Nintendo will ship 500,000 GameCubes at Japan launch

1.1 million for the US in November

By Eurogamer.net • Get more from this author

Posted in Games Industry, 1st August 2001 15:33 GMT

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Nintendo plans to ship 500,000 GameCubes for the Japanese launch of the console on 14 September according to games site Famitsu. Most of these will probably go to pre-orders, but thousands will pack into the centre of Tokyo's Akihabara district in time-honoured tradition to pick up their consoles.

The console will only be available in the colour violet for launch, matching the various shots that have been spread all over the Net since Spaceworld 2000. Nintendo intends to ship a further 400,000 units before the end of the year in Japan though, and the secondary run will include alternative colours.

Bizarrely, Nintendo of America intends to ship approximately 1.1 million GameCubes within November, with 900,000 units of Luigi's Mansion expected to be sold alongside the console by Christmas. By March 2002, the total number of GameCube units shipped will exceed 4 million, the company says.

Currently there are no estimates for the European launch, but we reckon it will be somewhere between the Japanese and American figures. Don't forget to pre-order when the time comes, because if the Game Boy Advance's launch is anything to go by, you may need to. ®

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