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[Freedom Gate Co.]

Objectively.

People will often say the Wii U or the Wii(due to the market it brought in, for seconds) are the worst of Nintendo's consoles but the GameCube was Nintendo's real stumble in the market.

1. The GameCube continued the N64's delay legacy, sure it wasn't as long this time, only 1 year (as opposed to the N64's 2 year delay, 3 in parts of Europe) but that one year delay put it one year after the launch of the PS2. It also brought the GameCubes launch date to match the new Microsoft console at the time.

2. The GameCube in its first year arguably was one if its worst. While some people will look back with rose tinted glasses, the market wasn't interested in the GameCube's library at the time. The GameCube did not have the games that the Xbox and PS2 had which shook things up and the GameCube was falling fast behind. People forget this fact.

3. The GameCube was the fastest to cut its price and it did nothing. In fact, in 2003 the GameCube was selling so badly, that Nintendo had to halt shipments and stop production. The GameCube was $99 and below at some retailers by this point.

4. The GameCube was constantly paired with the GBA in earnings and you could tell the GBA was used to hide how much the GameCube was losing Nintendo. But even then the earnings were substantially lower than what Nintendo Put out for 97-99 N64 by itself with both of those combined.

5. The GameCube was dirt cheap late 2003 forward. From late 2004 the Xbox, due to numerous issues, including a soon to launch successor, was gradually then quickly pulled out most of the market. During this time the GameCube and some of it's top games were cheap, Nintendo picked up advertising, focused on more GBA support, tried to grab more GameCube only titles, and even got some cross-gen games with the Wii. Effectively, the GameCubes main competition for 2nd place was gone, and the GameCube was still not able to produce significant numbers. In fact, the GameCube despite basically being left alone for years, still lost by late 2007, to what was a dead console in all but name(Xbox). Sonic Heroes, RE4, Twilight Princess, etc, where not able to move the needle.

6. Nintendos slow acceptance of online ended up costing them quite a bit. Even during the 2003 halt the GameCube was still light on online content and Nintendo decided to continue on without putting much fofcus on it.

7. Nintendo's treatment of Rare and lack of interest in keeping them was baffling. Ignoring the fact they were a big part for the great success, in one country, of the N64. Without games like GE and Banjo the droughts would have surely been doom during the N64's run. They were not able to replace them with the GC.

8. Some people think mini-dvd's were one of the biggest reasons for the GameCubes fall. While a factor I don't believe it was a major issue. Instead what made mini-dvd'a become a real problem was not the format itself but the size.

Nintendo intentionally, even when the Gamecube was floundering, refused to update the capacity for their mini-dvd discs. Japanese media and leakers reported conversations about producing 2-5GB variants and making it available for developers, but scrapped it. They kept the lowest format for most games on the system and also decided to scrap Mini-DVD movie playback which was under consideration since the GameCube launched. Ultimately, it was decided to scrap the idea of movies as well.

9. Nintendo was stuck-up. They and some fans believed their first party was first and third-parties were second, and the former alone would move many GameCubes. This really ended up causing early developers to leave the GameCube and prevented others from jumping in. It also showed that Nintendos games alone could not move the console. This point is also one of the reasons the GameCube was delayed because they didn't want Third-parties to help fill-in launch gaps.

10. The GameCube continued the drought legacy of the N64 except they didn't have a few super hit games to fill some of the air. This led to a large decrease in interest.

11. The people running Nintendo Japan were all trying to find excuses for the GameCube instead of blaming themselves. From Hiroshi's "only reason Gamecube is failing because of Violent video games" to "It was great long-term for the N64 to weed-out developers that were "weak"" and "X games would ruin our brand".

12. The people not running Nintendo but still working in the company were also insane. "But we are Nintendo" was something numerous ex-employees have recalled hearing in response to losing in the sales race. The hubris was a big issue.

