Support NeoGAF

[SporeCrawler]

The Wii had some great games, but when you do direct comparisons of games in a series the GC almost always wins out.

Monkey Ball series GC >>>>> Monkey Ball series Wii
Mario Kart DD >>>> Martio Kart Wii
SSBM >> SSBB
Resident Evil 4 >> Non existent wii entry
Wind Waker >> TP

EDIT: Thinking of more
Metroid Prime >>> Zero Mission
Animal Crossing GC >>> Animal Crossing Wii

Wii had its list of awesome exclusives (Mad World, NMH) but in a lot of ways I think Wii games suffered from laziness that kept that from being great. It's like developers knew their games would sell a ton of copies from soccer moms so why make awesome games.

yeah i could make a similar list
Mario Galaxy 1, 2>>>>> Mario Sunshine
New Super Mario Bros Wii >>> Nonexistent 2D mario game
Sonic Colors>>>> Any Sonic Game on GC (yes even Sonic Adventure 2)
No More Heroes>>>> Killer 7
Metroid Prime Triology>>>>> Metroid Prime whatever on GC
Sin and Punishment 2>> non-existent something
Wario land Shake it >> Wario World
Wii Sports >> Non-existent Nintendo Nintendo Sports Title (oh wait legend of golfer?)
Mario Strikers Charged>>> Mario Strikers
Donkey Kong Country Returns >> Jungle Beat (Sorry EAD Tokyo)
Redsteel 2, Golden Eye>>>>> Geist?
Wario Ware Smooth moves >>>>>>>Wario Ware GC
Wii Party, Mario Party 9 >>>>>>>>>> any Mario Party on GC


also Windwaker > TP?

I would like to have some of the stuff you are smoking. I like me some windwaker but cmon it has like 5 dungeons.

 

[sphagnum]

The Wii has such an amazing lineup. I can never understand any self-professed "gamer" who can't find something in their to enjoy.

 

[Kurtofan]

Exclusive wise I think the Wii easily wins. Once you include the multiplats the GC got it's not even a question. RE4, Viewtiful Joe, Splinter Cell, Beyond Good and Evi, etc. are just amazing. Also personally I think Nintendo of the GC era was slightly more appealing even if all the games from the big franchises weren't the best

I don't think "being appealing" is a valid criteria for determining which consoles had the best games. This is super subjective.

 

[Refreshment.01]

I'd take Soul Calibur 2 and the Prince of Persia titles over those games 24hrs a day, 7 days a week.
Hell, Baldur's Gate DA alliance beats any third party Wii game.

This is an interesting case. GameCube has ports from the trilogy of the Prince games, particulary Sands of Time which is the best game among the Ubisoft revival.

Wii has an exclusive Forgotten Sands, which it seems to be the best game after Sands of Time. This is worth noting i think.

Speaking of Baldur's the Wii has various rogue likes of competent quality: Shiren, Chocobo. Baroque is decent too.

 

[D.Lo]

What the Gamecube had going for it was that not only did it have heaps of gems, but it was also a graphical beast with the best image quality in the business via the superb quality component cable. It perfectly served the TV standard that was around during its run, whereas the Wii's SD nature was a bit of a drag a couple of years in.

Metroid Prime 3 was beautiful and stylish on the Wii, but Metroid Prime 1 was not only beautiful and stylish but also the best looking game released that year on any platform.

Cool stuff like Viewtiful Joe was both quirky, brilliant AND technically impressive compared to everything around regardless of console.

So yeah the GCN has that. Which is why it's one of my favourite ever consoles, up there with the Famicom and SNES.

 

[NewGame]

Nice job OP but that list/picture grid system is really confusing me.

 

[rjc571]

This is an interesting case. GameCube has ports from the trilogy of the Prince games, particulary Sands of Time which is the best game among the Ubisoft revival.

Wii has an exclusive Forgotten Sands, which it seems to be the best game after Sands of Time. This is worth noting i think.

Speaking of Baldur's the Wii has various rogue likes of competent quality: Shiren, Chocobo. Baroque is decent too.

Also it's worth noting that Baldur's' Gate on the Gamecube was an atrocious hack job of a port (courtesy of High Voltage). Anybody who thinks it's better than any 3rd party Wii game is downright ignorant.

 

[MDX]

Excite

 

[Refreshment.01]

I don't think "being appealing" is a valid criteria for determining which consoles had the best games. This is super subjective.

Diversity is also something to consider.

 

[SirUltimos]

People will look back at the Wiis library highly. Especially once the WiiUs cycle ends

I agree. During it's lifetime the Wii was mostly ignored (if not outright hated) by the enthusiast community but I think history is going to be very kind to it. We've already seen this somewhat, but I think within a few years as the memory of the shovelware wears off people are going to start holding the Wii in high regard.

