Source: A bevy of secondhand reports all linking back to a GameDaily interview.

　　What we heard: This week, NPD Funworld released its sales numbers for the first five weeks of 2007. Though the original Xbox was completely absent from the hardware list--further indicating the format is pushing up daisies--the GameCube was represented...barely. Even though the GC edition of Zelda sold more than 144,000 copies, just 34,000 GameCube units were sold during the month.

　　Well, it turns out there's a perfectly good explanation for the GameCube's spiraling numbers. GameDaily's interview was with none other than Perrin Kaplan, Nintendo of America's doyenne of publicity. With surprising frankness, she told the AOL-owned publication straight-out that Nintendo has officially pulled the plug on its perky purple box.

　　"Are we producing any more GameCubes? No," Kaplan said bluntly. "But do we have the inventory there for people to still purchase? Yes." She went on to also say that Nintendo is no longer developing any GameCube titles, which is tantamount to a deathblow for the first-party-game-dependent console.

　　"You're a core gamer; you wouldn't buy a GameCube. It's not aimed at you anymore," she continued. "But it's still a great starter system because of all the great games."

　　The official story: Though anything coming from the head of NOA PR is pretty much as official as it gets, the Mario factory's external publicity agency could not confirm Kaplan's comments as of press time.

　　Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus, unless GameDaily issues one of the biggest retractions in game-news history.