Nintendo cuts Japanese Cube price as US sales rise

Console giant Nintendo has dropped the price of the GameCube in Japan, in line with recent cuts in the USA and Europe - which have caused a fourfold rise in sales of the Cube stateside, according to some figures.

The Cube will now retail for 14,000 Yen (â'¬108) in Japan, slightly ahead of its European price point of â'¬99. A bundle pack featuring a GameCube, memory card and GameBoy Advance Player will be sold for 19,800 Yen (â'¬153).

The move comes following a successful few months for the Cube in Japan, which has seen the launch of software such as Namco's Tales of Symphonia push the installed base of the console to new heights.

It brings the Japanese price broadly in line with the new US and European price points for the console - which have apparently caused a major rise in sales for the platform.

Sources in the USA have reported fourfold increases in sales of the GameCube hardware since the price was cut to $99 last week, with weekly unit sales thought to have rocketed from about 15,000 to over 60,000 units. It's expected that a rise in the console's sales in the UK will also be recorded, boosted by the launch of Soul Calibur 2, which went to number one here last week after recording significantly higher sales on the Cube than on any other platform.