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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Do people realize it's almost impossible to kill a douopoly console? (SONY/MS/XBox One)

Soundwave on 19 March 2014

XBox was actually whupping the GameCube pretty badly before MS called it off.

Looking back at some NPD numbers, Nintendo had a great holiday 2003, when they dropped the GameCube to $99.99, but generally speaking the XBox was gaining momentum as that generation wore on, where GameCube was faltering, a sample of some months:

Aug 2004:
XBox: 216k
PS2: 211k (shortages)
GameCube: 108k

Nov 2004:
XBox - 708k
GameCube - 350k

Jan 2005 (RE4 launch):

XBox: 241k

Gamecube: 114k


May 2005:
XBox - 129k
GameCube - 50k

June 2005:
PS2- 355k
XBox - 168k
GCN - 70k

The XBox was routinely outselling the GameCube by 2-2.5x towards the end of the gen before MS pulled the plug. Had the XBox been given a proper 5-6 years on market, the gap almost certainly would've been bigger. GameCube would do OK in Nov/Dec, was a lame duck console most other times. 



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zorg1000 on 19 March 2014
Chris Hu said:
zorg1000 said:
Chris Hu said:

Also its a bit unfair to compare the sales of two well established franchises to a new IP and the second Halo 2 could have done a bit better if it wasn't also available on the PC and the first one could have sold a bit better also even though it didn't get a PC release until two years after it launched on the X-Box.


Stop making excuses, it would have done better if.......

Speculating on how things would have been in different scenarios is fun but it doesnt change the fact that Gamecube and Xbox were almost equal in pretty much every aspect, hardware/software/tie ratio/best sellers. They were both fighting for an extremely distant 2nd place. Now u could say it was a moral victory for Microsoft to be able to beat Nintendo in its first attempt but thats irrelevant to this discussion. The fact remains that there was no duopoly in the 6th gen, PS2 dominated each and every region with an iron first while Xbox/Gamecube fought hard to stay relevant.

The original X-box was more then relevant in the US/North America just have a look at the sales numbers of Halo 2 it still the best selling first party exclusive in that region and one of the biggest games of the decade in both sales, popularity, critical acclaim and historical significance.  Also historically speaking the only console that truely domintated North America was the NES with over 90% of the home console market share and total control of all third party publishers not only could they dictate what games to make for that console, they also controlled how many copies could be made since they where in total control of all the cartrige manufacturing. 

No, PS2 did truly dominate as well, it sold almost twice as much as GC & Xbox combined in America, actually PS2 American numbers are greater than Xbox & GC worldwide sales combined. I dont know why u think a console has to have 90% market share in order to be considered dominant.

I also never said Xbox wasnt relevant, I said it had to fight hard in order to stay relevant. I believe that both Xbox & Gamecube were relevant but both Microsoft & Nintendo had to fight with all there might.



When the herd loses its way, the shepard must kill the bull that leads them astray.

Chris Hu on 19 March 2014

The PS2 was also on the market for more then twice as long as the original X-Box.  For the short time it was arround it did exremely well in North America and no other console will ever release its best selling game less then a year before it goes out of production that is a feast that will never be topped you might as well can set that one in stone like John Stockton's total assists and steal numbers.



lucidium on 19 March 2014

GC is largely referred to as a failure, many point to the new consoles as "the next gamecube" when criticizing sales, finishing your life on the market just a few million more than a failure, does not make you a potential contender for the best selling console of that generation, far from it.

Picture this, you're on your school track and field team, you enter a race with three people, a decent runner, you, and a special needs kid, you just about beat the special needs kid but the guy in first place lapped you.
Would you really celebrate in such a situation?



zorg1000 on 19 March 2014
Chris Hu said:

The PS2 was also on the market for more then twice as long as the original X-Box.  For the short time it was arround it did exremely well in North America and no other console will ever release its best selling game less then a year before it goes out of production that is a feast that will never be topped you might as well can set that one in stone like John Stockton's total assists and steal numbers.


Why do u keep pointing out that Halo 2 released a year before Xbox was discontinued? Ur acting like thats some type of huge deal. Anyway if 15 million in 4 years is considered amazing than why isnt 12 million in 4 years as well? Thats what Gamecube did and isnt that far behind Xbox.

Also PS2 soundly outsold Xbox each and every year that both were on the market, ur really stretching hard to make it seem like there was a duopoly in the 6th gen.



When the herd loses its way, the shepard must kill the bull that leads them astray.

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fps_d0minat0r on 19 March 2014

lol, people still fighting over PS2, xbox and GC.

No-one expects XB1 to 'go away', they just expect it to remain behind PS4 by millions, and keep on getting the worse version of multiplatforms.

And its going to take more than a price drop because when Sony does finally catch up to demand, they could lower the price too.



Chris Hu on 19 March 2014
zorg1000 said:
Chris Hu said:

The PS2 was also on the market for more then twice as long as the original X-Box.  For the short time it was arround it did exremely well in North America and no other console will ever release its best selling game less then a year before it goes out of production that is a feast that will never be topped you might as well can set that one in stone like John Stockton's total assists and steal numbers.


Why do u keep pointing out that Halo 2 released a year before Xbox was discontinued? Ur acting like thats some type of huge deal. Anyway if 15 million in 4 years is considered amazing than why isnt 12 million in 4 years as well? Thats what Gamecube did and isnt that far behind Xbox.

Also PS2 soundly outsold Xbox each and every year that both were on the market, ur really stretching hard to make it seem like there was a duopoly in the 6th gen.


Check the numbers Halo 2 is the best selling game on the X-Box its also the best selling 1st party exclusive in North America during the sixth generation and it did all that while being released less then a year before the system went out of production in August of 2005 that is a feast that will never be topped.



fatslob-:O on 19 March 2014

This thread probably would have never existed if the OP didn't take kaizar's threads so personally ...



Dr.Henry_Killinger on 19 March 2014
fatslob-:O said:

This thread probably would have never existed if the OP didn't take kaizer's threads so personally ...

I disagree with your claim that GC and Xbox, were total failures with no effect on the market; I will concede that GC and Xbox were generally failures, and had small but measurable influence on the last gen; but I totally agree with this statement, like 100%.



In this day and age, with the Internet, ignorance is a choice! And they're still choosing Ignorance! - Dr. Filthy Frank

zorg1000 on 19 March 2014
Chris Hu said:
zorg1000 said:
Chris Hu said:

The PS2 was also on the market for more then twice as long as the original X-Box.  For the short time it was arround it did exremely well in North America and no other console will ever release its best selling game less then a year before it goes out of production that is a feast that will never be topped you might as well can set that one in stone like John Stockton's total assists and steal numbers.


Why do u keep pointing out that Halo 2 released a year before Xbox was discontinued? Ur acting like thats some type of huge deal. Anyway if 15 million in 4 years is considered amazing than why isnt 12 million in 4 years as well? Thats what Gamecube did and isnt that far behind Xbox.

Also PS2 soundly outsold Xbox each and every year that both were on the market, ur really stretching hard to make it seem like there was a duopoly in the 6th gen.


Check the numbers Halo 2 is the best selling game on the X-Box its also the best selling 1st party exclusive in North America during the sixth generation and it did all that while being released less then a year before the system went out of production in August of 2005 that is a feast that will never be topped.

I know the numbers, im asking why is It such a big deal that it released in its final year?



When the herd loses its way, the shepard must kill the bull that leads them astray.