The GameCube Was A Flop; Why Do People Covet It Now?

[@Forever8Bit]

The TRUTH About The Atari Jaguar No One Tells You: ➡ kzbin.info/www/bejne/n2OoqWmDbtuFr6c

[@sinchman1]

Sorry but the GameCube wasn't a flop. Consoles that sell over 20-25M units is considered successful a console doesn't have to sell 100M units to be successful. According to my Bloomberg investment system at work the GameCube actually sold 28.71M units... Nintendo stopped count at 22.42M units under five years in the market

[@mariokart8715]

Wii U & a few of Sega’s consoles were flops.

[@demonology2629]

Even back then I knew GameCube had more graphical effects than original XBOX even..

[@jimjilliker2890]

@@demonology2629 ... but, but ... there are no fatalities; we in the medical community just call them ‘uncomfortable coincidences’, move along, nothing to see here.

[@NewLifeFromTheWayofTruth]

If you really think that the prequel Star Wars are that terrible than your opinion literally has no value 0.

[@iamapie13]

As a kid I never knew the GameCube was doing that bad. I had a GameCube and everyone I knew had one too, to this day all my friends grew up with the GameCube, so hearing it was considered a flop is so weird to me

[@reactking7093]

That's how I felt about the ps Vita. I remember my dad gifting me a ps Vita and 2 games 12 years ago. And I loved the heck out that system for years until I water damaged it. I eventually bought a new one 2 years ago. But to hear that the ps Vita was a flop was mind-blowing. I guess people really loved mario🤷

[@kredeaux4evr]

bru same i don’t get how they couldn’t vibe w it. i was born in 00 played it around 05 n fell in luv at first sight. i still got 1 n play it til this day

[@bryanx0317]

@@reactking7093 The Vita killed itself with proprietary memory cards. Almost everyone I know that didn't buy one said it was because you couldn't use an SD card.

[@robsmall6466]

It wasn't a flop. This is blowing things out of proportion. A flop would be the Jaguar, CDI, 32X, GX4000 etc.

[@kredeaux4evr]

@@bryanx0317 definitely did lol he’s literally the only other person i heard say he liked it besides my cousin. was surprising to see

[@TheLonelyGoomba]

I don't really remember anyone ever actually disliking the GC. It just sold poorly. But the people who had it seemed to think highly of it.

[@captin3149]

I still have mine

[@madness9651]

The criticism came from Playstation 2 and Xbox guys that would've never bought the console anyways. Nintendo is for Nintendo games, no one buys a Nintendo console to play a non-Nintendo game. This was different during NES and SNES eras were there was much less concurrence, and immediately after the 64 came out, that seemed to stay, but Playstation One changed that greatly. It was actually a genius move by Nintendo to consolidate the dwindling fanbase on a console that might have not been the strongest hardware, but was going to get the best Nintendo Software ever. Smash Bros Melee, Mario Kart Double Dash, Super Mario Sunshine, Wind Waker and Twillight Princess and of course freaking Metroid Prime, some of the best Nintendo games ever made were released on the Cube.

[@bui3415]

@@madness9651 Sounds like copium

[@mattia1026]

@@ItsMeBarnaby "Slightly above average software" You're right, Nintendo just created made the best games ever, created whole genres, and unique games and continues to do it to this day. Oh, and they're games have also kept something that everyone else forgot: extreme high-quality polishing. If you don't like the games, you can just say that and avoid making such poorly thought out claims.

[@Fuk99999]

A lot of people disliked it purely on image. The GameCube was “Kiddy” and as a result, this also led to the image that the GameCube was a less capable machine than even the PS2, which wasn’t true, but that’s what a bad image does

[@jimjilliker2890]

I remember, after the Wii came out, GameCubes were 9.99 at value village at least 10 or so at a time. At that time, I also got twilight princess for 3 dollars. Flawless. I miss those days

[@Forever8Bit]

Those were some great deals! It's always interesting to me to see how things come full circle. Everything old truly is new again, as the old saying goes.

[@ScandalUK]

When Double-Dash was released, the black GC DD pack was £49.99 in Game (UK). I mean seriously, it was a bargain that nobody was buying!!

[@GamingG4276]

I know. The best Gamecube games are so expensive now.

[@suhtangwong]

What?! A full gaming device was only $10?!😱

[@jimjilliker2890]

@@suhtangwongYa, they couldn’t give them away. No one wanted them. I should have taken advantage but It wasn’t a nostalgic system for me. I regret not picking up more of what I could. That was the NES that was nostalgic for me. The Wii played all of those gamecube games and I remember everyone I know getting rid of them. Some keeping the games. Some not. My best friend was a Nintendo fanatic all his adolescent life and I remember him abandoning the GameCube for the PlayStation. He said that the Nintendo was for children and the small discs could not fit large games. He traded all of his Nintendo stuff in at game stores to afford the newest thing at the time and didn’t return until the switch. I think he regrets not keeping his childhood games.

[@davidkelln9225]

One thing that I didn't hear you mention was how it lacked dvd playback. It seems silly now, but the ability to watch movies was a major selling point of the PS2. We still have our GameCube and it still gets played. Great system!

[@robinkuster1127]

@mormacfey Pretty sure the PS3 only sold with that insane launch price because BluRay players were super expensive as well.

