GameCube launches with little fanfare
Published: 17 Sep 2001 10:49 BST
Nintendo has finally launched its GameCube console in Japan and the reception so far has been relatively low-key.
Though lengthy lines were expected by the time stores were closing on Tuesday evening, both Akihabara and Shinjuku districts, where game consumers gather, have been quiet. Less than a half-dozen people were waiting to buy a console by that evening, and by early morning Wednesday, the number did not significantly rise.
At one of Akihabara's game stores, Laox Computer Game, long lines were expected, as was the case with the Sony PlayStation2 and the Nintendo Game Boy Advance launches, but an hour before the store opened only about 20 people were waiting in line. Surprisingly, most of them were from outside Japan. Some of those in line actually came from the United States to buy the Japanese import version of the GameCube hardware and software.
Shinjuku was slightly more lively. At Yodobashi Camera in the West Exit, the lines were longer before the early morning opening of the store, but even there the lines were not as crowded as expected. Lines for console launches at this location often stretch farther, turning corners and snaking around the block, but today there was only a short straight line.
Though most were video game consumers, a few in line were parents buying the GameCube for their children. After the stores opened, the lines generally moved in an orderly fashion, diminishing in less than an hour, making it easy to purchase the hardware and software.
Convenience stores such as Lawson, and some smaller retailers, jumped the gun and began selling the console a day or two earlier.
Nintendo shipped approximately 500,000 units for the launch of the GameCube. Preorders for the console began at a variety of Japanese retail stores last month, and according to several retailers, the preorder campaign has been "fairly good."
The three launch titles for the new system are Luigi's Mansion, Wave Race: Blue Storm and Super Monkey Ball.
For all the latest GameCube news, check out GameSpot UK.
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