22-10-2005, 10:49 PM
Hehe, well i'm glad you asked! 
Both of the stores in Preston are still happyily stocking the Gamecube, we've got 2 shelves (Like WOAH!) including all the new releases and christmas releases as the Gamecube sells well here. However in towns and areas where the Gamecube hasn't performed as well as the bigwigs at GAME HQ would like, it's very possible that they have now stopped selling it altogether. The main reason GAME had to keep the Gamecube selling over christmas was... that Legend of Zelda game that GAME had HUGE hopes for, even naming it as the sole game of the year. Now ninty have pushed it back into the depths of 2006, GAME have pretty much said... "Well, sod this" and shelved the console and its games. It was a hugely stupid mistake on Nintendo's part, i'm not surprised if other games stores start shelving the cube too to be honest. There is still a big possibility that when Zelda does eventually come out next year, they will stock the game, but that's all. The biggest thing the Gamecube has selling it now this christmas is Fire Emblem and... well nah that's it really, and not even that game will sell compared to the many games the other consoles have got release dates for this christmas. The last big release was WWE Day of Reckoning 2, which made it into the Top 20, #11 i think, making it the first time a Gamecube game has been seen in the Top 40 since Resident Evil 4, and i would not have been surprised if your GAME store had shelved the Gamecube altogether not long after that's release.
The GAME website and many other GAME stores will still be selling Gamecube this christmas though, but i would say between 25% - 35% of GAME stores will have gotten rid (at a guess-timate) mind.
I wouldn't point the finger at GAME though, they're the No.1 retailer in the U.K., the blame goes to Nintendo for not doing anything about it! The Sony PSP has got about 2 - 3 times as many shelves as the Nintendo DS and there's many more titles available for DS at this point and many more planned. Nintendo need to pull their finger out and start spending some money, and getting together with retailers to make their consoles noticed - They won't sell themselves if they're left in the corner with the burnt out lightbulb! Sony BUY all their shelf space, as do Microsoft. Sony & Microsoft also have active representitives across the country going into games stores with promotional materials and stuff not only to check up on how the console is doing, but to educate the staff about their upcoming releases... Nintendo? Erm... "Yea, that corner over there".
Both of the stores in Preston are still happyily stocking the Gamecube, we've got 2 shelves (Like WOAH!) including all the new releases and christmas releases as the Gamecube sells well here. However in towns and areas where the Gamecube hasn't performed as well as the bigwigs at GAME HQ would like, it's very possible that they have now stopped selling it altogether. The main reason GAME had to keep the Gamecube selling over christmas was... that Legend of Zelda game that GAME had HUGE hopes for, even naming it as the sole game of the year. Now ninty have pushed it back into the depths of 2006, GAME have pretty much said... "Well, sod this" and shelved the console and its games. It was a hugely stupid mistake on Nintendo's part, i'm not surprised if other games stores start shelving the cube too to be honest. There is still a big possibility that when Zelda does eventually come out next year, they will stock the game, but that's all. The biggest thing the Gamecube has selling it now this christmas is Fire Emblem and... well nah that's it really, and not even that game will sell compared to the many games the other consoles have got release dates for this christmas. The last big release was WWE Day of Reckoning 2, which made it into the Top 20, #11 i think, making it the first time a Gamecube game has been seen in the Top 40 since Resident Evil 4, and i would not have been surprised if your GAME store had shelved the Gamecube altogether not long after that's release.
The GAME website and many other GAME stores will still be selling Gamecube this christmas though, but i would say between 25% - 35% of GAME stores will have gotten rid (at a guess-timate) mind.
I wouldn't point the finger at GAME though, they're the No.1 retailer in the U.K., the blame goes to Nintendo for not doing anything about it! The Sony PSP has got about 2 - 3 times as many shelves as the Nintendo DS and there's many more titles available for DS at this point and many more planned. Nintendo need to pull their finger out and start spending some money, and getting together with retailers to make their consoles noticed - They won't sell themselves if they're left in the corner with the burnt out lightbulb! Sony BUY all their shelf space, as do Microsoft. Sony & Microsoft also have active representitives across the country going into games stores with promotional materials and stuff not only to check up on how the console is doing, but to educate the staff about their upcoming releases... Nintendo? Erm... "Yea, that corner over there".