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[cvxfreak]

SOFTWARE

1. [GameCube - Nintendo] Paper Mario RPG - 159,422 (159, 422)
2. [PlayStation 2 - From Software] Tenchu Kurenai - 75,819 (75,819)
3. [PlayStation 2 - Konami] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 11 - 55,758 (261,073)
4. [GameBoy Advance - Konami] Boktai 2 - 37,844 (37,844)
5. [GameBoy Advance - Tomy] Naruto RPG - 32,005 (32,005)
6. [PlayStation 2 - Namco] Taiko no Tatsujin Astumare! - 30,983 (30,983)
7. [GameBoy Advance - Bandai] Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Omoide no Soumeikyoku - 30,851 (30,851)
8. [PlayStation 2 - Konami] Gradius V - 30,821 (30,821)
9. [PlayStation 2 - Sammy] Jissen Pachislot: Fist of the North Star - 20,346 (704,881)
10. [GameBoy Advance - Banpresto] Dragon Ball Z: THE LEGACY OF GOKU II INTERNATIONAL - 19,349 (19,349)

HARDWARE

1. (Sony) PlayStation 2 - 41,525 (1,540,357)
2. (Nintendo) GameBoy Advance SP - 35,988 (1,507,481)
3. (Nintendo) GameCube - 9,778 (417,081)
4. (Nintendo) GameBoy Advance - 2,362 (162,883)
5. (Microsoft) Xbox - 278 (22,513)
6. (Bandai) Swan Crystal - 76 (NA)
7. (Sony) PSone - 70 (12,530)

:O @ PSone

 

[Culex]

Great PM 2 sales. GC got so close to 10k, but not cigar.

 

[Littleberu]

PSOne got totally owned by the Xbox this week.

 

[Memles]

GCN Sales are a definite disappointment...what with the Enjoyment Plus Pack AND PM2.

Great for PM2 though.

 

[Kon Tiki]

PSOne got totally owned by the Xbox this week.

Could PSOne outsell Xenon next year?

 

[AniHawk]

GCN Sales are a definite disappointment...what with the Enjoyment Plus Pack AND PM2.

Great for PM2 though.

Yep

 

[Alcibiades]

Darn, Paper Mario 2 couldn't do much for the GCN. This was the last big hope for the year, hopefully word-of-mouth is strong for this title...

Nintendo needs to get another Tales games or even a SquareEnix title (anything with their logo on the cover will do), if they want to have an effective spike on sales...

 

[Li Mu Bai]

Anihawk was right, a console spike of about 5k. So 5 days of sales, Nintendo's already ahead of last year's track of a million consoles. You're on the gaming-media ball CVX!

 

[cvxfreak]

Paper Mario RPG wasn't really the GC's last hope for the year. It IS a Mario game, so it already has a fanbase to sell to that was previously established by SMS, MKDD, MP5, MP4 and MGFT. Fire Emblem is something that can do wonders on the GC.

 

[AirBrian]

At least Paper Mario sold well. Hopefully it has some legs.

 

[Culex]

Anihawk was right, a console spike of about 5k. So 5 days of sales, Nintendo's already ahead of last year's track of a million consoles. You're on the gaming-media ball CVX!

ToS helped push nearly 80,000 GC's last year. I hope Fire Emblem can do that or the GC won't hit 1,000,000.

 

[Li Mu Bai]

At least Paper Mario sold well. Hopefully it has some legs.

Hopefully AB?

 

[AniHawk]

Anihawk was right, a console spike of about 5k. So 5 days of sales, Nintendo's already ahead of last year's track of a million consoles. You're on the gaming-media ball CVX!

I wonder how much the system will be able to sell this year. Big game releases of Pikmin 2 and Paper Mario 2 haven't moved systems, and price drops and bundles haven't done much, compared to last year when it'd boost system sales to about the 15k-25k range.

On top of that, there's not a lot of multiplayer games coming out. Japan had Mario Party 5, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, WarioWare, Naruto 2, Donkey Konga, etc. This year there's that weird golf game thing, Mario Tennis, Mario Party 6, and Naruto 3. Fire Emblem's gonna be there too, but I doubt it'll sell much more than the GBA version, if at all, and I doubt all this will cause the system to perform like it did in 2003.

That said, I think the system will hit 800k-900k, but wont break 1 million like it did last year (though I said the same thing last year, and I turned out wrong).

 

[AirBrian]

Hopefully AB?

OK, it better have some legs. I think it will, it's just some of the GCN Japanese releases have started out real strong and fizzled out rather quickly.

