XBox Vs. GameCube – Round One
Less than a week after the two systems were released, both Microsofts Xbox and Nintendos GameCube are selling well, with a slight edge going to GameCube. The long-awaited, twice-delayed Microsoft Xbox debuted with much fanfare on November 15, 2001 at 12:01 EST at the Toys "R" Us flagship store in Times Square. Bill Gates was on hand to present the first Xbox console to Edward Glucksman of Keansburg, New Jersey. According to a CNET news brief, a Goldman Sachs survey of U.S. retailers found that as of November 20, 2001 73 percent had already sold out of Microsoft's Xbox and that 47 percent were sold out of Nintendo's GameCube. However, its possible the difference in inventory levels could be traced back to the amount of consoles the stores initially received. Microsoft was estimated to have shipped 300,000 units, and Nintendo is estimated to have shipped 700,000 GameCube consoles. No Xbox sales figures have been released but Nintendo announced that over $100 million worth of GameCube consoles and related merchandise sold on its first day. The GameCube went on sale Sunday, November 18, 2001. Goldman Sachs research showed that WalMart and Toys "R" Us are well stocked with GameCubes but are lacking Xbox inventory and do not know when new shipments will arrive. Microsoft earlier stated that they would have at least 1 million units in stores for the holiday season, while Nintendo is scheduled to have 4 million units in North America by March 2002. Xbox has a suggested retail price of $299, while the Nintendo GameCube is offered at a suggested retail price of $199.