Mistakes That Doomed the GameCube and Wii U - A Nintendo Deep Dive

Edited by: ‪@Bloops‬
Just talking off the cuff about two of Nintendos biggest set backs in the history of the company making consoles. Its so weird because both consoles had amazing potential.
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#gamecube #wiiu #nintendo
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[@agentotter]

Their fear of piracy lead them to use a proprietary micro disk that limited developers. They don't like when you do that. The Wii U was so poorly marketed that I still meet people that think it was a tablet add-on for the Wii.

[@ICharlyl]

I will never forget the reveal trailer and how confused I was. The 2 games they chose to reveal the thing were new súper Mario bros and Wii sports golf, and the console was nowhere to be seen or out of focus. I thought the wii u was a tablet add on until I look further into it just to find people as confused as me. As a "gamer" of course I later found out it was a console, but I can't blame regular/casual players for just brushing the thing off as an add on, what a stupid shit show nintendo pulled that time, I can't believe no one thought it was a horrible idea.

[@V3ntilator]

If you took off the top lid on GameCube, you could use full size DVD's with games on it after adjusting the laser to around 460 ohm i think.

[@kierenbuckley370]

The Wii U had no games that the masses wanted it had mid games so nobody bought it

[@V3ntilator]

@@kierenbuckley370 Mario Kart 8 sold nearly 9 millions on Wii U alone. Zelda BOTW were a Wii U game ported to Switch. Bayonetta 2 is a Wii U game. Donkey. Super Mario Maker had much more success and hype on Wii U than on Switch. In fact Mario Maker 2 on Switch didn't get media attention at all after release, unlike Wii U version which got a lot of media coverage for a long time. Wii U also had Miiverse. Just to mention some. Didn't help the console sales much.

[@crazedlunatic43]

Nintendo also wasn’t interested in paying royalties either.

[@Zenlore6499]

It’s so interesting hearing about how poorly the Wii U sold. I remember when it was revealed and, being part of the target audience and having gaming as a special interest, I understood what it was. Evidently, it wasn’t very obvious and wasn’t too alluring for many people. Glad the Switch was so successful!

[@LordRemiem]

Well, at least we can address the fact that the WiiU gave us a game featuring squid and octopus based people shooting colored ink at eachother :)

[@V3ntilator]

Mario Kart 8 too which still sell like hot cakes 10 years later. They also ported a lot of Wii U exclusives to Switch, but there is many that will stay Wii U exclusive.

[@chris_t2020]

Wii U had great ideas but Switch solidified every franchise that came into from that Generation.

[@SpriteCell]

Miyamoto talked a lot about the Wii U being an experience for the whole family. He wanted the TV in the living room to have a Wii U, and he wanted the whole family to enjoy whatever the Wii U was doing. I think this was a pretty unrealistic scenario that he (and presumably the rest of the big wigs at Nintendo) thought up. Long before the Wii U released kids had their own TVs in their bedrooms, and probably their own desktops, laptops, tablets, or phones. It's probably a bit different in Tokyo, with its small houses and apartments, but it's a pretty big misstep to think of the rest of the world as being like that. This philosophy must have had an impact on how some of the Wii U's games were designed. They certainly assumed the Wii's casual audience would stick around more than it did. Making the Wii U function as a TV remote and streaming device was another waste of resources. No amount of good games was going to draw more people to a 6th generation console than a built-in DVD player. Dreamcast and Xbox didn't do too well, either.

[@Dwedit]

Whenever I hear people talking about how much of a failure the GameCube was, I feel like I'm in a bizarro parallel universe. The GameCube was a wonderful console, from the incredible controller that cradles your hands, to the excellent games.

[@90sNath]

That's both GC and Wii U in my eyes

[@chrisbeach423]

Its a great console, its just because it got massively outsold by the ps2 and Xbox. Thats the main reason people see it as a “failure” especially considering Microsoft was new in the console market and outsold the gaming giant that is Nintendo.

[@ravenebony2267]

The GameCube wasn't the success of, say, the NES, but it wasn't a failure by any means

[@TurboPikachu]

⁠@@90sNath living with the Wii U from launch day to Switch, I could feel the failure it was. Yes it had plenty of fantastic Nintendo games just as the GameCube had, but those 1st-party Wii U games suffered numerous delays with immense droughts of content between releases, and the Wii U had far worse 3rd-party support than any Nintendo console in history, shockingly even less support than the GameCube and Wii got from major 3rd-parties. The GameCube never felt like such a failure because of having genuinely decent 3rd party support support, and actually had 3rd-party killer apps from Sega, Capcom, and Namco. The GameCube, alongside rival Xbox, also had the unstoppable juggernaut of the PS2 stealing countless potential customers who could only afford one console per generation. However, the Wii U arrived a full year before the Xbox One and PS4 with a nearly-2-year library head-start as the XB1/PS4’s libraries kinda struggled to get off the ground in their first year due to MS/Sony’s insistence on providing cross-gen games for 360/PS3. But Nintendo totally fumbled the bag and already fell behind by the end of 2014 and ultimately rendered the Wii U proportionately less successful than the Sega Dreamcast (a console that failed in Japan but maintained popularity in the US until its run was cut short by Sega needing to abandon it and all console operations to avoid going out of business entirely)

[@SuspiciousScout]

At least financially, it was. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the GameCube is the 2nd least-selling Nintendo console behind the Wii U (not counting the Virtual Boy). But I grew up with the GameCube, so I agree that it was absolutely an amazing console from top to bottom. If it wasn't for the proprietary discs with the very limited storage space, I think we would've seen a lot more third party games on the console.