 

[SolidSnakex]

I wonder how much the system will be able to sell this year. Big game releases of Pikmin 2 and Paper Mario 2 haven't moved systems, and price drops and bundles haven't done much, compared to last year when it'd boost system sales to about the 15k-25k range.

Those are big releases for Nintendo fans which are people who already own the GC, it's not big releases for the rest of the gaming public. The next big GC release is RE4 in Japan simply because it can bring in a fanbase outside of the Nintendo fanbase. All stuff like Pikmin, Paper Mario ect. do is sell to the people who already own the system.

 

[Li Mu Bai]

ToS helped push nearly 80,000 GC's last year. I hope Fire Emblem can do that or the GC won't hit 1,000,000.

Naruto 3 (this year?)
Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat
Fire Emblem
Mario Tennis
Starfox 2
VF: Quest

Plus the "software surprises" Nintendo hinted at. Although they don't as yet have anything with perceivably the console pushing power of TOS or FF:CC. They still have 5 months remaining & console sales will increase over the holidays regardless.

 

[cvxfreak]

I think Nintendo can move 1 Million GameCube systems but it'll be more like 2002 than 2003. 2003 came as a shock to me when looking at GC sales - especially when the big sales started in mid-December.

 

[AniHawk]

Those are big releases for Nintendo fans which are people who already own the GC, it's not big releases for the rest of the gaming public. The next big GC release is RE4 in Japan simply because it can bring in a fanbase outside of the Nintendo fanbase. All stuff like Pikmin, Paper Mario ect. do is sell to the people who already own the system.

That and everything in Japan right now seems to be pretty low. PS2 sales are usually in the 50k-80k range, and they've been in the 30k-40k range about as long as the GC's been selling 5k a week.

 

[Memles]

If Nintendo does unveil a new peripheral to use with Mario Party 6 that can make it a high profile, new concept, I think that might do wonders.

Until then, it's a matter of whether anything can really boost Hardware Sales.

 

[Jumpman]

The reason Gamecube has been lagging in Japan this year has to do with game quantity. There have been very few releases in the first half of the year, and sales have dropped accordingly. In previous years, Nintendo had between 7 and 10 games in the top 50 during this time of year. Right now, they are lucky to have 2 or 3. With so few new games to purchase, Japanese fans are left with little reason to stray from their PS2's.

You can't blame Paper Mario for anything, it doubled GC's weekly sales. During healthier times, that would have meant 20 to 30 thousand units. No one game, not even Resident Evil 4 will cause a permanent resurgance for Nintendo.

I don't really know what the Gamecube's release schedule looks like between now and November, but if it is anything like the first half of this year, then they will be lucky to even maintain 5,000 per week.

 

[Li Mu Bai]

The reason Gamecube has been lagging in Japan this year has to do with game quantity. There have been very few releases in the first half of the year, and sales have dropped accordingly. In previous years, Nintendo had between 7 and 10 games in the top 50 during this time of year. Right now, they are lucky to have 2 or 3. With so few new games to purchase, Japanese fans are left with little reason to stray from their PS2's.

You can't blame Paper Mario for anything, it doubled GC's weekly sales. During healthier times, that would have meant 20 to 30 thousand units. No one game, not even Resident Evil 4 will cause a permanent resurgance for Nintendo.

I don't really know what the Gamecube's release schedule looks like between now and November, but if it is anything like the first half of this year, then they will be lucky to even maintain 5,000 per week.

Jumpman both Pikmin 2 & PM2 will exceed 400-500k in sales, the hardcore golf sim Nintendo published simply didn't fit their demographic. RE4 will do what TOS & FF:CC's did, cause a sizable temporary spike within the userbase. The new LOZ will have an even more massive effect. I agree that their production, or drought periods between software has wavered this year in JPN. '05 actually looks better in the software regard. Especially with very plausible rumors of TOS & FF:CC's sequels launching exclusively for the GC. But some of their announced releases for JPN were mentioned already within this thread.

Mario Party 6
Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat
Naruto 3
Mario Tennis
VF: Quest
Fire Emblem: Souen no Kiseki
Starfox 2
Homeland
Mega Man X: Command Mission (w/GBA connectivity)

I would expect a "surprise" Golden Sun announcement possibly, & I would expect more 3rd party support as well. But comparatively, even PS2's console sales are down drastically this year as Ani said. Internally Nintendo is working on 20 DS titles alone, although this is no reason to neglect the GC. Which makes 05's software lineup so opposite as far as titles that reach out to the broader demographic are concerned. There isn't much on that list that would appeal to non-GC owners, but enough to carry the GC to a million sales through the holidays IMO.

