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The release is, of course, confirmed as May 3rd, and it’s quite a long way away.
Most speculation in the ninty forum was on a date rather closer to the xbox’s mid-March launch, and this, if properly planned, would almost certainly have been possible, and would have mirrored the same timing seen in America.
So why didn’t it happen?
Well, there has been speculation about alignment with various other big events, such as the world cup, high-profile film releases, and other such potential marketing tie-ins. Perhaps a contributing factor, but given that these connections could be made, almost as effectively, with an earlier console release, I can’t see this factor having had much weight when Nintendo made their decision.
Console production times? Well, the European release will mean Nintendo have to produce enough machines, and games and peripherals for that matter, to meet the demands from three large markets. Perhaps they did need more time to build up to the 500,000 machines for Europe’s launch, and the additional 500,000 to follow by the end of the year. While the delay between Japanese and American launches is less than that between American and European, there are of course now two other markets selling cubes during Europe’s launch. Surely though, nintendo are big enough to make it happen without *such* a large gap?
Also, games: Nintendo have stated how important the large number of launch titles is to them, but with the highest quantity ever, and dwarfing the range at launch in America or Japan, the number of launch titles is virtually at breaking point. Recently it was announced, for example that Soul Fighter, originally planned as a launch title, have been delayed because of the competition at launch. Admittedly a port of a dreamcast title that wasn’t that great anyway, but it shows the point non the less.
My theory?
Nintendo don’t want another match-up with the x-box. Without relying on stats (please!), in America, the cube’s alignment with the x-box release hasn’t been particularly positive for Nintendo’s sales. The benefits of the gap between the release dates could give Nintendo longer to power up the hype machine than Microsoft (their budget reportedly in the region of a hundred million euros), and when people think about the x-box around launch time, the month and a half until gamecube’s release won’t seem too long.
With the gap, it might not be the situation of consumers having to chose between the two. After a month and a half upwards, a few of those spending 300 pounds for the x-box may be coming round to the idea of also investing in a new-looking gamecube for a lot less.
While the vast number of ports we’re seeing won’t exactly help this cause (no need to buy a new machine to play games available for the old one), there seem sufficient exclusives to give this argument some weight.
Of course, in deciding on their launch date, nintendo will have considered all these factors, and probably many more besides, and all will have played a role in their decision. But to me, the biggest factor wasn’t the logistics of machine production, or anything else for that matter, but, if you will, fear or reliving America’s launch, when the gamecube can be so much more.
Thanks for reading.
Or skimming over the bits that looked important.
Or jumping straight to the end.
: )
Most speculation in the ninty forum was on a date rather closer to the xbox’s mid-March launch, and this, if properly planned, would almost certainly have been possible, and would have mirrored the same timing seen in America.
So why didn’t it happen?
Well, there has been speculation about alignment with various other big events, such as the world cup, high-profile film releases, and other such potential marketing tie-ins. Perhaps a contributing factor, but given that these connections could be made, almost as effectively, with an earlier console release, I can’t see this factor having had much weight when Nintendo made their decision.
Console production times? Well, the European release will mean Nintendo have to produce enough machines, and games and peripherals for that matter, to meet the demands from three large markets. Perhaps they did need more time to build up to the 500,000 machines for Europe’s launch, and the additional 500,000 to follow by the end of the year. While the delay between Japanese and American launches is less than that between American and European, there are of course now two other markets selling cubes during Europe’s launch. Surely though, nintendo are big enough to make it happen without *such* a large gap?
Also, games: Nintendo have stated how important the large number of launch titles is to them, but with the highest quantity ever, and dwarfing the range at launch in America or Japan, the number of launch titles is virtually at breaking point. Recently it was announced, for example that Soul Fighter, originally planned as a launch title, have been delayed because of the competition at launch. Admittedly a port of a dreamcast title that wasn’t that great anyway, but it shows the point non the less.
My theory?
Nintendo don’t want another match-up with the x-box. Without relying on stats (please!), in America, the cube’s alignment with the x-box release hasn’t been particularly positive for Nintendo’s sales. The benefits of the gap between the release dates could give Nintendo longer to power up the hype machine than Microsoft (their budget reportedly in the region of a hundred million euros), and when people think about the x-box around launch time, the month and a half until gamecube’s release won’t seem too long.
With the gap, it might not be the situation of consumers having to chose between the two. After a month and a half upwards, a few of those spending 300 pounds for the x-box may be coming round to the idea of also investing in a new-looking gamecube for a lot less.
While the vast number of ports we’re seeing won’t exactly help this cause (no need to buy a new machine to play games available for the old one), there seem sufficient exclusives to give this argument some weight.
Of course, in deciding on their launch date, nintendo will have considered all these factors, and probably many more besides, and all will have played a role in their decision. But to me, the biggest factor wasn’t the logistics of machine production, or anything else for that matter, but, if you will, fear or reliving America’s launch, when the gamecube can be so much more.
Thanks for reading.
Or skimming over the bits that looked important.
Or jumping straight to the end.
: )
Page:
Well, do you think casual gamers will buy a £300 console, and then a £150 one a month later- I doubt it.
The people who will do this are the hardcore gamers who would have done it anyway. The consoles have different sorts of games on- each aimed at a different market. Why a casual gamer would even want both is beyond me!
As for the sales figures, both Nintendo and MS are doind better than their predicted figures- showing the market may well be big enough for 3 consoles after all!
