It was as predictable as the seasons (especially here in Ireland, where Winter is the only one). Every time a negative news piece appeared concerning Gamecube sales, there were the usual cries for a price cut. Or rather, 'PRICCCCCCCE CUUUUUUT!!!!'. To put it mildly. All of Gamecube's woes it seems, all of the consumer apathy, all of the inferior figures, could be solved with price cuts. Now Nintendo have gone and down it, with all US Gamecubes set at $99.99 from last Thursday. A slash in Australia followed the next day, with reductions to AUS$199.95 (119E), and a similar announcement for Europe is expected this month or next. And the situation is starting to look decidedly worse.

I've never been a big believer in the strength of price cuts. To me they've always seemed a quick-fix - attracting a slight rise in sales at first, but rather ineffective in the long-term. Of course I'm not talking about a massive '$300-down-to-$200' cut a few months after launch, but reductions two years down the line. Generally, I believe that if someone wants a console then they'll buy it. Once you get to the sub-$150 area there isn't a whole lot of impact to be made in cuts.

Now, no-one's questioning the quality of Gamecube's Christmas line-up. I am just as exited about Mario Kart, F-Zero and Viewtiful Joe as the next Nintendo enthusiast. But what about the folks that don't have the console? Can you honestly see the masses flocking to game stores to buy these games? Maybe a couple of years ago Mario Kart would draw the crowds, but things have changed. Gamecube's Christmas line-up suffers from the same problem that has plagued the console since launch; the lack of a real killer-app to sell the system to mainstream gamers. Nintendo need a Vice City. Not specifically in terms of content, but certainly in terms of mainstream appeal. This is something Nintendo should be putting resources into, instead of just cutting prices. The latter is just to easy. In metaphorical terms it's akin to throwing luggage out of a falling plane to lose weight when you should be getting to the controls and steering the aircraft out of trouble.

Not only are price cuts relatively ineffective, but they can have a negative effect too. There is a price threshold; once you go below it the console becomes seen as a toy, a throwaway, cheapening not just the numbers on the price tag, but the console in the mind of the public. A higher price can often have the console regarded as a system of higher value - of being a more serious games system. Question is, is $99 that threshold. I'd say yes. Two years on, Nintendo have used up all their price cards - another slashing isn't really feasible until 'N5' is approaching. This has prompted GameSpy's 'Biz Buzz' column to theorize these price cuts could mean an earlier launch for the next console. Although this is debatable, it certainly raises important questions about the impact these cuts will have on Gamecube's future; with more now unlikely until another two years or so, what will Nintendo do the next time sales dip?

Some will say I'm overreacting here, that the price cut is a good thing. A sign of much-needed aggression from Nintendo (a noun the press release was quick to mention). But I don't see it that way - for me it's a sign not of aggression, but desperation. Aggression would be taking steps to ensure publishers and retailers don't drop the Gamecube. Aggression would be ensuring the GC has a mainstream killer-app this Christmas. Aggression is more than spending $50 million on marketing - it's getting the right games to market in the first place.

I hope I'm wrong. I hope the above is a load of tosh. I hope the public will see the cheap Gamecube, and the great batch of titles coming out will make them realise what they've been missing. I really do. But my faith in the general public extends only so far.

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