Some good news and some bad news for Gamecube owners.... (1 Viewer)

[Romier S]

First the good news. Not suprisingly Retro is supposedly already in the planning stages for a sequel to Metroid Prime! Tentatively scheduled for a 2004 release.

Here is the report:

Metroid Prime 2

Some more good news. Nintendo is bringing back thier Players Choice line. First three titles included are Super Smash Bros Melee, Pikmin and Luigis Mansion which will be sold at a new price point of 29.95.

Here is the report:

Players Choice is back!


Now for the bad news. Sega has apparently canned World Series Baseball on the Gamecube. This actually comes as little suprise as Sega had previously mentioned that Sega Sports titles may not appear on the Gamecube in the future. Rather disheartening for Gamecube sports fans:frowning: but again, not suprising.

Here is the report:

No WSB for Cube

 

[Brett Hancock]

That Players Choice announcement is good news for new or soon to be gamecube owners such as myself. I am to not surprised about WSB being pulled but I am not dissapointed at all, I'll just buy it for the box.

 

[Graeme Clark]

Glad to see that Player's Choice is back. Little disappointed that it's $10 higher than Sony's Greatest Hits titles (as it means those games will most likely still be $40 here). Hopefully Microsoft has something similar planned.

 

[CameronS]

I had also heard that Sega will be pulling many Sega Sports titles, as the Cube versions were not selling as well.

If those sales lists that have been going around are in anyway accurate, they weren't even selling that great on PS2 and XBOX (sadly; they are great games). So, I guess you can't blame them for pulling Cube support.

 

[Sean Eldridge]

Little disappointed that it's $10 higher than Sony's Greatest Hits titles

I agree. If you're going to have a "greatest hits" line at least make it comparable to others. $30 for Luigi's Mansion and Pikmin seems kinda high.

Sean

 

[Greg_S_H]

Not suprisingly Retro is supposedly already in the planning stages for a sequel to Metroid Prime!

It's a bit of a surprise to me, as Nintendo could have put Metroid back on the shelf again like they did after Super Metroid! Anyway, great news, and I no longer regret buying a Cube like I did at first (I'm not usually a console gamer ).

 

[Damien]

i don't think gamecube owners will cry over WSB, especially when 4 others are still slated for releases. I already have seen luigi's mansion and pikmin preowned for $25, but i will pick up super smash brothers as soon as i can.

 

[Eric C. Mylonas]

I'm more than disappointed, I'm mystified.

It seems to me that Nintendo has completely forgotten how to compete--based on how they ran their business in the 80s, maybe they really don't know how--as the N64 and, now, the Cube are demonstrating (GBA doesn't count since they have no competition).

Now I'm not going to be one of those idiots crying for them to go 3rd party simply because they don't want to buy the "kiddie" Cube (reality check: would you go 3rd party based on the $$$ they're making?) but if they ever want to get back to some semblance of their SNES days (never mind the NES days), they really need to get their act together and start to compete for the hearts and minds of the average, non-Nintendo acolyte, consumer.

This means, at the very least, matching Sony's greatest hits line in price.

 

[Masood Ali]

Well let's not complain too much. Does Microsoft even have a "Greatest Hits" lineup?

And also realize that "Greatest Hits" used to mean games selling 1 million copies or more; but nowadays, the Cube and Xbox aren't getting million-sellers as often as Sony.

And realize that each company has professionals, usually with degrees in business and economics, who decide price points to maximize profits for the company, not to minimize the amount that customers will spend.

Maybe that's why Halo isn't selling for

 

[Eric C. Mylonas]

Let's say you're somebody that only buys one console and you peruse the local software selection at, say, Best Buy.

Sony has a nice little section devoted to games selling for under $20; Nintendo has a nice little section for games under $30. Now, even though I lack that nice shiny MBA, I'm fairly certain the average consumer is going to think "wow, cool games for $20!" and maybe wonder (but probably not) why Nintendo games are more expensive.

