AfterDawn: News

Nintendo sales fall due to GameCube slump

Profits are reportedly down at one of the world's biggest gaming company's, Nintendo, due to fierce competition and shrinking demand for Nintendo products. Demand for the GameCube console in the United States are way down and sales of the GameBoy Advance handheld console weakened in both Japan and North America. This has sent shares down 14% to 70.6bn yen ($62m) in the three months to June. Pre-tax income was down 41% to 21.3bn yen.

Nintendo's next project, the next generation Revolution console will be unveiled next year which the company hopes will drive profits up. Increased research spending into the Revolution console affected profits in the most recent quarter. When the Revolution console appears, it will be faced with huge competition from Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3.



The company had warned earlier this year that profits would be affected by competition from Microsoft and Sony. 1.38 million DS consoles were sold since launch but Nintendo had to cut prices in the US and in Europe due to competition. Recently launched games like Pokemon Emerald and Nintendogs performed strongly, the company said, but admitted the drop in sales of GameCube devices. Nintendo has reduced its forecast for full year sales to 500bn yen, a drop of 5%.

Source:
BBC News

Written by: James Delahunty @ 8 Oct 2005 19:08

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• 25 comments

• MrToast

  You know, I hate to see Nintendo suffer. I am in my 30's and anyone old enough to remember a world without playstation might feel the same. Nintendo and Super Nintendo are still the best systems ever. Im not knocking the PS or PS2 or XboX because I have them too its just that Nintendo always made the best products. If anyone can remember the nes and snes controllers and how much punishment they could take!! Throwing them at the tv back when games didnt have a "save where ever you want" feature!! and then when you would die on castlevania and try to twist the controller in half from rage, it wouldnt break! It would creek but it wouldnt break! I shattered a dual shock on my first try! What my two cents means is that Nintendo is a great company with great hardware and software and as far as innovation they cant be touched. I dont understand the console wars, just buy what you want and spend more time gaming. There is a reason why the conditon where you start to develope tendonitis from too many night gaming is called "NINTENDO THUMBS!"

  8.10.2005 19:31 #1

• Dela

  Have to agree.
  
  I also have a soft spot for Nintendo. Mario etc. were once like the best games ever and provided many many hours of entertainment lol.
  
  Nintendo is a true pioneer of gaming, sony and microsoft just have the advantage of better technology than the old nintendo consoles relied on!

  8.10.2005 19:35 #2

• mikey_ray

  i love nintendo and have always bought there consoles---except for the ones after the og gameboy---
  
  but lately to me as an american consumer--they are too asian---meaning in the east they have a slightly different flavor in games ---them most war proned americans---and it seems like nintendo sticks with kinda far-out weird type ideas---which are great ---but i get bored with those---im not a kid anymore---and most nintendo fans are like 30 or above in age---the youngers dont no classic ninten games--they now sony-x-box--etc..
  
  bring back all the classic games at such an affordible price with the new revolution and that kool new joystick----it might work--plus it should be a dvd player as well---
  hats my 3 cents

  8.10.2005 19:46 #3

• Alien13

  Yeah same, N64 is still one of my fav. consoles, same as the old nintendo system the NES i still play that now and then usually "the jetsons" or "Disney, Adventures in the magic kingdom" or even "DR. Mario " hehe :)
  
  I will most probably be getting the revoloution as im a nintendo fan, and mybe the PS3 Or Xbox360 when the prices come down here in australia :)

  8.10.2005 19:49 #4

• evilh0ly

  i love the super nintendo it's like the best console ever it also have some of the best rpg games i love the old classic FF I, II, III, and secret of mana, secret of evermore it's just too much 2 name
  

  8.10.2005 19:54 #5

• rihgt682

  It sucks to see that they are loseing profits. I knew this was going to happened though.

  8.10.2005 19:57 #6

• Invasian

  Like the rest of you guys, I still think Nintendo is great. I still have the regular nintendo and the Super NES. Great memories of Mario.