[@wizawhat]

I think these are some solid observations. Funnily enough the GameCube and Wii U eras were among those I felt most engaged with as a core Nintendo fan that's always been really into some of their "second tier" franchises (Donkey Kong, Pikmin, Star Fox, etc). I think a lot of it has to do with where I was at in life, as I found myself enamored with what Xbox was offering going into my early adolescence. Whatever the Wii was offering was just unable to capture my attention, however; nowadays I'm really happy when Nintendo is pursuing new experiences rather than resting on their laurels. For me, that led to a small but incredibly solid pool of interesting games that hit just when I needed them during the Wii U era, such as Nintendo Land, Mario Kart 8, DKCTF, Pikmin 3, Star Fox Zero, Mario Maker, and Splatoon. I've never minded a smaller library as long as what is there is deeply interesting to me. The cost of Nintendo's creativity is consistency. The lows are low, but the highs are so high, and sometimes you just miss the mark of wide scale "success". I'd much rather support that than someone else who is consistent, but consistently medicore or good, rather than excellent.

[@V3ntilator]

I think Wii U, GameCube and Nintendo 64 were the top 3 most fun Nintendo consoles.

[@Mcl_Blue]

Back when the GameCube was still current, I had a subscription to this magazine that was kinda like Nintendo Power, and I remember how many pages they'd waste talking about these weird obscure games that nobody cared about (like Vexx), and wondered why they didn't talk about the cool games instead. Now, as an adult, I realize that, due to poor third-party support, that was probably all they HAD to write about.

[@crazedlunatic43]

Third party support wasn’t as bad as the N64 was, but it was no where near as stellar as what the PS2 received (or even Xbox). At least it had solid first party support in comparison to Wii U.

[@Parker--]

Vexx wasn’t obscure.

[@BasVoet]

Although I got the PS2 at first, I earned some money in my weekend-job as a teenager and bought a GameCube as well. Loved that little console. Still have it.

[@ShesezTheNews]

oh man the double threat! So many good games at your fingertips in that case

[@AstiLoyce]

Hey Shezes i just wanted to tell you that i’m really enjoying the videos in this new channel, they’re so chill, as a long time Boundary Break viewer, i wish you well!

[@ShesezTheNews]

Aaaaah! Thank you so much! It really means so much to hear this at this stage

[@youtubeuniversity3638]

Hurts to hear they did badly with how greatly I loved both of them... Hell, I rebought Batman Arkham Asylum because I LOVED the huge gamepad.

[@crazedlunatic43]

GameCube was about as successful as the original Xbox, while Wii U was a different story.

[@youtubeuniversity3638]

@@crazedlunatic43 Still. Loved. Them. Both.

[@tiredandokay]

As much as I loved the DC and PS2, the GameCube felt like the first 3D console that "normalized?" 3D. I'm not sure if it's their way of using/not using motion blur, their Anti-Aliasing techniques, etc but a lot of the games look smooth and are visually pleasing to this day. Xbox was pretty close but I feel a lot of their games were a bit off still. Halo looked amazing but it's polygons were more obvious than say, WindWaker. Those simpler art styles for a lot of games really helped Nintendo for looking back. Just not in the moment.

[@insanitytech27]

For one reason or another, Nintendo land is one of the only video games that one of my friends wants to play when he stops by from time to time. Primarily the Metroid and Luigi Mansion parts of the game ( also sometimes some Mario chase ). Even after all of this time, there still is fun to be had in the game. The only thing I wish the game had was more stages..... I could probably navigate them blindfolded at this point. I think I think highly of the wii u do to just how much fun i had with the system even with its faults. Even games like color splash can be a fun time. I also enjoyed the video as it was a good dive into the problems. Partially unrelated but I hope the Switch 2 has some of the Wii u's personality in UI design and music in the Eshop.

[@leolightfellow]

This is a great video. :) For the Gamecube, for me, it was about the N64 not having that much 3rd party support and having very few JRPGs. Using cartridges instead of discs for the N64 really hurt Nintendo back then, because CDs were so much cheaper to manufacture. Now I know the Gamecube has some real awesome JRPGs on it like the two Baten Kaitos games, but the Playstation 1 and 2 had the most JRPGs, including the flagship JRPG series (Final Fantasy). I just wish I didn't get a defective "Disc Read Error" Playstation 2 - that sucked hard. I'm so glad I bought a used Gamecube (and games) when they were still affordable. Hopefully, some of the more expensive ones like Skies of Arcadia Legends get a port.

[@012345678920855]

Hopefully soon since they have Tales of Symphonia on the switch

[@crazedlunatic43]

CD’s were not used at the time due to issues with implementing it on a base N64.

[@Joeynator3000]

...Wii U got Monster Hunter near launch so it was an instant win for me.

[@rickster008]

i remember the game cube, it was the very last home console i've owned until the switch released. I had the choice to by a ps2 or the game cube and went with the game cube because of sonic mega collection, Viewtiful joe and capcom vs SNK 2 i loved my game cube and thought for years that i didn't need another console because i loved it so much

[@saltylemonton5537]

I played all 3 big name 3d mario games recently. They all had issues, camera was the common issue of all of them but I enjoyed all of them but Sunshine. A common issue I find with Gamecube games is almost all of them were rushed and so dont hold up well today if you didn't grow up with them. Outliers would probably be prime 1 and 2 and pikmin 1 and 2 (was 2 on gamecube?) And maybe double dash but I havent played that one yet.

