Nintendo systems tie ratio

[BoringSupreez]

The attach rate for a game system is how many games on average are sold per console. For Nintendo systems, they are:

NES: 8.1
SNES: 7.7
N64: 6.8
GCN: 9.6
Wii: 8.8
Wii U: 5.0
GB/GBC: 4.2
GBA: 4.6
DS: 6.1
3DS: 3.5

What I find interesting about these numbers is how high the attach rate was for the Gamecube, Nintendo's least successful console, while the lowest rate is for the GB/GBC, one of their best sellers. People say system sales are driven by the games, but it just doesn't line up. If, going by the numbers, Gamecube had far more to offer per person than the Gameboy, why did it outsell the Gamecube by so much?

[Luke]

Source?

[Hazerd]

Source?

[dunpeal2064]

Everyone had a Game Boy back in the day, including people that were content with having Tetris in it, and nothing else. How many people bought a GB, bought Pokemon, and were content until the GBA came out?

I didn't know any "casual" gamers that bought the GC, maybe aside a few that just wanted to play SSBM. Most of them were gamers that were interested in a lot of what the GC had to offer.

Heck, I don't think I even owned more than half a dozen GB games when I was a kid, and how many of them did I buy new? One: Pokemon.

[ZenErik]

As asked previously... Source?

Here's my Nintendo system attach rate:
DS - 2
3DS - 10

All else - 0

[Hazerd]

Everyone had a Game Boy back in the day, including people that were content with having Tetris in it, and nothing else. How many people bought a GB, bought Pokemon, and were content until the GBA came out?

I didn't know any "casual" gamers that bought the GC, maybe aside a few that just wanted to play SSBM. Most of them were gamers that were interested in a lot of what the GC had to offer.

Heck, I don't think I even owned more than half a dozen GB games when I was a kid, and how many of them did I buy new? One: Pokemon.

The GC was the last console i bought on launch day.

Back during Pokemon Red/Blue, you couldnt get me away from it, thats all i did for at least a year.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Everyone had a Game Boy back in the day, including people that were content with having Tetris in it, and nothing else. How many people bought a GB, bought Pokemon, and were content until the GBA came out?

Pretty much this.

I worked in public schools for years and to most young kids handheld consoles were essentially just Pokemon machines.

[Luke]

I worked in public schools for years and to most young kids handheld consoles were essentially just Pokemon machines.

Different generation though. The Gameboy was released in 1989, and Pokemon was released, if I'm correct, almost ten years later.

When the Gameboy launched all of my friends usually had Tetris, F-1 race, TMNT, super mario land, and possibly baseball, tennis, even double dragon. Pokemon totally skipped a generation, and I've yet to play a pokemon game.

[alienjesus]

I worked in public schools for years and to most young kids handheld consoles were essentially just Pokemon machines.

Different generation though. The Gameboy was released in 1989, and Pokemon was released, if I'm correct, almost ten years later.

When the Gameboy launched all of my friends usually had Tetris, F-1 race, TMNT, super mario land, and possibly baseball, tennis, even double dragon. Pokemon totally skipped a generation, and I've yet to play a pokemon game.

Partially a different generation. Everyone I knew at school bought a Game Boy for Pokémon pretty much. It was the Game Boy's second wind for sure.

[dunpeal2064]

When the Gameboy launched all of my friends usually had Tetris, F-1 race, TMNT, super mario land, and possibly baseball, tennis, even double dragon. Pokemon totally skipped a generation, and I've yet to play a pokemon game.

Good point. However, I would argue that even though Pokemon came out near the end of the GBs life (Or at least far after the GB was released), it is still probably largely responsible for the attach rate being so low. No matter when Pokemon came out, TONS of people went out and bought a GB just to play it. (Not that you were saying otherwise)

I'm not familiar with console sale numbers, attach rates, or any of that, but I would guess that, had Pokemon not come out, the GB's sales would be lower by a decent amount, and the attach rate would probably be MUCH higher.

Then again, my mom had friends that carried GBs in their purses, just as Tetris machines, just as we used them as Pokemon machines.