Gamecube Pre-Oders start on Mon. Oct. 1 (1 Viewer)

[Dean Cooper]

I wonder why Canada started so far ahead of the US.. TRU has been taking GCN preorders here locally for the past couple of weeks. Future Shop (Canada's Best Buy) started Sept 01. Weird that the same company is so different between the US and Canada.
Dean

 

[Graeme Clark]

It is a little odd that TRU would be taking orders here, and not in the US.
Maybe Nintendo Canada has a better idea of the numbers they will be receiving and were able to share that with retailers.
Or maybe FS started taking orders and TRU followed suit.
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[Kelley_B]

Is this an independent, Kelley? From what you've said in the past, it is... If so, that's REALLY good news. Best news I've had all day in fact. If Nintendo are willing to give hard numbers like that to an indy, it bodes well for a launch with lots of machines available.

Yep he's an independant. Been in business since 1993. Those are actually the "At-Best" numbers Nintendo has given him. This guy has been able to get me pretty much everything I have asked for except a copy of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood.

 

[Camp]

It is a little odd that TRU would be taking orders here, and not in the US.
Maybe Nintendo Canada has a better idea of the numbers they will be receiving and were able to share that with retailers.
Or maybe FS started taking orders and TRU followed suit.

I wasn't aware Canadian stores had began taking reservations. That's just an example of the separation of the two divisions.
Anyway, here's my take on reservations occuring in Canada vs. the US:
You're seeing the difference between Nintendo of Canada and Nintendo of America. Their strategies are just different. NOA wants to distance themselves from the memory of last years PS2 shortage (much of which was caused by the large number of reserved units). Nintendo perceives Microsoft as making similar launch mistakes and also hopes to distance Gamecube from Xbox in the event Xbox really is difficult to obtain.
The number of systems sold in Canada will obviously be insignificant compared to US sales. Allowing reservations in Canada will have no ill effect upon the more important US launch (sorry Canadians). In fact, I'd be willing to bet the reservation program is designed to give Nintendo accurate feedback about the exact quantity needed in Canada in the event they need to allocate more product to the US. The difference being that the US launch already has product allocated...while the Canadian launch quantities may be dependant upon the reservation program. By allowing pre-orders in Canada, Nintendo seems to be displaying confidence in shipping enough quantity to the US launch to satisfy demand.

 

[Camp]

Yea, that usually kills a thread.

 

[Dean Cooper]

Well That brings up an interesting point.
Microsoft was planning to ship 800k units on launch day ( what the number actually becomes is anyones guess ) but at the time that they announced this number they also announced the numbers for Canada and US. The US was going to get 500K of that 800K chunk leaving 300K for Canada. That's 37.5% of the shipments going to the great white north.
What's interesting is Nintendo completely shafts Canada. When Nintendo announced its numbers it also announced that 90% of all GCN were US bound and only 10% are going to Canada. At the time the numbers were 500K with 50K going to Canada!
In Canada the Game Cube launch will look VERY similar to the PS2 launch. Canada does have one tenth of the population but the percentage of our population that buys video games and electronic equipment is much larger than the US. Looking at these numbers I would of guessed that Nintendo Canada would of been guarding off preorders and the US stores going crazy selling them off. Weird eh?
Your point does make sense though Camp.
Dean
[Edited last by Dean Cooper on October 03, 2001 at 12:16 AM]

 

[Frederick]

I just got back from Toy's R Us. I was told that they're taking preorders on the Game Cube starting the 15th of Oct. I also saw the X-Box setup, but didn't see any preorder tickets. The bundle came just under $500, and included the Box, a controller, 3 games and a case ...
Freddy
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" ... Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much ..."

 

[Camp]

Frederick,
I'm sorry but the clerk you spoke with is wrong. Xbox reservations will begin at TRU shortly but Gamecube reservations will not happen at all.
Trust me on this.