They're showing their next console next year?I thought they weren't going to until 2005.It's way too early.It'll only be 3 years of the GCN by then and I still have to wait for Star Fox 2.

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News Article: GameCube Outselling PS2 and Xbox in America
News Date: 12/02/2003
Source: NOA Press Release
Discuss it in TalkBack! [11 Comments.]

Black Friday was very, very good to Nintendo.

NINTENDO GAMECUBE HITS NO. 1

Combines with Game Boy Advance to Sell More Than 1 Million Systems During Thanksgiving Week

REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 2, 2003 – After rocketing up the charts the past several weeks, the Nintendo GameCube™ has now reached No. 1 – it's America's top-selling home video game console, according to direct sales data from the nation's leading retailers. Nintendo GameCube sold more than half a million systems to consumers during Thanksgiving week, easily surpassing its console competitors. Among all game devices, it trailed only Nintendo's portable Game Boy® Advance, which sold almost 600,000 units to U.S. buyers during the week.

"All along, our business plan for this year was to maximize consumer interest and sales during the fourth quarter," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "But frankly, we're overwhelmed by how successful we've been. Our price cut of Nintendo GameCube has ignited sales to the degree that it may turn out to be the best-selling console for the entire month of November. We're tracking to sell more systems in the last eight weeks of the year than we did in the previous 10 months combined."

Nintendo GameCube went from No. 3 to No. 1 in just two months, evidence that the Sept. 25 price drop to an MSRP of $99.99 and the hot new games were just what the public wanted. The library of games available for Nintendo GameCube now stands at more than 320, including America's current hottest game, Mario Kart®: Double Dash™ exclusively for Nintendo GameCube, role-playing and sports games, Pokémon titles for younger players and action and racing games for adults.

Numerous new and upcoming releases that will keep the momentum going include 1080°®: Avalanche, a shred-'em-up snowboarding game; Mario Party® 5, the ultimate party game; F-Zero® GX, the fastest racing game on the market; Mario Golf™: Toadstool Tour, a golf game that appeals equally to novices and experts; Pokémon Channel™, the first-ever Pokémon game available for Nintendo GameCube; and Final Fantasy®: Crystal Chronicles™, an upcoming role-playing game that continues the hit franchise.

Isn't that only for the thanksgiving week that you lot celebrate? I don't know about you guys but here in England it seems that the battle is between PS2 and Xbox and Xbox is winning but GC doesn't seem to be doing too well. Dispite this I am still getting a GC

Well the GCN is the second best selling console out at the moment... it always has been of the 3 current generation consoles. It is currently selling better than the PS2 and the XBox in US and Canada. And it outsells the XBox throughout most of Asia too, as well as the parts of Africa that offer these consoles. Even in Europe I would assume they are still pretty close, although PS2 leads quiet significantly in Europe and Asia...

In europe Xbox is climing so rapidly, GameCube did grow at first then decline but I feel mabye an increase over the next half year or so.

Here are the overall console sales in November. From N-philes.

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The total estimated hardware sales for all consoles are as follows:
1. Game Boy Advance - 1,323,000
2. PlayStation 2 - 849,000
3. GameCube - 754,000
4. Xbox - 491,000

So, for those who think Xbox is #2 worldwide, think again.

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Splinter Cell to be ONLINE!!


12.16.03


Huge news today for Gamecube fans, as Ubi announced that Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow will be online!


Ubi Soft today announced that their highly anticipated sequel to the smash hit Splinter Cell, will have online capabilities for the Gamecube.

Unfortunately Ubi gave up no more details reguarding the online features, so it is now unknown if the game will cost money to play online, be compatable with a 56k modem, etc. We'll definately fill you in as this story emerges.

Posted by: Chris

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Japanese Game Sales


12.16.03


The Land of the Rising Sun's Sales Reports!


