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Forums - Sales Discussion - Why did the Xbox outsell the GameCube?

Moyu on 11 July 2015

Everyone is saying Halo but I'm going to be contrarian and mention a little gem called Oddworld stranger's wrath, even though MS treated the devs like shit.



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HoloDust on 11 July 2015
Pos Game Year Genre Publisher North America Europe Japan Rest of World Global
1. Halo 2 2004 Shooter Microsoft Game Studios 6.82 1.53 0.05 0.08 8.49
2. Halo: Combat Evolved 2001 Shooter Microsoft Game Studios 4.98 1.30 0.08 0.07 6.43
3. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 2002 Action Ubisoft 1.85 1.04 0.00 0.13 3.02
4. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind 2002 Role-Playing Ubisoft 2.09 0.63 0.03 0.11 2.86
5. Fable 2004 Role-Playing Microsoft Game Studios 1.99 0.58 0.00 0.09 2.66
6. Rockstar Games Double Pack: Grand Theft Auto III & Grand Theft Auto Vice City 2003 Action Take-Two Interactive 1.84 0.56 0.00 0.09 2.49
7. Need for Speed Underground 2 2004 Racing Electronic Arts 1.38 0.80 0.00 0.10 2.28
8. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2003 Role-Playing Activision 1.68 0.44 0.00 0.08 2.19
9. Project Gotham Racing 2001 Racing Microsoft Game Studios 1.37 0.61 0.05 0.09 2.12
10. Project Gotham Racing (JP weekly sales) 2002 Action Microsoft Game Studios 1.54 0.44 0.04 0.07 2.10
11. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas 2005 Action Take-Two Interactive 1.26 0.61 0.00 0.09 1.95
12. Madden NFL 06 2005 Sports Electronic Arts 1.75 0.03 0.00 0.08 1.86
13. Dead or Alive 3 2001 Fighting Microsoft Game Studios 1.19 0.29 0.24 0.06 1.77
14. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2002 Shooter Ubisoft 1.23 0.46 0.00 0.07 1.76
15. Star Wars Battlefront 2004 Shooter Activision 1.24 0.45 0.00 0.07 1.75
16. Madden NFL 2005 2004 Sports Electronic Arts 1.61 0.03 0.00 0.08 1.72
17. Need for Speed Underground 2003 Racing Electronic Arts 1.09 0.55 0.00 0.07 1.71
18. Star Wars Battlefront II 2005 Shooter Activision 1.22 0.39 0.00 0.06 1.67
19. PGR: Project Gotham Racing 2 2003 Racing Microsoft Game Studios 0.97 0.59 0.04 0.07 1.67
20. ESPN NFL 2K5 2004 Sports Sega 1.54 0.02 0.00 0.07 1.63
21. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 2003 Shooter Ubisoft 0.91 0.57 0.00 0.07 1.55
22. Medal of Honor: Frontline 2002 Shooter Electronic Arts 1.00 0.43 0.00 0.06 1.49
23. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow 2004 Action Ubisoft 0.82 0.59 0.00 0.07 1.48
24. Spider-Man: The Movie 2002 Action Activision 1.07 0.28 0.00 0.05 1.40
25. True Crime: Streets of LA 2003 Action Activision 0.96 0.37 0.00 0.05 1.38
26. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords 2004 Role-Playing Activision 0.99 0.33 0.00 0.05 1.37
27. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2 2004 Shooter Ubisoft 0.86 0.45 0.00 0.06 1.36
28. The Simpsons: Hit & Run 2003 Racing Vivendi Games 0.70 0.58 0.00 0.07 1.35
29. Doom 3 2005 Shooter Activision 0.85 0.43 0.00 0.06 1.34
30. Burnout 3: Takedown 2004 Racing Electronic Arts 0.84 0.43 0.00 0.04 1.31
31. Tony Hawk's Underground 2003 Sports Activision 0.85 0.37 0.00 0.05 1.27
32. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 2005 Action Activision 0.82 0.38 0.00 0.04 1.24
33. Ninja Gaiden 2004 Action Microsoft Game Studios 0.92 0.20 0.07 0.04 1.23
34. Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex 2002 Platform Universal Interactive 0.59 0.57 0.00 0.07 1.23
35. Max Payne 2001 Shooter Take-Two Interactive 0.98 0.19 0.00 0.05 1.22
36. Fuzion Frenzy 2001 Misc Microsoft Game Studios 0.93 0.24 0.00 0.04 1.21
37. Call of Duty: Finest Hour 2004 Shooter Activision 0.78 0.40 0.00 0.04 1.21
38. Enter the Matrix 2003 Action Atari 0.72 0.43 0.01 0.04 1.20
39. Hitman 2: Silent Assassin N/A Action Eidos Interactive 0.76 0.38 0.00 0.05 1.19
40. Medal of Honor: Rising Sun 2003 Shooter Electronic Arts 0.76 0.36 0.00 0.05 1.17
41. LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game 2005 Action Eidos Interactive 0.83 0.28 0.00 0.05 1.16
42. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2003 Action Electronic Arts 0.71 0.38 0.00 0.05 1.14
43. MechAssault 2002 Simulation Microsoft Game Studios 1.01 0.10 0.00 0.03 1.13
44. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow 2004 Shooter Ubisoft 0.99 0.12 0.00 0.02 1.13
45. Call Of Duty 2: Big Red One 2005 Shooter Activision 0.66 0.40 0.00 0.05 1.12
46. Spider-Man 2 2004 Action Activision 0.82 0.26 0.00 0.04 1.12
47. Counter-Strike 2003 Shooter Microsoft Game Studios 0.85 0.23 0.00 0.04 1.11
48. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory 2005 Adventure Ubisoft 0.68 0.38 0.00 0.05 1.11
49. Madden NFL 2004 2003 Sports Electronic Arts 1.02 0.02 0.00 0.05 1.09
50. The Simpsons: Road Rage 2001 Racing Electronic Arts 0.78 0.26 0.00 0.01 1.05
51. Forza Motorsport 2005 Racing Microsoft Game Studios 0.52 0.51 0.00 0.02 1.05
52. Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2005 Racing Electronic Arts 0.53 0.46 0.00 0.05 1.04
53. Madden NFL 07 2006 Sports Electronic Arts 0.97 0.03 0.00 0.03 1.02
54. SoulCalibur II 2003 Fighting Namco Bandai Games 0.78 0.18 0.03 0.00 1.00

