Huh... looks like GC won\'t be as cost-friendly as we thought.

"When I talked to Arakawa-san, he said the hardware would sell well for under two hundred dollars, due to costs however, he said this seems unlikely. The price will probably be between two hundred and fifty and three hundred dollars"

It looks like in terms of price, GC is not going to have that much of a jump on the competition after all. But if this is true (and I for one believe it), just what is X-box going to come in at? - Tendo Box

Personally, I don\'t understand this. If GC doesn\'t support DVD or CD playing capabilities like the competition, then why is it priced around the same levels as the PS2 or X-Box??

How did we all get the assumption that the GC would launch in Japan for so little anyways? It has been a long time since a console has launched for so little in it\'s home country. DC launch for 200, but was 300 in Japan. PS2 waas 400 in Japan, 300 in America. I believe that once GC comes to America, it will be lower though.

Eric Jacob

A high price tag is justified with one word: profit.  Stateside, though, they\'d do better to lower the price because I doubt we\'re going to turn around our economy just to meet Nintendo\'s sales expectations.

-Eik

hyper, I would imagine a mini DVD drive is pretty expensive....

I\'ll still be getting a GC on launch day, so this \'news\' changes nothing for me.

Yeah, the cost of creating (of having someone else create) your own proprietary DVD drive is probably the same as having a standard one which plays movies. Course I have no facts or even rough estimations to back me up, but still.

I would rather see the GC be a bit more expensive and charge less for their games than have a cheap console that you have to pay an arm and a leg for just to use.

Originally posted by SonyFan
I would rather see the GC be a bit more expensive and charge less for their games than have a cheap console that you have to pay an arm and a leg for just to use.

Yep, me too. I\'d much rather pay more for the console (a one time investment) and then be able to buy cheaper games (which are in fact the biggest expense). I think it\'ll be around $250.

Now if Sony takes that advice we all have
happier faces !
Knotter8

wow.. so then when he gamecube launches.. next to x box, it will be GC=$200+ X BOX=$300 (definately) ps2=$200(definately..)
sony wil drop ps2\'s price at Q3, 100$ us currency around the world..
x box will have to be $300 dollars.. they cant afford losses right now.

x box will have to be $300 dollars.. they cant afford losses right now.

Heh, listen to what you just said: "Microsoft can\'t afford..."

Now you didn\'t really mean that, did you? ;]

-Eik

ahhh, good ole fanboys.

PS2 WILL be 200 dollars? Where have you heard this exactly?

X-Box WILL be 300 dollars? Where have you heard this exactly?

GC WILL be 200 dollars? Where have you heard this exactly?

In fact on GC, I have heard striking reports that it will be more than 200.

Eric Jacob

[Living-In-Clip]

Super NES was 250.
N64 was 250.
I think the NES was 250--I may be wrong.

But, if that trend is right, then I suspect the GC will also be 250.
But as I said, I may very well be wrong, please feel free to correct me.

Anyways, the consoles always launch higher in Japan, and for the most part the launch games always suck. So, I really could care less about the Japan launch.

Where the HELL did people come up with the rumor that Gamecube would be so much cheaper?????


First of all, the components it uses are pretty much in tune with the price of the PS2... lets see what it has, shall we?

RAM
CPU
mini-DVD
GPU
Circuit Board

And what does PS2 have??

RAM
CPU
DVD
GPU
Circuit Board

Hmmm... where does the cost savings come from??? TO those fanboys of Nintendo who still think that Gamecube will be cheaper to make than Xbox and PS2... wake up and smell the pokemon...

Where the HELL did people come up with the rumor that Gamecube would be so much cheaper

Here\'s some stuff from IGN...