Rockman for GameBoy Advance seems to be doing really well. Mario Party 5 slipping off slowly and Donkey Konga launching with a nice but not too powerful sales report. Also another game, One Piece Grand Battle 3 a title from Bandai launches with a good impact.

1. Rockman EXE Tournament: Red Sun / Blue Moon (GBA, Capcom) - 236,584 / 236,584 units
2. Biohazard Outbreak (PS2, Capcom) - 233,728 / 233,728 units
3. One Piece Grand Battle 3 (PS2, Bandai) - 135,884 / 135,884 units
4. Mobile Suit Gundam Z: AEUG Vs Titan (PS2, Bandai) - 129,968 / 438,476 units
5. Everybody's Golf 4 (PS2, Sony) - 96,943 / 734,883 units
6. Momotaro Dentetsu 12 (PS2, Hudson) - 81,103 / 81,103 units
7. Mario Party 5 (GC, Nintendo) - 59,231 / 217,297 units
8. One Piece Grand Battle 3 (GC, Bandai) - 53,629 / 53,629 units
9. Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen 2 (GC, Tomy) - 48,239 / 119,932 units
10. Ratchet & Clank 2 (PS2, Sony) - 48,218 / 48,218 units
11. Donkey Konga (GC, Nintendo) - 47,339 / 47,339 units
12. J. League Winning Eleven Tactics (PS2, Konami) - 40,399 / 40,399 units

Posted by: Karthik

Nintendo of Europe have announced their release dates for Europe in 2004. Here are some of the highlights that they gave.

Release Dates:
World Racing - TDK January 2004
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing - EA 20th February 2004
Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life - Natsume/ Ubisoft 15th February 2004
Kirby Air Ride - Nintendo 26th February 2004
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles - Nintendo 11th March 2004
Spawn Armageddon - Namco/EA 5th March 2004
R: Racing - Namco/EA 19th March 2004
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes - Konami March 2004
Scooby Doo! Mystery Mahem - THQ March 2004
Sonic Heroes - SEGA Q1 2004
Puyo Pop Fever - SEGA Q1 2004
Pokémon Channel - Nintendo April 2004
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour - Nintendo Q2 2004
Pokémon Colosseum - Nintendo Q2 2004
Phantasy Star Online III: C.A.R.D Revolution - SEGA Q2 2004

You can see the full article here. Crap, Resident Evil 4 isn't even on the list. What's going on?

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DID YOU KNOW?

November TRSTS Update

December 16, 2003 - In the race to be the best-selling video game this holiday, only one competitor can get the checkered flag. In November, that game was Mario Kart®: Double Dash!!™, exclusively for Nintendo GameCube™. According to NPDFunworld's November Toy Retail Sales Tracking Service (TRSTS), approximately 528,000 copies of Mario Kart: Double Dash!! were sold, easily besting any other video game on any system.

This feat is even more remarkable when you realize that Mario Kart: Double Dash!! was in stores for only 14 days in November, following its launch on Nov. 17.

Additional Nintendo highlights from the November TRSTS data include:


754,000 Nintendo GameCube systems were sold in November, making it the best-performing month in the system's history. The strong sales propelled Nintendo GameCube past Microsoft's Xbox in year-to-date sales.


Sales of hardware and software for Nintendo GameCube have increased at a faster rate than either of its console competitors so far this year.


Console sales, YTD versus 2002

o Nintendo GameCube: +61 percent
o Xbox: +5 percent
o PlayStation 2: -36 percent


Software sales, YTD versus 2002

o Nintendo GameCube: +60 percent
o Xbox: +59 percent
o PlayStation 2: +21 percent


As for Game Boy® Advance, more than 1.3 million units were sold in November, beating the nearest console competitor by more than 50 percent.


When combined, Nintendo hardware accounted for 57 percent of total hardware units sold in November.

