GameCube Sales Surge

November 4, 2003, 8:06 am EST
Total comments: 23

It looks like $99.99 is the magic number!

MARKET SHARE FOR NINTENDO GAMECUBE DOUBLES FOLLOWING PRICE DROP TO $99.99

Sales of Nintendo GameCube Continue to Surge

REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 4, 2003 – In the video game industry, momentum has a new name: Nintendo GameCube™. In just 35 days of availability at a new manufacturer's suggested retail price of $99.99, Nintendo GameCube has more than quadrupled its sales rate and grabbed 18 points of market share from its two competitors.

Sales figures gathered from the nation's largest retailers show that Nintendo GameCube effectively doubled its market share to 37 percent from 19 percent. The system now runs a strong second in the U.S. market as it challenges for leadership during the important holiday sales season.

"In a tough economy, we've found the sweet spot on pricing, and players are grabbing Nintendo GameCube systems off the shelves at the fastest rate since the console's debut," says George Harrison, senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications, Nintendo of America. "With an $80 price advantage over other systems and the impending launch of the mega-hit Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, this offer is just too good to resist."

Harrison announced the dramatic sales figures today during Harris Nesbitt Gerard's Playtime 2003 Investor Conference in New York. Nintendo has been on a roll on a number of fronts and the statistics bear this out.

When combined with the Game Boy® Advance SP, Nintendo is responsible for half of all system sales to date in 2003. In addition, Nintendo game systems are the only ones to show a year-to-date increase in sales compared with 2002. Game Boy Advance sales are up 25 percent from 2002, while Nintendo GameCube sales are 2 percent above last year. In contrast, sales for Microsoft's Xbox dropped 3 percent and Sony's PlayStation 2 dropped 17.5 percent.*

To keep the momentum going, Nintendo's holiday lineup includes a strong series of games, including Mario Kart®: Double Dash!!™, the season's expected monster seller. Mario Kart: Double Dash!! raises the bar for competitive game play by letting players choose their karts and two characters – one to drive, one to toss weapons or swipe them from other players. The pair can even switch places during the race to maximize strategy. The game is Rated E for Everyone and will be available Nov. 17 at an MSRP of $49.99.

With its amazing graphics and realistic depiction of wild weather conditions, the new 1080°™: Avalanche snowboarding game will be a big hit, while Mario Party® 5 builds on a successful franchise to bring family fun to an electronic version of classic board games. Both games are Rated E for Everyone and will be available at an MSRP of $49.99. Mario Party 5 launches Nov. 11, while 1080°: Avalanche will be available Dec. 1. More than 320 games for the Nintendo GameCube and 550 games for the Game Boy Advance will be available by the end of the year.

Talkback

The OmenNovember 04, 2003

19% to 37%? Now thats impressive.

vuduNovember 04, 2003

i really like how in every press release for the past 2 months nintendo always mentions mario kart double dash. whether the announcement has anything to do with game or not, it's always there.

but this is really great news for nintendo. let's hope some developers/publishers (not really sure who to blame) take notice and reinstate some previously cancelled gamecube games.

KnoxxvilleNovember 04, 2003

*agrees with kingvudu"

Ian SaneNovember 04, 2003

This is great news. If Nintendo can maintain this market share into the next generation then it will only help the N5. It's actually rather ingenious. People didn't really want to buy a Cube as their main console but now that they can afford to take a risk with an inexpensive console or buy it as a second console it's able to creep into the homes of people who otherwise may never have given the Cube a chance. Now that they'll be more familiar with the Nintendo style of gaming they may give the N5 a more serious look instead of completely ignoring it in favour of a PS3.

One thing Nintendo has to do is make sure that there's a steady string of hit titles to keep the new owners around. I think they'll be okay though since many of what were supposed to be big 2003 titles have been delayed until early 2004. In fact they may have been Nintendo's plan all along.

BranDonk KongNovember 04, 2003

THey grabbed 18 market share points in just 35 days? The increase in GCN sales must have seriously hurt PS2 and XBox sales for that to happen. Nintendo says they're a strong #2 in the US now, I'd like to see the total sales for all systems now.