[@josephtapia4384]

@@robinkuster1127 exactly! I believe they wanted to jump on the wagon and take advantage of the opportunity

[@SilverSphereSorcerer]

PS2 was weird in that regard. The DVD player wasn't that great, so you had to get an update disk and save the update data on one of your memory cards, taking up valuable save data. Unless you got the hard drive, of course, which was absolutely unique to consoles at the time. For all it's faults, I can see why the PS2 dominated for as long as it did.

[@fuzzywzhe]

Why would you want to own BOTH a DVD player AND a game system? I worked on the XBox 360 project, PART of its selling point was DVD playback. Today, there's no reason to own more than just a computer or a console, PERIOD. As if I need that clutter.

[@fuzzywzhe]

@mormacfey The real stupidity is that BluRay was a battle to LOSE NOT win. The reality is standard DVD allows 8 GB of data, which is MORE than a enough for a feature length film to be shown in quality suitable for a theater. The only reason that "DVD" is junk, is that it uses the MP2 encoder, i.e. very primitive compression. At first Microsoft was unhappy they lost the battle of HD-DVD versus BluRay but secretly, they are glad they did. Physical media is just about obsolete. I don't work on these projects anymore, but today, a 128 GB SD Card (that's twice the size of BluRay in storage) is $11, it will be $5 soon enough. We're already at LUDICROUS amounts of storage capacity for trivial cost. Optical storage is going to die.

[@kyledodson2992]

That generation was special. You had a reason to own all 3 major consoles. The PS2, XB and GCN all were gateways to great exclusives and unique games.

[@TwoOfDee]

yea at one point I had all 3 because each had some great exclusives. I pretty much got an xbox for Halo 2 and Halo.

[@shaleg4906]

Forgot to mention Sega's Dreamcast

[@kyledodson2992]

@@shaleg4906 fair point, I always associate it with PS1 / N64 because It came out before the other 6th Gen. Consoles, but you are indeed correct lol

[@shaleg4906]

@@kyledodson2992 That's true the DC was the first to come out of that generation. Still remember the date 9/9/99

[@Saamniferu]

After the wii everything changed, the wii is an absolutley amazing console, its nostalgic, iconic, fun for everyone including a grandma, etc. but after that consoles never really hit the same.

[@520azdc]

In the late 90's to early 2000's I had a N64 then Gamecube and my roommate had a PS1 then PS2. All our friends talked about how the Sony systems were better but when we had a group of friends over playing games together 9 times out of 10 we were playing Nintendo. When it comes to pure gaming fun Nintendo has always had the winning formula.

[@Darkwatchable]

I always dare to say is because Nintendo understands very well their market, but at its core their vision on gaming is about having quality fun, unlike Sony or Xbox that nowadays their vision is either tech, bells and whistles and cinematic experiences (not to say at all that's bad, is just that their vision is different fundamentally, but also is necessary as medium creators). You can pop most of Nintendo games and have a straightforward fun experience because at the end, they started like that when the industry crashed, fortunately saving it and paving the way for the others.

[@buss1205]

@@Darkwatchable Nintendo makes some of the best video games of all time, but they're the absolute worst when it comes to listening to their fans, they straight up don't care about their fans at all.

[@vadnegru]

​@@buss1205 frankly, sometimes fans doesn't know what they need until they get it.

[@SerdceDanko]

Well, if they all had Playstation, naturally they wanted to play Nintendo consoles to see what it was.

[@brosplit]

​@@buss1205dont listen to fans? Most of the time they delivered the truest gaming experiences & they have exclusives that sell units = fans want them. Sony lately has been delivering what their woke fanbase wants, not what fans of the game want. MS on the other hand is trying to do better but the most consistent gaming company that delivers what majority of what fans want is still Nintendo .

[@benterikscholz]

I just loved how odd some of those GC games were. Zelda with a colorful, cartoony look? That was a HUGE shift from the dark semi-realism of OoT or Majora‘s Mask. Super Mario Sunshine was completely different in tone and design compared to Mario 64, it was a completely different world. Metroid suddenly became a first-person shooter - and a great one at that. Also the power move of making Luigi‘s Mansion, of all possible games, a launch title. This game is just an absolute oddball. I really enjoyed that willingness to experiment with their IPs from Nintendo at that time.

[@alexanderackerman3807]

It was a different time. People were much more willing to experiment with games than they do now

[@TheSultan1470]

​@@alexanderackerman3807 Maybe... but back then a game developer was not bound by fan nor professional expectation, as much. There wasn't an entire web of fanatics who are ready to send you death threats every time you change one little thing and no professional game reviewer to laugh at you for the rest of eternity and call your entire series bad for taking a risk, dooming your entire sales.

[@Honeycomblife]

Maybe that's what inspired rare and Microsoft to change banjo kazooie which did not work out well...now I know why they changed gears ...

[@eddiedutra3359]

I loved the design of the Gamecube. I really didnt care for online gaming, it had a lot of great games, I loved Animal Crossing and it had the best version of Pac Man.

[@johnmisrahi9922]

There are some pretty fun arcade compilations too..not that you can't get them on more recent systems..but I have several and still play them.

