Buy Sell Buy Sell: GameCube Controllers

The real news hiding behind the GameCube controller announcement.

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Adapter_GameCube_WiiU

The breaking news du jour is that Nintendo has just announced a GameCube adapter for Wii U so that you can play the latest installment of Smash Bros. with said controller—the preferred playing style of many fans of the series. Now, if we were a Regular Videogame Website we might tell you how it’s going to connect to the system, or other stuff about Smash Bros.

But we’re not a Regular Videogame Website. We’re hard-hitting, Outside-the-Mainstream, GameCola-the symbol “dot”-the word “net”. And, we’re here to tell you what those high and mighty sites will overlook in their pompous blunder.

GameCube controller prices are about to go up, and if you want to have them for Smash Bros. or for other reasons in the near future, buy them now.

Let me break it down: With the release of this new accessory, people are going to have more uses for GameCube controllers more than they did before. Add that to the absolute hype of this new Smash Bros., and you’re looking at a massive increase in the demand for these controllers. People are going to want them more, people are going to start buying more. Now here’s where things get technical.

Sequelitis_YeahIGetItChartVery Scientific Chart explaining the price increase, I promise.

Based on the basic principles of supply and demand, an increase in demand brings two things: Increased quantity produced, and increased pricing of the good. The increased quantity just means that you’ll probably see more people around selling GCN controllers, both third party and official. But, the increase in price is what’s most important as it means that controllers are cheaper now than they will be soon.

Economics_Demand_ShiftActual graph of forces at work here.

I’m not really an economist, and I can’t say for sure this will all happen. Honestly, the price might not be affected all that much due to other market forces (Nintendo could make a big marketing blunder—they do that from time to time). However, I can only imagine that the price will either stay the same or go up, so buy now! That’s my advice.

As for other markets, your old GameCube games (and controllers!) might also be worth a little more once everyone gets on a big GameCube kick from all this, but that’s extrapolating even further so I wouldn’t be as quick to deal with that. Suffice to say that GameCube is about to be a lot more relevant, which this reporter is quite pleased with, as he is rather fond of the old box.

Final Note: I’m thinking about making this a more regular news segment, based on events like this and some of their economic effects. Let us know in the comments if you’d like to see more!

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About the Contributor


Since 2013

Joseph Martin is the Podcast Commander of the monthly GameCola Podcast, and appears in many of the other podcasts of the site. He's also known to write a review or two, or news pieces about the latest Mega Man knock-off.

2 Comments

  1. With the “Wii U Pro” controller, or whatever it’s called, do people really still want to play Smash on the Cube controller? I would think with all the buttons available on the Wii U controller, we wouldn’t have a need.

    Unless, they’re doing this as an avenue to release Cube games on the wii shop?

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