NumberSix

There you go, I told you that the 'Cat and Mouse' game was class.

indeed you did. and you were spot on

Total chaos, so it is.

Hehe, nice to meet NumberSix and Penguin Lad for the first time today. I was playing in the bedroom and my girlfriend was sleeping so no voice communicator for me I'm afraid, hopefuly next time though.

Just wanted you both to not think I was ignoring you.

Ahh, that explains it

The race where we did minis and enzos was funny as fuck: we were like 'hmm, maybe he doesn't know' as you zoomed off into the distance.

Never done that mini thing before - want to try with four teams next time. Top laugh.

So where in the US do you live?

Gah. I'd deleted it, 'cos it wasn't going anywhere

Are you in the LA riverside, or the Sacramento one?

I'm right down on the mexican border, in San Diego.

Edit: Nevermid :-)

Don't phone any of the ones around St Louis, though, because they've all got the GC and Xbox on equal footing.

No, no they don't.

This "truth" is what you see. Personally as I've said before I don't agree with your "truth" I go games shopping alot and see plenty of high profile Gamecube stands, and as I said, Gamecube and Xbox getting equal billing.

Well, it's what I see, and what my Funcoland regional manager friend tells me

Bollocks, you just want to flame the cube (even though you state otherwise).

Yes, you're right. Nintendo is for kidz, and is shit.

Which is why I've got more fucking games for the GC than for any other system.

I'm only making a point. You don't have to get all territorial about it.

But how is that fact? The very latest figures we have access to show that the GC is outselling the Xbox by a considerable margin right now in the US (christ it even outsold the PS2 for once).

The post price drop figures. See my earlier comments about a spike. Like I said before, take a look again in three months.

How exactly does that prove that the XBox has taken priority over the GC at US retailers?

Er, I never said it did prove that, did I?

Phone a US games shop at random, and ask them how they're set up.

So then NumberSix, how does that prove that the GC is "dead on its arse" in terms of software sales when compared to XBox in the US? Looks pretty damn even to me. And this was before the hardware sales boost it's currently enjoying.

What it proves is that the X-box sold more software than the gamecube in the month of october. Maybe somebody could total up the year to date totals. It also shows that there's a bigger drop after # 1 & 2 on the GC than there is for the X-box.

Anyhow I'm really not interested in getting into a stupid fanboy argument about this, but the fact is that X-box has taken priority over the GC for US retailers. This is sad, because I think the cube is a cracking machine, but it's the truth.

For anyone that's interested (you know you all love sales figures really, ), here is the latest chart from the US. This is not as interesting for comparing GC and XBox as the PS2 drowns them out.

What's the source for those?

No NFL titles on X-box? doesn't seem likely.

Since then the X-box has had a shitload of US sports titles though, and as far as I can remember has always had a couple of titles in the top ten.The most recent chart I've got has Xbox titles at #2 and #3 (KOTOR and NCAA Football 2004), and no GC titles in the top ten.

But your chart supports my point, that GC and Xbox sell roughly equal amounts of software, not yours. The rest of your post is just fluff.

Absolutely not. I've highlighted the important bit.

X-box has had titles in the top ten every month this year, as far as I remember. GC has had two: Wind Waker and MKDD.

Obviously the important stat is the units sold, but I can assure you the GC is giving up retail space to the X-box. If the demand was equal, it wouldn't be doing so.

Can you put up some proof (can't get access to gaming sites at work)? The site I'm thinking about puts up the top 10 games sold for the month on each console. If you add up the totals for Xbox and GC they come to roughly the same (within the statistical error).

Here's last year's all format sales chart, from NPD:

Rank Platform Title Publisher Release Date ARP

1 PS2 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Rockstar Games Oct. '02 $49

2 PS2 Grand Theft Auto 3 Rockstar Games Oct. '01 $50

3 PS2 Madden NFL 2003 Electronic Arts Aug. '02 $49

4 GBA Super Mario Advance 2 Nintendo of America Feb '02 $29

5 PS2 Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec Sony Computer Ent. July '01 $24

6 PS2 Medal Honor Frontline Electronic Arts May '02 $50

7 PS2 Spider-Man: The Movie Activision Apr. '02 $45

8 PS2 Kingdom Hearts Square EA Sept. '02 $49

9 XBX Halo Microsoft Nov. '01 $48

10 GCN Super Mario Sunshine Nintendo of America Aug. '02 $49

Obviously Halo came out more than half a year before Mario Sunshine, so the chart itself is a little misleading. Since then the X-box has had a shitload of US sports titles though, and as far as I can remember has always had a couple of titles in the top ten. The most recent chart I've got has Xbox titles at #2 and #3 (KOTOR and NCAA Football 2004), and no GC titles in the top ten.

But I bloody hate it. Love it. HATE HATE HATE HATE....lurrrve...

Christ I know that feeling. My speciality at the moment is doing a clear run until about the last corner, then smashing into it at full speed.

I particularly like the way they've done the live bit though: it doesn't matter if you're shit, you can still make progress even if you're getting beat by 30 seconds every time.

Speaking of live - you were on very late last night. Tried to join a game you were in at one point, but my bastard connection kept dropping. All fine now though

Haven't unlocked every car type yet, but am so very nearly there....

Gah. How addictive?

That's not true though. Xbox and GC sell roughly equal amounts of software units (of course, PS2 is way ahead).

I'd have to question that. It may have been true six months or a year ago, but the X-box has surged in the US since Live took off. Just take a look at the charts.

Rubbish. Here is a quote directly from the recent Nintendo Press Release: <snip>

Selling well during a certain period is all very well, but there's no escaping the fact that the other two consoles shift a shitload more games than it in the US.

As I said, a price cut it bound to cause a spike in sales. Look again in three months time, and see where it's at.

Don't get me wrong, it's my favourite machine by a long way. But unless something pretty spectacular happens on the software front, it's dead on its arse.

It always makes me wonder why people moan about MS subsidising the Xbox with cash from other parts of the company, while nobody says anything about the cash from Sony's Computer Entertainment division keeping the entire company subsidised. (double standards people)

Not at all. They're both shady as fuck.

Well I don't know how to answer this. Perhaps you'd like me to walk down to Target and photograph the games section which is 5 cabinets, 2 PS2 (well 1 3/4 and 1/4 N-Gage), 1 GBA, 1 GC and 1 Xbox?

Heh. No, I'm not saying I don't believe you, but it's certainly not the norm any more. Anyhow, I hope you're right that the price cut revives its fortunes, but I'm not overly hopeful. Target are the most important retailer obviously enough, but after them the likes of Gamestop (and co) and Best Buy have also been reducing the GC stuff they stock. There was talk of Walmart dropping it altogether too, if I recall. That's not to say there aren't stores that give it different amounts of space based on regional demand, but the charts over the last year tell their own story.

Out of interest: where in CA do you live?

Yes - of course there are industry charts - but I meant one that us little members of the public can check out each week.

Aye, it's carried in a good number of the US Games mags.

This is pure and utter bollocks. I've been to Target and a Gamespot and Hollywood Video in the last 3 days and this isn't the case. Xbox and GC have equal space. As for Blockbuster stopping carrying GC games - I have no idea as I never set foot in them - so can't say.

You must live in a GC heavy area then

Certainly in California and New York States, the major retailers have reduced the amount of space they allocate to the cube in the last twelve months. PS2 takes priority, then the X-Box, then the GC. Check out the point of sale stuff next time you're there. It's all for the first two, with the exception of MKDD.

In Britain maybe - but over here in the US things are much different. GC is the #1 selling console off the back off the price cut and the fact that both PS2 and Xbox don't have any real "big name" Xmas games (perhaps PS2 with FFX-2). Add into this Nintendo's good name with parents (the GBA) means alot of kids (like my girlfriends nephew) will be getting a Gamecube for Xmas

Hmm. Not sure about this, myself. There was a spike directly after the price cut, but as far as I can see the GC is dead on its arse in the states. If it's lucky it gets about a sixth the shelf space either of the other two do in the big game stores, including Target, and many Blockbusters have stopped carrying GC games altogether in the last year.

The price cut will do some good, but I can't help but feel the damage has already been done.

we don't even have a games chart over here!

Not true. NPD compile a monthly industry sales chart although I can't remember the last time I saw a GC game in the all format top ten for longer than a week. Probably Wind Waker. There were two GC games in the most recent one I've got (July) (Mario Golf and Wind Waker at 12 and 18 respectively), eight PS2 and two X-box titles (at #2 and #3). The GBA makes the rest of the numbers up, which is pretty impressive. I would imagine MKDD would be the only new title that would make it into a more recent chart. I'll be very interested to see what happens in December though.

I would expect it to come out in 2005 after all Majora's Mask, which everyone thought was a pretty quick sequel after OOT came out 2 years after the release of he previous game in November 2000

Wind Waker wasn't a proper sequel though. They're on about doing Wind Waker 2, rather than the next chapter in the series, if you see what I mean. The Cube needs all the help it can get, so I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it out for next Christmas.

I'd be happy enough if they just used the exact same game engine, and replaced all the dungeons with new ones.

Cheers to whoever invited me tonight. I was fighting my way through some American Muscle rubbish at the time.

Same time tomorrow though, I hope

They had 2 zelda games on the n64. Perhaps they could have 2 on the GC.

Maybe I'm missing something in this thread, but according to *random shit US games mag* there's a sequel in the works:

'Breaking the tradition of previous Zelda games, Nintendo plans to release a true sequel to The Wind Waker, tentatively called Wind Waker 2, hopefully to be released sometime in 2004'

Game Informer, November 03.

Stormyweather - you about? I can do any night this week.

Let me know.

I see where you're coming from, but the thing is, climbing up is the 'affirmative' action and dropping is the negative.

The control schema fits in with the green 'A' button for accept and the red 'B' button for decline in menus, game controls and everything else.

-J

Yeah, makes sense I suppose.

I just got pissed of accidentally dropping off things, by instinctively going for the wrong button.

Still, I'm used to it now, and it's lovely.

Top races tonight guys. I promised myself an early night, but here I am at stupid oclock having only just turned the bloody thing off.

Aye, that was excellent.

Cheers everyone.

I'll be on in a mo.

Just sent you an friend request.

I'm up for a bit of this now, if anyone else fancies it?

GT: Choccy