 

Honestly, it's like watching PC lineup for some random period in time - almost exclusively Western devs with Western-centric games. That, IMO, is the answer.



Conina on 11 July 2015
tokilamockingbrd said:
That said the Gamecube has a 10x better library than the original Xbox. But hype sells a lot, particularly back in 01-03 when most gamers were still under 18.

10 times better library... really? Even if we leave out all the high rated annual sport games, there are over 40 great Xbox games left with a MetaScore of 85 or higher:

Halo 1 + 2, GTA III + Vice City + San Andreas, Ninja Gaiden Black, Splinter Cell 1 + 2 + 3, Burnout 2 + 3 + Revenge, SW: KotOR + Jade Empire + The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time + The Two Thrones, Forza Motorsport, Project Gotham Racing 1 + 2, Rallisport Challenge 1 + 2, Midnight Club 2, SoulCalibur 2, Half-Life 2 + Doom 3, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Max Payne, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 + Earned in Blood, Psychonauts, Jet Set Radio Future, Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath, Crimson Skies 2, Dead or Alive 3, Beyond Good & Evil, MGS 2: Substance, Mercenaries, Far Cry Instincts, Fable, The Warriors,...

Please feel free to list 400 GC-games that are as least as good as these Xbox games... or 300... or 200...



demonfox13 on 11 July 2015

Halo



Make games, not war (that goes for ridiculous fanboys)

I may be the next Maelstorm or not, you be the judge http://videogamesgrow.blogspot.com/  hopefully I can be more of an asset than a fanboy to VGC hehe.

slab_of_bacon on 11 July 2015

I bought an Xbox day one just because I had heard that it would be the most powerful console. I was highly uninformed because I assumed the Gamecube was weak and my interest in getting a new Playstation waned. I was very happy with the purchase especially because I picked up Halo when I bought the console. Again, I hadn't heard of it but the box looked like the kind of game I could play with friends, e.g. Goldeneye. I made the right choice but I wish I could have had Rouge Leader.



Feel free to check out my stream on twitch 

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HollyGamer on 11 July 2015

1. Halo
2. Sega Support after the dead of Dreamcast so they literally have all Sega fans supported the consoles
3. and PC player that jump into consoles (related to Halo actually)
4. Crazy promotion from uncle Bill Gates.
5. Proprietary disc on GameCube hold some third party support from western developer (not all but some )

6 Graphic performance



BlkPaladin on 11 July 2015
Ryng_Tolu said:
Ruler said:

maybe because it had amazing looking exclusives like Shadow of the Collossus, Silent Hill 3 and Metal Gear Solid 3?

Metal Gear Solid 3 sold less than Melee or Sunshine.

Silent hill and Collossus was a niche games...

That's not the reason, what is the best seller on PS2? Grand Theft Auto...

The TRULY reason is just the marketing, the sales of the PS2 games confirmed this.

And the advertising thing is one of the main reason from a money standpoint Nintendo was makeing so much more profit than Sony in that
time span.



AAA300 on 11 July 2015

It's because of money !!! The same thing that kills Nintendo today hurt it then and that's advertising, Microsoft just spent billions to break into the market halo helps but its not the reason. People buy what they know and advertising did cost ms alot but it open the door into the console market despite not having the gamecubes better lineup! If only Nintendo would learn to spend more in advertising,it worked for splatoon!



mysteryman on 11 July 2015

GTA.

Xbox made you cool, Gamecube got you teased and bullied.



rolltide101x on 11 July 2015
nanarchy said:
dharh said:
Halo, hard drive, xbox live, dvd. It truly showed something _new_ and was not a gimmick. It had true enhancements to what we knew of console gaming. Despite that, it was a failure btw.


It wasn't a failure, it was hugely successful for them in terms of what their goals were. They never expected to make money or be the leading console, they were up front about that at the time which was pissing investors off big time as they were saying it was a long term bet and it worked.

Depends on how you define "worked".