GameCube- Woo or Boo?

[Ryudo]

One game people often forget to mention that is great is Chibi Robo

[j_factor]

I can recall many that didn't reflect the increased power of the GCN. But I don't remember any instances where a GCN version looked horrible compared to the PS2 release.

That's not to say that there aren't any examples. I just don't remember any. Have any specific titles in my mind when you say that?

The Gamecube versions of Spy Hunter and NFS Hot Pursuit 2 weren't very good, but they are very much the exception. I agree with you, games were almost always significantly better on Gamecube compared to PS2. Once in a while Gamecube did better than Xbox too, but not too often.

[kedawa]

It's still remarkably efficient as far as system architecture goes, and it's the last 'pure' gaming console, as it doesn't play movies or browse the internet or whatever, so it has that going for it.
I'm not a fan of the controllers, but everything else about it is great.

[Yago]

I think the NGC is worth owning for Eternal Darkness, Killer 7, and REmake. It's a 30 dollar system now. There's no excuse to not have played those games.

That's right! I got a brand new one still in the box for $100 and got a couple used ones for $15.00 each. no reason at all not to own one. I hardly ever replay games. Once I finish them I move on. But Resident Evil 4... I finished 13 times! Dreamcast is still by far my favorite system but the Gamecube is a fun little sytem that holds its own.

Btw the Wii edition of RE4 on my 46" TV looks terrible. No better than the Gamecube version so with that You are still better off playing RE4 on the Cube on an old CRT.

[otoko]

GameCube deserved a far better lineup of games than it actually got. Not saying it didn't get wonderful titles, I loved playing Mario Party, Super Smash Bros, etc. It's a great party system to play with friends.

But one thing that impresses me most is the Durability. I have never had a broken GameCube console (just a few bad platinum controllers). When my GameCube was taken to school to play with some classmates. I placed it on a desk that was about five foot tall. Somebody got excited and pulled on their controller hard and detached it from the TV causing it to fall. It fell straight onto a concrete floor and bounced.

I picked it up, plugged it back in, and we finished our game.

[The 1 2 P]

During last gen it was definitely boo. While I did know one dude that had a GC as his only system I was too busy meeting people all over the world(literally) on Xbox live to get a cube for myself. Eventually I got one when Target and Sears were clearancing them out for $25. That one is still sealed but I picked up an opened one from Goodwill to play games on. And yet despite my collection of nearly 20 GC games I have never played either system besides at demo kiosk. It had a nice handful of exclusives(both first and third party) but the number paled in comparison to the PS2 and Xbox. And even though I have most of the games I've wanted for the system I've still never been that inclined to play it, especially now. In my opinion it was Nintendo's weakest console(not counting the Virtual Boy) but when it's all said and done we might look back on the GC as being better than the Wii. Today I guess I'm somewhere between woo and boo. I don't hate the system and I acknowledge it has some worthy games but nothing that has compelled me to hook it up yet.

[substantial_snake]

The biggest mistake of the gamecube in the states was the purple color, its silly now but I think they would of done much better if they would have dropped "indigo" as its main flagship color and went with almost anything else. The way the industry was appealing to an older demographic then having a child friendly image was more of a black mark then an asset. The lack of serious third party support was another black mark against it, again becoming a largely "buy it for Nintendo games!" console. Though it was sold at a cheaper price initially the lack of a DVD player also hurt it as both the PS2 and soon to be released Xbox had it standard which gave people just another incentive to chose those systems over the cube.

That being said the console had a lot of great exclusives like the Prime series, two Zeldas, RE remakes and new titles, Rogue Squadron, etc. etc. The controller was also really comfortable to use (outside of the D-pad) and I imagine it made getting into a game a lot easier for non-vets due to the different sized buttons donating relative importance to general use. It was also portable as nothing else meaning system linking was super easy to pull off unlike lugging around several X-boxes and I really can't think of any game that used a system link feature on the PS2.