I think history will be kind to the Wii U, too. The Gamecube in it's lifetime had a perception very similar to that of the Wii U, and just look at the way it's perceived now.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I agree. During it's lifetime the Wii was mostly ignored (if not outright hated) by the enthusiast community but I think history is going to be very kind to it. We've already seen this somewhat, but I think within a few years as the memory of the shovelware wears off people are going to start holding the Wii in high regard.

I think history will be kind to the Wii U, too. The Gamecube in it's lifetime had a perception very similar to that of the Wii U, and just look at the way it's perceived now.

I agree with all of this. The WiiU in particular. There's no optimism about the thing, and I have a feeling that even when X, Bayonetta 2, and whatever else comes out, people are still going to be hating on the thing. Give it 5 years, and that opinion will change dramatically.

We're already starting to see people starting to give the Wii a second look.

 

[Anth0ny]

People will look back at the Wiis library highly. Especially once the WiiUs cycle ends

I think Wii U may already have a better library of exclusives than Wii. It's gonna be crazy by the end of 2014, too.

The only games I miss from the Wii library are the Galaxy titles.

 

[Kai Dracon]

By the end the Wii treated me better than the Gamecube. The majority of 1st party Gamecube titles were rushed, unpolished, or literally incomplete. The sheer worship the Cube receives is not quite in line with reality IMO.

I feel a big reason the Wii has a bad image with Nintendo fans is NoA treated the core customer like shit. They basically abandoned support and dragged their feet on localizing the biggest core-oriented games like Xenoblade. If it wasn't for Xseed two of the bigger core Wii games never would have gotten released outside Japan. Also, it is true that the Wii did not receive the same shot in the arm the Cube enjoyed from Capcom. MH3Tri, sure - but otherwise abandoned.

But now that the dust has settled, the Wii has the superior library. Besides - the damn thing plays Gamecube discs and supports GC controllers. You've got it all on a single system anyway There's no real war between the two platforms.

 

[kunonabi]

I prefer the Wii catalog by a quite a bit to be honest. I was mostly underwhelmed with the GC and I've never felt the desire to really go back to it like I do with most other consoles. It had some great multiplayer stuff and I enjoyed Capcom's output on it but Nintendo's 1st party stuff didn't impress me much outside of the first Metroid Prime. I think both console's showed a more creative side of Nintendo with the GC still being very traditional while the Wii offerings were more experimental and accessible. The Wii offerings felt more polished to me since the Wii was an actual success and games had better development schedules whereas the GC was trying to keep its head above water for its existence so the titles felt rushed out before they were really ready.

That is sort of my problem with the Wii u. I love the console but outside of Nintendoland and Game & Wario the titles are really just super polished sequels. They're great games to be sure but they don't have that same spirit that the GC and Wii had. I wonder if things would have been different had the sales not plummeted so quickly.

 

[Phediuk]

If I didn't have to use the stupid remote and the tech wasn't so outdated I'd have liked the Wii a lot more.

The GameCube was, at least at the time, a technical marvel. Rogue Leader, F-Zero GX, Resident Evil 4. Library paled in comparison to the PS2/Xbox but it was still much more enjoyable than the Wii for me.

 

[Kai Dracon]

That is sort of my problem with the Wii u. I love the console but outside of Nintendoland and Game & Wario the titles are really just super polished sequels. They're great games to be sure but they don't have that same spirit that the GC and Wii had. I wonder if things would have been different had the sales not plummeted so quickly.

Due to how long dev cycles on games take, I don't think most Wii U games so far were affected by the sales. I'd think the proposals for them were greenlit before the Wii U even launched.

Personally I think there's nothing wrong conceptually with Pikmin 3 - it may be "just" a sequel but it's been a very long time between entries, and it seems focused on finally getting the Pikmin formula just right.

Otherwise, I suspect 3D World and Tropical Freeze were a result of Nintendo expecting much more of the Wii audience would upgrade to Wii U. They're couch co-op platformers, the same sort of game that was selling very well on Wii. Same for Mario Kart 8, really.

 

[Gillian Seed]

I enjoyed the Gamecube library way better, but I also despise motion controls. Super Mario Galaxy is the only Wii game I loved.

 

[kunonabi]

Due to how long dev cycles on games take, I don't think most Wii U games so far were affected by the sales. I'd think the proposals for them were greenlit before the Wii U even launched.

Personally I think there's nothing wrong conceptually with Pikmin 3 - it may be "just" a sequel but it's been a very long time between entries, and it seems focused on finally getting the Pikmin formula just right.

