What was wrong with the Gamecube?

[rkotm]

We have the awesome (or not so for some) N64 arrogance topic, now not to compete but i wanted to know everyones thoughts on why Nintendo didnt really go all out with the Gamecube, the successor to the Nintendo 64.


To me, it was another system that didnt offer too much, software wise. I mean, Luigis Mansion for a launch game (among others)? It wasnt very fun to begin with, i got 2 hours into it and really lost steam. No real online mode where the Xbox dominated, even though the PS2 didnt really have it either, yet that console came out first AND still sells very well to this day. The controller was nice, besides the Dpad, but it was a great fit. 3rd party support wasnt good once again (following N64's lack of 3rd parties) and it never caught on. I always wondered what was going on in Nintendo at the time, why it just didnt have many great titles (its like they weren't into it or they were busy with the DS design), why there wasnt much support for it, and had IMHO the worst mainline Mario game ever. In general i think the early 2000's sucked all around gaming wise with drab music, lackluster ideas and GTA 3 this GTA that. When i think last gen i think PS2 and DS and maybe some Xbox. Had Nintendo kept going like that and just releasing systems without Wii they woulda been last place and probably mainly handheld supporters. Im glad they went to the next evolution with the Wii, hope we never see such a half hearted system like GC again.

[Collector_Gaming]

Game cubes issue was it tried to create a arcade experience at home with games like
American 18 Wheeler Pro
Godzilla Destroys All Monsters Melee
ect ect ect

But in the end it did have some super knock outs

Such as Super Smash Brothers Melee (probably its top selling game)
even though i am not a fan of it.. it did sell extremely well (Zelda Wind Waker)
and its follow up.. my personal fav of the 2 Zelda Twilight Princess
the metroid prime series did well
even though this doesn't help much since these are first party games
3rd party they did score a series of resident evil games that did pretty damn good

i mean i can go on and on. Game Cube i thought did alright as a console.
The thing that it did horrible at was doing these mediocre arcade ports.
and it didn't support the new DVD craze catching on that Xbox and PS2 provided (although panasonic later imo little too late to have any effect really released a version that could play dvds).
The controller felt kinda weird i thought.. It had 2 joy sticks but 1 was used mostly for actions just like the c pad from the n64 controller. so it just seemed kinda odd. while the other 2 featured 2 joy sticks that allowed you full range of movement and camera movement

[cityside75]

Easy answer to your question - it didn't really offer anything innovative - aside from being a platform for Nintendo-produced games. Graphics-wise it was somewhere between a PS2 and Xbox, but to my eyes they all looked pretty similar most of the time. There was very limited online, but nothing to compare with Xbox Live. Storage-wise both of the competitors were experimenting with hard drive solutions, but not the Gamecube.

But in reality, I think that the Gamecube was an important success for Nintendo in that it established their current business model and "attitude" if you will. That generation was probably the first since the NES days where most gamers didn't expect Nintendo to be the top player, in fact many people throughout the GC era predicted Nintendo's demise or were certain they'd become a "software-only" company like Sega.

Instead, Nintendo built a competent machine to play their next-gen games, turning a profit on the hardware nearly from the get-go (unlike Sony and Microsoft), while being content to allow a big chunk of the 3rd party development go to other systems, as they were confident in the bankability of their home grown franchises. (The N64 ended up similarly, but I believe in that era they were still sure that the 3rd parties would be beating down their door once the N64 ruled the world). They displayed confidence in their properties, and a knack for making lots and lots of cash, and I'm confident that they viewed it as a success overall.

[Richter Belmount]

Alot.

[sheath]

A) It was missing an 'e' between the 'm' and the 'c', so it failed.

B) It was marketed at a time where people only wanted urban themed murder simulators and DVD players.

C) Even though it was one of the most powerful pieces of hardware that generation, system/software sales discouraged third parties from porting most of their games to it.

D) Three generations of monopolistic licensing tactics left third parties with a "bad taste in their mouth" and the "flocked" to the first successful competitor.

[shopkins]

My biggest problem was with the controller. It was just clumsy and clumsily laid out. Seriously, C-Stick? Would another full analog stick there have been -that- much trouble? It cripples the system in terms of FPS.

