I’m starting to wonder if the huge Gamecube price drop at Dixons isn’t part of some cunning plot by Nintendo to just shift large volumes of ‘cubes in advance of their big game releases this year (Metroid, Zelda), or just to have a stronger claim at second place in the console market in the UK (getting the edge on XBox).
Dixons and Nintendo would have to be in it together. A rumour “leaks” out of Dixons to the effect that they’re about to drop the GC from their retail line-up, and have dropped their prices to shift all their leftover stock. Nintendo puts out a denial. Everyone who had been thinking about getting a ‘cube at some point in the indeterminate future now thinks, “Hey, now’s the time to get one at Dixons, but I’d better grab one before they run out.”
Dixons shifts a couple of thousand units in the space of a week or two. Then they put out an official press release stating that they never intended to stop stocking the ‘cube (confirming Nintendo’s official line all along), and that the price reduction was just a special offer. Presto, you’ve just hooked a bundle of customer who might otherwise have just let the ‘cube pass them by, and waited for the next wave of consoles.
That would be pretty cynical, wouldn’t it?