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News: Panasonic "Q" Discontinued
Dec 18th 2003 20:04 by Ben



Panasonic's DVD-playing GameCube hybrid, “Q”, has been discontinued. More information on the silver beast's demise inside.
Matsushita- or "Panasonic", as the company is known over here- have stopped the production of their souped-up GameCube, "Q". The silver machine was released in Japan two years ago- offering DVD playback as well as all the standard functions of the GameCube. However, the sexy machine never saw the light of day outside the land of the rising sun. It's unknown why the console has been discontinued- but poor sales are the most likely solution.

Does anyone has the release dates of Mario Tennis (GCN) and Donkey Konga for America?

According to the latest IGN mailbag Donkey Konga actually is only Japan for right now; only import if you wanted it reeeal bad. As for Mario Tennis; I'm not sure! ^^'

Oh! I think I found it! GamingWorld X said that it will problably be released in Winter 2004. Winter 2004... is it January or December 2004? Probably Jan or Feb...we'll see.

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CAPCOM® BRINGS TOGETHER THE ULTIMATE MEGA MAN(tm) ANTHOLOGY IN MEGA MAN MANIA AND MEGA MAN ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION

SUNNYVALE, Calif -- December 23, 2003 -- Capcom® today takes players on a retrospective journey through the evolution of their renowned blue action hero with the announcement of the Mega Man Anniversary Collection for the PlayStation® 2 computer entertainment system and the Nintendo GameCube(tm) and Mega Man Mania for the Game Boy® Advance.

The Mega Man Anniversary Collection is an anthology of classic Mega Man games (Mega Man 1 through Mega Man 8) from the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, PlayStation game console and arcade systems. This set will also include two never-before-released-in-the-US Mega Man arcade games: Mega Man the Power Battle and Mega Man 2 the Power Fighters. Mega Man Mania will be comprised of the classic Mega Man titles (Mega Man I - V) from the Game Boy® system and offer special bonus features. Mega Man Anniversary Collection and Mega Man Mania are scheduled to be released throughout North American in spring 2004. The ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) rating is pending.

In the Mega Man Anniversary Collection, players will be challenged to see if they have the skills to master some of the most extreme Mega Man titles ever released and to unlock a cache of bonus features that includes 30 minutes of anime, producer interviews and a history of the series. Both Mega Man Mania and the Mega Man Anniversary Collection provide a comprehensive look at Mega Man's progression through the years, as this near human robot embarked on his journey to become one of the longest running videogame icons to date. Take a trip down memory lane, reliving Mega Man's numerous quests to defeat Dr. Wily and his attempts to control the world and its resources. Gamers will reacquaint themselves with past adversaries such as Metal Man, Gemini Man, Pharaoh Man, Centaur Man, and Tengu Man, just to name a few. Mega Man Anniversary Collection and Mega Man Mania encompass everything a new and hard-core fan would want for their existing library.

The Mega Man Anniversary Collection will include the following features:
- 10 Mega Man games on one disk
-- Mega Man 1 through Mega Man 8
-- Two never before released in the US Mega Man arcade games: Mega Man the Power Battle and Mega Man 2 the Power Fighters
- Additional content - Unlock hidden original artwork, producer interviews (GameCube only), anime videos (PlayStation 2 only), and information about the entire franchise
- Updated soundtrack

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N5 to have backwards compatibility


12.24.03


Iwata has spoken! The N5 will have backwards compatibility. Click in for the full story.


In a recent interview with the highly respected Japanese magazine Famitsu, Nintendo's very own Mr. Iwata all but made it official that their upcoming system will feature backwards compatibility. He had this to say:

"It will be able to use the games already created in the previous generation. And it is something that will work. Side performances and graphics, one reached today a kind of limit with a quality which is already close to realism and it will be difficult to still much better do. The role of Nintendo is thus to study other ways in order to improve the experience of the player."

Posted by: Chris

That must mean that the N5 will be mini disc again unless they do something like the Qcube but that will be expensive.

Also what do they mean that there is not much more they can improve on the graphics, I can see loads of places that can use improvments even gameplay grapthics to be as good as video graphics.