Here you go... MORE Sales Numbers! Talk among yourselves. (1 Viewer)

[pitchman]

Looks like Xbox may be pulling ahead of GameCube in the holiday sales derby... Here's the link.
Gary

 

[Leroy]

Ouch!! That's quite a drop for the GC. From my personel observations at several of the stores I've been doing my Christmas shopping at more people seem to be asking about/for the Xbox. Maybe all those adds are getting the job done. Other than the Rogue Leader commercial and the original launch commercials I haven't seem much from Nintendo, while you just can;t seem to escape Xbox ads and sponsorships.

 

[BrianB]

Of course, the more interesting factoid is that the PS2 is still outselling both of them each week.

 

[Dave Falasco]

I agree, Brian. While I am thrilled that the Xbox has gotten off to a great start, I have to give props to Sony for continuing to be the 800-lb gorilla, even without a price drop. How do you sell last year's technology at this year's prices? Answer: games, games, games, baby.
I also think Nintendo will move a lot more units next year when their big guns come out. It seems to me that MS blasted off with some big titles right out of the gate, probably to prove to itself and game developers that people would buy the new product. Nintendo had fewer big titles at launch, but they are holding some pretty high cards for 2002. I will be very curious to see sales numbers next year at this time. Personally, I think the gap between Sony and the others will close dramatically, but I guess we'll see... As long as everyone sells enough consoles and software to stay profitable, then we can all be happy.

 

[Jason Handy]

What recession? It certainly has missed the console market . I am also very happy that they are all doing so well. As long as the game developers continue to provide strong libraries for all three consoles I think the future will be bright for all us gamers.

 

[Anthony_J]

I agree, Nintendo doesn't seem to be pushing the gamecube as hard as ms is pushing the xbox. it'll do OK though, because Nintendo's pretty reliable with it's games lineup, and it's great at getting the younger crowd to buy it's stuff (even without advertising).
ps2 will continue to sell big for a while. there's no arguing that the games library is the best of any system right now.
microsoft is the new kid on the block, but seems to be playing it's cards right with a couple of great launch games and good longterm potential (i.e., lots of developers on board). Give it some time, and it'll definitely be a mainstay of the console gaming world.
All three systems will be around and do well for the long term. I have the feeling that xbox will eventually surpass PS2 (once it's library gets bigger), but that won't be for at least one and a half to two years - after next christmas at the soonest. Nintendo will stick around regardless of what the others do, and come up with some clever kiddie games and a couple of gems for us hardcore that will keep their system selling well.
We won't see a system eliminated until the next generation. MS will probably come up with an Xbox2 that'll be radically different from a straight "video game and DVD player" unit by incorporating some new PC/Home entertainment/online capability aspect. Sony will release a PS3 with similar features, but unless they get their hands on some proprietary or groundbreaking stuff, it's going to be tough to compete with MS because of their expertise in forcing out the competition. Again, Nintendo won't be affected, I think mainly because Sony views MS as their biggest threat in conquering the "non-hardcore gamer/home entertainment" market, and MS thinks the same about Sony. Nobody really views Nintendo as being after the same audience.
If anything, PS3 will come out and do OK, but Sony probably won't want to compete further down the road (PS4, etc.) Serves them right for having a hand in killing my Dreamcast.

 

[Carlo_M]

What recession? It certainly has missed the console market

Actually, I heard an interesting analysis on the radio the other day, that the recession is in fact INCREASING the market for "things to do at home." Less people are travelling and doing things that take them away from home. Whether it's because of fear, or just wanting to stay home in a subconsciously-affected-by-Sept.11th sort of way, more and more people are buying things that they can do at home. That's why game consoles and other do-at-home things are actually burgeoning while other industries (especially gas) are experiencing drops.

 

[Jason Handy]

I see your point there. Consoles also tend to foster a sense of community when you bring your friends over to play Sould Caliber or DOA3. Everybody is together, its not a smoky loud bar, and its CHEAP!
But there has to be more than that, in my opinion. Why? Because there are so many people buying more than one console. The amount of money people are throwing at this industry is shocking. If you were to choose two consoles (i.e. X-box and PS2), you would have to slap down at least $900 to $1000 to get the two consoles, an extra controller for each, memory cards, 2 games for each. That ain't chump change for my paycheck.
So, I both agree and disagree with the radio announcer
Jason

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The fact that Nintendo is doing as well as it is with the minimal amount of advertising it used is amazing to me.

Nintendo made up its whole marketing campaign's budget in the first day of the GameCube launch. That just shows how little they spent.

MS' ads seem to be helping them out.

 

[James Nguyen]

Morgan,

while I agree that Nintendo has done quite well with their relative dearth of advertising, I can't help but wonder why they're going so low profile. I know several people about my age (mid 20s) who look back on the NES days with a golden haze but whom were all absolutely unaware that Nintendo had just released a new video game system and would have been in line on launch night with bells on.

They may be outside the norm, but having known 4 coworkers/friends now who all replied "Game what?" makes me wonder what the marketing department's rationale was for such a quiet PR blitz on the verge of a Christmas season...partciularly one where the overall numbers seem pretty low and where shouting to the rafters might get you a little more attention.

