Why are people saying the GameCube is dying?

[Arkaign]

PS2 and Xbox each have roughly 70-80 games scheduled for release in the next six months. GC has maybe 12, with most of those being first party titles. Of course, they are titles I really want like Odama, Chibi Robo and the new Zelda (although I suspect this may land on the Revolution). I think the PSOne is a good model for what may happen on both the XBox and PS2. New games were released for the PSOne in the US up until last year (mostly sports titles and a few budget titles) and a slow trickle of games came out in Europe until about six months ago. Essentially, the PSOne lasted roughly four years into the PS2's life cycle. MS has never put out a reduced cost version of the Xbox. If they ever do that, I see it lasting at least a couple more years.

The NES actually had first party and a few key third party games released for it 2-3 years after the SNES was released. I don't think the same thing will happen with the GC since Nintendo will probably put all of its resources into Revolution.

I'm gonna keep a copy of your post, and compare in 6 months. looking at this :

http://cube.ign.com/index/release.html

I would submit that it's pretty likely we'll see more than 12 titles released for Gamecube between now and May 26th, 2006. Just counting the ones that have a specific date, a quarterly date, or 'early 2006', I see 17 titles listed. There are also 20+ games listed as TBA. There's a pretty good chance that at least some of those will make it in the next 6 months as well.

And as far as PS1 being viable.. Where have you been looking around at games? Sure we saw the occassional 3rd-rate title ooze out for it, but it was by and large relegated to oblivion pretty damn quickly. Again I'll make a prediction, this time next year, you won't even SEE Xbox consoles and hardware in major retailers (Wal-Mart, etc), and the game selection will be negligible. With the looming war with PS3, I hardly think Microsoft will dedicate any resources to the old unit. Look at how the PS1 was treated after PS2 came out. Did PS1 get the new Tekken, the new Gran Turismo, the new Final Fantasy, hell even a GTA game? Nope, it was utterly abandoned to it's bargain-bin funeral. The only successful game system overlap in recorded history is probably the Gameboy series, Nintendo sure juggles the hell out of things, when it came to GB to GBC, then GBC to GBA, then GBA to DS, there was a remarkable overlap to be witnessed.

Anyhow, this is all my opinions based upon what evidence there exists so far, and applying personal observation and experience.

We'll see the truth over the oncoming year.

[zerohero]

"didn't read whole thread"

I thought we made it clear gamecub was dead, and the only game that was gonna save it was Zelda? Maybe I missed something.

[Chronodriftersx]

"didn't read whole thread"

I thought we made it clear gamecub was dead, and the only game that was gonna save it was Zelda? Maybe I missed something.

Knock it off. Go read the thread there was something there similar to that but less flawed sounding.

[zerohero]

"didn't read whole thread"

I thought we made it clear gamecub was dead, and the only game that was gonna save it was Zelda? Maybe I missed something.

Knock it off. Go read the thread there was something there similar to that but less flawed sounding.

Knock what off?

[Arkaign]

"didn't read whole thread"

I thought we made it clear gamecub was dead, and the only game that was gonna save it was Zelda? Maybe I missed something.

Yeah, I think you did .. from another thread :

It was pretty much the same case at Gamerush, no one expected any rental to be in let alone the 360.
Big sellers as far as I could tell was the DDR Mariomix, along with anything else bearing Nintendo's name on it.
We now have about 5 used Xboxs, and I fear it'll take a good long time for them to sell. Meanwhile, we're running out of PSTwos and Gamecubes. Just goes to show you that when a family is involved, the more family-oriented companies bring in the dough.

Gamecube's not dead to tons of happy customers, and plenty of new ones. More games, including exclusives and first-tier stuff, are on the way. And it remains virtually the only option in town that has a broad selection of family and kid-friendly titles. Distant 3rd place yes, but stable and profitable. Sheesh, I don't even own the damned thing but it's pretty clear. Just because it's not interesting or dynamic to you or I doesn't make it 'dead'. Dead is when :

(A) - Hardware/Software stop selling
(B) - Hardware/Software get clearanced
(C) - Hardware/Software no longer available except used

All of this is nil in the case of gamers who still play/enjoy it, it's definitely not dead to them. People still play Colecovision and Odyssey

[Bojay1997]

Uhhh...if you're talking about financial viability, GC has been dead since launch. The Xbox has been dead as well. I was under the impression that this thread had become a debate about whether or not any A-list software would continue to be released for GC and Xbox in the next six months.