13. It was the last time Nintendo directly competed with the competition and instead have released consoles indirectly competing aiming for different markets. (outside the Switch Hybrid which is more debatable)

When you look at interviews and stories from current or ex-Nintendo employees or even third-party contractors, whether in gaming or another industry, Nintendo was having a great meltdown with the GameCube, everything went opposite of what they were expecting and instead of learning a lesson from the GameCube they ran. They had the wrong attitude from the start and refused to change that attitude later.

It really is, market and industry wise, their biggest home console failure.

 

[Azelover]

I appreciate the essay, but I really liked the Gamecube, and that's all I'm gonna say..

 

[Solo Act]

You might be right, but if they put the entire Gamecube library on the Switch today, I'd probably end up buying over 50 games.

 

[PerfectDark]

Gamecube was not as good as the N64 but it was Nintendo's last good console. It was underrated. Mario Kart Double dash was the last good Mario Kart game with a battle. You had Animal Crossing, a bunch of great Mario Party games, Ethernal Darkness, Zelda Windwalker, smash bros, Timesplitters. Controler was nice as well. System even had sport games right on par with other consoles. The graphics gap from playstation and xbox was small.

Gamecube as more great games then ps4, xb1 1, and switch right now.

 

[xwez]

GameCube was home of RE4, so that totally invalidates whatever you said in your novel.

 

[dark10x]

2. The GameCube in its first year arguably was one if its worst. While some people will look back with rose tinted glasses, the market wasn't interested in the GameCube's library at the time. The GameCube did not have the games that the Xbox and PS2 had which shook things up and the GameCube was falling fast behind. People forget this fact.

PS2's first year wasn't so hot if we start from the Japanese launch in March 99. GameCube launched in Japan just a couple months before the US, however. It's first year was pretty darn good too. We had a good launch and then games like Resident Evil, Eternal Darkness, Mario Sunshine, Star Fox Adventures and the like. Are they all top notch? Maybe not but I think it's better than Wii U's first year most certainly.

Also, Nintendo 64 had a rather weak first year as well - some genuine classics, sure, but almost nothing else.

 

[ThaPhantom]

Gamecube is still my favorite Nintendo console so I have a hard time agreeing even though I can see your reasoning.

 

[mariosbrother]

I hear you, but at the same time, the GCN sold 22 million units versus the Wii U's 14 million, and the Wii U had the benefit of a decade worth of video game market expansion.

 

[Dr.brain64]

I agree. Despite gamecube being MY favourite nintendo console it did fail pretty bad (according to nintendo). In fact nintendo is where it is now because of that.

I just dream sometimes where the gamecube had been successful and we would have ps4 like graphics right now. It's just incredible to see such a rich company put out such cheap stuff like the wiiu, switch (yet so expensive). Where is the ambition nintendo?

 

[nowhat]

I'll take "what is a WiiU" for $500, Alex.

(and for the record, I'm one of the like twelve people that actually bought one)

 

[888]

I loved GameCube. There was something special about that little cube.

 

[Ozrimandias]

Blame Psone success, i had a N64 and everytime i went to my friends house and played on his Sony Console. When the time came, i dindt doubt. Buyed a PS2.

 

[stranno]

Well, it sold 20 millions of units. Not that bad considering it was competing with the most successful console (maybe even piece of hardware) of all time.

And the hardware was later recycled for Wii (its pretty much a Gamecube with the Starlet ARM chip attached), and Wii sold 100+ millions of units. Not that bad i think.

It was quiet, it was cheap, it was pretty and it had a bunch of masterpieces.

 

[MilesTeg]

Unappealing Mario title. As a successor to Mario 64, no one was that excited.

Cell shaded Zelda. Again, a strange successor to a smash hit.

Luigi's Mansion. A title that does not appeal to gamers at the time.

No successor to GoldenEye or Perfect Dark. That's where the market would eventually lead to. Even now, CoD is still tops the charts. Nintendo was foolish to let this genre slip as the N64 was the console for shooters.

Strange console aesthetic and controller. Controller not well suited for fighting games.

Mini disc was better for players (shorter load times), but to the masses, it seems dumb. And it must have cost more to manufacture than a regular DVD, as no other hardware uses the same thing. Of course, the PS2 could play DVDs and the cube couldn't.