Otherwise, I suspect 3D World and Tropical Freeze were a result of Nintendo expecting much more of the Wii audience would upgrade to Wii U. They're couch co-op platformers, the same sort of game that was selling very well on Wii. Same for Mario Kart 8, really.

Pikmin 3 doesn't bother me since I thought the controls always held the series back and Pikmin 3 felt like a culmination of what they were always going for. Hopefully, Nintendo really shows some creative stuff at E3 since Iwata has talked about showing off the Gamepad more.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

This thread makes just as little sense to me now as it did 4 or 5 months ago.

 

[Anth0ny]

That is sort of my problem with the Wii u. I love the console but outside of Nintendoland and Game & Wario the titles are really just super polished sequels. They're great games to be sure but they don't have that same spirit that the GC and Wii had. I wonder if things would have been different had the sales not plummeted so quickly.

Not even neogaf knows wonderful 101 exists

 

[ironcreed]

What a thread. It serves as a poignant reminder of how many games I missed, especially on Wii. I only owned both systems for brief stints before getting rid of them and always regretted not being patient enough.

 

[Spieler Eins]

I think Wii U may already have a better library of exclusives than Wii. It's gonna be crazy by the end of 2014, too.

The only games I miss from the Wii library are the Galaxy titles.

WiiU is an uninspired retread of the Wii's most unimpressive games and although at the end of it's life it's gonna have some more worthwhile retreads like Xeno (not sure what's gonna be at the end of 2014? Dynasty Warriors lol, another subpar Sonic and yet another Smash rehash that catapults Sakurai into the same level of redundancy as Eguchi), but it will still be a poor man's Wii without the variety, superior Wiimote controls and the freshness that the U game's predecessors still had on the Wii. NSMBW for once actually brought many new level mechanics into the series, while NSMBU is one lazy rehash too much. Wii had a huge portfolio of Nintendo franchises, both new and revived (with the right amount of time since each predecessor released), or given a proper generational leap through new concepts. WiiU has no experience you haven't seen within the last 3 years on other (highly superior) Nintendo hardware, excluding two or three niche titles, Pikmin and nothing that would have ever required a new generation (lolol black screen pad for DK, Pikmin 3 superior with Wii remote). MK8 is the first title to feature a generational leap in presentation and somewhat gameplay and afterwards it's probably gonna stay that way for another year. On top of that, Wii had tons of hidden 3rd party gems, on WiiU you'll forever wait for a subpar Watch Dogs port and that's gonna be it, a list comparable to the OP is gonna be tiny. Virtual Console is also much worse on the WiiU. A trash system all around. I've gotten used to people trying to downplay the greatness that was the Wii, but it's definitely reaching a new level of ridiculousness through people try to put an objectively low-grade, half assed console like the WiiU above it.

 

[Sadist]

By the end the Wii treated me better than the Gamecube. The majority of 1st party Gamecube titles were rushed, unpolished, or literally incomplete. The sheer worship the Cube receives is not quite in line with reality IMO.

I feel a big reason the Wii has a bad image with Nintendo fans is NoA treated the core customer like shit. They basically abandoned support and dragged their feet on localizing the biggest core-oriented games like Xenoblade. If it wasn't for Xseed two of the bigger core Wii games never would have gotten released outside Japan. Also, it is true that the Wii did not receive the same shot in the arm the Cube enjoyed from Capcom. MH3Tri, sure - but otherwise abandoned.

But now that the dust has settled, the Wii has the superior library. Besides - the damn thing plays Gamecube discs and supports GC controllers. You've got it all on a single system anyway There's no real war between the two platforms.

Yup.

As a PAL gamer this generation (outside of Atus) NoE treated the Wii and EU gamers pretty fantastic btw. With the exception of the strange delays regarding Super Paper Mario and Brawl, they gave us stuff like Disaster Day of Crisis, Another Code R and my personal favourite, Project Zero II Wii Edition.

 

[GamerJM]

I think they ended up being pretty much equal.

I feel the same. I'd probably rank the Wii higher because I prefer Virtual Console/WiiWare to Gameboy Player, but at the same time I probably put more time into my Gamecube with stuff like Melee and Super Monkey Ball 2 that I spent a ton of time playing in MP over several years.

Both systems are easily better than the Wii U though so far.

 

[famfrit]

Great work OP!

 

[batbeg]

The Wii was one of my favorite consoles ever. It's one of the few systems that stirs my passion because you'll constantly see some dumbshit talk about how it had no games and was a failure to gamers, but it was more full of unique, interesting, "gamey" titles that other systems proved incapable of delivering, and I've just never been able to comprehend how "hardcore gamers" can ignore that entire library.

With that said I also fucking loved the Gamecube.

Awesome job on the thread, OP. I've had this tab open for days and just now remembered to check it, and it blew my damn mind.