Upcoming tax law to impact price of all consumer goods in Japan, GameCube included. Digital AV output also on the way out.
Nintendo said today that it will be revising the price of the GameCube console in Japan by a small margin due to a new government regulation in the country that requires products to be labeled with prices that already include tax. Up until now, Nintendo"s GameCube was labeled at 14,000 yen ($131), but its actual cost was 14,700 yen ($137) for consumers, based on the addition of a 5 percent consumption tax that was charged on the console.
Despite the new regulation, Nintendo decided that it would continue to keep its GameCube price tag at 14,000 yen rather than hike it to 14,700 yen, which means that the company will be making a virtual price drop so that the added tax will not affect its price tag. Nintendo"s Enjoy Plus Pack (GameCube and Game Boy Player set) will also continue to hold the same price tag as before at 19,800 yen ($185), and the GBA SP"s price tag will stay the same at 12,500 yen ($117). For consumers, this means that they"ll be saving 700 yen ($6.50) on the GameCube, and they"ll be saving 990 ($9) and 625 yen ($6) on the Enjoy Plus Pack and Game Boy Player, respectively.