[@bretton_woods]

At the time, i distinctly remember myself and my friends being disappointed that it wasn't backwards compatible with N64 games. I know that sounds so ridiculous in hindsight, but the gaming mags told us this was definitely gonna happen! And we were kids.... well....only 1 person i knew actually bought a Gamecube and he just played it on his own. Everyone else we were still rocking the N64 Goldeneye and Super Smash Bros.... I have a Gamecube now that I bought a few years ago and i hardly ever use it...I honestly don't know what's so special about it!

[@squidwardtentacles2736]

even though I play Gamecube via emulation, I want one again simply because I love the design it's just fun looking and something so satisfying about the cube shape. Still one of my fave controllers so unique and you know every button by the feel of it.

[@sws212]

It's built for nostalgia, honestly. The design of it is meant to stand out and last vs the ps2 which was nice if you like that generic dvd player look or the xbox which was just bad in general. Nintendo made some mistakes but the cube shape wasn't one of them.

[@Rubbafingaz1]

I disagree. The PS2 and Xbox were far more futuristic in design, although I was always impressed by the 4 player ports inbuilt. I bought the PS2 over the Gamecube because it felt more forward thinking at the time... and of course it meant I didn't need to buy a DVD player... The 2 for 1 option with Sony was why they sold so well ultimately.

[@nintavito546]

Not having GameCube officially sold here in Brazil still makes me sad, back in the 90s, Nintendo had a partnership with a brazilian company called Gradiente and thanks to it, we could get the games with localized boxes and manuals, but in 2002 they ended the partnership and that made the GC very rare and expesive around here... I would love to play those games around the same time they were coming out... Maybe I'm wrong, but a small part of me believes that not selling the GameCube officially in a country as big as Brazil is one of the reasons why it didn't sell that well

[@موسى_7]

I think sales outside of 1st world countries are the reason for the success of the PS2. Think of Brazil and the Middle East. Arabs love the Playstations, whereas nobody has Xbox over there, and Nintendo is not very popular either.

[@nintavito546]

@@موسى_7 PS2 was really popular here too

[@valennina7965]

same with argentina honestly :/

[@RTMonitor]

One question, was Tec Toy very popular in Brazil? (Context: had a feeling where Sega consoles won the console war in an alternative dimension-feeling)

[@nintavito546]

@@RTMonitor They were back in the day, not as much now

[@evil3drummer]

I was solely a Nintendo player until this generation. Nintendo had some really steep competition this time around with the PS2 and Xbox. What made me hop over to the PS2 was that it had a dvd player (my first dvd player) and a larger game library. I also think a lot of gamers who grew up with Nintendo in the 80's and 90's like myself were now older and saw Nintendo as "kiddy". I eventually did get a GameCube a few years after it came out and boy am I glad I did because it has so many great games on it!

[@SirAuron777]

Yeah it’s interesting that you point that out, how many of us were older when the PS2, Xbox and GameCube came out. It’s almost like we grew up alongside these systems and the PS2 and Xbox seemed like the right consoles for preteens/teens. Although I was only 8 when GameCube came out, so I ended up with it, while my older brother who was 10/11 ended up getting a PS2 and an Xbox eventually

[@Iruleyoufail]

It's amazing on how many of the games hold up graphically to this day.

[@DogeCoinInvestor]

I love Luigi’s mansion, it’s still so pretty :)

[@randomt800kiddo2]

i genuinely dont understand how games like mgs2, twilight princess, or the resident evil remake are able to hold up so well graphically despite coming out over 20 years ago

[@Krullerized]

@@randomt800kiddo2 Because back then people were VERY competent, literal geniuses in their fields, and were able to squeeze any performance they could out of any system given. Nowadays programmers rely way too much on development tools, can't or rather won't code system code themselves, thus the performance we get out of modern gear is a whole lot less. Devs were excited about weird quirks that would allow them to get special effects going through a weird pipeline that needed super obscure coding to access. Now Devs just code games that run as well on console as on PC, without any specific optimisation for the console hardware really. Which is too bad because when you KNOW the hardware architecture will always be the same for your players, you can REALLY get your games to look much better than they should by using the specific obscure techs of a given system. To my knowledge no game on the switch uses the switch capabilities fully. And it's really sad.

[@drewz116]

I think it's about having an art direction/style that works with the limitations of a system

[@Picnicl]

@@randomt800kiddo2 Because of great art designers and great level designers working on a system more powerful than the PS2, that devoted all its resources to just playing games. Some game designers, such as those on Super Monkey Ball, or those on Resident Evil remake, actively got a kick out of producing games on such a cute looking machine, that either complemented it or deliciously contrasted with it. Load times were fast on those proprietry discs. Even though games companies would know that PS2 would likely dominate sales-wise, the Gamecube was the first chance to program on a Nintendo system that didn't have a slow processor like the SNES or a cumbersome controller and muddy textures like the N64. It was Nintendo looking visually fresh and it was just a bizarre combination of factors not even particularly known to this day that accounts for why it might have sold relatively little - looked like a small child's toy? Didn't play DVDs at a time when the mass market seemed to care about that? Didn't have GTA? Even lost 2 or 3 million sales possibly to Microsoft due to them buying Rare? All reasons to love it even more to me. And a shame as the Gamecube had plenty of mature content that was classier than the average game on the competition. Metroid Prime and Resident Evil 4 are genius.