The Gamecube had some great titles, and was more fun for me to play on than PS2 due to the extra power and shorter load times. The actual tech inside the cube was great. And the cube was cheap too.

However, strange hardware design decisions, questionable disc format, delayed a year, questionable game direction, questionable controller decisions, lack of third party support from major third parties. The console was online ready but was never taken online.

The tech inside the cube was great, it's just there were too many fuck ups.

 

[Breakage]

As someone who isn't a big Nintendo fan, I think it was Nintendo's best console because it was their most PlayStation-like console. From the hardware design to the brand identity (the name, the futuristic logo, the bizarre adverts etc) to the non-Nintendo side of the software library (eg the Capcom four), it was all very Sony-esque.

 

[Pumpkin Seeds]

Gamecube was one of their best consoles. The environment at the time was just assbackwards.

For example, "lack of online hurt it". Except I can barely recall an online game from that era worth remembering. What was it? SOCOM and uh ..?

Online would take off next gen, where Wii's online was still weak and it didn't matter because Nintendo went after untouched and forgotten demographics.

I look at the GC and its library, and it's full of great games, and had better 3rd party support than most post-SNES Nintendo consoles. I remember the discussions of the time and it was about really ridiculous things once we look back honestly. There was a debate over it not being a DVD player. Yeah, I doubt that really mattered. The online discussion was pushed by MS even though the market wasn't quite ready. It didn't really matter in retrospect. There was a great deal of worry over its design not being.. edgy enough? Something that would not be a problem a generation later. All that seems to have occurred is that the console got overlooked for reasons that had nothing to do with its games. The system has the usual great titles from Nintendo and the return of Metroid, plus great games from Capcom, Sega, UbiSoft, and Namco. That time is full of such misguided thinking that its almost fitting a high quality system got ignored.

 

[ExpandKong]

That was a lot of words to type for something that’s wrong in pretty much every quantifiable way.

 

[Leonard Washington]

"The GameCube Was Nintendo's Worse Home Console Failure."

And then they added a waggle controller to it and sold it back to masses to create their best home console success... The Nintendo way...

 

[cryptoadam]

Wii U sucked harder. Total disaster.

GC was a decent system, actually got some 3rd party support, and had some real gems. It was just not competing with the PS2 and then MS came in and managed to get PC and hardcore players on board with its beefy console.

But from the ashes of the GC failure rose the Wii.

 

[Freedom Gate Co.]

but

That doesn't really apply to this thread. It has nothing about an individual liking the system or not.

PS2's first year wasn't so hot if we start from the Japanese launch in March 99. GameCube launched in Japan just a couple months before the US, however. It's first year was pretty darn good too. We had a good launch and then games like Resident Evil, Eternal Darkness, Mario Sunshine, Star Fox Adventures and the like. Are they all top notch? Maybe not but I think it's better than Wii U's first year most certainly.

Also, Nintendo 64 had a rather weak first year as well - some genuine classics, sure, but almost nothing else.

I mean your opinion is fine but that's not what the thread is about.

That was a lot of words to type for something that’s wrong in pretty much every quantifiable way.

Nothing wrong if we talk about the market and the industry objectively.

This threads not about opinions. But I guess that would require reading the first word in the thread.

Gamecube was one of their best consoles. The environment at the time was just assbackwards.

For example, "lack of online hurt it". Except I can barely recall an online game from that era worth remembering. What was it? SOCOM and uh ..?

Online would take off next gen, where Wii's online was still weak and it didn't matter because Nintendo went after untouched and forgotten demographics.

I look at the GC and its library, and it's full of great games,

All of this is subjective which isn't what this thread is about.

Well, it sold 20 millions of units.

Which it needed one competitor to basically jump out the market and have fire sales to reach. That's not good, in fact Nintendo themselves didn't think it was good.

I'll take "what is a WiiU" for $500, Alex.

