Gamecube games = 30$ ?

[Chris F]

http://n-philes.com/index.php?Id=41

 

Yeah, it's just a rumor, but making all games 30$ would seriously rock.

[Orpheus]

yep, that's kinda the magic price point for me as that's what most newer games go for at the used stores here. add in $5 for the best buy gamer gift card and i'd be picking up more cube games for sure. here's hoping

[JFo]

GameSpot chimed in on this rumor with their own thoughts in this week's Rumor Control column. Here's what they had to say about $30 games.

 

What we heard: After speculating how the GameCube will compete with 800-pound gorillas Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Halo 2 this holiday season, the article comes up with a novel approach. It suggests that Nintendo will again undercut its competition, just as it did when it lowered the GameCube to $99 last fall. This time around, it will be the game price point that will go down, dropping to a standard $29.99, versus $49.99 for Xbox and PlayStation 2 titles. As evidence, the author offers up an audit of several unnamed Canadian retailers' databases that list Metroid Prime 2, Star Fox, and Paper Mario 2 for $39.99 Canadian--approximately $29.99 US. While an intriguing theory, it overlooks two things: Firstly, now that Nintendo has discounted the GameCube so heavily, its main source of console income is software--cutting games' prices by $10 or $20 would pinch off much-needed cash flow. Secondly, all major US retailers are offering the aforementioned games for preorder for the full $49.99.

 

Bogus or not bogus?: Probably bogus.

 

I tend to agree with them. I don't expect these big holiday titles to go for $30. The cost of developing these games will surely necessitate a $50 price tag. Besides, I don't think they will have to worry about selling enough copies of games like Metroid Prime 2 or Resident Evil 4. However, I will be pleasantly surprised if they do!

[Mark E]

Eh he he he, yeah, I'm not gonna hold my breath on that one

 

But it would be sweet if it did happen. There's so much Cube software I want this year (MP2, RE4, RE4 [the game so nice I listed it twice :green:], Paper Mario 2, Donkey Konga, Baiten Kaitos, Mario Party 6) that a lowered price point would only help out .

[dogbert]

Sony already discount their own games to $39.99 vs the "standard" third party price of $49.99. Manufacturers have that room to manoevre on price. I honestly wouldn't be too suprised to see them come out at that price - the Cube can't really go any lower, so the only options are bundling of games or cutting game prices...

[The Daisy]

Depending on how well the NFL2K5 experience goes, we could see a great deal more rumors like this.

 

There is no need to sell a game like Halo 2 at $30 bucks, because there will be people lined up on release day no matter what the price is. (No matter what game, I'll never be one of them.)

 

With the Gamecube though, I could see Nintendo thinking this may be a good idea as to how they could get a great deal more of their games out the door for this holiday season and get people who already own Xbox's and PS2's to pick up their console to play their "cheaper" games.

 

It's more than likely a very big rumor, but as a Nintendo fan (and Gamecube moderator) I wouldn't mind seeing more people find there way in here to talk about some great games.

 

Glen