(Maybe I'll do a topic on that very idea)
Sonic
The people who will do this are the hardcore gamers who would have done it anyway. The consoles have different sorts of games on- each aimed at a different market. Why a casual gamer would even want both is beyond me!
As for the sales figures, both Nintendo and MS are doind better than their predicted figures- showing the market may well be big enough for 3 consoles after all!
(Maybe I'll do a topic on that very idea)
Sonic
The release is, of course, confirmed as May 3rd, and it’s quite a long way away.
Most speculation in the ninty forum was on a date rather closer to the xbox’s mid-March launch, and this, if properly planned, would almost certainly have been possible, and would have mirrored the same timing seen in America.
So why didn’t it happen?
Well, there has been speculation about alignment with various other big events, such as the world cup, high-profile film releases, and other such potential marketing tie-ins. Perhaps a contributing factor, but given that these connections could be made, almost as effectively, with an earlier console release, I can’t see this factor having had much weight when Nintendo made their decision.
Console production times? Well, the European release will mean Nintendo have to produce enough machines, and games and peripherals for that matter, to meet the demands from three large markets. Perhaps they did need more time to build up to the 500,000 machines for Europe’s launch, and the additional 500,000 to follow by the end of the year. While the delay between Japanese and American launches is less than that between American and European, there are of course now two other markets selling cubes during Europe’s launch. Surely though, nintendo are big enough to make it happen without *such* a large gap?
Also, games: Nintendo have stated how important the large number of launch titles is to them, but with the highest quantity ever, and dwarfing the range at launch in America or Japan, the number of launch titles is virtually at breaking point. Recently it was announced, for example that Soul Fighter, originally planned as a launch title, have been delayed because of the competition at launch. Admittedly a port of a dreamcast title that wasn’t that great anyway, but it shows the point non the less.
My theory?
Nintendo don’t want another match-up with the x-box. Without relying on stats (please!), in America, the cube’s alignment with the x-box release hasn’t been particularly positive for Nintendo’s sales. The benefits of the gap between the release dates could give Nintendo longer to power up the hype machine than Microsoft (their budget reportedly in the region of a hundred million euros), and when people think about the x-box around launch time, the month and a half until gamecube’s release won’t seem too long.
With the gap, it might not be the situation of consumers having to chose between the two. After a month and a half upwards, a few of those spending 300 pounds for the x-box may be coming round to the idea of also investing in a new-looking gamecube for a lot less.
While the vast number of ports we’re seeing won’t exactly help this cause (no need to buy a new machine to play games available for the old one), there seem sufficient exclusives to give this argument some weight.
Of course, in deciding on their launch date, nintendo will have considered all these factors, and probably many more besides, and all will have played a role in their decision. But to me, the biggest factor wasn’t the logistics of machine production, or anything else for that matter, but, if you will, fear or reliving America’s launch, when the gamecube can be so much more.
Thanks for reading.
Or skimming over the bits that looked important.
Or jumping straight to the end.
: )
Most speculation in the ninty forum was on a date rather closer to the xbox’s mid-March launch, and this, if properly planned, would almost certainly have been possible, and would have mirrored the same timing seen in America.
So why didn’t it happen?
Well, there has been speculation about alignment with various other big events, such as the world cup, high-profile film releases, and other such potential marketing tie-ins. Perhaps a contributing factor, but given that these connections could be made, almost as effectively, with an earlier console release, I can’t see this factor having had much weight when Nintendo made their decision.
Console production times? Well, the European release will mean Nintendo have to produce enough machines, and games and peripherals for that matter, to meet the demands from three large markets. Perhaps they did need more time to build up to the 500,000 machines for Europe’s launch, and the additional 500,000 to follow by the end of the year. While the delay between Japanese and American launches is less than that between American and European, there are of course now two other markets selling cubes during Europe’s launch. Surely though, nintendo are big enough to make it happen without *such* a large gap?
Also, games: Nintendo have stated how important the large number of launch titles is to them, but with the highest quantity ever, and dwarfing the range at launch in America or Japan, the number of launch titles is virtually at breaking point. Recently it was announced, for example that Soul Fighter, originally planned as a launch title, have been delayed because of the competition at launch. Admittedly a port of a dreamcast title that wasn’t that great anyway, but it shows the point non the less.
My theory?
Nintendo don’t want another match-up with the x-box. Without relying on stats (please!), in America, the cube’s alignment with the x-box release hasn’t been particularly positive for Nintendo’s sales. The benefits of the gap between the release dates could give Nintendo longer to power up the hype machine than Microsoft (their budget reportedly in the region of a hundred million euros), and when people think about the x-box around launch time, the month and a half until gamecube’s release won’t seem too long.
With the gap, it might not be the situation of consumers having to chose between the two. After a month and a half upwards, a few of those spending 300 pounds for the x-box may be coming round to the idea of also investing in a new-looking gamecube for a lot less.
While the vast number of ports we’re seeing won’t exactly help this cause (no need to buy a new machine to play games available for the old one), there seem sufficient exclusives to give this argument some weight.
Of course, in deciding on their launch date, nintendo will have considered all these factors, and probably many more besides, and all will have played a role in their decision. But to me, the biggest factor wasn’t the logistics of machine production, or anything else for that matter, but, if you will, fear or reliving America’s launch, when the gamecube can be so much more.
Thanks for reading.
Or skimming over the bits that looked important.
Or jumping straight to the end.
: )
Page: