GameCube - The Beginning of the End? 3/10/2003, by Elizabeth
We're hearing reports out of the UK that Dixons, the country's largest electronic retailer (think of it like Best Buy and Circuit City) has announced they will be dropping GameCube from it's inventory list - this is hot on the news that Sears will also be dropping the squared box from it's catalog and internet outlets...
This shock information was revealed in a leaked memo from PC World, which states: "Due to the continued poor sales on GameCube we are beginning to take our first steps to clear out the format." And a spokesperson for Dixons earlier backed this up, telling us: "We can confirm that Dixons is to stop stocking GameCube hardware."
Dixons currently has GameCube on special offer at the ultra-low price of £99 plus one free game (Luigi's Mansion, Eternal Darkness, Disney's Magical Mirror, Wave Race or Pikmin), with all GameCube games going for a song at £25 each as the group tries to clear out stock. Furthermore, buy Pikmin, Burnout, Crazy Taxi and a third-party steering wheel and you'll get a free GameCube.
Nintendo unsurprisingly went into damage-limitation mode earlier today, a statement reading: "Dixons represents a small share of Nintendo's business, and we are continuing to actively trade with them. GameCube is currently available in 4500 stockists across the UK including HMV, Toys R Us, GAME, Virgin Megastore, Argos, and Woolworths." But as one retail source put it: "The Dixons group is the biggest seller of console hardware in the UK," this move may hurt Nintendo more than it wishes to admit. The Dixons Group's decision has been met with surprise by industry watchers, however, with several believing it to be a rather premature move, with GameCube still relatively early in its life cycle, in theory, and a broad range of big-name titles already announced for 2003.
"Dixons will presumably want to push GBA SP heavily when released, so it seems a little odd for the company to take this stance with Nintendo," one source told us. "But it's potentially great news for other GameCube retailers now that the major player is pulling support."
Potential buyers have several great offers to choose from, and current owners shouldn't worry too much, with exclusive titles like Zelda: The Wind Waker, Metroid Prime and Resident Evil 0 all on the way. But the alarm bells are certainly ringing for Nintendo, as hardware sales continue to fall behind Xbox and PS2 in the UK. All eyes are now on the rest of UK retail, to see if other chains follow Dixons' lead - we'll keep you fully updated.
US Support for GameCube Mellows
In related news, An inside source from Sears Roebuck & Co. , one of the U.S's largest retailers, has released information regarding Nintendo's GameCube suggesting that due to it's poor sales performance as compared to Microsoft's XBOX and Sony's Playstation 2, that it has chosen to remove it from it's stores. The GameCube will still be accessible from the Sears's catalog and internet outlets, but it appears that Nintendo's console has merely been taking up space with little or no movement in it's retail locations.
This information comes as no surprise as retailers around the world are beginning to mirror this action and game company support for the allegedly now failing system has dropped almost 50% since the most recent holiday season.
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