There are one hundred and one things to consider.
The cube didn't sell on the same level as the xbox in the west (EU and US). Here are the values:
| Pos | Platform | North America | Europe | Japan | Rest of World | Global |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Xbox (XB) | 15.77 | 7.17 | 0.53 | 1.18 | 24.65 |
| 2 | GameCube (GC) | 12.55 | 4.44 | 4.04 | 0.71 | 21.74 |
3m more in both the US and EU, for a total of 6m more units of xbox sold in the west (that's 50% of the cube's total sales in the west).
Similarly, less software:
| Pos | Platform | North America | Europe | Japan | Rest of World | Global |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Xbox (XB) | 191.80 | 65.95 | 3.88 | 9.83 | 271.46 |
| 14 | GameCube (GC) | 135.02 | 40.00 | 27.54 | 6.05 | 208.61 |
Xbox sold about 150% times cube's sales in the west.
Japan was Sony's turf so Nintendo's edge there didn't matter much, even less to western devs.
Then, the idea of the cube being sold at very low margin for retailers boosting these sales numbers is grim. "Other retailers shifted the consoles at rock-bottom prices to free shelf space for Xboxes and PS2s."
There's so much going on here.
@OP. The Wii was a phenomenon, it's all bringing back to memory, I'm upset I'm forgetting all of this. "Harrison, now a full-time consultant for start-up businesses, believes Nintendo's natural response to anxiety is invention." "Let's we forget" really is a powerful phrase. The stigma was very strong against Nintendo, and I personally felt the anxiety even as a fan. This is a telling bit:
"Meanwhile, developers and games enthusiasts were discussing the creative possibilities that motion control could bring to games.
It was a rare moment when all the planets had aligned for Nintendo. People were excited about the launch line-up, but even more enthused by the kind of games they imagined could appear on the new console."
I think we all had big visions of what the new idea we were shown could offer, especially with videos like these:
I think this video goes to show how much Nintendo and 3rd parties dropped the ball on the whole potential of Wii's innovation, and it's really too bad. Plaguing the Wii with cheesy artstyles for the more casual games was not necessary. A cool cooking simulator would have been awesome. It never happened. :(