[@Nathan-mu1pz]

I really scratch my head how the GameCube was a failure. Everyone I grew up with had one and they were the same families that got a wii later. Then again everyone I knew who didn't have a GameCube also got a Wii so that answers why that was successful 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@hadesKIU]

If Nintendo had made the GameCube more desirable to third parties, it straight up might have been the best system they ever released, even in this current time. As it stands, the GameCube's third party lineup is criminally underrated, with games like Timesplitters, the Sega games (both Sonic and Super Monkey Ball), the Mega Man Collections, Soul Calibur 2, Viewtiful Joe, Eternal Darkness, Resident Evil 4, and even more obscure stuff like Wario World (developed by Treasure iirc) and the Tak or Ty the Tasmanian games. Overall, I'd say, pre-Switch, it was their single best system they ever released (although the SNES, DS, and 3DS are HEAVY competition.) But damn. The idea of GTA San Andreas on the GameCube is just heavenly. Stuff like THAT and the other 3rd parties released that generation would be insane to even think about.

[@crazedlunatic43]

Understandably, the PS2’s massive install base practically overshadowed Nintendo’s chance of garnering third party support.

[@jprprojects]

I completely missed the WiiU marketing and didn't even know the WiiU was a new console until years later. I didn't even realize it was a handheld console until I already had a switch.

[@sonicjhiq]

I actually forgot the wii u existed until I got one in 2015, That's how poor the marketing was that a guy who was obsessed with the ds, 3ds and wii, forgot it existed until getting it for my birthday in 2015

[@Nathan-mu1pz]

Lol I want to know what the look on your face was when you opened it. Was it shock? Or more of an "oh yeah, this thing" lol

[@mariowalker9048]

It was pretty big in the youtube gaming community. Lots of people were defending and trashing the wii u on KZbin from 2012-16

[@sonicjhiq]

@@mariowalker9048 that's assuming I was paying attention to that side of youtube back then, which I wasn't, I was only watching minecraft videos back then

[@HebrewGamer100]

My memories of the Gamecube were frustration in wishing I had a PS2. PS2 had all the games I wanted to play.

[@kevinnguyen3389]

I love the Gamecube, spent so many hours playing Super Mario Strikers, Kirby AirRide and Melee growing up

[@maxpower7113]

I worked at Best Buy at the end of the Wii U right before Switch came out and customers either didn't understand at all what a Wii U was beyond Nintendo or would rather get another console even if they barely played games.

[@amm2media472]

Not gonna lie, I think the Wii U has the BEST version of Batman: Arkham City! It's a shame those Wii U-exclusive features didn't get integrated somehow into the later ports!

[@calculateddeclination5534]

Metroid prime was the sole reason I got a gamecube. It's amazing and so is prime 2. I had a ps2 but I eventually stopped playing ps2 and started playing more gamecube. I love the games on it. The resident evils, the mario games, baten kaitos, tales of symphonia, pn03, the zeldas, the tony hawks, THE ONLY 3D WARIO WORLD GAME WE EVER GOT(that I'm aware of), phantasy star, the hobbit and tlotr, all of the harry potters available during that time...I could keep going, but if I do I won't be able to stop.

[@CreativeGeoff]

Something about the Gamecube and Wii U feels timeless. I could go back and play Wind Waker, Star Fox Adventures, SA2 Battle, and Mario Sunshine and it still feels new. The controller also aged perfectly. Nintendo was always at its best when its consoles sold the least.

[@crazedlunatic43]

GameCube did just as well as the Original Xbox did. Xbox wasn’t as successful either.

[@CreativeGeoff]

@@crazedlunatic43 Nah, Xbox was successful in its own way. It was a newcomer and still sold more than Nintendo, who were vets in the industry by then.

[@crazedlunatic43]

@@CreativeGeoff It barely outsold the GameCube, and costed Microsoft more than $4 billion in losses in comparison. The “newcomer” card is not a valid excuse since Microsoft was virtually the biggest company back in the early 2000s, and if Sony could dominate in the mid 90s as a newcomer, then why is it any harder for a mega corporation to at least reach their projected sales goal of 50 million?

[@CreativeGeoff]

@@crazedlunatic43 Profits weren't the goal of the original Xbox. It was to bring the PC gaming experience into the living room and outperform Sony and Nintendo in power and features. On that front, it did succeed. It had nearly identical ports of Morrowind, Half-Life 2, Quake, and the list goes on. Xbox game versions were also vastly superior to its PS2/Gamecube counterparts. They also revolutionized online gameplay with matchmaking, friends lists, voice chats, and broadband connectivity out of the box. You also had features like custom soundtracks and onboard HDD that alleviated the mandatory use of memory cards. Yes, it may not have outsold the Gamecube by a huge margin, but it DID establish a blueprint for future console generations and set the stage for the Xbox 360 to take control of the market for 7 years in a row.

[@CreativeGeoff]

@@crazedlunatic43 Also, to answer your question directly, Sony had no competition went the PS1 launched. The Atari Jaguar and Sega Saturn ultimately failed on both the development and marketing side and the N64 was delayed multiple times. Sony also made game development as easy as putting the game onto a disc and selling it. With the only console the market with a reliable CD format, and the first/third-party support of the majority of the industry at the time, they were able to dominate with their first console very quickly. Microsoft didn't have this much luck with the Xbox. It was primarily an American/PAL console and they had to deal with the meteoric launch of the PS2, the Gamecube, and the Dreamcast all of which attracted more than just American/PAL audiences.