[@robertw31968]

I'm 54, and the GameCube is my favorite system ever. I love the design and the way the games looked. Great video btw sir. I still have my original GameCube, but I don't have any games. I've lost them through moving and them just wearing out.

[@Forever8Bit]

Thank you for your kind words! I agree, ghe GameCube is special. I had one at launch, and like a dope, sold it at some point after the Wii came out. I've corrected that error and won't make it again. :)

[@robertw31968]

@@Forever8Bit I don't blame you. I'm not going to ever sale mine either. I hope one day to be able to get games for it again. I've heard there's a way where you don't have to have the disk, but I'm not sure I want to do that way. I think the GameCube is special with it little disk.

[@777superlightwater]

I recommend Double Jump games for GameCube games

[@HistoryandReviews]

How do people lose games by moving 😂 arent they all on a shelf

[@Ghost-jq2bg]

Shut ur mouth

[@jcsdmusic]

The GameCube was the most under appreciated of its era. I’ll never forget forcing my ps2 and Xbox brethren to finally play some of the best the GameCube had to offer and enjoyed hearing them say…”this is on GameCube?” Resident Evil, Day of Reckoning 2, Smash Bros Melee, Time Splitters 2, etc.

[@jcsdmusic]

@@rockapartie very true!

[@robertwright-fi9fz]

I remember playing a game in front of a younger person right after the 360 came out and he thought I was playing it! It might have bean Prime Echoes but I don't remember.

[@mrkaic]

@@rockapartie RealTalk™ - to this day I still hear the Rogue Squadron II "menu music" in my head. Now that I typed it...ou are hearing it too...smiling :)

[@SwEtchinmusic]

I remember picking up twin snakes at blockbuster and it blew my mind!

[@kevinvandorst]

Can't forget the amazing Soul Calibur 2... The Gamecube version was the superior version and it has Link! Such a classic!

[@TheDwightMamba]

I used to play that game for days at a time with friends!

[@spudsT]

As a Nintendo fan since the NES, having the GameCube in its heyday was incredible. I had the gameboy advance player before I had a game boy. Having two systems in one back then was INSANE.

[@thepurrfectionist365]

I think the problem with the GC is that it was the first Nintendo console that acted as a "complimentary console." People who owned a GC at the time also had the PS2 or Original Xbox as their main console. GTA, Final Fantasy, MGS, etc. were lacking on the cube.

[@cryptocsguy9282]

@El Gato that might be true. I remember my cousin had a gamecube & a ps2 & we used to play GTA( I don't remember which one) on ps2.

[@Forever8Bit]

Good point. I don't believe that any of the GTA games ever came to the Cube. I think, now that we can look back at it as history, that was actually a good thing. Companies / systems need to be known for something. The Cube was largely known for being family friendly, and that has given it a whole new life today. I mean, there was this ONE system that tried to go the family friendly route for the past five years but never got off the ground. 🤣 So maybe having the Cube fills that desire.

[@GameDadGrant]

Gamecube had Final Fantasy and MGS. It may not have had GTA, but it had its clones (e.g. True Crime) for whatever that's worth.

[@davidgill7412]

@@Forever8Bit Yeah..MGS, Resident Evil, and Eternal Darkness are just family friendly fun 😊. Just kidding my friend. I do like how Nintendo was taking chances while trying their best to keep 3rd parties.

[@whattheheck1000]

Exactly, I had a PS2 and got a Cube for my 11th birthday/Christmas in 2003. Comment posted February 5, 2023 1:20 am

[@TP3200]

GameCube also had the definitive version of RE4 for its gen. No version that looked or performed as well came out until later generations. It really was another mark of the GameCube having a lot of power in a small package.

[@mikaruyami]

RE4 was originally ment to be exclusive to the GC until too many Sony starting throwing a hiss fit about it and it was ported to PS2. Playing in both and I can say for certain the graphics on the PS2 version was way worse.

[@marcussims1615]

Annoying this version wasn't the one done for the HD remasters over.the years

[@stevens1041]

I can't remember for RE. But I remember for Xtreme G 3, ran at 60 FPS on Gamecube, while PS2 was locked at 30. PS2 also couldn't support anti-aliasing, which made every game look significantly worse.

[@SarahMaywalt]

Shinji Mikami said that he would cut his own head off if RE4 was ported to other consoles. The man's a liar. He still has a head.

[@steffendetrick]

The remake of resident evil, for the GameCube is what got me into the resident evil franchise

[@eazy_austin]

I had no idea the GameCube was not as well sold as the previous consoles… it’s crazy because I adored my GameCube and how I enjoyed my time playing with friends

[@perfectsplit5515]

I also loved my Gamecube. I got it to play Resident Evil: The Remake. Then later I got Resident Evil 0, and then ... the greatest Resident Evil game of all time. I have lots of fond memories playing as Leon Kennedy using his laser-sighted weapons.

[@ascelot]

Gamecube was considered a teletubbies handbag, and the kid friendly games whiich could of put off the older generation gamers making the console not to be taken seriously.

[@svr5423]

Consoles were over, there was a big switch to PC gaming.