I really don't see a reason to pick one up over a older backwards compatible wii today other then nostalgia, system link, or the fantastic gameboy player. I would give it a Meh rather then a Boo or Woo, its not a bad console just didn't offer as much as its competitors back then and the newcomer edging out Nintendo for second place spoke to this more then anything else.

[Gunstar Hero]

Woo! Absolutely woo. I used to go over my friends house every day after elementary school to play his Gamecube. Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mario party's 4-7, Luigi's Mansion, Mario Power Tennis, Donkey Konga Jungle Beat, Super Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, and Mario Kart Double Dash just to name a few of our favorites. Wow now that I think about it, Nintendo really used all of their franchises to their full potential. In fact, I just played Super Smash Bros. over the weekend with my friends for FOUR HOURS! Plus about a month ago, my friend and I stayed up all night and beat Luigi's Mansion all the way through and took 9 hours with a few snack breaks in between. The Gamecube is Nintendo gaming to the MAX.

[frogofdeath]

The WaveBird is possibly the best controller of all time. Only real downside is the need for AA batteries. Also, the GameCube has one of the best (and most underrated) Mario Kart games of all time: Double Dash. Plenty of other solid games as well, so I would definitely say woo.

[retroguy]

I don't play mine as often as I used to, but I still have a lot of love for the Cube. I'd had a PS1 for a couple years at that point, but the GC was the first system I bought shortly after launch (I think it was the following summer). My first two GC games were Sonic Adventure 2 Battle and Super Smash Bros. Melee and between the two of them, I was sold. It may not have been the most popular console, but it was not lacking in the awesomeness department. Not one bit.

[Leo_A]

The WaveBird is possibly the best controller of all time. Only real downside is the need for AA batteries.

If you loved the GameCube design.

While I thought it was okay, there was much about the controller that didn't thrill me. The two stage design of the triggers (They were basically half depressed or fully depressed and were difficult to smoothly manipulate through their full range of motion for a racing game), the small d-pad (Which at least works correctly unlike every MS d-pad design), and the odd face buttons didn't do much for me.

And while the WaveBird was great (And is what converted me into a fan of wireless controllers), those issues were still present in WaveBird form. And of course the WaveBird lacked rumble capabilities which was a issue in the occasional game (Albeit a minor one). And I think lacking a built in rechargable battery is a positive at this point when it has been over half a decade since they last manufactured these things. Age doesn't do rechargeable batteries any good.

I'd rather be able to pop in a new pair of AA's and be good to go for dozens of more hours. So I'd argue that decision was a positive.

The Gamecube versions of Spy Hunter and NFS Hot Pursuit 2 weren't very good, but they are very much the exception. I agree with you, games were almost always significantly better on Gamecube compared to PS2. Once in a while Gamecube did better than Xbox too, but not too often.

Not familiar with Spy Hunter (I own it though but forget which of the three versions it is and have never played it yet), but Hot Pursuit 2's inferiority was a almost unique situation for a modern console as I recall.

The PS2 version was developed by a different developer than the Xbox and GCN versions. And it ended up being a significantly different and better experience, much like multiplatform releases from years gone by that often just shared a name. Apparantly other than the name, being racing games, and some concepts here and there, the Xbox/GCN version is pretty much a different game than the PS2 version.

It's the rare example where I went for the PS2 version instead of the Xbox or GCN version.

[BetaWolf47]

I can recall many that didn't reflect the increased power of the GCN. But I don't remember any instances where a GCN version looked horrible compared to the PS2 release.

That's not to say that there aren't any examples. I just don't remember any. Have any specific titles in my mind when you say that?

I can name a few in which the GameCube version was better:

Timesplitters 2 (according to a friend, insane loading times for PS2 version)
Resident Evil 4 (graphically, GCN version is amazingly better)
Killer 7 (look at some PS2 reviews, seriously)

It's rare that different versions are compared side-by-side. The PS2 versions of a lot of games have horrible jaggies though, from what I can recall.

[Leo_A]

I think you misunderstood me. I can think of many examples where the GCN version was better than the PS2 version and even the occasional instance where it was superior to the Xbox version.