No, I think it's a stupid stupid thing for them to do and simply perpetuates the notion that they really don't know what it is they're trying to do. If they're happy with their current userbase, then more power to them, but trying to squeeze people for an extra ten bucks isn't the way to go about expanding your marketshare when there's cheaper and, perceptually, cooler options.

I find it even more odd given the emphasis on the Cube's lower hardware price (it conjures images of a crack dealer

Sidenote: I'm a big Nintendo fan and I'm tired of seeing the company do stupid things that cost them marketshare. My criticism, such as it is, is meant constructively, not derisively.

 

[CaptDS9E]

Dosnt bother me really. Since i have X-box its the only system ill buy sports games for just for the online play. I had gamecube first and I still play it a lot but i use it for games like Metroid Prime,Starfox, Godzilla (this is coming out in updated form for xbox) and more...

capt

 

[Chris Beveridge]

Haven't those three games been selling at that price for awhile now? I could have sworn at least two of them have been selling for 29.95 at Toys R Us for awhile now.

 

[GlenHaag]

Melee has been at $49 for quite some time. I haven't seen that one drop as of yet. I might pick it up for $30 though.

Just as a sidenote, Nintendo always had their players choice titles at $29.99 in the past. N64, as well as SNES.

I'm guessing that they're following their past price structure.

Glen

 

[Mark Evans]

Nothing too shocking there I don't think. I'm off to buy Metroid Prime this very day, so I can already start anticipating that sequel I guess .

Lowered price on Pikmin of any sort is a good thing though. I'd been resisting this for a while since I want to pick it up but don't want to dole out a lot of cash on a game that may play great but is not overly long.

Bit disappointed Wave Race isn't on there though, nuts.

I think the Big N needs to market more than they're doing, but you have to admit that they're pretty sound financially so it's hard for them to really see a problem until they're knee-deep in financial trouble.

And say what you will of their marketing, but I did convert back from a Playstation to a Nintendo system when the Cube launched and I haven't regretted it one bit.

 

[Eric C. Mylonas]

If only everyone was as intelligent as you

 

[Joseph Young]

Well I guess I'm lucky, since I don't play Sports games. News doesn't bother me in the slightest.

However, I agree that if they're going to bring back 'Player's Choice' titles they had better make them competitive with the Sony Greatest Hits.

My local Fry's has periodic sales that have already lowered the price on Pikmin et al. to those levels, so 'player's choice' means little to nothing to me.

~j

 

[Damien]

c'monpeople..check this out http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/categorie...=p&intpageno=2

i just picked up eternal darkness for $25 used in store.(not the site) yes it has stickers but it is the same thing. Then I got Resident Evil 1 for $20. On the site saw Rouge Leader for $20, Pikmin, Luigi's Mansion, Bomberman Generations, eternal darkness, super monkey ball 1 are $25 preowned. SMS and SFA are $40 preowned. obviously ordering off the site isn't too smart since you may not get the booklet, but you'll find these deals at your local eb. also sonic 2/beach spikers was $30, and wave race amd wwx8 are $20.

 

[BrandonG]

Well I think the 29.95 is MSRP. I know that the PSX greatest hits MSRP was 24.95, so more than likely we can pick up these titles for 24.99 or maybe even 19.99. Since I don't work in retail any more I can't validate this assumption. I do remember back in the N64 days, games would MSRP for 59.99 and could be had regular price for 49.99 at most discount retailers, a savings of $10.

On a side note, I know for a fact that some of the greatest hits titles for PS2 did not sell over 1 million copies. Games like Virtua Fighter 2 according to Sega's numbers barely broke 500,000 units. I think Sony is trying to make as many titles GH so that they can have the largest selection of budget games.

 

[Eric C. Mylonas]

I think Sony redefined a Greatest Hit title as any game that sold over 400k a while back, so your theory would be correct.

 

[Romier S]

I think Sony redefined a Greatest Hit title as any game that sold over 400k a while back,

That would be correct. 400k is the magic number.

On the subject of million sellers, in the case of Virtua Fighter 4 (and Onimusha) for instance. Both titles were not million sellers in US sales only but I believe both have broken the million barrier in world wide sales.