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Nintendo of America has announced that the US market share of the GameCube has almost doubled according to NPD TRST data since the price of the console was dropped from 149 dollars US to 99 dollars thirty five days ago.

This is remarkable in its own right, but even more so with the current state of the US economy. The system does have an 80 dollar price advantage against the Playstation 2 and X Box. Nintendo of America is banking the market share continuing to grow with the upcoming holiday season, the release Mario Kart: Double Dash and the upcoming Zelda compilation that will be bundled free with new GameCubes starting November 17th. (Those who already own the GameCube can also get it while supplies last by purchasing two of the following: Mario Kart: Double Dash, Mario Party 5, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, or 1080: Avalanche

Source: Games_Are_Fun

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I figured Nintendo would move more units with the price cut, but it still is surprising. I'd love to pick one up once the Zelda compilation comes out. I'll just wait to play Hikaroo's though.



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"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle

I think there's more to it than just that. Nintendo can claim a victory, certainly, but I have some questions in my mind.

1. Does this mean that the market share on pieces sold has gone up over the last 35 days, or the market share of total ownership? If it's just recent sales, well, big deal. But if they mean total ownership in the US, then the numbers are too good to even be believable, I think.
2. Is this really a reflection on how many people want a cheap gamecube, or is it just a reflection on stagnating sales of the PS2?

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

It's a reflection of this current generation growing stale too quickly. Think about it: how long have the GameCube and XBox been around? Not nearly its target lifespan, which is six to seven years, and already Nintendo and Microsoft are hard at work (and RUSHING to finish) their next consoles. This generation, quite frankly, was a sucky one (of course, every generation of video games has it's diamonds in the rough) compared to past generations. Here's hoping that the next one will do better.

Price drops? Yeah, why the hell not? The system isn't going to be around for much longer. Another year, year and a half maybe. So why not lower the price, and make a killing in hardware sales to put towards the successor's development? Makes sense in my mind. Now all Nintendo needs are a few more Wind Waker caliber moneymakers.

Well I know that this was made before x-mas of last year but I'd judt like to point out that around x-mas time sales increase even more because of it's price drop no doubt and from what I've heard it was the most sold gaming system on the market during the holiday seasons.

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Climhazzard is the timeless evil robot who runs some of the cool stuff at CoN (mostly logging chat, since there are no quizzes at the moment), all the while watching and waiting for his moment to take over the world. -Tiddles