Nintendo continues to do well.

[Razola]

Source.

Besides being an Nintendo fan, I'm glad to see what was once the last place system suddenly burst to the top. Never before have three systems been in such a tight race. The closest race before this generation of consoles was the Saturn, N64, and PSOne, and that was Saturn getting wipped and Nintendo losing its empire.

Here we have a very dynamic market, and it's all good news for us. Price cuts have been rampant, and surely competition can only encourage increases in product quality.

[Cheesey]

It's good to see Nintendo doing well - They really need to sell stuff to prevent being totally wiped by the competing consoles >_>. I'll admit I haven't really had a proper taste of PS2 and X-Box games, but going by what I have seen and played the Gamecube deserves a lot more play than it gets IMO.

Anyway, gogo Gamecube~

[MToolen]

Yes, and Nintendo had many reasons to be at the top. First was their bargain price of $100 ($70 for the day after Thanksgiving at Wal-Mart). Also, the Gamecube had, in my opinion, better games to try at the little demo stations. While Prince of Persia is an awesome game, it just doesn't have the ready-from-the-get-go feel that games like Mario Kart: Double Dash!! did.

[Razola]

Considering how few big name titles there were this year (no splinter cells or metroids), I think Nintendo did well in squeaking ahead. The price reduction and early european release of Mario Kart were good moves, and the Zelda/Pac-Man bonus discs were also very crafty.

[SageofLaughter]

Originally posted by Raz
the Zelda/Pac-Man bonus discs were also very crafty.

Actually, the Zelda Collectors Edition disc has resulted in Nintendo pissing off it's European fans to the point where a LOT of people are starting to hate them.

Add to this heavily bastardised copies of Mario Advance 4 and you have some very unhappy PAL gamers who want nothing more than Nintendo's blood.

[Heald]

Originally posted by SageofLaughter
Actually, the Zelda Collectors Edition disc has resulted in Nintendo pissing off it's European fans to the point where a LOT of people are starting to hate them.

Add to this heavily bastardised copies of Mario Advance 4 and you have some very unhappy PAL gamers who want nothing more than Nintendo's blood.

Well, if you look at it, PAL gamers always get the sh*tty end of the stick on all formats. The Gamecube example aforementioned, the crappy FFX port with 3 inch thick borders (WTF?!!!), Resident Evil Online not coming to Europe and, lest we forget, Star Wars Galaxies still unconfirmed in Europe.

The border problem isn't actually a problem before. The 'tards who develop the games have always been looking at it from the hard-working point of view, i.e. make the game and then add extra graphics later. Why not make the games in PAL screen and then chop off the borders you don't need when it comes to NTSC? Or why don't America and Japan admit that Europe have a vastly superior TV system?

[Razola]

I wouldn't worry about Star Wars Galaxies. If you're a Planetside fan, you already have a superior game. SWG is simply too tedious for all but the most hardcore fans.

At least you got one game on time. Mario Kart's early release was a sign that Europe may stop being the red-headed stepchild of the game market.

[SageofLaughter]

Originally posted by HealdPK
Well, if you look at it, PAL gamers always get the sh*tty end of the stick on all formats. The Gamecube example aforementioned, the crappy FFX port with 3 inch thick borders (WTF?!!!),

I can excuse the borders based on the sheer amount of extra stuff we got in the game XD
To me, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of advanced bosses for the American version, as they didn't get the Dark Aeons.

Star Wars Galaxies still unconfirmed in Europe.

Star Wars Galaxies is actually out, I've seen it myself in stores.

Or why don't America and Japan admit that Europe have a vastly superior TV system?

Because we dont?
Game developers have to dumb down the framerate of games just to get them to work on standard PAL TV sets. Didn't you wonder what the 50Hz/60Hz option was for?

[Razola]

It would be a nightmare to bring European TVs up to standard with Japan and America, though. But it would be nice to see international release dates rather than Europe getting the shaft.

[Nace]

Originally posted by HealdPK
Well, if you look at it, PAL gamers always get the sh*tty end of the stick on all formats. The Gamecube example aforementioned, the crappy FFX port with 3 inch thick borders (WTF?!!!)

Pleh, Australia doesn't even have that...

[kalad1]

Bah, If it weren't for Microsoft, and it's"Let's sucker people into online gaming"-Box, Nintendo would be king, so we nintendo fans can blame all our problems on X-box

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

Originally posted by kalad1
Bah, If it weren't for Microsoft, and it's"Let's sucker people into online gaming"-Box, Nintendo would be king, so we nintendo fans can blame all our problems on X-box

No, we can't. Or OK, you can, but you have to admit, we live in a capitalistic world and companies may compete with each other freely. You guys just can't moralize what the developers/publisers/whatever do. Increasing online gaming may look like a dirty trick, but it is an original stategic advantage from another point of wiev. Just like the recent GameCube price cut.

[Powarun]

Pure gold, Nintendo beat themselves. What most people do not like to include is the handheld market, AKA Gameboy's reign. Honestly, if you read further, the GBA has more sales than the gamecube that weekend too. It just goes to show all teh Sony and Microsoft fanboys, that behind the cube is a mightier monster, with infirior graphics, better RPG's and oldstyle games, the Gameboy Advance and GBASP.

[PNT510]

I don't think anyone was denying the might of gameboy sales, they just tend to not mention it while discussing and debating the console systems.

[Razola]

Originally posted by PNT510
I don't think anyone was denying the might of gameboy sales, they just tend to not mention it while discussing and debating the console systems.

Exactly, but let me go further:

The GBA can barely be considered a real console since it's much cheaper than consoles. While it's harder to afford a Gamecube and an X-Box, you can easily own a Cube and GBA or an X-Box and a GBA. The GBA can easily be found at the US $50 price mark (a bit more if you want the nicer Sp) and games for both systems cost 40 at the absolute most (and most worthwhile games are published by Nintendo, and thus normally $30). This makes it very appealing to everyone, kids and adults alike.

It's also less demanding than consoles. I can easily invest 10 minutes into Wario Ware or Tetris on a bus, but console games are normally built for longer gaming sessions. For those who have little time at home, but lots on the road (ie Businessmen), the GBA is even more appealing.

Finally, the GBA is the only handheld system in its market. Nintendo has a monoply here, holding about 90% of this market in Japan, and even more in Europe and North America (since companies don't even bother bringing it outside Japan). And with competition being either absent or crappy (N-Gage, anyone?) it's obvious that the GBA is going to sell, and sell very well.