[@bloodblues85]

Shesez, I'm so glad I subscribed to this other channel. I love hearing your opinions on random stuff. I definitely get a lot out of it, just as much as Boundary Break! (The TL:DR version of this is: the reason I personally never got a Wii U was because of money problems.) Strap in, this is gonna be a LONG post. I'm surprised if anyone even reads it lol. But growing up, I never favored Nintendo/Sony/Sega, I wanted it all! And our family was NOT well-off, but I was fortunate enough to have a Mom that would go to any lengths to make sure we never did without, and video games were my "thing." I got an NES in kindergarten and loved playing all the Mario games, MegaMan, Zelda. Then I got an SNES and a Genesis for more Zelda and MegaMan X, Donkey Kong Country, and Sonic, Super Metroid, and I got into Final Fantasy. Super Mario RPG. Oh and almost forgot my original GameBoy that one of my sister's friends ended up stealing, and I was big into Pokemon and I remember how stoked I was to get one of the limited edition "Ice Blue" Gameboy Pockets (I still have it!). Then came the N64, played the heck out of Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time (also Majora's Mask), Donkey Kong 64, even Quest 64, which people dog on a lot but I actually still love that game. It has such a charm to it. Same thing with Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon. That was when I started to 100% games so they got A LOT of mileage. Can't forget Smash Bros. which I played A LOT with my friends. Then I got the PSX and Final Fantasy VII - BLEW ME AWAY! It was the first FF that I was able to actually complete and I remember it being the very first game that brought me to tears because of an emotional scene (you all know the one). That was in high school. Also can't forget MegaMan Legends 1 + 2, Pocket Fighter (strangly enough I wasn't too into Street Fighter but the chibi art style really drew me in), Rival Schools. FF Tactics. Vagrant Story. Basically any RPG I could get my hands on. From FF7 and on I played ALL the FF games. Crash Bandicoot was my very first PSX game and loved 2 and 3 as well. Then came the Dreamcast. Sonic Adventure 1 + 2 were my freaking jam and I even got the special "Light Chao," he was always my favorite. Shenmue I loved. Evolution 1 + 2. Psychic Force 2012. Next came my PS2. The very first game I played on that was ICO. At that point I didn't even have a memory card so I kept my console on so I could finish it. Of course Shadow of the Collosus. I fell in love with FFX. Got sooo into Silent Hill, 2 being the first one I played. Of course I had to go back and play the first after that, also really liked 3, and even 4 despite the general consensus at the time. By the time Gamecube came along, I was starting to have to buy my own consoles because I was becoming an adult at that time, but strangely enough I never got into Mario Sunshine. However, Paper Mario - Thousand Year Door gave me my Mario fix, as well as Smash. I pretty much got a GameCube for Wind Waker. (Like I've explained extensively 😅,) having grown up with Zelda I was SO on-board with the art style, I absolutely adored it and still do, despite people thinking it looked too "kiddie." The hubbub at the time and other peoples' opinions never really affected my enjoyment with stuff like that. The PS3 took a long time for me to get, but I really got into that too. Xbox was never my thing. I got a Wii for Twilight Princess, and yes I loved it at the time, but imo its the weakest Zelda both gameplay and art style. That doesn't mean I didn't 100% that one too though! I got the Wii Motion+ for Skyward Sword, which has to be my favorite Zelda game. The art style and music just have a special place in my heart. And I NEVER had a problem with the controls, Link always did what I wanted him to, and I even really enjoyed Fi's little interjections lol. It's also my favorite Zelda story by far. The fact that Zelda wasn't a princess, and her and Link grew up together. It really captured my heart and made the realization that she had this destiny and had to part with Link so soon sting that much more. I never got a Wii U, mainly because I didn't have the money and I've had a few problems with my life since then. I finally got a PS4 about a year ago, and I really want a Switch, but at the moment my love of video games forces me to emulate. I feel really bad about it, but with my money situation I just can't buy anything other than cheap games from indie developers. Holy buckets, this is my longest post on YT!! 🤣 This is obviously something I'm very passionate about and I know I'm gonna be one of those old fogies with grey hair, still playing video games that I love. It's something I'll NEVER "grow out" of (I hate when ppl say that).

[@traviscunningham7062]

I thought Twilight Princess was a good game but IRYO. Also I finally found someone who prefers Skyward Sword over Twilight Princess.

[@bloodblues85]

@@traviscunningham7062 No I totally agree, TP was a good game. Even the "weakest" Zelda game (imo) is a great one! I played the original SS on the Wii when it came out and then I played the HD version via emulation, and it was like playing it for the first time all over again. Beautiful game.

[@Sientir]

Nail on the head with the Wii U. What a terrible, confusing name. They really should've just called it "Wii 2" instead of trying to be clever. Also, it seemed like no one knew what to do with the screen-in-controller gimmick. Nintendo Land is a fun party game and a good tech demo for multiplayer with different forms, but how many games aside from it did anything interesting with the gamepad? Very few to my knowledge. (I did back a game on Kickstarter that's supposed to be an RTS where one player would use the gamepad as the commander and other players would use the Wiimotes to control workers. It sounded neat, but I think it's still in development-if it hasn't become vaporware.)

