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 When
GameCube launched in Japan on September 14th, it was greeted by moderate
crowds and lackluster sales. The causes included a noticeable lack
of a true system-seller, very few launch titles, and the international tragedy
which occurred just days before that muted enthusiasm. Nintendo reported that just 300,000 of the
450,000 GameCube units available at launch were sold during the first weekend.
Later game releases such as Pikmin helped push sales over the following
weeks.
Enter November 21st and Japan's GameCube Launch 2.0 - otherwise referred
to as GameCube's second beginning in the homeland! On Wednesday,
Nintendo's GameCube console was released in Japan in both Jet Black and
Spice colors. The launch of these new colors during the holiday season was
met with considerable lines out the doors of game retailers. Japanese
sales reports show that 147,000 GameCubes were sold during this week -
compared to 17,800 the week before.
However, the
true attraction may have actually been the release of Nintendo's
long-awaited killer-app GameCube fighter, Super Smash Bros. DX (Melee).
Dengeki Magazine's sales report indicates 358,000 copies of Super Smash
Bros. DX were sold during the week of November 19- 25. According to
Famitsu reported counting over 80 people waiting outside game retailer
Shinjuku Station before the store's 9am opening. Click to view one,
two,
three,
photo's from Famitsu.com .
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