Someone criticized the GCN earlier for being a weak performer with multiplatform releases and I was disagreeing with that. I can't think of any examples of the same project being on the PS2 and the GCN where the GCN release wasn't at least at par with the PS2 release (And often significantly improved with faster load times, more polished graphics, etc.).

About the only area I can think of were a few examples where bonus material would be stripped or trimmed down for the GCN release when the small size of a GCN disc occasionally became an issue.

As a general rule with the last generation, I'd go with the Xbox version first, GCN version second, and PS2 version last with my order of preference. Most of my PS2 library are PS2 exclusives as a result (Not much different from the PS3, come to think of it).

[BetaWolf47]

Well, if you want to mention that, the Gamecube versions of several later games, such as Timesplitters: Future Perfect, lacked online. That was considered pretty significant in 2005. The Gamecube versions of some games also had bugs, similar to how the PS3 and PC versions of current-gen titles have bugs, while the more popular ports did not. I remember my brand-new, scratchless copy of The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction freezing up quite a few times. I'm sure audiophiles can sense the sound difference between compressed sound on Gamecube versions and full DVD-quality sound on PS2/Xbox versions.

[Leo_A]

With hundreds of releases in question, I'm sure there's no shortage of exceptions.

But in general, give me the GameCube version of a specific game over the Playstation 2 version any day.

[Shulamana]

The Gamecube is the console I have the least amount of games for (4) right after the N64 (2). I was all Nintendo, all the time until the N64 came out and all the great RPGs went to the PlayStation instead. I got my black Gamecube in 2004 with the Collector's Disc, and while my favorite Mario Kart game is on it as well as my favorite fighting game (Soul Calibur II) I just never really got into it.

Really dislike the controller, almost as much as the N64 controller, both of which are probably my least favorite controllers ever. Just doesn't feel right in my hands and I really don't like the arrangement/different sizes of the buttons.

I would probably sell it if not for the Game Boy Player attachment, which I use with a RetroPort SNES adapter, and that gets more use these days than any GC game.

[duffmanth]

I originally bought the Gamecube back in 2002 pretty much for Wrestlemania X8 alone. My buddies and I played that game nonstop for the better part of a year. After I got that game out of my system though, I couldn't find anything else on the system I wanted to play. Everything else I wanted to play, I had on my PS2. I really wanted the Cube to do well after the N64, but Nintendo lost so much ground to Sony that the big games were only coming out for the PS2.

[kupomogli]

Here's a game I missed from listing of the Gamecube games I own. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. It's a decent game outside of not being able to play multiplayer without going through a whole bunch of hoops, such as either having batteries, which I've never used, for my GBA, a link up cable, and a GBA for each person that wants to play multiplayer. Because of this I never bothered to play multiiplayer with anyone else. Why purchase additional items when we are going to play one game and may never go back to it again?

I've never played Four Swords, but I think that game is exactly the same. Requires a GBA for each person that wants to play it.

Now I know Final Fantasy isn't Nintendo owned, but I have a suspicion that Nintendo put Squaresoft up to requiring a GBA and connector for each player that wants to play multiplayer. The game came out before Four Swords, and I think they're the only two games that work that way. So because they wanted to implement a cheap sales tactic, they actually in turn degraded the quality of a title that would be a good multiplayer title otherwise. The menu could have been used like the normal one player menu, each person taking turns going into the menu. Cheap sales tatics though? That's the Nintendo way, afterall.

[Edmond Dantes]

Sorry to say but I'm definitely leaning towards "Boo" for this one. My first gamecube I sold simply because the only game I ever played on it was Smash Bros Melee, and then only when my cousin was around. I HATED that game, and when he moved off to college I was like "fuck yeah I can finally get rid of this shit."

I didn't like any of the exclusives I played to be honest. Hated Metroid Prime 1 (never played Prime 2 or 3), hated Eternal Darkness, thought Wave Race was worse than the N64 version, and so on and so forth.

But I've got a new Cube now and I'm going to try Killer7 and the RE games at the very least, before I go dismissing the system any further.

[Mayhem]

I have to say "woo" given I own all 555 US games