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Following less-than-stellar holiday sales for Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo
of America announced they will soon offer consumers a free game with the purchase of a GameCube for $149. Beginning February 9th, select retailers will offer
GameCube buyers the option of Mario Party 4, Metroid Prime, Resident Evil
Ø, or Star Fox Adventures as a free title with their console purchase.
"For less than $150, players will find a world of quality only
available with Nintendo" said George Harrison, senior vice
president, marketing and corporate communications, Nintendo of
America.
The deal is designed to better position GameCube on a retail level
against Sony's PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox. Despite
significant rebate promotions for the console in December, GameCube
sales during the month in North America were far below Nintendo's
expectations at 619,000 units. This compared to 2,733,000 for
PlayStation 2 and 1,033,000 for Xbox according to NPD.
The free game promotion effectively makes GameCube look like it could be bought for the equivalent of
$99 without confronting the image pricing issues or actual costs of
reducing the console's MSRP. Last October, Microsoft
introduced the Limited Edition Xbox Bundle, which included Sega GT 2002 and Jet Set Radio
Future for
the console's standard MSRP of $199. The bundle proved tremendously
effective, significantly boosting Xbox sales in North America and Europe.
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Nintendo will heavily promote the deal through print, television,
and point-of-purchase advertising.
The promotion is scheduled to conclude in May, when console makers
are expected to announce reductions in console prices. It is
anticipated that
Sony may reduce the MSRP of PlayStation 2 to between $150 and $170, forcing Nintendo
to cut GameCube's sticker to between $100 and $120.
In light of the free game promotion, the Super Mario Sunshine Bundle
Pak, which includes a copy of Super Mario Sunshine, a Nintendo
GameCube, and a Memory Card 59, will likewise be reduced to $159
from its original MSRP of $189.
Meanwhile, European gamers will receive a bundle gift of their own
from Nintendo. Beginning February 3rd, Europeans will be able to
select from Disney's Magical Mirror, Doshin the Giant, Eternal
Darkness, Luigi's Mansion, NBA Courtside 2002, Pikmin, or Wave Race:
Blue Storm as a free game with the purchase of a Nintendo GameCube.
The promotion will end much sooner than it will in North America for
those under the rule of Nintendo of Europe. NOE intends to pull the
promotion on March 20th.
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January
29, 2003 |
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Rick - Editor in
Chief, GameCubicle |
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