 

[SolidSnakex]

That and everything in Japan right now seems to be pretty low. PS2 sales are usually in the 50k-80k range, and they've been in the 30k-40k range about as long as the GC's been selling 5k a week.

Well there's a pretty big difference between averaging 40k weekly and 5k. My point really is that Nintendo really isn't going to see any sizeable sales spikes from their own software outside of possibly Zelda. They need more 3rd party software like RE4 or a new Tales.

 

[TheGreenGiant]

I think you guys are/have always been missing the dvd factor in the ps2/gc sales fight. I'm sure in Japan, the games isn't what is really defining gamecube sales - if Nintendo hadn't been cheapasses and saved on DVD licensing, that weekly sales number is bound to be higher. For value, the PS2 can play psone titles, dvds and ps2 games. That makes it a more worthy purchase than the cube. If I had to buy a new console to get into gaming, the PS2 is the console I would buy.

NEXT GEN... try harder Nintendo.

 

[Doogdogg]

The GC gets like 1 or 2 titles released per month there right?

5,000 average per week is good versus 20-40k PS2 do with dozen of new and many exclusive titles.

Nintendo needs a constant flow of games or it'll be like this all over next gen.

 

[cvxfreak]

I hope the DVD Player factor doesn't play out too much next generation. That said, it probably won't...

 

[Li Mu Bai]

Well there's a pretty big difference between averaging 40k weekly and 5k. My point really is that Nintendo really isn't going to see any sizeable sales spikes from their own software outside of possibly Zelda. They need more 3rd party software like RE4 or a new Tales.

Agreed SSX. Which is what '05 seems to be offering.

Phantasy Star Universe
RE4
LOZ
Killer 7
Mario 128?

To name a few of the knowns. Of course not all of these titles are on the level of Tales or FF:CC, but if those rumored sequels turn out to be true '05 would definitely be NOJ's best year, surpassing the console sales of the N64 there.

 

[Doogdogg]

PSU is coming to GC?!

 

[SolidSnakex]

I hope the DVD Player factor doesn't play out too much next generation. That said, it probably won't...

It'll be in systems next gen, atleast the PS3 and Xbox 2.

 

[cvxfreak]

I think Nintendo is definitely considering DVD Player support for the Revolution. But Nintendo needs to take an integrated approach; the Q is expensive because it uses two lasers. Hopefully Nintendo figures out an inexpensive solution for their next system.

 

[Chibbi Brady]

Excellent sales for PM2. Very similar to Pikmin2 which did around 162,000 for it's first week. It had a big drop to 30,000 for it's second week but pretty much stayed at that level for weeks and weeks. It'll be interesting to see how PM2 fares next week in comparison.

 

[djtiesto]

Yeah, I thought Phantasy Star Universe was announced for all 3 systems?

 

[ge-man]

I don't think Nintendo is too worried about the GC's performance at this point. I think they'll be happy as long as they make sure that they are serving their userbase this year. The DS will be the main concern as we leave the summer months.

As for the question of DVD playback--what would be the point? The next consoles may be introducing a brand new optical media. It's too early to guess where things are going, and with cheap-o DVD players widely available plain jane DVD playback will offer little this time around. The PS2 launched around the time DVD finally exploded into the mainstream. Some might argue that the PS2 actually played a role in that explosion. The climate will be hugely different now.

 

[Jumpman]

Jumpman both Pikmin 2 & PM2 will exceed 400-500k in sales, the hardcore golf sim Nintendo published simply didn't fit their demographic. RE4 will do what TOS & FF:CC's did, cause a sizable temporary spike within the userbase. The new LOZ will have an even more massive effect. I agree that their production, or drought periods between software has wavered this year in JPN. '05 actually looks better in the software regard. Especially with very plausible rumors of TOS & FF:CC's sequels launching exclusively for the GC. But some of their announced releases for JPN were mentioned already within this thread.

Mario Party 6
Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat
Naruto 3
Mario Tennis
VF: Quest
Fire Emblem: Souen no Kiseki
Starfox 2
Homeland
Mega Man X: Command Mission (w/GBA connectivity)

I would expect a "surprise" Golden Sun announcement possibly, & I would expect more 3rd party support as well. But comparatively, even PS2's console sales are down drastically this year as Ani said. Internally Nintendo is working on 20 DS titles alone, although this is no reason to neglect the GC. Which makes 05's software lineup so opposite as far as titles that reach out to the broader demographic are concerned. There isn't much on that list that would appeal to non-GC owners, but enough to carry the GC to a million sales through the holidays IMO.