The list you are citing is horribly out of date. They are still listing games like Mario 128, Knights of the Temple, a new Donkey Kong platformer and several others which were either cancelled or have been quietly moved to the Revolution. Looking at EBGames, there are 12 games listed for release between now and Zelda (April 2006). They don't have Naruto or Chaos Field listed, but I think it is 90% certain those titles are coming. They have Starcraft Ghost listed which I don't think will even be coming to the other consoles, let alone GC. So, that is 13 titles which are likely to be released. PS2 and Xbox each have 70-80, 90% of which are likely, in my opinion, to actually be released.

It's not like developers with games set for release in 6-8 months can just switch to X360. Sure, it's more similar to Xbox than moving from PSOne to PS2 or N64 to GC was, but Microsoft is not very likely to let a bunch of revamped Xbox stuff flood the X360 market.

I looked at the official release list on Sony's site and it looks like first party PSOne titles continued for about 18 months after PS2 came out. The last big titles were Syphon Filter 3 and Twisted Metal Small Brawl which each came out in November 2001, 12 months after PS2 launch. Arc the Lad Collection came out in 2003, but that was more of an anomaly caused by a notoriously slow developer. Of course, you have to remember that up until a couple of months ago, you could still buy a PSOne and several greatest hits games at Target. The N64 had no such holdover period. Frankly, Nintendo's first party resources are already stretched between DS, GBA and GC. I seriously doubt that they are going to release much after Zelda and I think there is a strong chance it will become a Revolution launch title. I really hope Nintendo surprises us, but they dumped the N64 really fast and they aren't into wasting resources.

[Arkaign]

Man, I don't think you're being objective with this at all. You just refuse to back off of your opinion that it is 'dead' because it didn't sell as many as the #1 or #2 guys. That's just immature. 18.5M Gamecubes sold worldwide as of March '05. Not to mention that word right here on DP from people at the stores is that they are still_selling. Not to mention there is no credible alternative for a kid's system or family friendly system. Not to mention that Nintendo continues to post PROFITS, and not all of them come from Gameboy series

I don't own a cube, I don't own a DS (though admittedly the DS looks interesting) .. but I still think they've done just fine with the past generation. Considering the bloody mess that Microsoft vs. Sony had with their high-end war, I think Nintendo very wisely flew under the radar with a secure and profitable console.

[Chronodriftersx]

I saw a woman and a little girl at Target and she had 3 Mario Party Pack Gamecubes in her cart, establish that. OK now it's just getting silly.

[sabre2922]

I saw a woman and a little girl at Target and she had 3 Mario Party Pack Gamecubes in her cart, establish that. OK now it's just getting silly.

I noticed today-the day after "black friday"- that my local Walmart is sold out of 3 systems PS2,the Nintendo DS and of course Xbox360s.

Now as far as games go there were lots of 360 games on the shelves and many of the PS2 catagories were sold out like many different RPGs and lots of empty space were there used to be numerous budget titles.

Games by names that ive noticed sold out at TWO locations on a Walmart and the other a video store Hastings(wich has the biggest section of PS2 games ive ever seen ):

Sold OUT: all for PS2 and a few for Xbox1

Shadow of Collosus

Resident Evil 4 -PS2 (got mine the day before thanksgiving and they had one copy left after I purshased my copy)

Gran Turismo 4

Halo2

Project Gotham Racing 2

Doom 3

and a many completely empty spaces that once held various PS2 greatest hits titles

Also only the video store had a 2 copies of RE4 on Gamecube I think it was sold out at Walmart. This is the same video store that had ONE Xbox360 core system still in stock when I picked up RE4.

[Bojay1997]

I think I'm being very objective. I bought a GC bundle at launch, as well as an Xbox bundle at launch and a PS2 (no bundle, just had to stand in line outside of Target for a couple of hours). I'm not loyal to any single platform. In fact, I have approximately 85% of the released US GC games and several of the European exclusive releases.

