The Launch
With only 15 days remaining until the GAMECUBE arrives in the forgotten market that is Australia, the details of our launch have all but been decided. An excruciating six-months have passed as we watched our American counterparts receive and grow tired of their first batch of games, and reviews have finally begun to appear in our local magazines. These six-month old games however, are for the most part the exact same ones that will be appearing in Australian stores come May 17. Both Sony and Microsoft have already presented the public with their respective offerings, making for a crowded market place. Fortunately for Nintendo, the Xboxs reception has been one of disinterest (it should be noted that the recent price drop will help sales, regardless of Nintendos quick response), and the PS2, although popular, is perceived to be dated technology.
So the stage is set. The enemies have shown their weaknesses, advertising has begun, word of mouth is spreading rapidly and retailers are excited by the hardware. This will burn the PS2 an attendant assures me. This comment is indicative of the GameCubes image in the eyes of retailers. To see them change their tune so drastically over the course of a generation was remarkable.
If we could step back to 1997, you would see that the Australian public responded very well to the N64 and its three launch titles. Initial shipments sold out overwhelmingly quickly, and each game received widespread critical acclaim. The only real complaint (which led to the systems downfall, incidentally) was the lack of software. Sensibly, this problem was attended to at right at the GameCubes conception, and the issue of unit shortages has been largely responsible for the PAL delays. Obviously, the last six months have been spent readying the supply of consoles. As for software, at last count there were 25 titles confirmed for day one spread over roughly half a dozen genres. Of course the actual numbers for your local retailer will vary depending on how organised publishers are, but the differences should be marginal. 25 games arent of much value if theyre all puzzle games or hamster simulators. Of the 25, over half the titles are sports and driving games. Amongst the remaining few, a lot are action and arcade games. To the average Australian, this is an extremely appealing spread. The mere fact that there are a lot of games will be enough to convince a few fence sitters of the viability of the console. Im sure that many of you have been told, Nintendo sucks because they never have any games. No more.
Pure numbers may impress the casual gamer, but the jaded veterans among will probably agree that quantity usually comes at the expense of quality. An abundance of games normally mean a lot of rushed games and ports. At first glance this sums up the titles on offer quite well, but to disregard them for this alone would be foolish. Crazy Taxi, Burnout, FIFA 2002, THPS3 and Bloody Roar 3 SE: all ports, but all great games. Wave Race BS, Rouge Squadron 2: RL and Luigis Mansion were all rushed to make the U.S. launch, but again they were all great games. Each could have used a little extra time in development (LM received just that in the months leading up to the PAL launch, so we can expect a slightly revised and extended game), but they are all worthy purchases. Of course there are a few substandard offerings but thats pretty much unavoidable.
So will it sell? We have a good feeling that it will. Over the next few weeks, advertising should pick up a notch, hopefully with some game specific ads as opposed to the teaser clips poached from the America. There should be no post launch slump in sales either, due to the good spread of games over the coming months and we FINALLY have our official Australian website back. Yes, it seems that Nintendo are treating Australia and PAL regions in general with some degree of respect, for what is possibly the first time ever. Perhaps gamers will repay that respect come May 17.
So here is the list of launch titles for May 17th *
*Dates Subject to change
Batman Vengeance
Publisher: Ubi Soft Developer: Ubi Soft
Bloody Roar: Primal Fury
Publisher: Activision Developer: Hudson
Burnout
Publisher: Acclaim Developer: Acclaim
Cel Damage
Publisher: EA Developer: Pseudo Interactive
Crazy Taxi
Publisher: Acclaim Developer: Acclaim
Dark Summit
Publisher: THQ Developer: Radical Interactive
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2
Publisher: Acclaim Developer: Z-Axis
Donald Duck Quack Attack
Publisher: Ubi Soft Developer: Ubi Soft
Driven
Publisher: Bam Entertainment Developer: Bam Entertainment
18 Wheeler American Pro Trucker
Publisher: Acclaim Developer: Acclaim
XG3 Extreme G Racing
Publisher: Acclaim Developer: Acclaim
FIFA 2002 World Cup
Publisher: EA Sports Developer: EA Sports
Jeremy McGrath Supercross World
Publisher: Acclaim Developer: Acclaim
Legends of Wrestling
Publisher: Acclaim Developer: Acclaim
Luigis Mansion
Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo
NHL Hitz 2002
Publisher: Midway Developer: Midway
Red Card Soccer
Publisher: Midway Developer: Point of View
Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
Publisher: LucasArts Developer: Factor 5
Simpsons Roadrage
Publisher: EA Developer: Fox Interactive
Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
Publisher: Sega Developer: Sonic Team
Spider-man The Movie
Publisher: Activision Developer: Treyarch
Super Monkey Ball
Publisher: Sega Developer: Amusement Vision
Tarzan Freeride
Publisher: Ubi Soft Developer: Ubi Soft
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Publisher: Activision Developer: Neversoft
Universal Studios Theme Park Adventures
Publisher: Kemco Developer: Kemco
Wave Race: Blue Storm
Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo
Worms Blast
Publisher: EA Developer: Team 17