"\'Proprietary\' doesn\'t necessarily mean expensive -- cartridge manufacturing does. Don\'t confuse the two. Sega\'s GD-ROMs are proprietary in nature while still cost effective and easily manufactured. Nintendo\'s proprietary Gamecube discs will not inflate the costs of development, and in fact the company has said that its licensing fees for third-parties are comparable, if not better than those of competitor Sony\'s for PlayStation 2."

and

"Nintendo claims that it is targeting its Gamecube as a videogame console only. However, logic tells us that price is also a major issue. In accordance with the DVD Forum (formerly DVD Consortium), an organization founded and maintained by major electronics manufacturers worldwide, any corporation wishing to release a DVD-branded device capable of playing DVD movies into the mass-market must pay a fee of approximately $20 per unit to the Forum. Therefore, Nintendo would have to pay $20 to the Forum for every Gamecube unit shipped—an amount of money that, it seems, is unacceptable. Add to that the fact that Nintendo wants to use copy-protected, differently-sized DVDs."

and

"Exact pricing for the console is not yet known, but it\'s going to be marketed cheap. \'While our new [Gamecube] hardware will be extremely powerful,\' said former company chairman Howard Lincoln at a Nintendo held press conference last May, \'it will retail at a mass market price for home videogame systems.\' A rumored $150-200 price-point is likely.

Lincoln also noted that Gamecube software would sell at a competitive price. \'Let me assure you that this is a critical objective for Nintendo—as is the need for flexible and quick manufacturing turn around of [Gamecube] software and strong and effective counterfeit protection. All of these objectives will be achieved under the Nintendo-Matsush ita alliance.\'"

That\'s where the hell we came up with the rumor... in case you were still wondering.

Oh and as far as this goes:

TO those fanboys of Nintendo who still think that Gamecube will be cheaper to make than Xbox and PS2...

Take a look at your logic.  You assume that all CPUs for all different kinds of machines, manufactured by all different kinds of companies cost exactly the same.  You express this logic repeatedly...  No offense, but you obviously don\'t have a clue.

Imagine I told you a 2002 Chevy Pickup will cost the same as a 2002 Volkswagen Beetle because they both have wheels, seats, windows, and pedals.  Ridiculous, right?

-Eik

First of all...

That $20 price paid to the forum is not correct.  The actual pricing is a percentage of the selling price, and other factors are taken into consideration. Pricing is also not disclosed, so it would be unwise to speculate since neither you nor I are members of the forum.

Second, lets say for example that the price is $20 lower, so the price of Gamecube is $20 less... How does that equate to the console being between $150 - $200? Howard Lincoln NEVER STATED THAT IT WOULD BE BETWEEN THOSE PRICE RANGES!! He merely stated that it would be "competitive".

Are the people who speculate these absurd prices the same ones who speculate on Square coming to Xbox? Stop speculating and smell the truth.  Being competitive means selling the console at a price similar to other consoles on the market. I highly doubt that Nintendo has such a command over its operations that it can make consoles cheaper than Sony can.  If the PS2 costs a rumored $400 to make, I would guess that GamceCube would cost around the same amount.

And for the retail price to be $199, they would have to sell it to retailers for $150, making their loss per console a whopping $250!! For some reason, I DOUBT Nintendo is willing to loose so much money.

In a few days, we\'ll all know. My money is on the $250 - $299 range, however.

Originally posted by Eiksirf



Take a look at your logic.  You assume that all CPUs for all different kinds of machines, manufactured by all different kinds of companies cost exactly the same.  You express this logic repeatedly...  No offense, but you obviously don\'t have a clue.

Imagine I told you a 2002 Chevy Pickup will cost the same as a 2002 Volkswagen Beetle because they both have wheels, seats, windows, and pedals.  Ridiculous, right?

-Eik

Eik, are you aware that a custom made CPU and GPU would be MORE expensive to manufacture than a commoditized one?

The main cost of the PS2 is the Emotion Engine, which took a lot out of Sony to develop.  Don\'t go around thinking that the Gamecube\'s CPU and GPU cost pennies on the dollar to make.  If anything, the price would be similar to the PS2s, maybe slightly lower. MS has the advantage of economies of scale.  

But then again, I suppose my degree in CE has no value, and that I wasted four years in a University for nothing (rolls eyes)...

Don\'t be fooled by the media, my friend. They can pull the sheep\'s wool over your eyes before you know it. GameCube is essentially a computer, just like the Xbox and Playstation, and has the same cost considerations as the other two.