[@superhobo666]

@@svr5423 Sony and Microsoft are still holding the console market down though, Nintendo's problem really was their consoles couldn't do enough of what their competitors could do to really keep up. Gamecube didn't have DVD support or online features, The Wii didn't have bluray or proper online support, the WiiU was just awful, the 3DS/XL was a tolerable gimmick that wasted the hardware upgrades to the DS platform, and the Switch isn't really great at being either a home or a portable console for many reasons,

[@user-up1op3kz9q]

Growing up and learning that the GameCube didn’t sell well was really shocking tbh. Everyone I knew had one growing up

[@za4310]

Wait wait wait, those aren't innovations...PlayStation did all of those things first. What GameCube did right was that rather than being high tech and adult, the GameCube was artful, colorful, and marketed towards children and all ages. Everything about it, from the design to the games themselves. Because ultimately it's a toy. That's what Nintendo has always done that's made it stand out

[@TheAceKannon]

It’s kinda weird hearing recently how people received the GC, considering everyone I knew that had one as a kid literally was in awe of it. It didn’t matter if they had an Xbox or PS2 also, the Cube always got cracked open to play some Smash at the very least. So hearing that it was *technically* a flop is a surprise to me.

[@joekev27]

The GameCube was a huge part of my childhood. My dad got sick when we were little and we had to move into our aunts for sometime and my parents got me a GameCube to keep me busy and I remember spending all day playing it.

[@Katiewithdaffodils]

I loved my GameCube, we only really had the Nintendo stuff, and I loved Mario Sunshine, Animal Crossing, Wind Waker and RPGs like Tales of Symphonia etc. Basically had endless hours of fun, so I never really knew what the critics were on about!

[@4dojo]

I've always loved the GameCube. Not so much the console itself, but the games for the consoles were done of the greatest of all time and the controller layout was almost perfect.

[@franktruth9639]

Exactly!!!

[@PiousMoltar]

It's the best Nintendo controller for sure but that's not saying much.

[@4dojo]

@@PiousMoltar That's true. Nintendo has a history of and controllers.

[@Benanov]

Memory Cards for saving game data was not new for Nintendo Systems with the GameCube - the N64 had the "Controller Pak" system that some games used to manage saves. The difference was that the "memory cards" plugged into the console, not the controller.

[@olldomu5790]

The PS1 used them years before the n64

[@GreedoShot]

No one's covering for anything. Everyone who hade a GameCube loved it, but hardly anyone bought a GameCube because it couldn't play DVDs. "Mystery" solved.

[@otakubullfrog1665]

I think the GameCube's lower sales were largely due to paying for the sins of the N64. The far-broader third party support that Playstation enjoyed (including many games that were more mature, or at least felt that way) made it seem like the cooler console to many - especially to a lot of newer gamers who were entering the hobby as it gained more mainstream acceptance. Most people who owned a GameCube in its time loved it, as did many of the people who didn't own one but had a friend who did if they were being honest. Most gamers back then could only afford to buy and build a library for one console each generation and a common coping mechanism was to diss the other consoles as a way of validating their purchasing decision, but this hate tends to be forgotten once consoles reach the retro stage, which explains why almost every underperformer somehow ends up reframed as underappreciated.

[@mariokart8715]

Sega exited the console business because of the failures of the Game Gear, Nomad, SEGA CD, 32X, Saturn and Dreamcast.

[@Ltpotatobear]

100% agree with this comment..

[@Ltpotatobear]

Also gamecube discs were smaller then ps2 discs which means less data, and because of that it turned off a lot of 3rd party support = less sales...

[@derekjohnston2780]

The N64 was fantastic!

[@Tyler_W]

@derekjohnston2780 agreed. Still hate that wonky controller, though. Their GameCube controller is still my favorite (although I might like the Switch Pro better)

[@GreyValkyrie]

Back in 2005-/06 i never tought the Gamecube was garbage , infact that was the tought i had reserved for the wii , i used it most for gamecube games, in 2011 i bought all the games i could for 20$ each, best decision i've ever made.

[@Forever8Bit]

Cool. The Wii is a fine way to play GameCube games, especially with a set of high quality component cables. Great that you get to enjoy those games you love.

[@alvallac2171]

*2005-2006, I *thought *garbage. In fact, that *I (this word, and any contraction based on it, should always be capitalized) *Wii. I *games. In 2011, I *each. Best *I've

[@raccoonofmotivation20]

Now u can emulate on xbox so there's that

[@damian9303]

@@Forever8BitThere’s replica Digital AV cables you can get for the GameCube to save from buying the often scalped Nintendo originals, they’re well-shielded.

[@shawnp8076]

​@@alvallac2171chill Mr grammar police 😂

[@rockguitarist931]

I don't remember people hating the gamecube when I was younger, all my friends had that or a PS2 and we loved both systems equally.

[@rorychivers8769]

There was never any real reason to hate any console, other than the fact that there was no way you could realistically afford all of them, slagging off the one that you didn't have was always just a coping mechanism :)

[@therealjaystone2344]

@@rorychivers8769 the media wanted us to be at one perform at the popular choice

[@araucanoraptorargentinus3973]

Same here.