CaseyRybackNovember 04, 2003

I think the price drop would have been more effective if they would have had a stronger holiday line up, but at least they can give people who buy the console a steady stream of games instead of releasing them all at one time

KDR_11kNovember 04, 2003

Errr... Does marketshare refer to "total sold" or "currently selling"?

nolimit19November 04, 2003

i think the market share refered to that month. they would have had to sell millions to get it up to 37 overall....maybe htey did, but i kind of doubt it.

vuduNovember 04, 2003

gamecube market share doubles

Quote
GameCube now runs a "strong second" to PlayStation 2 in monthly sales, at least based on October sell-through data.

nolimit19November 04, 2003

if they had final fantasy and metal gear coming out, nintendo would have destroyed the christmas rush.

vuduNovember 04, 2003

it could still work out fairly well. if my relatives are an example of the norm (which, in itself, might be a stretch) they typically give lots of cash to the "kids" in the family. (i use quotes because i'm hardly a kid anymore.) so now you have 15 year old jonny who just got $200 from grandpa joe. what does he buy? well he can get an xbox with halo, crimson skies, grabbed by the ghoulies (forgive me, i don't follow xbox too much, so those are the first games that came to mind) but wait, he only has $200. or he can get a gamecube and then pick up final fantasy and metal gear solid when they come out. (keep in mind, 15 year old jonny is much too mature for kiddie games like mario kart.)

SuperLink666November 04, 2003

kingvudu little jonny is obviously uninformed so will probably go with xbox because he knows Halo is out right now. There is no hype outside of the internet people for MGS and final fantasy.. nintendo need to start pushing them

playstation gamers are familiar with FF and MGS because thats what they basically had to play just like nintendo gamers had mario and zelda

mouse_clickerNovember 04, 2003

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if they had final fantasy and metal gear coming out, nintendo would have destroyed the christmas rush.

EXACTLY! While I'm sure Mario Kart will sell great, Nintendo really should have gotten at least Metal Gear Solid, and ideally FF:CC, out for the Christmas season and sales would have been higher than they ever could have thought possible.

Flames_of_chaosLukasz Balicki, Staff AlumnusNovember 04, 2003

Well Nintendo will have a strong Q1 '04 sales and that zelda compalation bundled with the Cube hardware will help with Cubes impressive 100 dollar price tags

KnowsNothingNovember 04, 2003

it's $99.99

nolimit19November 04, 2003

that is the worst avatar i have seen in my life

GoldShadow1November 04, 2003

Why should Nintendo focus only on new games coming out to encourage system sales? Maybe it's just me, but when I consider a console, I consider ALL the games out for that system that I want. I mean, not considering unreleased titles at all, GCN already has Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Mario Sunshine, Zelda: Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, Viewtiful Joe, F-Zero GX, Super Monkey Ball 1+2, Eternal Darkness, Animal Crossing.... all great games, and ALL exclusive. It seems to me that that's a much better reason to get a GameCube than for this fall's one big game (Mario Kart). But then again, maybe I'm overestimating people.

mouse_clickerNovember 04, 2003

If Zelda or Metroid didn't entice some people to buy a Gamecube then, they certainly won't entice those same people to buy it now.

ghostViNovember 05, 2003

Well, money does matter, and in fact I do know people who are getting a Cube now because of MP. Remember, it's only not-new to those who played it.

mouse_clickerNovember 05, 2003

That's a good point- whereas before they wanted to play the games but didn't want to spend a lot on a new system, they can now afford it. Nintendo would be wise to start pushing some of their older games, like Metroid, Mario, and Zelda.

vuduNovember 05, 2003

Quote
Originally posted by: nolimit19
that is the worst avatar i have seen in my life

i concur. please...knowsnothing...change it. for the love of god, change it.

ghostViNovember 05, 2003

Absolutely agree, a Metroid Prime advertising campaign in the UK would be bound to push GameCube to the 2nd place there, no one would resist a 79 system bundled with a players-choice-priced MP. Just let the gamers know its out there...

akdaman1November 09, 2003

You people are under estimating nintendos line up...

Mario Kart ( best selling nintendo series for the past 2 generations )
1080 Avalanche ( sold 1 000 000 copies in Japan alone ( the precessor ) )
Star Wars ( nuff said )
Mario Party ( c'mon we all know this will sell like crazy )
F-zero ( I know its out but this will rule )
Baten Kaitos ( this will sell for japan )

I am not in the mood for naming them all but yeah it would have been better with MGS.TT but well im not gonna complain.

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