[@jaykebird2go]

I think that is definitely part of the issue, that no one knew what to do with the 2 screens. Nintendo had some other fun multiplayer experiences with Game and Wario, Wii Party U, and Mario Party 10's Bowser Party mode... but Wii Party U and Mario Party also had modes where the tablet was essentially useless, and most modes that used the tablet could also be reconfigured to not need it. Same story with Splatoon, and Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD: all had interesting uses for the tablets, but are also all very playable without the tablet. So if Nintendo couldn't consistently figure out great uses for the tablet and screen combo, how could they expect other developers to do so?

[@KRcanondaisa]

i work at a used game store, and there's SO many parents who come in and try buying wii u games thinking they're for the wii. goes to show how poorly it did and that its effects last

[@jeremyjmusic]

GC was the most under appreciated console of all time back at the time but has got more appreciation recently

[@thekiss2083]

I mean, if you were someone who enjoyed shooters, N64 had most of the best console shooters of its generation. Nintendo didn't make any effort to please those gamers with the GCN (unless you count Metroid Prime 2's multiplayer 😂) and lost them all to Xbox.

[@ShesezTheNews]

wow i actually never considered that! Thanks god for Time Splitters 2 and 3 at least

[@666slateran666]

As someone who grew up with a n64 and gamecube i loved that little purple square. Sunshine is maybe my favorite 3d mario and both my favorite zeldas are on the thing.

[@traviscunningham7062]

Agreed. Except I thought Sunshine was mediocre, and I adore Twilight Princess. Haven’t played Wind Waker.

[@notenoughmonkeys]

Think you're spot on with the Wii U, but I do slightly disagree with you on the GameCube... for me personally, as someone who (and spot the last generation where I was single) owned a GameCube, PS2 and X-Box, buying a 3rd party game on the GameCube was never really an option due to: 1. The mini-DVD discs would often lead to a reduction in intro / music quality. 2. The controller, as great as the controller was in many respect, whoever decided that 3 shoulder buttons was the sweet spot absolutely killed the appeal of certain multi platform franchises to succeed on the platform, especially those that really needed all 4 shoulder buttons on other platforms. What I witnessed was a generation where, for the most part, the GameCube version of a third party title was typically the worst, with some gimmicky GBA connectivity thrown in for good measure, and unfortunately that had a knock on effect... Nintendo had to pick up the slack with first party titles, leading to Mario Sunshine padding its gameplay with the blue coins, Zelda ditching two temples and relying on the Triforce fetch quest to pad out gameplay etc. I don't think it was that the software was too innovative per se, I think once they'd lost the third party market, the sum total of games remaining skewed the perception of the console a certain way, i.e. kiddy. Don't get me wrong, I adored the GameCube, I still do, but I can't help but wonder what could have been had Nintendo tweaked those two aspects.

[@crazedlunatic43]

The original Xbox wasn’t at all successful either. While the GameCube was indeed criticised for its design and reputation, the original Xbox was not at all appealing to those outside of America. Nintendo’s decision to use proprietary discs stems from the fact that Nintendo didn’t want to pay royalties for the privilege to play DVD movies, as Nintendo’s other disc based consoles are also unable to play DVDs/Blu-rays for this very reason. I mentioned the original Xbox because the system was hardly a success when you bring it outside of America since the system’s design was not at all attractive to non Americans, and there’s a reason why Microsoft made the Xbox 360 look drastically different from it’s black bulky predecessor.

[@gametourny4ever627]

I wish they would have released Breath of the Wild with the extra Wii U features of having the Map on the Gamepad that they showed. Also, a Metroid game on the system with your Map below would have been great. That was a missed opportunity.

[@iamapie13]

I remember back in 2013 most of my friends knew the WiiU was a new console but they were all excited about the new console generation and they knew the WiiU's power compared to the 360 so they saw no point back then

[@kellyrousseau3839]

Hey Shesez! Really enjoying this type of content keep it up

[@ShesezTheNews]

always appreciate the encouragement. It definitely helps me keep going thanks!

[@ClumpypooCP]

Interesting video man!

[@BKJustPlays]

I love this channel and you seem pretty happy in these videos!

[@ShesezTheNews]

I am!

[@Commander-Ledi]

i gotta admit i genuinely thought that wii u was an accessory for wii until the day when i saw you mention this misconception in earlier video. the few ads i saw were a bit confusing, and made me think that its an overly elaborate WII controller. and the name did not help at all.

[@Ph4nt0mPr1nc3]

It's ironic how the two consoles with windwaker sold poorly.

[@traviscunningham7062]

And Twilight Princess.(oh wait it was also on the Wii)

[@crazedlunatic43]

GameCube only sold poorly when you compare it next to PS2. Otherwise, it did just as well as Xbox did.

[@Nonantement]

@@traviscunningham7062The Wind Waker doomed the Gamecube, if the Gamecube had a DVD player and a Twilight Princess-style Zelda game near launch it would have sold twice as much.

[@crazedlunatic43]

@@Nonantement Nintendo didn’t want to pay royalties, hence how they were able to sell the machine at a profit (Piracy was a secondary concern). Neither did the Xbox and Dreamcast do well in that generation.

[@Nonantement]

@@crazedlunatic43 Xbox required a stupid remote to play movies, Nintendo would have done better hypothetically if they recovered from the kiddie propaganda from Sega early (with a good-looking Zelda) and DVD support.