(and for the record, I'm one of the like twelve people that actually bought one)

Wii U failed due to a lot of the issue coming from the N64 and the Gamecube, the Gamecube's market and industry performance was worse than the Wii U's for various reasons outside the company and internally within Nintendo. Wii U made more money as well.

I hear you, but at the same time, the GCN sold 22 million units versus the Wii U's 14 million, and the Wii U had the benefit of a decade worth of video game market expansion.

The Wii U made more money, the Wii U didn't crumble Nintendo internally, and the Wii U didn't have the 360 jump out the market followed by a $99 and sub $99 price cuts along with fire sales to reach it's 14 million. If Nintendo felt like throwing money down a put I bet they could have reached 22 million or more as well.

I agree. Despite gamecube being MY favourite nintendo console it did fail pretty bad (according to nintendo). In fact nintendo is where it is now because of that.

Exactly my point.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

I can respect the reasons you've listed Freedom Gate Co. , but I would say the N64 was Nintendo's worst home console failure. It too much of a flip from 2D to 3D. You had 3D games and that was it. 2D was almost entirely abandoned. One of the system's darlings -- Paper Mario -- is a sort of joke about how the N64 doesn't do "2D" stuff anymore because look! We're 3D. PS1 and Saturn still had strong ties to the 2D roots of gaming (snagging dozens of arcade ports) and have aged far better as a result. Nintendo -- the kings of sidescrollers and platformers and puzzle games -- suddenly dropped all the successful gameplay conventions of the NES and SNES eras in favor of full 3D. Yes, there were a pittance of these older games, but it was too big of a leap into 3D.

The N64 chased away third parties. Arguably, Gamecube got some of those publishers back including former rival SEGA. Resident Evil 4, Sonic Adventure Series, Crazy Taxi, Rogue Leader, Viewtiful Joe, Monkey Ball, Timesplitters, Beyond Good and Evil, Prince of Persia... these were contemporary versions of those games. N64 missed out on whole swathes of third-party games due to the hardware limitations of cartridge.

Gamecube's library is more than double the size of the N64's. That bears reiterating: Gamecube has 658 games and N64 is shy of 300.

The N64 had a crap controller. The Gamecube's controller continues to be re-manufactured every time Smash Bros releases.

The Gamecube had many of the best-looking games of the generation.

I want to make myself clear that I don't like the Gamecube. To me, it's not a system worth collecting for. But comparing it to the N64 (another system I don't collect for) shows how not-too-bad the Gamecube is in comparison.

Oh, and I agree Wii U isn't the worst, either. It's a competent HDMI-compatible Wii (which has a tremendous library) with its own small niche of fun games. 762 games released for Wii U, by the way.

 

[MilesTeg]

Anyway, the Wii U is still a bigger failure than GCN. Didn't sell as much, less games, least powerful console, costs way too much, releases after Nintendo's best selling home console to date and blows all momentum with no games.

A horrendous launch lineup with huge gaps to follow. Almost zero third party support. Most notable third party game? Don't remember. You don't either. Probably Rayman Legends lol.

No new games to look forward to. Relying on Nintendo Directs, hoping for one to be announced any day now...

Confusing controller, zero marketing, confusing branding, patchwork online infrastructure and OS. System clearly not ready to launch.

Good Smash game and best Mario Kart game (of course, it's been brought to Switch so yeah).

Lasted about 4 years and had about enough games for 2 years. Maybe.

 

[Cybrwzrd]

Can't disagree with OP. Gamecube was a great console for the dozen or so great games it had, but it really kicked off a legacy with Nintendo consoles for strong first party titles and nothing else.

 

[nowhat]

Oh, and I agree Wii U isn't the worst, either. It's a competent HDMI-compatible Wii

The thing is, it's not, not to an appreciable quality at least. One of the reasons I bought a WiiU, other than being a dedicated Mario Kart console (which it pretty much ended up being, and I'm 100% satisfied with my purchase), was to replay some of the Wii titles in full 1080p glory.