[@rorychivers8769]

@@therealjaystone2344 the media blah blah blah blah blah?

[@georgejohnson3654]

Some of my most memorable gaming was on the cube with 4 controllers. Mariocart, James Bond, WWE...we had a blast!

[@jz1612]

When the GameCube lunch in the early 2000s it wasn't that it was a bad system in fact it was a unique console with unique titles. It was just that it was going against Sony at its prime being that PS2 was the most successful and beloved consoles of them all. There was also the Microsoft Xbox that was the first console to deliver online gaming and do it well with iconic titles such as Halo. This is why many people say that the early 2000s was the golden era for gaming.

[@LB-yg2br]

2:07 false. The n64 also had memory cards. I know because I had an n64 and my parents never got me a memory card so I had to just leave my games running for days or weeks on end to beat them if they didn’t save to the cartridge.

[@jat4651]

Yup, they went right into the controller. Had to go to a special screen just to switch back to a rumble pack on certain games.

[@mariokart8715]

Just like on the Dreamcast with the VMUs in the giant controllers.

[@54raynor]

None of the “innovations” listed were new concepts in gaming, as they were already present in other consoles. And that was the main point of the original criticism of the console.

[@OmaeWaMoShindeiRYU]

yeah and saying animal crossing (gc) was the one that started it all when it was really the 2nd in the series lol

[@Sacren365]

@Joe I mean the WaveBird was pretty revolutionary, but yeah, the other stuff was already done by other companies.

[@itranscendencei7964]

Personally, the GameCube was my favorite home console while growing up. I spent and unhealthy amount of time on Halo 2 when I finally got access to it, but I always came back to the GameCube to have casual fun. So many amazing titles like Mario Tennis, Mario Sunshine, Kirby Air Ride, Pokemon Colosseum/XD, Double Dash, and of course SSBM. Put all that together with a lack of consoles in the wild compared to other consoles, and a dash of nostalgia, and you've got yourself very desirable system.

[@Forever8Bit]

Well said! It's facinating to me to see the number of titles that have never been ported outside of the GameCube. And some of those titles are absolutely high quality. Makes for a compelling reason to grab a Cube in the modern day!

[@itranscendencei7964]

I couldn't agree more. There are so many titles to choose from that they could easily port over to the Switch and make easy money. I still have my GameCube, and a few of my favorite games that I owned, but usually end up emulating anyway. Especially with the Steam Deck, it's just easier that way.

[@svr5423]

@@Forever8Bit or just play them on the Wii U. Best GC version ever, with digital output.

[@gregdixon9443]

I always loved the GameCube and Wii U. I owned 2 during its 1st 5 years of its life. I currently own 3. I made my purple cube a Pico Cube. They’re fun to mod.

[@georgejackson4426]

I bought a Nintendo Game Cube back in the day for one reason and one reason only. The Zelda compilation disk that came with the system for a penny that year. Having Orcarina of Time, Majora's Mask, the original NES Legend of Zelda and Zelda 2 all on one disk? Shut up and take my money!!!

[@TheUltimateNatural]

That was one of the first games I played on the Gamecube.

[@Ragesauce]

The constant high peaks of this narration...I cant do it.

[@mattsteelman3832]

The GameCube was my first console and I miss it sometimes. I didn't know it was so unpopular, it still holds some of my favorite memories.

[@cryoraptora303tm2]

It was fairly popular in the US. The overal lowish sales figures comes from it flopping in Japan and Nintendo not existing in Europe at the time.

[@danielh14432]

@@cryoraptora303tm2 Why would Nintendo not exist in Europe? I live in Europe and had already a Gameboy Color before getting the GameCube

[@cryoraptora303tm2]

@@danielh14432 The stats don't lie. Nintendo wasn't popular in Europe until the DS. Playstation and before them SEGA ran the place.

[@tomm2639]

I thought this would be a deeper dive into the markets thinking, not just a retrospective of the games, in fact I would think most collectors are not playing the games at all but rather collecting things they find interesting/valuable

[@MrSerpico145]

This especially since they've been sated or priced out of SNES and NES collecting at this point. They've moved onto the Cube, along with the youth of that generation getting into nostalgic collecting.

[@barkley8285]

I’m buying them because I want to play them.

[@leometz7287]

If you just want to play GameCube games, you are cheaper off buying a Wii

[@seemlesslies]

@@MrSerpico145 I wish people would be more objective about how bad the GameCube really was but it's the internet. The reason people are nostalgic for it are for a few small number of titles that have never left the system due to Nintendo's horrible licensing problems. Almost all the other major games from that era on the other two systems have been mass release multiple times. The reason people remember the GameCube is because of the small number of games trapped in limbo. I owned all three systems during this time and actively played the PlayStation 2 and Xbox while my GameCube generally sat on the shelf. The only games I played were the re-release of Zelda and animal crossing that's it.

[@murphmariotwopointoh7714]

I actually owned both a GameCube and a PS2 when I was younger. To this day there's only maybe one PS2 game I'm interested in.

[@adkenc]

Gran Turismo 2...which was one of the titles that gave backwards compatibility problems to my dismay. Ok MAYBE the Wu-tang game also.

[@yujiro424]

The gamecube also had amazing rpgs like Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, and Baten Kaitos. Another highly underrated aspect during it's early days was how great it's controller design is.

