Nintendo introduces game console at a discount to competitors, sees brisk initial sales.
Thousands of video game fans flocked to midnight store openings across Europe as Japan's Nintendo Co. Ltd. launched its GameCube console Friday at a sharp discount to its rivals.
Nintendo, which has shipped 500,000 machines for the European debut, said it sold 10,000 in Britain in the first two hours Friday. The launch has been backed by a 100 million euro ($90.7 million) marketing blitz.
The Japanese company, which cut the retail price of its console two weeks before the launch, had registered 50,000 pre-orders for the machine in the United Kingdom, said David Gocen, managing director of Nintendo Europe.
GameCube retails for a little more than $180 (€199) in Europe and Britain, about $90 below rival machines such as the Sony PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's (MSFT: Research, Estimates) XBox. Console makers traditionally sell machines at a loss and earn profits on games that sell at around $58.47 (€60) each.
Some 20 games are already available (among the tiltles are hits like Luigi's Mansion, Super Monkey Ball, Tony Hawk 3, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II, Wave Race and Crazy Taxi). The number of games will rise to around 50 in the next couple of months.
News source: CNN
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