And then I actually tried it. I had been salivating at the prospect of playing the Metroid Prime Trilogy on a modern display. It was terrible. There's no interpolation to speak of, so some pixels will be wider than others. Jaggies everywhere. I much more preferred the original Wii with component cables, but alas, since getting a WiiU my TV didn't support component input. WiiU did have some great titles of its own (Xenoblade X, Bayonetta 2), but to call it "HMDI-compatible Wii" is deceptive at best.

 

[kunonabi]

To this day it's still my least favorite Nintendo console, although the Switch is currently giving it a run for its money, and my apathy towards it went a long way in me losing interest in Nintendo and games in general. If it wasnt for Capcom, Lucas Arts, and some other 4 player multiplayer offerings I probably wouldnt have even kept it around to be honest.

Nintendo's 1st party offerings outside of a handful of titles were just awful and it was just a shocking decline to see after how consistent they were previously.

 

[Freedom Gate Co.]

I can respect the reasons you've listed Freedom Gate Co. , but I would say the N64 was Nintendo's worst home console failure. It too much of a flip from 2D to 3D. You had 3D games and that was it. 2D was almost entirely abandoned. One of the system's darlings -- Paper Mario -- is a sort of joke about how the N64 doesn't do "2D" stuff anymore because look! We're 3D. PS1 and Saturn still had strong ties to the 2D roots of gaming (snagging dozens of arcade ports) and have aged far better as a result. Nintendo -- the kings of sidescrollers and platformers and puzzle games -- suddenly dropped all the successful gameplay conventions of the NES and SNES eras in favor of full 3D. Yes, there were a pittance of these older games, but it was too big of a leap into 3D.

The N64 chased away third parties. Arguably, Gamecube got some of those publishers back including former rival SEGA. Resident Evil 4, Sonic Adventure Series, Crazy Taxi, Rogue Leader, Viewtiful Joe, Monkey Ball, Timesplitters, Beyond Good and Evil, Prince of Persia... these were contemporary versions of those games. N64 missed out on whole swathes of third-party games due to the hardware limitations of cartridge.

GameCube literally made Nintendo go insane, stop GameCube production, scared MORE third-parties away than the N64, Made less money, and caused Nintendo to stop competing.

Anyway, the Wii U is still a bigger failure than GCN. Didn't sell as much, less games, least powerful console, costs way too much, releases after Nintendo's best selling home console to date and blows all momentum with no games.

A horrendous launch lineup with huge gaps to follow. Almost zero third party support. Most notable third party game? Don't remember. You don't either. Probably Rayman Legends lol.

No new games to look forward to. Relying on Nintendo Directs, hoping for one to be announced any day now...

Confusing controller, zero marketing, confusing branding, patchwork online infrastructure and OS. System clearly not ready to launch.

Good Smash game and best Mario Kart game (of course, it's been brought to Switch so yeah).

Lasted about 4 years and had about enough games for 2 years. Maybe.

I mean some of what you say applies to the GC. Wii U sold less but it didn't need to bleed to get to it's 14 million and keeping the price high was a profit strategy. Wii U didn't lead to Nintendo not competing, and the Wii U didn't make Nintendo go internally crazy blaming everyone but themselves.

 

[Louis Cyphre]

The Gamecube and WiiU shows you need more than just exclusives to sell a good product. Nintendo really is an introvert of a company. Sometimes it works fur them sometimes it doesn't.

I myself would rather they come out with a more exoensive system but keep their drive to be different. The hardwares lack of power is what usually keeps me away.

 

[zenspider]

A lot of salient points OP*, but you're not making the case that it was more of a failure than Wii U. In fact, I'd only agree with that statement if your talking about it in terms of having had and missed a larger opportunity than Wii U by having more tools to succeed, i.e. better 3rd party support, market parity in performance, (and even superiority in raw processing), and price point.

DVDs and Halo capturing the zeitgeist are the #1 and #2 factors in Gamecube's failure. With that in mind, your list looks like the effects of that stunning loss of mindshare and relevance, not the reasons for it.

