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This is cut and paste from an industry news email...
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Dixons group stores set to drop GameCube
Massive blow for Nintendo, but is this a short-sighted move by Dixons?
UK newspaper The Mirror is reporting that the Dixons chain - whose stores include PC World and Currys - is planning to clear out its GameCube stocks and will be discontinuing support for the format.
A spokesman for the retail chain is quoted in the Mirror article as saying that "GameCube hasn't sold well, so for now we're concentrating on just Xbox and PS2. It's purely about shelf space." The Cube console bundle has been slashed to £99 to begin the clearance of stock.
The move seems poorly timed on Dixons' part, with Nintendo just about to roll out some of the first party software which many believe will make or break the long-term success of the console - namely Metroid Prime, which arrives on March 28th, and Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, which arrives in May.
The Dixons spokesperson did not rule out a return to stocking GameCube in future, however, commenting that "once we've cleared stock we'll review our next steps".
Although Nintendo is keen to play down the potential damage to the console from this decision, it's difficult to see this as anything other than a massive blow to the company. Dixons group stores account for a significant number of console hardware sales, and a very public decision to clear GameCube stocks could cause a knock-on effect with other retailers as well.
Commentators have strongly criticised Nintendo for its European strategy - or lack of same - in the past few months, after the company squandered a strong start in this territory with by far the weakest Christmas of all three major platforms. In the absence of decent software support, European consumers are seemingly voting with their wallets, and the performance of the Cube in Europe is by far its weakest showing out of the three major territories.
It remains to be seen whether the GameCube can be rescued by the late arrival of key titles such as Metroid Prime and Resident Evil Zero, which were released in the USA before Christmas; and perhaps more importantly, whether Nintendo takes this serious snub from a major retailer as a sign that it must pull its socks up in this territory.
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Dixons group stores set to drop GameCube
Massive blow for Nintendo, but is this a short-sighted move by Dixons?
UK newspaper The Mirror is reporting that the Dixons chain - whose stores include PC World and Currys - is planning to clear out its GameCube stocks and will be discontinuing support for the format.
A spokesman for the retail chain is quoted in the Mirror article as saying that "GameCube hasn't sold well, so for now we're concentrating on just Xbox and PS2. It's purely about shelf space." The Cube console bundle has been slashed to £99 to begin the clearance of stock.
The move seems poorly timed on Dixons' part, with Nintendo just about to roll out some of the first party software which many believe will make or break the long-term success of the console - namely Metroid Prime, which arrives on March 28th, and Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, which arrives in May.
The Dixons spokesperson did not rule out a return to stocking GameCube in future, however, commenting that "once we've cleared stock we'll review our next steps".
Although Nintendo is keen to play down the potential damage to the console from this decision, it's difficult to see this as anything other than a massive blow to the company. Dixons group stores account for a significant number of console hardware sales, and a very public decision to clear GameCube stocks could cause a knock-on effect with other retailers as well.
Commentators have strongly criticised Nintendo for its European strategy - or lack of same - in the past few months, after the company squandered a strong start in this territory with by far the weakest Christmas of all three major platforms. In the absence of decent software support, European consumers are seemingly voting with their wallets, and the performance of the Cube in Europe is by far its weakest showing out of the three major territories.
It remains to be seen whether the GameCube can be rescued by the late arrival of key titles such as Metroid Prime and Resident Evil Zero, which were released in the USA before Christmas; and perhaps more importantly, whether Nintendo takes this serious snub from a major retailer as a sign that it must pull its socks up in this territory.
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No....
Never!
I whole heartedly agre with your limited and biased opinion.
Yeah!
Never!
I whole heartedly agre with your limited and biased opinion.
Yeah!
Cyclone wrote:
> Yeah....clever Robin.
>
> *claps*
um, are you being just a little bit sarcastic...
> Yeah....clever Robin.
>
> *claps*
um, are you being just a little bit sarcastic...
Yeah....clever Robin.
*claps*
*claps*
Good, they need to, it is not exactly the best console to buy, people will be buying xbox or ps2, real consoles, not just an extra big game boy...
