xbox - 163

This shows how little the GCN sells in Japan.

The rest of Asia is more geared towards the PS2 as well, thanks to it's low security against modders. The GCN is rather hard to mod, so it sells little in countries like China, where hardly any games are bought.

And to Europe being a niche market, where the hell did you get that from? It's a far bigger market than Japan sales wise and population wise. If you meant for the GCN, the GCN outsells the Xbox in most of Mainland Europe. FFS, they released the minish cap first in Europe.

Have you ever tried thinking, or are baselesss comments just your thing?

okay, my bad on the on the statement about how much is sold, but consider this,
the GC is the only console on the market which is mainly purchased for it's sole reason, playing games.

I bet there would be a huge drop in the market powers if their consoles were not moddable to media centers, I mean, how many people actually keep their XBOX or PS2 in it's original form to play?

1 fact is for sure, Nintendo are the only ocmpany on the console market, who are making profit and aren't running their consoles on Lifesupport from Day 1 as is the case with the XBox and the PS2 at the moment anyway.

The sales have also gone back for the Gamecube because the console itself isn't been produced anymore, afaik, due to reconstruction of the major factories for the Revolution production.

now about the last comment of yours Vebor, ...... eh... welcome to boards, feel honored that you registered just to sap me. :cool:

Rhyme

You make a strong point there with the multi-media side of things. The Gamecube is games and games alone while the competiton strive to pack as many tricks into their consoles as possible. Its a gimmicks market and the PS2 has its fair share of them (granted the DVD side of things is pretty handy).

The new Zelda will be its big finish in my book, and then a slow coast to the next generation.

iregk

Gilgamesh, thats a very true comment about the GC being purely a games machine as opposed to the others. I myself have a modded X-Box. Thing is though the majority of people dont want a purely games machine, they want a media center. They want that all dancing all singing center of their happiness hub.
I didn't want a games machine, i wanted a games machine that could be made to do other cool stuff, hence the xbox. Surely you can't blame companies for simply going where there market place has its most potential?

Years ago we had a tv, a video and a games console. You wanted to listen to the radio or play a tape or cd you had a stereo in the corner. Today I dont own a stereo!!! I have my xbox in the corner that plays dvd's, mp3's, vcd's runs as an ftp server and my sony 6.1 dvd player just for luxury. The next gen looks like it has all this without needing to mod. So no I don't want just a games machine nor does the majority of the population.

evad_lhorg

Tbh the gamecube is prety much dead. only thing coming that we know will rock is Zelda. fire wmblem will be good but wont sell and will probably hard to get.

i dont know what everyone is talking about with resi 4 i always see it everywhere.

Rhyme

Yeh, the GAME on Henry Street has loads of copies left... and Killer 7 too

Gilgamesh

tbh I see it more that Nintendo are removing the GC from the market before they do make a loss.

I agree that multi media is getting big even in games consoles, but I think the next gen machines will see if this will actually be possible as the XBOX360 and the PS3 are just like the previous machines from the companies, awaiting to do everything the next ten years will throw at us, but tbh, I have a PC for that stuff, and maybe a barebone in the livingroom for the stuff I want on the PC.

the new machines won't be a 'mod friendly' as the PS2 and XBOX, so I think the way that Nintendo is going and has always gone, will be a success with the revolution.
I mean, do you really need so many processing cores for next gen machines?
We have seen what is possible with 1 additional processor, and I think it was Gabe Newell, from valve, who said, it is going to take at leat two to three years until games can truely support this tech, as apparently it requires the entire source code of games to be written to specifically acccess those resources in the XBOX and the PS3, not sure about the Revolution, but I am sure as it has less cores, it will be 'easier' to write for it.

Ri_Nollaig

Gilgamesh wrote:

the new machines won't be a 'mod friendly' as the PS2 and XBOX, so I think the way that Nintendo is going and has always gone, will be a success with the revolution.

how do u no this? u have a ps3 or xbox360?

Gilgamesh wrote:

I mean, do you really need so many processing cores for next gen machines?
We have seen what is possible with 1 additional processor, and I think it was Gabe Newell, from valve, who said, it is going to take at leat two to three years until games can truely support this tech, as apparently it requires the entire source code of games to be written to specifically acccess those resources in the XBOX and the PS3, not sure about the Revolution, but I am sure as it has less cores, it will be 'easier' to write for it.

well with that logic y dont we just stick wit the current consoles for the next 10 yrs or go back to the nes/snes/n64 days (funny enough the revolutions main selling point)

ok dispite the fact that i will get flamed here i hate zelda as its too cartoony for my liking (and YES i have played tro all the most recent ones) just i want more adult looking games...

and EU a niche market? wtf? do u call a market of 400million consumers a niche market? its a fact that nintendo just isnt as popular as it once was here (and this cud change in their homeland too as we have had only 2 consoles from sony and 1 from m$)
retailers are not stupid, they want to make money and they sell wat people buy whether it be endless fifa titles or killer7 they dont care just want money and guess what sells? i dont personaly like it as much more thought and love goes into games like killer7 then some crap movie game just quickly released in time but thats how it works!
you also like to bring up how nintendo has been doing this the longest well thats true but have they faced this kinda competition in the past? they have only ever really faced fellow games only companies like sega or atari not the giants that are sony and microsoft

Lord Oz

Gilgamesh wrote:

I mean, do you really need so many processing cores for next gen machines?
We have seen what is possible with 1 additional processor, and I think it was Gabe Newell, from valve, who said, it is going to take at leat two to three years until games can truely support this tech, as apparently it requires the entire source code of games to be written to specifically acccess those resources in the XBOX and the PS3, not sure about the Revolution, but I am sure as it has less cores, it will be 'easier' to write for it.

