The Panasonic Q!!! This is probably old news

[American Oyaji]

I recently was able to get the G4 channel (that 24/7 channel for gamers) and Kadeem Hardison (the guy from "A Different World" and the ghoul from "A Vampire in Brooklyn") was showing off his game set up, but he had a SILVER Gamecube that had a Panasonic logo on it.

I looked it up on the net and found THIS

It's a region free DVD Player/Gamecube that plays American AND Japanese games.

Have any of you heard of this machine?

[Caustic Saint]

AO, the Q has been around for a while, almost since the Gamecube launched in Japan. It doesn't ship region-free (DVD and games) from Panasonic. Lik-sang, and a few other import shops, do the mod and jack the price up accordingly.

It is a sweet little machine though. The only downer is that the version of the Gameboy Player for the Q isn't made to match. It's a dull black instead of super-shiny.

[American Oyaji]

I never knew about it. I'm gonna order it next week.

As for the gameboy player, nyet, I don't need it.

[Caustic Saint]

I picked up both the Gameboy Player and a GBASP in Tokyo this past March. I got the Black SP since it wasn't out in the US (but comes out next month), and the Platinum GBP since Nintendo (in their finite wisdom) only released it in black in the US.

Let's see, 3 colors of Gamecube and one color of GBP? Good call, guys.

[DavMax]

What By the Hell Q was never released in Europa and America !!!!
And this Fuckin GBA Player Adapter Sucks...it is awful.

[Caustic Saint]

What By the Hell Q was never released in Europa and America !!!!
And this Fuckin GBA Player Adapter Sucks...it is awful.

My GBPlayer works fine.

As to the Q, call it a missed marketing opportunity. Nintendo probably let Panasonic make it on the condition that it only be sold in Japan. If it had been available elsewhere it could have sold better than the standard Cube, and Nintendo couldn't risk that.

[yellowlightman]

As to the Q, call it a missed marketing opportunity. Nintendo probably let Panasonic make it on the condition that it only be sold in Japan. If it had been available elsewhere it could have sold better than the standard Cube, and Nintendo couldn't risk that.

The money in console video games is made by selling games, not the consoles themselves. Thats why it makes sense for companies like Microsoft to sell systems at a loss, the profit is made by selling games. If anything, I think Panasonic decided not to release it here.

[kotatsuneko]

nin announced the other day they were "temporarily" halting production of the gcn to clear excess warehouse stock...

think ill wait for it to die , pick up a cheap q- yes very old news btw, get it chipped for multi region dvds/games ...

its a nice deck, with some great games, but against the shite that sony sells.. well better luck next time nin..

ps the black/red boktai sp is very sexy.. sure the coffin case sold well to those neo goth chicks too...

[Caustic Saint]

The money in console video games is made by selling games, not the consoles themselves. Thats why it makes sense for companies like Microsoft to sell systems at a loss, the profit is made by selling games. If anything, I think Panasonic decided not to release it here.

Yes, this is quite comon knowledge. Not including DVD in the console helped Nintendo keep costs down by a) not adding more parts and b) not having to pay the DVD consortium a licensing fee on every console. MS avoided the fee by tieing DVD playback to the remote kit, not the console itself.

Sony initially lost out on the software profits with the PS2 since many Japanese bought it to use solely as a DVD player. It's come around for them nicely though.