[@Spectacular66]

Nintendo was still shadowed by the family-friendly, kid-friendly image they had established in the early 90s when games like Mortal Kombat were releasing uncensored on other consoles. The N64 before it was also crippled by the fact that it was using cartridges when the next big thing was using CD-ROMs which had a much greater capacity. Nintendo lost a fair bit of third party support there. The Gamecube came out, now with discs but in a proprietary format that was once again, much lower capacity than that of the DVD-ROMs the PS2 and Xbox were using. It also lacked the ability to play DVDs like the competition. The console was pretty cutting edge for the time but it did not resonate with a lot of people, especially the more hardcore crowd.

[@crazedlunatic43]

The original Xbox couldn’t play DVDs out of the box either without a separately sold kit and the unit came out too little too late to compete with the Sony PS2. Nintendo’s reason for not including DVD playback has to do with the company’s refusal to pay royalties (with piracy being a second reason).

[@MizzahTee]

Breath of The Wild was Wii U's exclusive Zelda game. Nintendo decided to delay it a year to port it with Switch, so....

[@Nonantement]

They did the exact same thing with Twilight Princess, the game was supposed to release in 2005 but they delayed the game one year for polish and to have a Wii launch title, the thing is, every other 3D Zelda wasn't ported, OoT and MM stayed on N64 weren't ported, just emulated on Gamecube, The Wind Waker stayed on Gamecube and was only remastered 10 years later, Skyward Sword stayed on the Wii and wasn't delayed and ported to Wii U.

[@MizzahTee]

@@Nonantement Yep

[@Adamtendo_player_1]

So basically if something like the Nintendo Switch existed back then it wouldn’t have been successful back then. I ignored the GameCube because of Nintendo’s decision to use a Micro disk but looking back i would have definitely have loved to have a GameCube now to go alongside my PS2 if I had that chance.

[@reoire843]

I grew up with NES/SNES/N64 so I stuck with the GameCube during that generation. I'm not quick to jump ship if there is nothing wrong with the ship you are on. But I get how a lot of gamers back then were chasing the flashy new games with the cutting edge graphics on PS2/Xbox. I wasn't doing as much gaming at the time, but among the GameCube games I did play there were plenty of solid winners. Super Mario Galaxy, Zelda Windwaker, Metroid Prime, Smash Bros Melee, Resident Evil 4. This made it a humble yet happy system to own. However, I'm grateful that through a friend I was exposed to Halo on the Xbox, which become a favorite series of mine. It finally got me to switch to a non-Nintendo console with the Xbox 360. These days there is not as much exclusivity so it matters less what system you own. I have both a PS5 and Switch, which covers the console bases pretty well.

[@crazedlunatic43]

Fun fact: GameCube was actually more powerful than the PS2. While it didn’t feature a ton of third party support compared to the massively popular PS2, it did boast its own line up of first party exclusives that really made the GameCube shine.

[@reoire843]

@@crazedlunatic43 Really? Wow, I am surprised. My roommate used to boast about the PS2 when it was coming out, and I remember how good the original Halo looked on Xbox. So I always assumed those systems were more powerful . They were more popular, after all. But I never felt like my GameCube lacked the the graphics department. On the contrary, I remember being really impressed by how good Windwaker, Mario Galaxy, and Resident Evil 4 looked. I guess the impression of popularity can warp peoples' sense of perception.

[@crazedlunatic43]

@@reoire843 What you also didn’t know was the fact that the PS2 was by far the hardest to program for due to its rather complicated architecture. It was the weakest of its generation and was more messy to code for, but ultimately won out the generation and left the GameCube and Xbox behind in sales.

[@reoire843]

@@crazedlunatic43 Interesting. Makes you wonder why it was so successful. I guess because the PS1 was so popular, people were lining up to get the next one. Also as the video said, Nintendo was seen as having more of a kids demographic while PS and Xbox were going after a "grown-up" segment. Xbox probably was eclipsed by PS since they were the newcomers.

[@crazedlunatic43]

@@reoire843 Another interesting bit before the console actually launched was the fact that Microsoft planned to buy as many companies as possible. They even approached Nintendo (Yes, the same Nintendo that had Mario as their mascot) and offered them approximately $85 billion to buy them (which is over $154 billion in today’s money), but Nintendo turned them down and many of Microsoft’s buyout plans didn’t go to well either.

[@joshsimpson79]

I wish I had my GameCube now. But I had a GameCube first a few things soured on, it, soured me on it as an early 20 something. The size of the discs, being stereotyped as childish as mentioned in the video, and halo. Halo made me sell the whole thing and try an Xbox. Maybe if I were nine years old I would’ve appreciated the GameCube a lot more at the time.

[@V3ntilator]

Nintendo earned money on GameCube, so it were a success for them. The successful "Xbox" only sold 6% or so more than GC. Series X and PS5 are "failures" if you compare sales vs PS2... The console market never grew last 20 years, and games sell less now because of all the free live service games. Live service don't affect the game sales as much on PC and Switch, as on PS5 and Xbox.

[@lordchaos9148]

Xbox Series and ps5 have already outsold the gamecube so your point makes no sense. Any console in the 20 mill range at the end of a life span from a company like nintendo who's had decades of experience in the market is a flop.

[@crazedlunatic43]

@@lordchaos9148The Original Xbox also sold poorly as well.

[@YouB3anz]

would love to see a video of what you liked about Star Fox Zero…

[@DBTGAMER]

Good video. It's sad that Mario sunshine and Zelda Wind Waker rushed to help console sales. There is a part of me that would have liked to see those games completed properly. On the plus side left out dungeon ideas eventually made into Twilight Princess. There's evidence in the Zelda books Hyrule historia and the big red heart book. Mario Sunshine is definitely repetitive So many recycled ideas level to level.

