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Thread: What was wrong with the Gamecube?

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    Cherry (Level 1) rkotm's Avatar
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    Default What was wrong with the Gamecube?

    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.

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    Bell (Level 8)
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    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

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    Strawberry (Level 2) cityside75's Avatar
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    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.

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    Some douche Richter Belmount's Avatar
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    Alot.
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    Strawberry (Level 2) sheath's Avatar
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    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.

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    Pretzel (Level 4) shopkins's Avatar
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    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.
    Last edited by shopkins; 02-15-2011 at 05:22 PM.

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    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.
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    A skeptical view of third parties, an outdated view of the industry, a lack of either innovation or just conforming, and a system that was harder to develop for than the PS2 or Xbox did it in. Doesn't mean that it didn't have great games, but so few were made by companies other than Nintendo, and they could only make so many games.

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    Pretzel (Level 4) Natty Bumppo's Avatar
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    One thing I liked about it (and why I still use it to this day) was the gameboy player peripheral. But I bought very few games for the gamecube itself - being mostly in rpgs and strategy games meant there were only a few I wanted out of the lineup.
    When I come home from a long day in Hell, there's nothing I'd rather reach for than a fire-brewed bottle of Styx Beer. Made from the filthiest waters from our own River Styx. Styx Beer is a third more toxic than any other regular beer. The worst beer - the filthiest beer - the deadliest beer. It's Styx Beer!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Natty Bumppo View Post
    One thing I liked about it (and why I still use it to this day) was the gameboy player peripheral. But I bought very few games for the gamecube itself - being mostly in rpgs and strategy games meant there were only a few I wanted out of the lineup.
    Yes! The Gameboy Advance adapter on the Game Cube is why I never traded "up" to a Wii. This will remain the best way to play Gameboy games on a Television. I never got used to playing on portables.

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    It was purple.
    It had a handle.
    Didn't play DVDs.
    Lack of 3rd party support.
    Controller was weird, yet pedestrian at the same time. "Hi, my A button is HUGE!" Just look at it. You just wanna pop that thing.
    Not even pretending to be interested in online gaming (at least Sony played like they had a plan).
    Too many near launch games that were copy/pasted from DC or PS2.
    No Mario game at launch.
    Actually, what was the big launch title? I bought it for Rogue Squadron II.

    CARTOON LINK.

    I love my GC though..
    Last edited by SpaceHarrier; 02-15-2011 at 07:13 PM.

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    What's wrong with the Gamecube is that people think that it's a classic system.
    Because it makes no attempt to be great, it is therefore extremely great.
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    Great Puma (Level 12) heybtbm's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sheath View Post
    Yes! The Gameboy Advance adapter on the Game Cube is why I never traded "up" to a Wii. This will remain the best way to play Gameboy games on a Television. I never got used to playing on portables.
    Hope you have a Gamecube component cable. All GBA games on the Gameboy Player are 480p when using it.

    On topic...

    Very little was wrong with the Gamecube other than the tiny disc capacity (multiple-disc games suck), and the awful 3rd party support in it's latter years. The entirety of the Nintendo and Capcom catalogs made up for it though.
    "One of the ways I gauge a DS game is by recharges. "...Tycho (Penny Arcade)

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    the best 3rd party game that was multidisc was the twin snakes
    read sonic doom everyday on my myspace profile

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    The only problem with the GC was that it wasn't a PS2.
    The Gamecube was an improvement over the N64 in every possible way, and yet people trash it. It was cheap, well designed, efficient hardware that had a respectable amount of third party support.
    I guess relative to its competition, it didn't really offer much to differentiate itself, but taken on its own merits, it's one of the best consoles.

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    Strawberry (Level 2) sheath's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by heybtbm View Post
    Hope you have a Gamecube component cable. All GBA games on the Gameboy Player are 480p when using it.
    No, I stupidly sold two cables while the price was hiking. I am currently hoping I can find one for less than an arm and a leg.


    Quote Originally Posted by heybtbm View Post
    On topic...

    Very little was wrong with the Gamecube other than the tiny disc capacity (multiple-disc games suck), and the awful 3rd party support in it's latter years. The entirety of the Nintendo and Capcom catalogs made up for it though.
    The only thing wrong with the Gamecube library is that consumers were moving toward casual games (called Core games today). This is especially true if you consider the Gameboy library as part of the Gamecube library as I do.

    Also, Resident Evil 4 was just plain awesome and proves that the consumer just wasn't paying attention.

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    Bell (Level 8)
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    Quote Originally Posted by SpaceHarrier View Post
    It was purple.
    It had a handle.
    Didn't play DVDs.
    Lack of 3rd party support.
    Controller was weird, yet pedestrian at the same time. "Hi, my A button is HUGE!" Just look at it. You just wanna pop that thing.
    Not even pretending to be interested in online gaming (at least Sony played like they had a plan).
    Too many near launch games that were copy/pasted from DC or PS2.
    No Mario game at launch.
    Actually, what was the big launch title? I bought it for Rogue Squadron II.

    CARTOON LINK.

    I love my GC though..
    ahh the handle
    when Nintendo thought people who competed in gaming tournaments were actually bringing their systems with them and could benefit from having a easy to carry setup

    remember when they demo'd this console where a person would wear a suit that had the console, a small flat screen, and a car battery to power it all like a jumpsuit

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    Great Puma (Level 12) YoshiM's Avatar
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    What was wrong? It was "just another game system" next to Xbox and PS2. Like other said, it really didn't offer up anything the other systems didn't have other than Nintendo titles. On top of that, it was a time where Nintendo was getting the "kiddy" image (that was the biggest complaint back then), with the big jewel-like A button, the color and a lot of cartoony games that weren't grabbing the crowd that was spending the money.

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    Pear (Level 6) retroman's Avatar
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    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

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    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.
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