*RE Point 7: I'm sorry but ditching Rare seems like a shrewd move - it did when Kameo came out, and it still does 16 years on. I think ruining thier relationship with Argonaut is more indicative of bad or short-term decision making at Big N at the time.

 

[CloudStrife_ca]

I didn't circle back to play anything on the Gamecube until the halfway through the PS3/ Xbox 360 era, I picked up my GameCube second hand for $50 and a bunch of first party favs Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Kart Double Dash, Smash, Donkey Kong Konga so I don't have the nostalgia that other people have. I would later go back again appreciating what I had missed and beef up my library and play more first party games, collecting all the Mario Party games, Mario Party 6 became and is still my fav, Luigi's Mansion (an all time fav) and Mario Golf.

I suppose I missed out on alot of the third party games having owned most of them on PS2, while I agree the console may not have done well in its day, the games are all super underrated and should be ported onto the Switch, especially considering all the WiiU ports.

 

[petran79]

GameCube literally made Nintendo go insane, stop GameCube production, scared MORE third-parties away than the N64, Made less money, and caused Nintendo to stop competing.
.

Dreamcast's demise had repercussion throughout the gaming industry, shaking even Nintendo

 

[Freedom Gate Co.]

DVDs and Halo capturing the zeitgeist are the #1 and #2 factors in Gamecube's failure.

Explain the GameCube failure post Halo then with then exclusives like RE4, a $99 price with some retailer going under, and a revived ad budget?

 

[MilesTeg]

GameCube literally made Nintendo go insane, stop GameCube production, scared MORE third-parties away than the N64, Made less money, and caused Nintendo to stop competing.



I mean some of what you say applies to the GC. Wii U sold less but it didn't need to bleed to get to it's 14 million and keeping the price high was a profit strategy. Wii U didn't lead to Nintendo not competing, and the Wii U didn't make Nintendo go internally crazy blaming everyone but themselves.

Wii U led Nintendo to create the Switch. In a way, that meant Nintendo didn't think they could release a successful home only console.

For now the Switch is a success, however it still has many of the hardware issues from Wii and Wii U, which leads to not getting the biggest third party games.

Also, for the first time, Nintendo doesn't have a handheld business alongside their console (3DS is just about dead) so really, we have to wait and see what happens.

 

[Freedom Gate Co.]

Dreamcast's demise had repercussion throughout the gaming industry, shaking even Nintendo

??

 

[Pumpkin Seeds]

All of this is subjective which isn't what this thread is about.

Really? Because you list online as a reason it failed. I am saying that, looking back, the online of the time didn't push consoles. Nor did the DVD argument. If my argument is subjective on that then so is yours.

To me, the reasons given for the GC's lack of huge financial gain is full of things said at the time which don't hold up. It seems to just be a moment in time where the gaming audience and press were a little.. naive and awkward. Online, DVD, the case design, etc. These are all weak arguments trying to explain something that doesn't really make sense. If the constant is that its an odd event then perhaps it was just an odd time?

Look at this:

10. The GameCube continued the drought legacy of the N64 except they didn't have a few super hit games to fill some of the air. This led to a large decrease in interest.

This is just not true. The Wii, n64 and Wii U had bigger droughts. The Gamecube had WAY, WAY more quality titles to choose from than the N64 yet it is seen as a failure in comparison. The Gamecube got most third party muliplatform games, which the Wii did not. Yet the Wii was a bigger success.

You're full of these old, poor arguments. I'm not disagreeing with the statement that the Gamecube didn't succeed like Nintendo wanted. I am disagreeing with the reasons. The answer it didn't succeed is simple: We have no fucking idea. You're trying to reasonably explain something that is likely not reasonable or easily explained.

Beyond that, the answer may be that though it was full of good games, the Gamecube didn't manage a culture shifting game that got a lot of press outside of the gaming community. The PS2 had GTA3 and Xbox had Halo. The N64 had Goldeneye and Mario.

And if you look at the Wii and DS that followed, you'll see that Nintendo tried to create a culture shift and "blue ocean" appeal to get press outside of the usual community. Wii Sports was pop culture relevant even though it's not nearly as good a title as a Metroid Prime or Wind Waker.

