Even though this has been a long time coming, I was still a little surprised to hear that Nintendo VP Perrin Kaplan has confirmed the death of the Gamecube in an interview with GameDaily:
PK: “Are we producing any more GameCubes? No. But do we have the inventory there for people to still purchase? Yes.”
BIZ: “My point is that from a first-party perspective, just like Microsoft doesn’t put out new original Xbox games, Nintendo is no longer supporting GameCube. Can you confirm that?”
PK: “Right, that’s correct. But it’s still a great starter system because of all the great games that were made that are still available. That’s the normal cycle for all products.”
Besides the confirmation on the Gamecube, the full interview covers a broad spectrum of gaming topics, including all things Wi. It is definitely worth checking out.
Update: Eurogamer is reporting that Kaplan was incorrect in her statement that the Gamecube is no longer in production. Nintendo UK issued the following statement:
“I can confirm that globally, Nintendo is still continuing production of GameCube hardware and GameCube software,” a spokesperson for Nintendo UK told us.”
I’m inclined to believe Nintendo UK on this one.