Nintendo isn't lacking in the "big titles" department, they are lacking in the filler department. They have no problem getting the big games to sell well on Gamecube, and they continue to prove this with games like PM2 and Pikmin 2. The problem is there is nothing else. There is not enough titles releasing between the big titles to maintain a constant buzz about the Gamecube. Without a decent flow of lesser known games to pad the GC's library, there is no chance of a breakthrough, unexpected hit. To remain competitive with the PS2, Nintendo needs to see at least two games released per week, even during the slowest periods of the year. They don't all have to be hits, just something decent to remind people that Gamecube is alive and well, and not in some six month hibernation, waiting for its next tent pole release. The list of games you highlighted are all fine and good, but these should be the highlights of the GC's lineup, not the entire list. With a strong holiday season, the Gamecube still has an outside chance to reach a million this year. The problem with this thinking is that it would likely have only occured as a result of spillover from 2003's strong holiday sales. The numbers would say that Nintendo is still on track, but reality would likely eventually paint a different picture. If things continue as they have been, in 2005 we will debating whether or not GC can hit 500,000 not 1,000,000. The bottom line is that Nintendo needs about 100 games released per year in Japan if they want to remain relevant. What are they currently on track for in 2004?

I think you guys are/have always been missing the dvd factor in the ps2/gc sales fight. I'm sure in Japan, the games isn't what is really defining gamecube sales - if Nintendo hadn't been cheapasses and saved on DVD licensing, that weekly sales number is bound to be higher. For value, the PS2 can play psone titles, dvds and ps2 games. That makes it a more worthy purchase than the cube. If I had to buy a new console to get into gaming, the PS2 is the console I would buy.

I think you are over estimating the current value of DVD playability. It was important during the launch period because the PS2 was cheaper than most stand alone DVD players. I doubt this is still the case. If DVD playback was so important then wouldn't the Xbox be doing a little better? As far as what console you would pick, of course it would be PS2. But not because of DVD playback, you choose it because of the games. If the Gamecube's and PS2's game librarys were reversed, but PS2 still had DVD playback, which system would you pick first then?

 

[SolidSnakex]

Yeah, I thought Phantasy Star Universe was announced for all 3 systems?

It's not on any system right now. EGM is predicting it'll be on the PS2, others are saying it's not going to be on this generation of systems at all. So no one really knows. We aren't evenn ncompletely sure of what it is right now. There's even conflicting reports on that (whether or not it's a MMORPG or not).

 

[cvxfreak]

Nintendo and its partners tried to get the GameCube going this year. Custom Robo, MGSTTS, Gundam, Zelda FSA and Pikmin 2 were all to help the GC move forward in sales, but unfortunately the current userbase bought those up. Summer has been dull this year on the GC compared to last year when they got VJ, ACe+, FFCC and ToS.

I think the best solution would be to drop the price of the GC more accordingly to US prices because Japan pays $30 more for their GameCube and they don't even get a TV cable.

 

[Gahiggidy]

I think Nintendo is definitely considering DVD Player support for the Revolution. But Nintendo needs to take an integrated approach; the Q is expensive because it uses two lasers. Hopefully Nintendo figures out an inexpensive solution for their next system.

How on earth would you play a DVD as a hologram? The only thing I can think of is projecting the dvd picture onto a single, flat, holographic screen...but I doubt the texture bandwidth would be nearly enough to pull it off.

 

[GaimeGuy]

wtf. There's no way in hell the Revolution will use holographic technology. We're nowhere near that, yet.

 

[Li Mu Bai]

How on earth would you play a DVD as a hologram? The only thing I can think of is projecting the dvd picture onto a single, flat, holographic screen...but I doubt the texture bandwidth would be nearly enough to pull it off.

At no point in that post did CVX even imply that Gahiggidy, so where are you getting this from? Nintendo is supposedly planning some sort of optical playback, probably DVD. They could easily offload royalties onto the remote as MS did, & will most likely do again with Xenon. Truthfully, Sony is the only company I can foresee utilizing Blu-ray technology. HD/DVD's are too cost prohibitive for the Xenon & Revolution. Also, they will not have mass mainstream acceptance by '06 regardless.

 

[Mr Gump]

Gahiggidy at his best.

 

[Deg]

Go for the high bandwidth and space formats. DVD is a thing of the past.