  8.10.2005 21:42 #7

• MrToast

  It was funny, the other day I was at the Gamestop in my town and a group of guys was standing in there fighting about the next gen consoles and saying Halo this and Halo2 that and saying which one would "look" better and I kind of chuckled to myself because I remember playing text based games on my Tandy and for hours and hours I could sit there and have a blast. I know the next gen systems are great but I miss the games that Nintendo had back in the day. Games you could play and play because the rocked! I would play the original metroid and for sure super metroid over prime or echos any day. Hell, I got 50,000 on double dragon man!!

  8.10.2005 22:18 #8

• sisph

  rihgt682, I think a lot of people saw that coming.
  
  The worse thing about all this is that Nintendo brought it on themselves. Back in the days of Mario and all that old school stuff games were really just games, at least to me they were. Now RPGs, fps, Action/Adventure, series meant for Mature players and all divide games and their respective compaines. I remember reading in several articles that Nintendo often broke away from the common mainstream trend when it came to games. Usually I like this sort of thing but take for exapmple when the N64 was in design and everyone though they were gonna use CDs instead of cartrdiges or the gamecube using those low density discs instead of DVDs and Nintendo's lack of support online compared to Sony and Microsoft.
  
  Ok, so those aren't games. Bear in mind that Nintendo and its compaines produce great games; they just aren't as captivating to the mainstream as are Sony's and Microsoft's. Nintendo is targeting the younger generation with its games. Exactly the generation that spends the least today. Kids don't have money, again in comparison to the other older age groups. Back in the day they're the only ones who bought games though. What is the average age of gamers now? I wish Nintendo would "grow up" so to speak. Yeah, their stuff really was quality with a capital Q.
  
  

  8.10.2005 22:52 #9

• shawnnaly

  the problem with nintendo is they make a new console or hand held they kinda forget about their older consoles. We own the nintendo, super nin, gb, gbc, gba, gbsp, ngc. But try buying a gbc game now there isnt as many options as there used to be. My kids just bought Pokemon XD last nite for the gc. Sure they have some games that only come out on their consoles but everytime they bring a new one to market they forget about the others. So on one hand they did it to themselves on the other i really hate to see it fall. They need to wise up i suppose.

  9.10.2005 12:09 #10

• borhan9

  Well its sad to here that Nintendo sales have dropped. I myself never bout a NESS or a SNESS, but have played them like many others i remember mario and all the games... The best this i remember was the big box nintendo and those big catridges and i remember my friend having catridges with over 300 games in each catrage these were really kewl...
  
  I myself am a SEGA Fan... but Nintendo like SEGA were the pionners in the gaming industry... I hope there Reveloution does well...

  9.10.2005 12:29 #11

• Gradical

  I have to agree with everybody here about nintendo, they were the best by far, but the thing is that it wasnt really nintendo`s vision nor costumer wisdom wich made them the best it was actually the people making the games, an example would be squaresoft, namco etc. and now with so much competition all the greatest are just doing the games for whoever in their moment gave them more freedom on their content, no wonder why square left nintendo to join sony, now they just do their product for whoever wants to pay for it when they used to be tide to nintendo`s vision, but not everything is lost, i think they can make tehyre way back, all they need to do is read forums like this one and realise there`s still people who worship legend of mana, chronno trigger, super mario world, and try to go back to their roots may giving us some 2d games on next gen console, playstation did it with megaman and casttlevania simphony of the night and i personally think its one of the best games ever, even having halo or halo2 wich are amazing on graphics.

  9.10.2005 14:20 #12

• whoozhe

  I have a soft spot for the model T ford but I am sure not going to drive it to the supermarket.

  9.10.2005 15:33 #13

• Rikoshay

  I think that really, all systems are great, and if you've had the chance to play any one, it was an experience worth while. I love Nintendo, and it's their unique view on games that makes them great. I feel that everyone likes their old games is due to how simple and really fun they used to be. There was also less competition on who gets the most sales, like todays games.
  I think that if anyone really cares for a game, they will take more consideration into how it's made, like Metal Gear, but if rushed, it can be disastorous, like MGS2.
  It really depends on the amount of consideration a company has to its product, and that's why Nintendo has gotten this far, but have lost touch with the old generations that used to love them and their games.
  If I had enough money right now, I would actually go and find as many old and new consoles and handhelds that I could and enjoy all the classics and games that I've missed out on.