[@traviscunningham7062]

At least Twilight Princess was finished unlike Wind Waker.

[@crazedlunatic43]

Those games were never gonna help it push past the PS2. But imagine if Nintendo never released any of them first party gems that folks tend to remember the GameCube for.

[@ArcRay20]

people thought 3D World was "safe" and "homogenized"? with all the weird wacky stuff they put in there???

[@Parker--]

The Wii U should have never happened and they would have been much better off making a Wii HD in early 2010, no Wii U pad, with on par processing power as 360 instead of Wii U’s noticeably weaker processor. Ship it with a pro controller, have full back compat with double resolution on Wii games and had double sided dvd/blu ray discs as the norm for Wii and Wii HD. Enough Kinects and PS Moves were sold on the premise of Wii but in HD, and a Wii HD could have actually offered that as well as easy to port third party support. The fact that realistically there’s not a single Wii U game that would have suffered from this change tells you how bad the tablet gimmick was.

[@kierenbuckley370]

the PS2 was a beast and killed the competition and the Wii U Nintendo had no games for the console

[@NYYanks2003040506]

Gamecube had better third party support throughout its life, I do think that mattered a bit, along with the fact Nintendo just did a lot of dumb things at the end of the Wii era and into the lead up for Wii U.

[@Megatron_Hunt_Life]

I feel like the GC was really good for it's time. I mean I had a ps1 ps2 for resident evil. When I heard a remake was coming to the GC I had to buy it re1 re0 best 2 games ever. And yeah re4 I didn't care for it too much but I played it for the story. Paper mario was great Mario sunshine loved it. Luigi's Mansion loved it. Mario Kart Double Dash sweet game. Lol

[@Megatron_Hunt_Life]

I guess what I'm saying it I wasn't disappointed only in the lack of support

[@vianabdullah2837]

The GameCube's failure is primarily down to one thing, using smaller discs and not having the ability to play DVDs. Of course, using cartridges was the issue with the N64 but Microsoft put up a better fight than Sega during the generation.

[@crazedlunatic43]

The reason for not including DVD playback is due to not wanting to pay royalties. Nintendo’s other disc based systems also lack the ability to play DVDs and Blu-rays for that reason. For N64, using CDs would’ve been a disaster due to how the system was designed.

[@hipstersephiroth3722]

Thank you being so kind help me and these to better understand you God amen

[@seroujghazarian6343]

If you think about it the switch never had an exclusive Zelda game either until 2023

[@traviscunningham7062]

The Wii never even had one till 2011(not counting Links Crossbow Training)

[@seroujghazarian6343]

@@traviscunningham7062 true

[@chuganoga1908]

GameCube may have not sold much but that means absolutely nothing to most gamers when we look at its library. It was an amazing console and one of the best libraries to play through.

[@crazedlunatic43]

It sold poorly when you compare it next the massively popular PS2. Otherwise, it sold just as well as the original Xbox.

[@chuganoga1908]

@@crazedlunatic43 true, honestly people just bought the PS2 because it was the cheapest dvd player on the market I think

[@crazedlunatic43]

@@chuganoga1908 The PS2 also debuted on the market earlier than either the GameCube and Xbox, which gave Sony a head start over the two.

[@chris_t2020]

Sony Playstation became so popular because of piracy and how easy was to rip/burn games into a common CD-Rom in contrast to Nintendo mini-CDs. Regarding the Wii U is concerned, I guess people got confused on Wii 2? I mean parents already bought the original Wii for the children so there was no necessity to buy the same console twice.

[@PWPictures67]

I wasn't really a Nintendo kid growing up, I didn't have an N64 or a GameCube, I was more of a PlayStation kid, I had all of the PlayStation consoles, from the PS1 all the way to the PS4, I don't have a PS5 because it's too expensive, the only Nintendo consoles I had and have are the SNES, the Wii, the Wii U, and the Switch. I even have had a couple of Xbox consoles, being the Xbox 360 and the Xbox Kinect. That's all I have and had in the past.

[@LostForestX]

I think Wii U was DOA with its name. I'm a core Nintendo fan and I remember when it was first revealed I legit wasn't sure whether it was a new console or add-on. Like, if a person who visits game news sites was confused by that, the general public didn't stand a chance lol.

[@lordchaos9148]

Weakest launch titles as well

[@Divector8]

Teenage insecurity definitely did a number on the Gamecube, indeed. The "I only play mature games for mature gamers, such as myself" attitude was prevalent, I was guilty of it too.

[@LeftyPencil]

Now a switch 2 is in the works 😂

[@jim-es8qk]

They lost Rare. They played a big part in the snes and N64s success in the 90s

[@crazedlunatic43]

Rareware were indeed skilled developers and losing them did sting, though the GameCube at least has a larger library compared to the N64.

[@minecrafter3448]

8:56 Clearly you didn’t own an n64

[@Mitsuraga]

When the other kids started dissing Nintendo as being for little babies largely depends on your age. SEGA pulled that crap pretty heavily in their '90s marketing, so that's probably where it started, but I started seeing that "I'm too old for this" mentality take hold of my peers in the late N64 era, and it carried over to the GameCube era. I'm guessing you're a little younger than I, since the shift seemed to start for you in that generation. Side note, I don't think you're giving Super Mario 3D World enough credit. Going by the trailers and early levels, you could definitely say it was too plain and safe, but if you really sink your teeth into it, it's one of the best Mario games ever. You barely touched on it, but Breath of the Wild was absolutely a Wii U game, first and foremost, but they completely kneecapped the design, removing all of the planned GamePad features to optimize it for the Switch and pretend it was never intended to implement the Wii U's core features in its central gameplay, and I will never stop being salty about it.

