[quote name='Strell']Whatever. It's been dead for 6 months at least. The last surge of sales happened when it dropped to $100, but after that, it's just sitting there. Zelda isn't going to move more GCs, but it will move more Wii systems, just like SPM will.[/quote]
I'm not so sure about SPM's ability to sell systems when there's stuff like MP3, Zelda:TP, and eventually the new Smash and Super Mario games. How could the GC have dropped to $100 just 6 months ago when it actually happened
3 years ago, unless you mean the bundles that Nintendo has been doing forever.
[quote name='Strell']See above. Same scenario - it can move one system, not the other. And the one it can move needs momentum.[/quote]
Does every game that comes out for the Gamecube or Wii now have to move the system? If so, it just seems pointless to allow anything to be released for the GameCube, as it won't help the system, just give those that own it something new to play like Super Paper Mario would've done.
[quote name='Strell']How much longer do you think store owners are going to reserve space for Gamecube games? Not much longer at all. The only way Nintendo is going to keep that space is to move it entirely over to Wii games and accessories. True, it is backwards compatible, but I highly doubt store owners will give up that precious real estate for two systems worth of games.[/quote]
It really depends on how the situation is handled by the retailers, as BB had PS1 games on the shelves until last year (though they were old games at ~$30) when they clearanced them out. The games can stay on shelves as long as they want them to, which seems to be the case with games still being accepted onto the Player's Choice lineup.
[quote name='Strell']Now, Nintendo could send out stickers that says "playable on Wii" or change the packaging on some of the GC games they want to sell to a new audience, but unless people are being told specifically "this is a game for the Wii," they won't look at it.[/quote]
It really depends on how much Nintendo wants people to use that BC feature.
[quote name='Strell']This new influx of customers will want to play games built for the controller. Whether that means built-from-the-ground Wii games, GC games rebuilt with Wii functionality, or backwards compatible games, primarily they want new experiences. If we assume new owners of the Wii show up who never picked up GC software, then we have to assume they are
aware of that, which makes me think they won't be your run-of-the-mill casual gamer, but the hardcore sector that runs around on the 'net. At which case they'll take GC games without issue, but that will still be a minority.
This is all moot, of course, if Nintendo
does have a plan to keep GC games on the shelf, but that's not a strong enough argument because at best they'll keep first party games there. Mario Baseball, Mario Soccer, Smash Bros, Metroid Prime, Fire Emblem, etc. So that space will be limited as is.
I'm sure if Nintendo had their way, they'd keep
all the GC retail space minus the system itself and accessories, and replace them with a robust GC selection alongside the launch of the Wii. Then they could easily point out "look, you probably missed out on all of these, and we really think you'll enjoy them until brand new stuff appears down the pipeline."[/quote]
Of course it all depends on what Nintendo's plans are with the Gamecube library after the Wii launches. All I'm pretty much suggesting is that Player's Choice be decently available to give Wii owners and those still with GameCubes to choose from along with new releases. The Player's Choice lineup continues to grow, so where's the need to throw all of that out when the Wii hits?
[quote name='Strell']20 million GC owners might be out there, but I'd bet only around 100K of them would pick up SPM. Might as well throw it to the Wii, because it'll have time to biuld up a respectable sales base AND it's going to appeal to the hardcore set, which means all those early adopters are going to be looking at it. The people
not getting a Wii probably aren't going to touch SPM to begin with (although it's hard to prove that, sure, but judging by the game's art style, I can't imagine it being a huge seller in today's more polygons are better game society).[/quote]
What's wrong with adding the 100k to the people that buy the Wii version? I also don't think that it'll be a big seller, but just 100k? Having Mario's name on should guarantee that it'll meet PC requirements like every other Mario game on the system (even the first PM game on the Cube). Even if it were to get just a measely 100k, why spit in the face of that instead of embrace it.
[quote name='Strell']As I pointed out at PGC, why are people with one hand chiding Nintendo about how poorly they launched the GC, with a drought of software, but then criticize when they attempt to attack with all guns blazing? And
especially in this system transition, it makes
total sense, considering the Wii is a souped up GC. That makes translation
infinitely easier.
Finally, they can always add some neat Wii functionality. 'Course it's hard to call that this early on. We'll have to find out if they do or didn't. However, SPM did have that little butterfly thing flying around, and it was like a cursor already. I'm sure something is going to happen there. Beyond that, they should bump it up to 16x9 and resolve any possible framerate issues. That alone is awesome.[/quote]
I'm not saying that there's no reason to pull this kind of move or that I don't see that it's a business decision. I just don't get why it has to be a mutually exclusive game to just one of the platforms. I have no disregards that it can be a good game on the Wii, which is as likely as it would be on the Cube. I want to be able to enjoy my Cube for as long as possible, but Nintendo isn't making it easy for me. Maybe with my near-busted Cube I could see about upgrading, but I still have unanswered questions that need to be answered first and other things first.
