Theory Station - Issue 1

Nintendo Gearing Up?

Ok, we've all heard the rumours about how much it costs for Nintendo to make a GameCube. If you've been living under a rock here's the low-down. $20US at first might seem a little unrealistic, and I know many people will shrug this off as not a rumour, but an absolute load of bullocks. But I'm here to encourage you to start thinking a little more seriously about it. What if it was true?

Put your mind to it. The Xbox (which is reported to make a loss on each console sold), has a 10gb hard drive, DVD compatibility, CD compatibility, and an in-built broadband modem. That's a heck of a lot of extras, add to this Xbox's better specs, and you have a pretty expensive little unit. It currently retails at $179.99US, shop around and you'll get this same price with two quality games thrown in for free. Now for the GameCube. It's a stock-standard games machine. No extras, it just plays the best games in the world. It retails at $149.99US, and a select number of stores will give you a new release game for free. As you can see, all we have is a $30US gap, and I'll be damned if anyone could but all the extras that the Xbox has for this price.

How much could it really cost Nintendo to put together a GameCube? How much (taking into consideration their corporate deals) could Nintendo buy a processor, a flipper, and some ram for, some cheap plastic to but it all in, and a can of indigo spray paint? If you ask me, the answer isn't too far over the $20 mark. A more realistic figure would be something around the $30-$40 price line. The bottom line is that Nintendo are making a heck of a lot of profit, even with its "poor" sales numbers. Need proof? Look no further than the recent net profits announced last week - a cool .5 billion dollars thankyou very much. So what are Nintendo doing with it all?

Sure, most of it could be going towards advertising for their upcoming releases. But hey, it obviously isn't. Perhaps it's going into the development of the next Zelda, Metroid, and Mario games? But lets not forget the income of the Game Boy merchandise. Nintendo are still making quite a lot of money, and are in no means in any danger of being forced to close down its operations. Nintendo have a lot of money behind them, and I'm not talking about a figure in the 100's of millions. No, no, no. I'm talking an amount in excess of 10's of billions.

So do I have a theory as to what they are going to do with this money? Of course I do :)

At the moment it is being saved up. I'm betting that Nintendo's sole purpose with the GameCube now is to provide them with a bit more recourses to work with. In a sense, the GameCube's purpose now is to gear Nintendo up for their next one! Nintendo are not going to make the same mistake three times in a row with their console. The next console we'll see from Nintendo is going to be hi-tech piece of equipment. It will provide and exceed what the new console gaming market demands. Nintendo are going to throw an insane amount of money behind it, money you never knew they had! I'm estimating a figure in the billions will be put into developing this console, and everything to do with its launch. Things to expect will be some massive launch games, a massive online plan ready to go on launch, and a console that will far exceed everyone's expectations � at a very reasonable price.

Think about it. It's not a question of if. It's a do-or-die for Nintendo. Their next console IS their last chance at winning back their former respect, if they don't make an impression this time around, it's gonna be the big ugly arse for our beloved Nintendo. But I'm predicting it won't be! It's going to be Nintendo's return to glory, mark my words...

Feel free to agree or argue in the comments!

*Note: I wrote this quite a few days before this article :P