[Greg2600]

No DVD playback was a decent drawback, but the main reason was the games Nintendo produced were in their classic style, while most of the gaming public had moved on to other stuff like Halo, GTA, or the like. Game Cube was cheaper than the other consoles, but that didn't help a lot. Also no internet-multiplayer.

[trench-a-licious]

My biggest problem was with the controller. It was just clumsy and clumsily laid out. Seriously, C-Stick? Would another full analog stick there have been -that- much trouble? It cripples the system in terms of FPS.

The controller, no online multiplayer, and no dvd playback were the big 3 that doomed the cube. Seriously what were they thinking with that controller.

[fishsandwich]

Game cubes issue was it tried to create a arcade experience at home with games like
American 18 Wheeler Pro
Godzilla Destroys All Monsters Melee
ect ect ect

Wait... what?


?

[VACRMH]

For me at least, the Gamecube was the second or third system that generation. PS2 was king, so any title that was available on GC and PS2 I'd go for the PS2 version. So the only games left were exclusives, which often times was a first party title.

GC was to me, wholesome. Looking at the games I own for it, most of them are bright, colorful, happy. But last generation the games that were big were gritty, violent, fps and sandbox type games. Which is what most people flocked to.

I like what I own for the GC, and the controller wasn't too bad for me. As long as it wasn't like the N64 controller <_<

[retroman]

I liked the cube, and still do. It did have a lot of killer games for those who said it didn't. Just go check the games list

[The 1 2 P]

The Gamecube was my least favorite system of last gen. It had some good games but they were only a small fraction of what the PS2 and Xbox offered. Plus they didn't show no love for online gaming when it started to take off(thanks to XBL) on consoles. I still collect for the Gamecube but despite having two working systems I literally never play it. Theres not much going on there to entice me to hook it up and give it a whirl. And it may very well have been Nintendo's worse mainstream system(not counting Virtual Boy) of all time.

[Snapple]

Power-wise, I thought any difference between Gamecube and the other two consoles was negligible. There's no reason to turn away from the Gamecube by saying it had inferior graphics to the PS2 or anything like that.

Just to boil down what others have same, it's the 3rd party support and the lack of a DVD player.

Now, Gamecube did have some great games. Smash Bros Melee, Eternal Darkness, Mario Sunshine (imo), and a few others. It just didn't have AS MANY great games as the PS2, which churned out hits like a mofo.

I mean, PS2 was like... a golden machine. One of the greatest libraries of all time. But I have a lot of respect for the Gamecube. It was a better console for that generation than the Wii is for this generation.

[kupomogli]

Power-wise, I thought any difference between Gamecube and the other two consoles was negligible. There's no reason to turn away from the Gamecube by saying it had inferior graphics to the PS2 or anything like that.

Wasn't the Gamecube more powerful than the PS2?

Anyways. kedawa said it best. The only thing wrong with the Gamecube is that it wasn't the PS2. The PSX was the best 32/64 bit system and then the PS2 came out almost a year before the Gamecube.

The PS2 had a great launch list. I'm a fan of From Software but only picked up Armored Core 2 at launch, along with Dead or Alive 2 as I've played it on my friends Dreamcast previously. Dynasty Warriors 2, the first Musou title, was actually a really fun game back then, and if Koei hadn't milked the series all to hell, I'm sure everyone would still think it's a great game. It wasn't too much longer before a ton of great games started pouring in.

While I won't make a long list of games, Final Fantasy 10 was released right after the Gamecube. The thing is is that you saw advertisements everywhere. At the time I was still a wrestling fan and you'd see it advertised atleast two or three times during WWF. It wasn't the best of the FF games, but this is before Final Fantasy went down hill. What are you going to do. Get a PS2 for Final Fantasy or get a Gamecube for whatever it's offering?

Most people I know had a PS2 even if they had a Gamecube, mainly because it could read DVDs. I didn't purchase a Gamecube until I got it bundled with the Gameboy Player and a Nintendo game of choice(I chose Wave Race.) Nintendo kind of screwed themselves when trying to save money(and reduce piracy) with the smaller discs because they pushed away the non gamers that may have wanted a DVD player as well as something to play games here and there. The Dentist go to actually uses a fat PS2 for a DVD player in the lobby.

