Cube crashes below 1000 units in the UK

The hottest week on record in the UK has caused a predictable slump in console hardware sales - but the GameCube was hit hardest of all, seeing its weekly total slip below 1000 units for the first time since launch.

That figure compares with sales of just under 4000 units for the rival Xbox, and PS2 sales of just under 10,000 units - down some 25 per cent on the previous week, according to figures published by PC Pro today.

The Game Boy Advance is riding high on the success of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, however, and clocked up around 16,000 units sold during the week - a decline on the previous week (we're not surprised - quite frankly, 37 degrees C is too hot for shopping, even for handheld consoles) but still a good number for the console. Some 4000-ish of those were original GBA units, with the remainder being GBA SPs.

The poor sales of the Cube in what was admittedly one of the most difficult weeks of the year for hardware sales are simply the latest woe to land on Nintendo's doorstep in this regard. The system hasn't had a major software title since Legend of Zelda in May, and isn't due one until F-Zero GX later this year; key UK retailer Argos has removed the console from its current catalogue; and earlier this month, the company revealed quarterly sales of a mere 800,000 units of the Cube (reported as 80,000 by a large number of news reporters following what was apparently a misprint in the company's report - although even the company itself seems to be confused over whether the extra zero is meant to be there or not). The company is now set to put the brakes on production of the console until such time as its backlog of stock is sold through.

Figures from PCPro.co.uk