[@arystorey5063]

The GameCube is highly underrated.

[@crazedlunatic43]

Try Sega Saturn, Dreamcast, and Nintendo’s second commercial failure (After the Virtual Boy) Wii U.

[@arystorey5063]

@@crazedlunatic43 never played it but all my friends swear by it. That entire era of Nintendo and Sega was underrated for sure in my opinion

[@fizzyfuzz5878]

The Wii U was Nintendo's it doesn't matter how mid the games are, how unexciting most of them are, they'll buy it because we're Nintendo.

[@glacierwolf2155]

I think that the PlayStation 2's built-in DVD player doesn't justify why the console succeeded. Sure, it may have helped, but you're buying the PS2 to play video games, not to watch movies. I believe that the PS2's success came from the fact that it _WAS_ the successor of the extremely successful PS1. The PS2 came out with sequels to Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, Grand Theft Auto, and newer IPs, like Sly the Raccoon, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, and _KINGDOM HEARTS_ , for prominent examples. The console also had an extension for playing on the internet, which was a HUGE deal back in the day. Finally, the console used regular discs, making the games store more data and making it _very_ appealing to 3rd-party game developers compared to the GameCube's small disks with their paltry size. Overall, the PS2 was its own beast during the 6th generation, and it's not really surprising that it dominated the generation.

[@GSS1Sirius]

It was well documented from several gaming magazines back then the DVD player definitely was contributing factor, so much so that for a while there were more hardware sales than software ones. The DVD player was definitely, definitely, definitely a major selling point. Along with the numerous reports of the console breaking so people were forced to buy new ones.

[@TheMapeha]

Both had a late hack, too late for success in the shadows of the playstation. Switch 2 will fail if there is no hacking method in the first 3 years after release 100% save 3DS had a very poor start without the flashcards and hacks it wouldn't be successful. All N handhelds before are almost instant hacked and successful at D1.

[@Tsukune2001]

Nintendo needs to fail again.

[@crazedlunatic43]

They’ve failed twice with the Virtual Boy and Wii U.

[@crazedlunatic43]

The GameCube wasn’t a commercial failure, not by a long shot. If the GameCube were a commercial failure then the Original Xbox should be counted as one too.

[@lordchaos9148]

Original xbox outsold the gamecube and it was from Microsoft who had no experience in the console market and and with none of its own franchises or mascots while nintendo was the exact opposite.

[@crazedlunatic43]

@@lordchaos9148 For a mega large company that was valued at over $400 billion (making them one of the largest corporations back in the early 2000s) I see that as a lame excuse.

[@crazedlunatic43]

@@lordchaos9148If Sony could achieve global success with their first home console without prior experience in the mid 90s, then why does a mega large corporation like Microsoft have such difficulty achieving mainstream success in comparison? Let’s not kid ourselves here, a mega large corporation has no reason to underperform in comparison when Sony themselves were able to dominate the 90s as newcomers.

[@crazedlunatic43]

@@lordchaos9148 Then explain why Sony was able to dominate the 90s as a newcomer? Microsoft was no where near close to their projected goal of 50 million either, and they lost more than $4 billion in comparison to Nintendo making a steady profit off of the GameCube.

[@rinnnnnnnnnnrin]

Gamecube did nothing wrong as far as im concerned, it simply existed in a time where two other behemoths were dominating and people were prioritizing spending what they were willing to spend on one or both of those instead

[@crazedlunatic43]

Mainly the PS2 was the sole console dominating that generation pretty hard. The original Xbox wasn’t at all successful when you bring it outside of America. And in terms of raw sale numbers, the original Xbox sold as well as the GameCube did, only Microsoft was the one that lost over $4 billion compared to Nintendo making a steady profit in comparison.

[@name_here0]

I was born the same year as galaxy so I was a wiiu era kid (GameCube on top forever though) and I’m just now realizing I think my parents were the only ones who understood it was a different console or just didn’t care since we didn’t have a Wii at home (it was at our grandmas which I’m glad for that) but I only got the Wii U for Nintendo land and smash otherwise I didn’t really care for any of the other games (mk8 came with it and I honestly hated it and hated deluxe for being the same thing more)

[@Rizky-Gumilar]

ps is destroying Nintendo every generations

[@RayoMcQueen95990]

Except 2 generations ago

[@VampireKillerCrypt]

Sorry, but the Gamecube wasn't a failure. The Wii U of course it will forever be a failure, but not Gamecube

[@lordchaos9148]

21 million units from a company like nintendo definetly is a failure, they even discounted it to $99 at one point just to make sales.

[@RayoMcQueen95990]

To Nintendo, you are right Compared to the sales of the PS2? Yikes…

[@crazedlunatic43]

@@lordchaos9148Are we going to ignore the PS2’s price cuts that it got not once, but multiple times in its life?

[@crazedlunatic43]

@@RayoMcQueen95990It didn’t sell as much as the PS2, but it was no financial disaster either.

[@crazedlunatic43]

@@lordchaos9148 Selling far less than its projected 50 million of sales is a failure for a gigantic company like Microsoft.