Excellent point - that's what killed off alot of 3rd party support for the Saturn, and if the Revolution used multiple proccessors, it would probably kill off Nintendo's console business.

Stephen

Gilgamesh, do you honestly think sony are not making a profit on the PS2 market? Do you also smoke crack on a regular basis? :rolleyes:
Sure they would initially sell the consoles below cost and make the cash back on software sales, but over time the manufacturing process becomes cheaper due to refinements to manufacturing techniques, falling costs of components etc. Playstation is the best performing part of the entire sony corporation.

TerrorFirmer

Stephen wrote:

Gilgamesh, do you honestly think sony are not making a profit on the PS2 market? Do you also smoke crack on a regular basis? :rolleyes:
Sure they would initially sell the consoles below cost and make the cash back on software sales, but over time the manufacturing process becomes cheaper due to refinements to manufacturing techniques, falling costs of components etc. Playstation is the best performing part of the entire sony corporation.

Its funny considering that Ninty were initally meant to be releasing the psx WITH Sony, but pulled out.....bet they regret that one!

BloodNinjaCult

LookingFor wrote:

Yup. Just so you're aware, the staff are encouraged to "push" Xbox aswell (at least there was a time when this was the case). How many PS2 sales can you "convert" today? The advice by staff is not necessarily independent or the person's own opinion.

You sir, talk out of your ass.

Ri_Nollaig

MobileInfantry wrote:

Its funny considering that Ninty were initally meant to be releasing the psx WITH Sony, but pulled out.....bet they regret that one!

yeah it was their answer to the megaCD wasnt it? wat actually happened do u no?

Retr0gamer

Philips said they would do it cheaper. Nintendo then gave Sony the cold shoulder at a press conference by announcing it and didn't tell anybody at Sony.

The Playstation hardware contains almost all the components of the Snes. Thats why it is easy to port Snes games to it.

evad_lhorg

BloodNinjaCult wrote:

You sir, talk out of your ass.

he speaks the truth. I, as a GAME worker, have never pushed anything I myself did not believe to be worth your money. ill let you know if somethin is good or **** imo and everyone I work with is the same tbh.

monument

Gilgamesh wrote:

the GC is the only console on the market which is mainly purchased for it's sole reason, playing games.

Are you trying to say the PS2, and Xbox, are 'mainly purchased' for something other then playing games? The DVD video playback may be an incentive, but there not the main reason why most people buy a games console.

iregk

Gilgamesh wrote:

the new machines won't be a 'mod friendly' as the PS2 and XBOX, so I think the way that Nintendo is going and has always gone, will be a success with the revolution.
I mean, do you really need so many processing cores for next gen machines?
We have seen what is possible with 1 additional processor, and I think it was Gabe Newell, from valve, who said, it is going to take at leat two to three years until games can truely support this tech, as apparently it requires the entire source code of games to be written to specifically acccess those resources in the XBOX and the PS3, not sure about the Revolution, but I am sure as it has less cores, it will be 'easier' to write for it.

This is a ridiculous statement. The new machines wont be mod friendly! The current machines when they came out first were not mod friendly, well maybe the xbox was a bit but it only takes 1 person to crack it and then its out in the open. Believe me anything with micro chips and software can be modded just takes time.

At the moment true we do not need so many processing cores, they are ridiculously over powered. But lets not forget thats now! Whats the life span of a console? Think of it in 3-4 years timewhen your pc is by far out stripping your PS3 or 360 power wise. How powerful will they look then. This is not about now and what we can do now, its about giving the consoles the longest life possible.

True it will be a lot trickier to write games for, initially, but this will come with time. Your writing to 3 seperate cores rather than one so small 3rd party companies will suffer from the out set. It always takes about 3 years anyway for companies to fully get to grips with new machines and start pushing great graphics at us. This is nothing new, just think when companies get fully up to speed how good will games look and feel? Forza Motorspot or Project Gotham with 3 cores doing driving physics? Hell yeah...

Gizzard

MobileInfantry wrote:

Eh, no. The PS2 outsold the GC in Japan this year, and the GC was in fact also beaten by the PSP.



Talk about ridiculous

Europe is the second biggest gaming market in the world behind USA

TerrorFirmer

monument wrote:

Are you trying to say the PS2, and Xbox, are 'mainly purchased' for something other then playing games? The DVD video playback may be an incentive, but there not the main reason why most people buy a games console.

Yes, I also thought Giglameshe's point was quite stupid, it seemed to me that he just made this up out of his head - I guarantee that if there was an accurate survery, the number of modded consoles is nowhere near the amount of consoles that remain untouched throughout their life span. I've owned 2 ps2's, a cube, an xbox, all my friends have ps2's - not a single one between us is modded.

I certainly didn't even vaguely considering modding possibilities when I purchased the xbox, ps2, or whatever. And I don't think the majority of true gamers do either. Its about games, true modding is an extra or necessity for some but the large majority buy a console for its games.

About legal hardware included dvd playback, thats a bonus point, but not going to generally make or break a console....again, its all about games.

PHB

I was in HMV on grafton street yesterday and they had a large selection of gamecube games

Necronomicon

Whenever I go into a shop like HMV or Virgin nowadays, there's always just one little corner for Gamecube games. But I've never had trouble finding new games when they came out.

Stephen

Much the same as PC games in my local gamestop, unfortunately. They've got one shelving unit in a dark corner between a load of Xbox stuff and the remaining cube stock. The other shelves that use to house more PC stuff are now packed with DVDs.

po0k

To da b0ne

BizzyC

I bought a GC from HMV not too long ago. The one on henry street still sells the games aswell, and you can get games from Game.

I like that corner, it seperates us from the mob.

When buying games, it either from a second hand basket, or online. There's no way I'm paying €60 when you can get it off play.com for €45...