You keep changing your definition of a "dead" system. A dead system in my opinion is one that has little or no third party support and minimal first party support. That's exactly what the GC is right now. Xbox may be there soon because of some of the reasons you cited, but it will be long after the last GC game is released. Just because a bundle with one particular game (Mario Party 7) has sold pretty well lately isn't enough to make up for several years of mediocre support and a very limited upcoming release list. Nintendo just doesn't make much off GC hardware sales and having a handful of multi-million selling games a year on the GC is not a profitable business model. You make big profits by charging royalties on third party titles.

Despite your claims to the contrary, Nintendo has had much lower profits since GC was released. This isn't something I am just pulling out of nowhere, this is by their own admission. In fact, their own management admitted several weeks ago in an article widely circulated that if the next generation Nintendo console does as poorly as GC, it will be considered a failure. The Revolution will hopefully change this since they have the best first party games of any company I have ever seen. They have managed to keep profitable with portable systems. It's not my opinion, it's a fact.

Nintendo is not the only family friendly console of this generation. PS2 is a viable choice and one that many families have made, mostly because it is good for kids and adults. I want Nintendo to succeed, but it would be naive to believe that the GC has been a successful platform.

[Xizer]

And people seem to keep forgetting the GameCube's monopoly on children's titles. For the 10-and-under gamers, Nintendo is just about the only game in town, and for family-friendly games as well. That market core alone will keep the Cube going long enough to pass the baton to the Rev.

Umm, most "child" games for the GameCube are available on the PS2 as well, in fact there are more exclusive games for children on the PS2 than there are on the GameCube.

The Gamecube "died" in the marketplace as soon as most major developers stopped developing for it.

This sentence needs to be corrected to:
"The GameCube will die in the marketplace as soon as companies stop developing for it."

Most major developers HAVEN'T dropped GameCube support, FYI.

Also, in reponse to Arkaign: Zelda...kid friendly? I know adults that still have trouble beating the Zelda games.

Uhhh...if you're talking about financial viability, GC has been dead since launch

What the fuck? The GameCube has made more money than the Xbox AND the PS2. I would say combined, but considering the Xbox made approximately $-4,000,000,000 that would be a little unfair.

And to people saying the GameCube is for kids, what the hell are you smoking? Who got the completely uncensored BMX XXX version? Not the PS2, that's for sure. What system was Resident Evil 4 always sold out on? The GameCube. Even in September, over 8 months after it was originally released, I went to buy a copy and all my GameStop had was a few used copies - they were sold out of new.

The next time you want to troll, Bojay, kindly check Nintendo's Annual Financial Reports before talking out your ass.

[ty896]

To me, a system "dies" when price cuts come not from corperate HQ resetting MSRP but from individual retailers just trying to clear out a product the public is no longer showing intrest in.

The best I can tell, nobody wants a $150 XBOX. The PS2 is going to have excellent holiday sales (probably better than last year). The DS, with a much better catalog than xmas '04, is set to do very well.

To come back on topic, I think the cube will do much better than the XBOX this holiday and most of '06. As for the rest of '05, by this time most gaming families already have a PS2 and may very well have an XBOX as well; and with 360s only available on ebay with a steep premium, the cube becomes the only option for a new console to put under the tree.

I really don't care how many NEW games are scheduled for release, all the current consoles have large enough catalogs to keep any new buyer satisfied for quite awhile.

I see no reason to think that by the time the Revolution is released the Cube will still be the #3 console in terms of gaming units sold.

And don't be surprised by widespread $99 XBOX sales in the weeks before the 25th.

[Bojay1997]

First, I am not a troll nor am I a Fanboy of any particular system. I own just about every major system ever released in the US and several Nintendo systems are among my favorite systems of all time.

I don't know where you are looking, but as I said earlier, there are only 12-13 titles slated for release in the next six months for the Cube. Sure, a few more could slip in, but it's not going to be double that. The handful of major developers who continue to support the GC are no longer releasing exclusives. In fact, Capcom which once had a slew of "exclusives" for the Cube has now released most of them on the PS2.