[@PeterDahu]

Baiten Kaitos Origins is very underrated

[@zwenkwiel816]

Bro, optical disks were not an innovation in 2002, neither was playing gameboy games or wireless controllers....

[@JFreddie]

He literally said they were an innovation for nintendo SPECIFICALLY

[@lasercraft32]

I think nostalgia is the number one biggest factor. A lot of people grew up playing game cube games... and even if they didn't have a game cube, anyone with a wii could still play game cube games. The wii was my first console, but even then I have memories playing Luigi's Mansion and Mario Sunshine, as well as the New Play Control version of Pikmin, all of which were game cube games.

[@loganford3921]

First console I bought with my own money in May 2002. I was bowling away with the price £130 as I thought it would be just dear as the PS2 £300 when it was released.

[@TheJadeFist]

I think they hurt themselves the most with the mini discs. The PS2 and Xbox could both play DVDs, for alot of people that was a big deal at the time, but isn't really a factor these days. DVD players at the time could cost upwards of 150-200 dollars by themselves so a console that also included that ability simply made the competitors' consoles a better value.

[@stevens1041]

Spot on. PS2 on release day offering a DVD player was a huge deal. Sounds funny even a few years later, but for the first two years or so, DVD players were very expensive.

[@TheJadeFist]

@@stevens1041 I can remember the first DVD player my dad bought, it was well over 100 dollars and the movies he got with it were Battle Field Earth and I think The Matrix was the other one.

[@KingStixGaming]

I still play Mario tennis for GameCube to this day

[@3DJapan]

I hated the Metroid Prime games. I was so excited when we finally got a Metroid sidescroller on Switch but it was unbelievably difficult.

[@KenMasters.]

I think the only purpose for Metroid Prime's existence is to compete against Halo: Combat Evolved, DOOM³ would later enter the 6th-gen FPS-fray against both games.

[@needlessdragon3368]

This episode airs the day I started playing Skies of Arcadia (GCN) I love going back to my Cube collection 🤩

[@Forever8Bit]

That's awesome that you still get to play the GameCube. And that is a really fun game.

[@taftasay9550]

I had 13 playthroughs of Resident Evil 4 on GameCube. I had dedicated memory cards just for that game with different weapon loadouts. My favorite game of all time first experienced on GameCube before it could be played on any other console.

[@Pooper]

I ALWAYS loved the GameCube. It was my first personally-owned console I got for Christmas and I’ve had so many memories with that thing.

[@DabbyLarson]

Double Dash is still my favorite Mario Kart by a country mile. The ability to store an item was a game changer

[@affsteak3530]

I played with my sister as my "gunner." She would try to punch the CPU players anywhere, anytime, which made Rainbow Road even more...fun.

[@kT-ci1ke]

it's ok but mario kart 64 is way better

[@darkzeroprojects4245]

​​@@kT-ci1ke I dissagree, I consider 64 and double dash abit too different in their take to compare one better over the other even if got the same core.

[@WarioSaysSo]

I fully agree! I was an early supporter of the NGC before it even launched back in the day and despite some tech-flaws compared to Xbox or the PS2's DVD avaibility, the console was awesome and had some superb software....BUT often I had to go the envy way of watching a lot of 3rd party titles never arrive on the system, and had to constantly defend the system back in jr. high school. Often the console's design was mocked by people. I even supported it long into the Wii era. Then it was silence for many years. BUT now all of a sudden I hear from all corners and sides how GREAT IT WAS (?) That is some support I feel was needed back then. It feels somewhat bitter-sweet. I own a very large collection of GC titles and often get the questions how I can have that. Well, I was there from the gecko and bought most games used.

[@Forever8Bit]

Thanks for sharin this fun story! In a world of boring square and rectangle black and white consoles (minus the PS5), it's great to see the Cube's design getting the love it deserves. Maybe companies will be willing to take chances once again and design systems that look unique and stand out fro the crowd.

[@WarioSaysSo]

@@Forever8Bit I couldent agree more! Things are just to stale.

[@rockymvvrcianu6846]

I was a freshman in high school the holiday season the GameCube was released. I remember wanting one just to say I had one, and valiantly defending Nintendo on console wars forums. But I ended up with a PS2 which I eventually traded in for an Xbox. I think for me and a lot of millenials at the time, we had grown up through the NES-N64 era and were getting older and edgier as teens and wanted something more violent. I think that was GTAIII's hidden appeal.

[@BobbyDigitalRD]

I played the GameCube more than any console at that period in time. Eternal Darkness, Metroid Prime, Resident Evil Remake...all fantastic games

[@Forever8Bit]

Cool! Yes, some great titles you've shared there. I also thought about Paper Mario for the video. So many great games, so little time. :)

[@Reshyrah]

@@Forever8Bit I would also just to add in F-Zero GX.. one of the greatest futuristic racing games that Nintendo continues to ignore.

[@squidwardtentacles2736]

@@Forever8Bit Paper Mario is an amazing rpg. 👍👍

[@zergilli9719]

Mario Sunshine, Luigis Mansion, Rogue Squadron II, Metroid Prime, Resident Evil 4, Super Smash Bros Melee, Zelda Wind Waker... the list goes on.