CDGT wrote:
> What a shame! The fantastic success of the Gamecube is not going to be
> effected by Dixons deciding to take them off the shelves. Sarcasm is
> great isn't it
There should be some sort of sacasm emote/quotes? ... It used to be one of the roles of the classic smilie, though since everyone uses them for pretty much anything these days, it seems a shame theres been no replacement (especially given how often people consfuse sarcastic comments for actual statements?)...
Maybe '!'...
!Sales figures really effect the amount of enjoyment I get from a game!
or '/' and '\'
/All RTS titles really arn't excatly the same game with different graphics\
I dunno, maybe its all crap? :)
pb wrote:
> While we can't forget that it was high street stores that helped push
> gaming in the early days (WHSmiths and Boots at the time), it seems
> that most people tend to buy their consoles online these days.
Still, a HUGE number of people buy their consoles in the shops? ... I would have thought the majority of UK console sales are through physical retail outlets rather than online?
> What a shame! The fantastic success of the Gamecube is not going to be
> effected by Dixons deciding to take them off the shelves. Sarcasm is
> great isn't it
There should be some sort of sacasm emote/quotes? ... It used to be one of the roles of the classic smilie, though since everyone uses them for pretty much anything these days, it seems a shame theres been no replacement (especially given how often people consfuse sarcastic comments for actual statements?)...
Maybe '!'...
!Sales figures really effect the amount of enjoyment I get from a game!
or '/' and '\'
/All RTS titles really arn't excatly the same game with different graphics\
I dunno, maybe its all crap? :)
pb wrote:
> While we can't forget that it was high street stores that helped push
> gaming in the early days (WHSmiths and Boots at the time), it seems
> that most people tend to buy their consoles online these days.
Still, a HUGE number of people buy their consoles in the shops? ... I would have thought the majority of UK console sales are through physical retail outlets rather than online?
While we can't forget that it was high street stores that helped push gaming in the early days (WHSmiths and Boots at the time), it seems that most people tend to buy their consoles online these days.
Still, any shop suggesting that they will stop stocking one of the current consoles is bad news for the industry, such as when Woolworths refused to even consider stocking Xbox when it first arrived. It just shows how much profit can drive decisions these days compared to even 10 years ago.
I, for one, don't see this whole 'Gamecube has the weakest software lineup' arguement. The problem is that the Gamecube has the line-up that is least tempting to the casual gamer (oh how I hate that phrase, but for want of a better description) and doesn't have as many film and tv tie-in licences. I like the Cube's software and would be lost without my current Nintendo machine, as I would with the PS2 and Xbox (though the Xbox is the machine I have the least games for, currently only 3 as the games tend to be ones I can find cheaper on the PS2 in most cases).
Still, it's only one shop and unless others follow suit it will be a similar case to the whole Xbox vs Woolworths thing.
Still, any shop suggesting that they will stop stocking one of the current consoles is bad news for the industry, such as when Woolworths refused to even consider stocking Xbox when it first arrived. It just shows how much profit can drive decisions these days compared to even 10 years ago.
I, for one, don't see this whole 'Gamecube has the weakest software lineup' arguement. The problem is that the Gamecube has the line-up that is least tempting to the casual gamer (oh how I hate that phrase, but for want of a better description) and doesn't have as many film and tv tie-in licences. I like the Cube's software and would be lost without my current Nintendo machine, as I would with the PS2 and Xbox (though the Xbox is the machine I have the least games for, currently only 3 as the games tend to be ones I can find cheaper on the PS2 in most cases).
Still, it's only one shop and unless others follow suit it will be a similar case to the whole Xbox vs Woolworths thing.
I'm sure I read somewhere else that there were a few other places also going along with the price drop.
Good news if you don't own one yet but want one.
Good news if you don't own one yet but want one.
Dixons are overpriced.
Slaveunit wrote:
> Little Hobbo wrote:
> Hey Slave, did you get this from the Acegamez mailing list?
>
> Yep. I've been working for them for some time now.
Cool, me too. Whats your real name?
> Little Hobbo wrote:
> Hey Slave, did you get this from the Acegamez mailing list?
>
> Yep. I've been working for them for some time now.
Cool, me too. Whats your real name?
this is old news Slaveunit
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