The Gamecube has not made more gross revenue than PS2 or Xbox since launch nor is there any evidence that it has generated more net revenue than the PS2. The Xbox has lost Microsoft literally billions while the PS2 has delivered as one of the few profitable parts of the Sony electronics family. I have looked at Nintendo's financial statements and they show that in the last four years, revenue has been pretty flat. They don't break out GC revenue from DS or GBA revenue. The data does show that the GC has only sold about half as many units outside of Japan as the N64 did. Having said that, the software sales have been reasonably strong outside of Japan, selling 2/3 as many units as the N64 did which is pretty good considering the installed base is half the size. Nintendo does state that only six titles sold more than a million units this fiscal year. That's not too bad, but it's not great either seeing as how Nintendo is the primary supplier of GC software.

I don't know why you shop at only one store, but RE4 for the GC is available at every major retailer and has been since release. It sold well, but it's not exactly a rare game or anything.

I can't wait till the Revolution comes out, but I'm not going to sit here and try to convince people that the GC is a huge success when it sadly has not been.

[Chronodriftersx]

well this thread sure isn't dying, and that says something.

[Leo_A]

EB list 10 games on it's GC release list, not including Starcraft Ghost which while still listed I believe was recently cancelled. And one of them is Mega Man X Collection which has seen a few delays which makes me worry it will end up like the GBA Mega Man collection.

If that's not dead I don't know what is. The Atari 2600 should see more homebrew releases in that time period.

I just hope Zelda isn't pushed back to launch with the Revolution.

[Arkaign]

'Dead' is too different in meaning to too many people for anything to be gained from this absolutely meaningless discussion.

A 'dead' system to me wouldn't be selling tons of hardware from major retailers during the holidays. A 'dead' system to me wouldn't still have major releases on the map, even if there's not a buttload of them.

Not to mention Nintendo has no other console to lean on until Rev comes out in force.

And you're questioning the financial viability of the cube? Jesus, if you can't understand that something doesn't need to be freaking #1 to make money, then you're insane. Porsche makes money, but they don't ship even 1% of what GM ships. It's about profit per unit, and how it affects their larger financial picture. Nintendo is in great shape. And Nintendo's business model is a lot cleaner than that of Sony and Xbox if you think about it, because they CAN make a profit on their considerable library of Nintendo-produced titles.

But I'm certainly not going to change your mind, and unless I finally have a mental breakdown, I'm never going to agree with you at this point in time. Talk to me again when you can't find new hardware/games in store, and when people aren't still buying them.

[Hep038]

Does anyone *intelligent* even buy sports games on a yearly basis

The next time you want to troll, Bojay, kindly check Nintendo's Annual Financial Reports before talking out your ass.

All you do is insult people and label people who do not agree with you as "trolls". Why you have not been banned yet is a mystery to me. Thanks for making DP a little more hostile than it needs to be.

[Xizer]

Thanks for making DP a little more hostile than it needs to be.

Err, you're welcome?

[hbr214]

Even at the start of the Nintendo gamecube, there really was no market for it. Hence it had died before it even really started. personally i feel that the compitition that microsoft with the XBOX and Xbox 360 and playstation with ps2, and ps3 coming out. will have blown away the gamecube and revolution by an uncomprehensible amount.

the only reason i would ever consider owning a gamecube is for the legend of zelda series. which in march looks to have one of the greatest versions of zelda coming out. i believe that is one of the only good games created for the cube, which is another reason why it died.

[Joker T]

I don't think I have touched my Gamecube for a while. The big issue is that Multiplatform games are half assed and the fact that many Nintendo games are really not that good. There are the Nintendo gems that many of us love but I personaly don't really want to play another Mario Party or Mario sports game for a long time. The system just does not appeal to alot of people. I like the system alot I wish I played it more than I do. Another big problem for me is the prices on GC games. Mario Kart: Double Dash is still $50 in many stores. Super Smash Bros. is $30. Stores don't have near as many gamecube games as Xbox or PS2. At my Blockbuster there is one small row for GCN that's it. I love Resident Evil 4, Zelda: The Wind Waker, Super Mario Sunshine,etc. but they need a bit more. The system is far from dead. Alot of people are loyal to the Gamecube I hope that we will get some killer games in the next year for the purple lunchbox