Last week I was more than surprised to learn Xbox sales in the Uk had overtaken GameCubes. But can Nintendo retake the lead? And if so how?

How can Nintendo combat the overtaking Xbox sales in the UK?

Steve: To be honest i dont really care about sales! i have my GameCube and will be buying games i want for it. I dont care if its selling more or selling less than the xbox. Cant we all just go back to how it was in the old days when we enjoyed playing our consoles instead of arguing with eachother over sales!?

Franklin: I agree with Steve he makes a good point. Should it matter how the Cube is selling? We all got ours and we're happy right?

But if it doesn't sell well then Developers might lose interest in it and we could see a hugh fall in the number of games in development for it.

I think one thing Nintendo could ans SHOULD do (any PR managers for Nintendo reading this?) Spent more money on TV adverts so they get more air time. We've all seen the adds that Nintendo have made thus far and i think we can all agree that they are all awesome. But the problem is we don't see them that much. I haven't seen a Cube ad in 3 weeks now. Yet at almost every ad break i see at least one PS2 or Xbox ad. At this time the I've seen the ad for "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" for PS2 so many times it puts Nintendos air time to shame.

Ads are meant to make people remember what they see and hopefully make them buy the product but this really only works if the person sees the ad nurmours times so they don't forget about it.

Say for instance your average Joe So sees a Cube ad on Sunday and likes it and considers for a brief minute to buy it, but he doesn't get the chance to go to a shoping center till the following Saturday. Chances are the way things are he'll never see the ad again in that time and will likely forget he ever saw it.

Modox: Software. Simple as that. I have an import GameCube, and I'm having a dry patch on that, which should end with Metroid Prime. But if I look at the PAL list, it's quite pitiful to be perfectly honest.

Eternal Darkness only came out recently, which is a brilliant game, but not one that is likely to be a mainstream hit. Starfox Adventures is good, and should get some sales, simply from the franchise and the graphics. It certainly isn't a killer app though, there doesn't appear to be one for the GameCube. It's got a lot of high quality titles, Mario, SSBM, Pikmin, RE etc, but nothing that shifts systems quite like MGS 2 or Halo.

European owners have to wait for next year for Metriod Prime, and if that doesn't shift consoles (assuming it has the right marketing), then I don't think anything will.

Simon: What Nintendo need to do is bring their big games out sooner, and more of them. The only games that are going to sell well, and have done are Super Smash Brothers Melee, Resident Evil, Mario, Eternal Darkness, Metroid, and Zelda. The average gamer is rapidly losing interest in games like Mario, and with Zelda's graphics as they are, thats probably lost a few thousand fans in the UK alone. When my brother bought an Xbox, he put his free Jet Set Radio Future in, and as soon as he saw the graphics, he turned the game off, and refused to play it. I tried to explain to him and my dad that cel-shading requires twice (more or less) the power, because instead of the graphics being rendered once (like most games), they are rendered twice to create a cartoon effect, but they wouldnt believe it.

They have no big games being launched over the christmas period either. If they could get Animal Crossing out before christmas, that may sell a few games, but I dont see how Nintendo can get back above the Xbox in terms of sales in the short and long term.

Conor: I have to admit, I didn't give Xbox a chance at first. I figured people would see through its superficial philosophy and paper-thin library of good games but alas, they haven't. Of course, with the marketing blitz that is the Xbox you can't blame the uneducated. And the educated recognise its strengths.

What Nintendo need to do is all to do with price and marketing. First, lower the GameCubes price to 99.99. Xbox and PS2 are only 20/30 quid more expensive and offer DVD players and a more attractable image to the mainstream public, one cannot avoid that fact. Also, a cheap games label would be much appreciated. Having earlier games like Luigis Mansion, Pikmin, Wave Race and Smash Brothers for half the normal price would definitely be a good idea.

As I said, marketing is something that also be looked on. More (better) adverts are needed, as well as maybe things like NOA do (advertising Metroid Prime at the cinema for example). Oh, and start treating Europe as good as other territories, it's getting better but more work needs to be done. One more thing, a more aggressive stance towards the competition would be very good indeed.

Tim: The question is not how, but when. Nintendo's holiday game lineup is one of the best I have ever seen for a Nintendo console. There have been heeps of quality games released and there are still piles to be released... I think Star Fox on it's own would already make the GameCube bypass the XBox. And with the help of Die Hard, Harry Potter, THPS 4, Clone Wars etc etc the GameCube will win the battle this holiday for sure in my opinion.

So there we go, work has to be done on Nintendos part. Next week we'll be pondering Capcoms apparent enthuasiasm for GameCube.