More power to em though.

Thus far, I'm really finding the MS ads quite well done. I thought their first batch with just the glowing green orb a bit too abstract, but they did become topics of conversation around folks I knew. The latest batches with actual game footage have been excellent though. My fiancee and her friends still get a big kick out of the DOA 3 ad... a big group of mid to late 20s women all cackling at the line "She kicks high"... whodathunkit!?

 

[Anthony_J]

yeah, those xbox ads are incredibly annoying (especially that Munch's odyssey one).

Nintendo rarely has to advertise because of it's extremely dedicated following. They've always depended on this following for to make their consoles succeed. My gut feeling is that 50-75% of GCN buyers knew that they were buying it when it was still called dolphin.

On the downside, Nintendo will have a really hard time getting new "non-Nintendo" fans to it's console. Because of the huge marketing budgets and brand images, I think that most "non-gamers" would choose a PS2 or Xbox when given the choice.

Nintendo will be OK, though, as it usually is. GCN will be a moderately successful unit. Nintendo's trump card will be Game Boy Advance. Starting with the original Game Boy, it seems that their portables are responsible for getting "non-nintendo" people to buy their stuff.

Don't different versions of the GameBoy Pokemon take up a couple of spots on the all-time best selling games list?

 

[Bergan Peters]

I find the current gamecube ads horrible, and before I knew what it was in the movie theater I said to myself "I refuse to patronize whatever company this is". That's just how I am, and they lost my business. [INSERT TEXT WHERE PEOPLE TELL ME THAT I'M MISSING OUT]

 

[Graeme Clark]

Maybe it's just different markets, but I've seen just as many, if not more ads for Gamecube than for XBox. Leading up to the launch I was rather shocked at the lack of XBox ads on television (I only saw those X opening up ads a few times) where it seemed the Gamecube ad was on all the time (and playing before movies at the theater). The only thing that I really saw XBox on was the Taco Bell ads, and if I paused on Wrestling for a bit.

I've started to see the Halo and Oddworld ads a bit more recently, but I still see the Gamecube ads more. The Super Smash Bros. Melee one is on constantly.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

MS is also sponsoring a lot of contests, in addition to ads, TV interviews, and making news. Nintendo knows that while people won't know that they have a new console, when they find out, they'll get it anyway, so rather than say "this is the newest and greatest" they are just trying to say "we got another console out."

Nintendo doesn't need to try hard right now to sell consoles, they are that popular. If anything, announcements of Mario, Zelda, and Metroid will help them.

MS tried a lot and it really paid off. They have some really good games (Halo, DoA3, Munch), powerful hardware, and enough cool little features to make people giddy about things other than just games.

 

[James D S]

My experiences with this market are a bit different from James's. I'm seeing just as many ads pushing Gamecube as I am seeing pushing Xbox. But I am noticing a sense of indifference among my friends concerning GC. However, as my friends are around my age, I expect that once Mario and Link make their debut, nostalgia will sway them, as it will me I'm sure, to try out the cute little cube.

I wonder if, however, these latest sales numbers are indicating more than just a shift from namebrands and old staples with younger ideals to a more mature-oriented demograph. With PS2's primary market being that 20-26 year old, and Xbox obviously not concerning itself with pre-16's, yet both performing markedly better than expected given the Big N's name recognition, I wonder if Nintendo isn't the "underdog" afterall.

If market trends continue in this direction, I can see video games garnering more respect as a pastime than something more than just "what kids do." I for one, would welcome such a change.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I think Nintendo isn't the underdog, mainly since its too early to predict such a thing. MS went into it the underdog because they are the new guys. Right now, Nintendo is just taking 3rd place in sales.

 

[James Nguyen]

Even the most ardent of anti MS people I know has to begrudgingly agree that if MS is anything, it's persistent. If it ever fails at something it truly cares about, you can be daaaaamn sure it'll try and try again until it succeeds. And if it requires it, they'll try and try and try even more.
Xbox has proven thus far, an amazing console launch for their first time out. I remember when Sony first came out of the gates and faced the same criticisms and skepticism about their first attempt at a console....and I also remember my first TWO playstations only properly working if they were upside down. :rolleyes
So given the quality they've shown so far, I just have a hardtime picturing the Xbox as an underdog in any way shape or form. I personally think it's set the precedent now of the American public willing and able to accept and support three mainstream console machines (excluding portables). I really hope that plays out as well as I feel that a more diverse gaming landscape benefits the gamer above the interests of the console/game makers.

 

[Rob Lutter]

how come everywhere I look I see 10 XBOXen and NO GAMECUBEen... I haven't seen a cube in over a week... I thought that XBOX wasn't shipping that many systems this year, did I miss something?

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

What I find interesting is that according to this article, Nintendo plans on increasing its GameCube supplies by 13% through March of next year in order to meet demands. Most of those extra units will also be shipped for the North American market.
I wonder what's going on here.

 

[Luke_H]

I agree, I see Xbox's everywhere. (target, Electronics boutique, Kay bee) But I haven't seen a Gamecube since its first week on the market.