GameCube Woes

We generally reserve console stuff for Jason's LNC stories, but this one looks pretty big so we're handing it out now. The Nintendo GameCube which has settled into 3rd place behind the PS2 and XBox looks to be in a world of hurt lately. Check out the latest CNN article:

Disastrous GameCube sales in the company's first fiscal quarter, combined with the threat of losing retail shelf space, could prompt the company to knock $50 off the $149 console earlier than anyone expects. [snip] It's going to need to if it hopes to hit its sales goal of 6 million units this fiscal year. Worldwide, only 80,000 GameCubes were sold between April and June. The company has suspended production on the machines until this fall, hoping to clear out the backlog of inventory. [snip] Traditionally no publisher cuts prices until after Labor Day, since August sales are slow anyway. Nintendo, though, could reinvigorate the market and put it ahead a curve with a surprise announcement this week.