Happy 10th Anniversary, GameCube

[duffmanth]

I picked up my GameCube in 2002 for Wrestlemania X8. I played the shit outta that game for the better part of the year, then my Cube sat and collected dust for the next 5 years til I sold the piece of shit.

[BlastProcessing402]

I picked up my GameCube in 2002 for Wrestlemania X8. I played the shit outta that game for the better part of the year, then my Cube sat and collected dust for the next 5 years til I sold the piece of shit.

That's unfortunate, you should've at least picked up Wrestlemania XIX, Day of Reckoning, and Day of Reckoning 2 and played the shit out of those for the better part of a year each. Then it wouldn't have had to collect dust for more than a couple years.

[heybtbm]

The Gamecube got me back into console gaming.

After skipping most of the console gaming scene from 1999 - 2002 (PC only during that stretch), I saw video footage of Zelda: Wind Waker in early 2003. I immediately went down to Best Buy and bought an Indigo Super Mario Sunshine Bundle + Rogue Squadron 2 + Resident Evil 0. I preordered Wind Waker (with the free OOT disc) a few weeks later. Been steadily gaming on consoles ever since. It was my only modern console for a good year and a half. Love that little purple box. Still have it hooked up too.

[Colorado Rockies]

I remember when Animal Crossing came out my friend would bring his gamecube over and we would have two tv's set up with two gamecube's and 2 copies of Animal Crossing. We would play for hours, and would visit each others towns and trade fruit etc.

So many great memories of the GC.

[duffmanth]

That's unfortunate, you should've at least picked up Wrestlemania XIX, Day of Reckoning, and Day of Reckoning 2 and played the shit out of those for the better part of a year each. Then it wouldn't have had to collect dust for more than a couple years.

Well after I played Smackdown 2003 for PS2, I believe it was with Brock Lesnar on the cover, Smackdown was my new choice for WWE games at the time. I really wanted the Gamecube to do well. I was such a big Nintendo fan with the NES and SNES, then the N64 came along and that was the beginning of the end for me with Nintendo, minus buying the Cube for Wrestlemania X8.

[BlastProcessing402]

Well after I played Smackdown 2003 for PS2, I believe it was with Brock Lesnar on the cover

That would probably be Smackdown Here Comes The Pain, they didn't start yearing them until the 2nd Smackdown vs Raw, (SDvsRaw 2006 which came out in 2005).

But yeah, the PS2 ones started getting a lot better than they had been with that year, so I can see why you jumped ship.

[dairugger]

I picked up my GameCube in 2002 for Wrestlemania X8. I played the shit outta that game for the better part of the year, then my Cube sat and collected dust for the next 5 years til I sold the piece of shit.

you bought the cube just to play that?

[Icarus Moonsight]

I've got a bit of a 'thing' for the GC. If the game is available on Xbox, GC, or PS2 I'll get it on the GC just because.

I do this too, it's an explicit law. My cross-platform release preference order hasn't changed in nearly ten years.

1. GC version, then
2. PS2 if no GC version, or
3. XBX version if markedly better than PS2 version. [Added clause late 2005]

Imho, Nintendo fawning over the "hardcore" was a waste of time and bucking to trends only twisted them into intellectual knots (i.e. Sunshine and Starfox Adventures). Nintendo's at their best when they buck the trends and do video games their way.

With a little structure and using existing evidence, you can elevate that opinion to a persuasive argument. The only time they did well pursuing that segment was with the SNES, really. They are angling the WiiU as a SNES type repeat, I think. Whether it works and if they can pull it off is where that starts to get interesting. Twice attempting, lightning in a bottle. Takes either guts or stupidity. Time will tell.

[dairugger]

[QUOTE=Icarus Moonsight;1871149]I do this too, it's an explicit law. My cross-platform release preference order hasn't changed in nearly ten years.

1. GC version, then
2. PS2 if no GC version, or
3. XBX version if markedly better than PS2 version. [Added clause late 2005]

I always did that too. my reasons were that the loading was fast, and the graphics looked better than ps2, and also because the cube was built tough, so i knew itd be around.

[Leo_A]

I always went for the Xbox version first. It typically performed the best, had the most features, I had a preference for the Controller S, it had online capabilities (Even minor things like leaderboards in the Midway Arcade Treasures line added a lot of fun), and it saved on buying memory cards.

If there wasn't a Xbox version, I'd then go for the GCN version (Which was a fairly rare occurance, I can't think of many 3rd party games that the GCN got but the Xbox didn't). And if there wasn't any other choice, I'd buy the PS2 release. The only game I can think of that I bought for the PS2 that was available elsewhere was Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 because it was widely considered the best version. I'm still doing it this generation with the Xbox 360 (Only exceptions are Mega Man 9/10 on the Wii and I bought IL-2 Stormovick on the PS3 since it saw some significant improvements from patches the 360 release didn't get)

Still, I love the GameCube and its software gets a lot of use to this day. Have 45 games or so for it and love the vast majority of them. And of course, there's the Game Boy Player which has to easily be my favorite accessory of all time.

[Rob2600]

GameCube games I played the most:

Beach Spikers
Burnout 2: Point of Impact
F-Zero GX
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes
Metroid Prime
Resident Evil 4
Star Fox Adventures
Super Monkey Ball
Viewtiful Joe
Wave Race: Blue Storm

GameCube games I always wanted to play, but never got around to:

1080 Avalanche
Beyond Good and Evil
Eternal Darkness
Killer 7
Luigi's Mansion
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Pikmin 2
Sega Soccer Slam
Star Fox: Assault
Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
Super Mario Sunshine
Viewtiful Joe 2
XIII

Gamecube's "failure" (aka third-place standing behind Halo, I mean, Xbox) was because the system was not "mature" or "H@RdC0reZ!!!" enough despite being the first time Nintendo released not one but two M-rated first-party titles (Eternal Darkness and Geist). Or the fact Resident Evil 4 debuted on the "kiddie console" and somebody plz tell me why a system with every good RE (including 0, 1 Remake, 2, 3, 4, and Veronica) is still considered "a kiddie console"?

Imho, Nintendo fawning over the "hardcore" was a waste of time and bucking to trends only twisted them into intellectual knots (i.e. Sunshine and Starfox Adventures). Nintendo's at their best when they buck the trends and do video games their way.

I agree 100%.

[j_factor]

I always went for the Xbox version first.

I usually did too, but for anything 2D (which wasn't much, that gen) I chose Gamecube over Xbox for control reasons. And there were a few 3D games that were said to be better on Gamecube for one reason or another, like Sonic Heroes.

[duffmanth]

you bought the cube just to play that?

Sadly yes, but I was working at a game store at the time, so I got the system and the game at a discount.

[Lerxstnj]

It's actually the only Nintendo console I ever got into. Got my first GC in 2005 because of RE4. Still one of the best games I've ever played. Then started collecting for it about 2 years ago. Now I have 6 different consoles and only need a few more games for a complete exclusive set!