  9.10.2005 15:55 #14

• neo1000

  I`m gonna get the revolution that`s a fact,i just hope they get more support from third party publishers.

  9.10.2005 17:55 #15

• jAmEsTn

  nintendo needs an online market where you can buy Emulators/Roms and play 2 player games over the internet.. kinda like a yahoo games is set up except the difference would be old classic nintendo games ... people our age loved them!... get the drift?

  9.10.2005 20:18 #16

• Taukkizz

  Kirby's Adventure o/

  10.10.2005 02:59 #17

• MrToast

  Sweet, I just got a saturn and a dreamcast NEW for 50.00! I always liked Sega, but Nintendo had the cool games and Sega the good games and the great sport games! I do hope that Nintendo gets with the program of what people are looking for and I think that the online content for older gamers is a great idea although I will realy miss my "save state" from my emulators! I will most likely buy a revolution as well but wont pay alot of money for downloadable old games when i have nearly two gigs of roms for nes, snes, master, genesis, and others... and yes of course I own all the originals and am in 100% compliance with internation copyright laws *cough*cough*

  10.10.2005 05:26 #18

• punx777

  I think they deserve what they get, Its survival of the fittest and if you cant create a gaming console that will properly compete with the gaming consoles of this generation then you deserve to lose. They had a chance to some back from the gamecube with the Revolution. BUT THEY DIDNT they took a step back. The only reason i ever considered the gamecube was for the star wars games that never got to xbox or ps2. Obviously more would have bought it if it wasnt targeted towards TODDLERS!
  
  Anyway, the revolution, it seems like a sad attempt to be unique, you guys have surely seen the controller right?

  10.10.2005 14:19 #19

• neo1000

  Yes punx,the controller is what i like the most about the revolution.the ps3`s controller is the one that scares me, you can use it as a boomerang and get kill with it.

  10.10.2005 18:29 #20

• xboxd00d

  I still beleive that Super Mario World is the best mario game ever.

  15.10.2005 17:15 #21

• isepiq

  The reason the GameCube is a bust, and started selling for $25 to $50 less than even a Playstation 2 is that you cannot backup your games. The first time one of my kids ruined a $50 game disk, that did it. We bought out son a modded PS2 because we can make a backup copy of the retail, and safely tuck away the retail disk. We have spent hundreds more dollars buying more hardware for his PS2. We buy PC games but ONLY after we check the internet to make sure we can make a working backup copy.
  They did a really good job copy protecting their game system, and are now reaping the rewards.
  On the other hand, my son's birthday is next month, and their will be more new PS2 stuff for him to unwrap.
  IMHO
  isepiq

  19.10.2005 15:19 #22

• jAmEsTn

  i've got plenty of ps2 stuff.. ps1 too.. lol

  19.10.2005 20:44 #23

• kiwi1988

  I owned a sega when i was ickle but had a gameboy and currently own a gamecube. it would be sad to see them fade...

  6.11.2005 09:01 #24

• jalal071

  Hey! Everybody I went to Lik Sang.com and got my GameCube 2month's before it's release,I play Japan and American games on my Cube,believe me you missed out,American GameCube run speed's like 405Mhz,but mines run 485Mhz,fast as hell,I played my cube with my son vs. his PS2,with in twenty minutes he was ordering one,the cost run's a little higher,but when you play Mario Stricker it's a new game moving up and down the court like fire,Lik Sang.com was sued for selling the Cube before it's release date,but am glad the did.Japan screwed us guy's. Am 59 years old and GameCube Crazy,Japan screwed us,there are so many games for the Cube,but they are Japan version,have a look for yourself.

  27.1.2006 20:34 #25