 

[Freedom Gate Co.]

Really? Because you list online as a reason it failed. I am saying that, looking back, the online of the time didn't push consoles. ?

XBL didn't push consoles? PS2 upping their online game support after XBL didn't help move consoles?

DVD, the case design, etc. ?

Didn't say this.

 

[MilesTeg]

XBL didn't push consoles? PS2 upping their online game support after XBL didn't help move consoles?



Didn't say this.

PS2 online was a non factor. Xbox with it's hard drive, best specs and best online support led to 360 being a major contender.

Of course, Microsoft would go on to blow it with XB1.

 

[nkarafo]

Nintendo dropped the ball during Gamecube. They let third party developers create some of their best iPs. It turned out well with Metroid and F-Zero (even though i prefer X's style) and not so well for Starfox. Point is they released so many masterpieces on the N64 but very little on the Gamecube in comparison.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

The thing is, it's not, not to an appreciable quality at least. One of the reasons I bought a WiiU, other than being a dedicated Mario Kart console (which it pretty much ended up being, and I'm 100% satisfied with my purchase), was to replay some of the Wii titles in full 1080p glory.

And then I actually tried it. I had been salivating at the prospect of playing the Metroid Prime Trilogy on a modern display. It was terrible. There's no interpolation to speak of, so some pixels will be wider than others. Jaggies everywhere. I much more preferred the original Wii with component cables, but alas, since getting a WiiU my TV didn't support component input. WiiU did have some great titles of its own (Xenoblade X, Bayonetta 2), but to call it "HMDI-compatible Wii" is deceptive at best.

The Wii looks best through component, I agree. I have my good ol' GCN-compatible Wii plugged into a 1080p plasma downstairs and it looks nice. But as you pointed out, modern TVs often don't have the hookups for component. Wii U works in a pinch, that's all. I can appreciate your passion for a good video output. Since I've barely used the feature, I don't feel strongly either way. But for my kids? They love being able to play Wii games upstairs on the curved 4k TV. It's convenient.

 

[petran79]

??

Nintendo suffered just like Sega because they preferred to rally around their hardcore audience from previous gen with their dedicated gaming philosophy. But this was financially risky. Unlike Sony who had the FIFAs, Konamis, Final Fantasies, GTAs, Medal of Honours etc Some say both could have made steps to avoid this situation and be more successful. But it was an overall symptom of change really, beyond their control.

 

[cr0w]

Personally I think the GCN is only behind the SNES and NES.

Prime
Eternal Darkness
Wave Race
Rogue Leader
RE4
Wind Waker
Twilight Princess (I know it was out on the Wii too, but the GCN version is 100x better come at me)
Skies of Arcadia
Sunshine (come at me again)

Some of my favorite gaming memories came from that little machine.

 

[MilesTeg]

Dreamcast didn't play DVDs and neither did GCN.

Dreamcast got hacked big time, also they had their online strategy which the market wasn't ready for.

Unfortunately for Sega, their IP aren't as big as Nintendo. Also, zero EA support hurt Sega big time.

 

[Freedom Gate Co.]

Nintendo suffered just like Sega because they preferred to rally around their hardcore audience from previous gen with their dedicated gaming philosophy. But this was financially risky. Unlike Sony who had the FIFAs, Konamis, Final Fantasies, GTAs, Medal of Honours etc Some say both could have made steps to avoid this situation and be more successful. But it was an overall symptom of change really, beyond their control.

They lost chunks of their fanbase twice by this point. I think it was quite in their control, especially hearing from Ex-nintendo employees.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

GameCube literally made Nintendo go insane, stop GameCube production,

What do you mean? I agree that Nintendo continued the insanity of the N64, but N64's insanity was worse.

scared MORE third-parties away than the N64,

Wrong. The Wii had even more games (1,200) than the Gamecube. That's an increase. The DS had 1800 which was also an increase compared to GBA (~1000 games).

The Game Boy Color also had fewer games (581). I'm being charitable by excluding the Virtual Boy.