Almost all the third party software went to Sony unless it was multiconsole. Because of that, Nintendo didn't have too many good exclusives that didn't already come out on other systems. While Viewtiful Joe and Resident Evil 4 were released on the Gamecube, they were later released on the PS2. Other than Tales of Symphonia and a Gundam game(import,) I own first party Nintendo games, Resident Evil games, and a few Sega games that were ports/sequels of Dreamcast games. I would own more first party Nintendo games than I do right now, but with Nintendo never dropping prices on Gamecube games, I never put the money down on them and was never interested in looking them up after Nintendo abandoned the console. I like the console, but unfortunately the support just wasn't there.

[Press_Start]

No, the Gamecube's problem was that Nintendo tried too hard to appease the "cool mature hardcore" demographic that b!tchsl@pped the hell out of them for a generation despite the fruit they bear: Eternal Darkness, Resident Evil Zero, 4, and 1 Remake, Twin Snakes, etc.

Only when the big N began broadening outside the "hardcore" bubble with the Wii (i.e. kids, mom, dad, grandpa, grandma etc.), did they regain first place. Surprising how they were so successful despite the "Revolution" still had the same "faults" as the GC:
-No DVD player
-"Different" control scheme.
-Similar level of third party goodness.
-"Not-so-friendly" multiplayer setup a la friend code.

...that's my two cents.

[Edmond Dantes]

It wasn't the best of the FF games, but this is before Final Fantasy went down hill.

*cough*FinalFantasy8*cough*

What are you going to do. Get a PS2 for King's Field or get a Gamecube for whatever it's offering?

Fixed!

Personally, to me the Cube was "the Smash Bros console." That was practically the only thing I ever played on it. And it gets boring after awhile.

I just never saw anything compelling about the Cube. Its main strengths were Nintendo's own franchises, but--and I know I'm in the minority here--Mario and [/i]Zelda[/i] jumped the shark on the N64, and Metroid Prime became that franchises JTS point. The supposedly good third-party games, like Eternal Darkness... just weren't that special. With crown jewels like that, its no wonder that the Cube trailed behind.

[duffmanth]

The biggest reasons why the Gamecube failed was because of its lack of quality games. Aside from the first party Nintendo titles, it had virtually nothing from 3rd party studios that could compete with what the PS2, and to a lesser extent what the Xbox had to offer. The Cube was coming off the heels of the N64, which had very little to offer other than kid's games, and the Cube did nothing to fix that. The fact that it looked like a Fisher Price lunch box didn't help either. It just had the same batch of games as the N64, shit loads of game for kids, and very little for more mature audiences.

The PS2 and the PS1 had AAA games that appealed to everyone by the boat load. I also think Nintendo's decision to stay with cartridges with the N64 while everyone else was moving to CD's at the time, hurt them with the Cube as well. Even though the Cube was a disc based console, Nintendo lost a lot of 3rd party with the N64, and they never really gained it back with the Cube. Although I guess they've regained some 3rd party support with the Wii, but those games are still shitty for the most part.

[swlovinist]

I personally love the Gamecube. I bought it on relsease day, with a copy of Rogue Leader. I can think of about 25-40 Top quality games that make the Gamecube an excellent and inexpensive system to collect for. The Gamecube is a wonderful system that struggled I think to showcase what Nintendo is usually good at....innovation. The Gamecube to me is when Nintendo tried to follow trends instead of making them. The controller is probably what really got people frustrated with...even though it really is a pretty good controller. The disc size that Nintendo went with shot themselves in the foot to several third parties that wanted to make games for the system. In the end I consider the Gamecube as the system that I play occasionally for the A+ quality games that were exclusive to the system. I still play Rougue Leader Co-op with a friend on Rebel Strike on an occasional basis.

[kedawa]

The Gamecube didn't 'fail' by any definition of the word. It's a reliable piece of hardware that had only a few minor hardware revisions over the years, and made more money for Nintendo than XBOX did for MS, and almost as much as the PS2 made for Sony during the years that the GC was actively supported.

[crazyjackcsa]

One thing people fail to mention is the N64. Much like Sega (but to a far lesser extent) the previous generation impacted the next gen. The N64 was popular, but not as popular as the SNES. Not as much 3rd party support, wonky controller and expensive games. So the Cube was already in a hole out of the gate, a lot of people that had an N64, didn't get a cube.