So if you want to talk about trajectory using raw number of games, N64/GBC era were a significant dip in the total number of games released for the system, with a sharp recovery during the Gamecube/GBA era, and then another sharp surge forward with the Wii/DS era. This is in terms of total games released for the systems.

Made less money,

Yep, probably true.

and caused Nintendo to stop competing.

Again, what is your basis for this statement? Gamecube and GBA had their rough spots but Nintendo rocketed ahead after that. The N64 was the low point.

 

[Azelover]

Freedom Gate Co., since you're not talking about taste, but strictly the performance, I really respect the points you have made. But I think the Wii U was a much bigger tumble. Not only in terms of how many customers it reached, but also because it came from a very successful period in Nintendo's history, the Wii and DS, and lost almost everything immediately. I'm not gonna continue discussing this because it would probably just go on and on. But I respect your viewpoint, as it should be respected.

 

[pramod]

Same here, I played the hell out of Rogue Leader and some excellent Sega games like Home Run King and PSO Episode 3.

 

[MilesTeg]

Dreamcast had awesome graphics when it came out though. Day one.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Actually for me The NIntendo Gamecube is one of the best Consoles of Nintendo that i play it.

1.- For me the control is Amazing and Original

2.- First time i see that have so many Exclusives with such a huge Quality.

3.- The other companies that give such amazing titles like Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean , Eternal Darkness, Geist (One of the amazing Mature games of GC), Lost Kingdoms ( From Software), Ikaruga, Metal Gear solid Twin Snakes

4.- The exclusive Capcom 5 in their time.

5.- I like a lot the purple Color, my favorite one.

The only thing that i dont like it was the Memory Card and the Mini Optical Disc, i think there space was not enough for the cinemas of some games.


Wii U is amazing console, but it was a misunderstood console that arrived at the wrong time, in addition to a blatant price , for me is a amazing console.

For Horrible Console is Wii, i hate this piece of shit and N64... Other crap console.

 

[Hinedorf]

At the time Gamecube had the best graphics of any home console, I remember being stunned how impressive sports games looked in comparison to rival consoles.

The failure of Gamecube was Mini-discs. When's the last time you've seen a mini-disc?

 

[Freedom Gate Co.]

What do you mean? I agree that Nintendo continued the insanity of the N64, but N64's insanity was worse.


Wrong. The Wii had even more games (1,200) than the Gamecube. That's an increase. The DS had 1800 which was also an increase compared to GBA (~1000 games).

The Game Boy Color also had fewer games (581). I'm being charitable by excluding the Virtual Boy.

So if you want to talk about trajectory using raw number of games, N64/GBC era were a significant dip in the total number of games released for the system, with a sharp recovery during the Gamecube/GBA era, and then another sharp surge forward with the Wii/DS era. This is in terms of total games released for the systems.


Yep, probably true.


Again, what is your basis for this statement? Gamecube and GBA had their rough spots but Nintendo rocketed ahead after that. The N64 was the low point.

It was not worse, the company literally crumbled into itself during the GC. They had to use panic measures to get the GC to sell. The N64 didn't need that because the US saved the system early.

Also I'm not wrong, the GC resulted in near none of the third-parties coming back for the Wii. The GC brought in some earlier and then people post 2003 started leaving in droves. By the wii they were gone and replaced by shovelware companies.

As for the"rough spots" the GC literally led to Nintendo no longer competing in the market and going off on their own targeting a different demographic. Nintendo used to compete in nthe market directly, since the GC they have not done so and have even said in late wii years that "they are not really competing with the competition".

 

[Freedom Gate Co.]

Freedom Gate Co., since you're not talking about taste, but strictly the performance, I really respect the points you have made. But I think the Wii U was a much bigger tumble. Not only in terms of how many customers it reached, but also because it came from a very successful period in Nintendo's history, the Wii and DS, and lost almost everything immediately. I'm not gonna continue discussing this because it would probably just go on and on. But I respect your viewpoint, as it should be respected.

I understand where you're coming from.