[@BobbyDigitalRD]

@Zergilli Literally so many great games to choose from. All reasons why the GameCube was definitely my most played system at the time. The GBA was also able to link up with certain titles and bring new functionality or aesthetics, which was awesome. I remember playing Metroid Prime in the Fusion suit and thought it was so cool...

[@gawbagecan]

Hey man, you did a great job with this video! I loved the content, and the narrative. My only recommendation moving forward is for you to reduce your reliance on upspeak and overly cadenced delivery. I recommend you try to narrate with a more deliberate and natural tone while keeping 100% of the energy! Thanks for the video! I LOVED the Gamecube!

[@silleeel8322]

this was not the first system to use a memory card, are you kidding ?

[@kingkirby1394]

This may sound weird but I call the gamecube “The dreamworks of gaming” at the time most people wrote it off as a farce for kids with the exception of a product that shook the world from the year 2001 but now those children like me who grew up alongside them both and liked it, are now adults and relish in how fresh, innovative, and shockingly ambitious they were and still are to this day, causing a practical paradigm shift in the public eye

[@PjKneisel]

Explain how this is like “Dreamworks”? Or were you just using that phrase not meaning the Shrek studio?

[@Bobson_Dugnutt_Esq]

The GameCube (and early generation Wii): the only machine capable of an apparently Herculean feat-running Tales of Symphonia at 60fps. This must be some ancient techno-magic because Bamco has been afraid to even attempt it since.

[@SpiralPoli]

It's a common thing for artists to only be truly appreciated after their time. Same for the GameCube.

[@graalcloud]

Wii U is up next

[@cptant7610]

I think there was just suddenly stiff competition. Playstation 2 sold insanely well, in part due to it being an affordable dvd player as well and xbox was hitting the market. Not having dvd support was a HUGE mistake.

[@josephlizandro1884]

We wanted it but the ps2 controlled the gaming world and some of us weren’t rich we weren’t buying two or three consoles as kids

[@samuelbarrett1082]

I actually won a game cube in a raffle. Never planned on buying one. I had a handful of games, but Metroid Prime 1&2 made any money I spent on it worth it. Those were amazing games. Still got it in storage somewhere.

[@williampatrick2971]

Were you able to complete Prime 2? I had to use a guide

[@samuelbarrett1082]

@@williampatrick2971 it was a while ago, but I do remember finishing it. I don't think I used a guide because I wasn't really aware of online guides back then. I beat it a couple times I think. I liked the first one better though. I beat that one at least 6 times. It takes me a long time to play games though. I wander around until I figure stuff out regardless of how long it takes. Most people would get bored long before I would.

[@spacelem]

I loved my GameCube, far more than my Wii, the controllers were the most comfy things ever! Sadly I lost it while moving out of my flat, turned out the landlord found it and sold it.

[@elithegaymer]

Yeah, I love Gamecube controllers! Still my favorite controller. I used them through the Wii era and now on my Switch I use a Gamecube type controller. Hopefully the next console Nintendo releases will continue this trend.

[@nightmarishcompositions4536]

GameCube had some real gems on there. Tales of Symphonia, Smash Bros Melee, Baten Kaitos, Skies of Arcadia, Luigi's Mansion, Mario Sunshine, Paper Mario, Wind Waker, Pikmin, Metroid Prime, Soul Calibur II, Fire Emblem, Sonic Adventure... these were some of my favorites.

[@xerowolf4242]

Nobody was playing Halo:CE online when the Gamecube released. Xbox live didn't launce until 2002 and Halo:CE didn't even have support for online play ever. It wasn't until Halo 2's release in 2004 that people could play Halo online.

[@world_still_spins]

There are some possible errors in your script. And the main reason the gamecube 'flopped', it couldn't play cd's or dvd's. The competition could.

[@HaunterOfKanto]

We never appreciate what we have until it’s gone.

[@Forever8Bit]

There's a Cinderella song that sounds a lot like that! :)

[@firetigersage]

Playing with others have always been so important for me that growing up i had the choice of Nintendo or playstation and I always chose Nintendo. Being there for the release of the N64 and the GameCube, I've always loved the emphasis put into multiplayer games that you could just pop in and play.

[@NYCJoeBlack]

The GameCube Nintendo was my favorite system of that generation over 20 years ago and it is still one of my all-time favorite home consoles. It is a real shame that people who grew up in that generation ignored the GCN.

[@Forever8Bit]

Indeed! And now that the Game Boy Advance has such easy screen upgrades to an IPS, it makes the Cube a compelling choice for GBA fans. You can play the GBA games on native Nintendo hardware with the Player, and you can even use the GBA as a controller and second screen for some games.

[@ElvenRaptor]

The Gamecube is still my favorite console, period. That whole time period was the most I ever enjoyed gaming.

[@superstreetfighter14]

Lack of 3rd party support killed GameCube. Apart from a few Disney games the games library was restricted to 1st party games. Competitors like Sony & Microsoft raced ahead of Nintendo in this era. Thankfully Nintendo would bounce back with the Wii & Nintendo Switch in the coming generations.

[@Krshna28]

It failed because, in the early 2000s, people wanted darker violent games that were aimed for a adult audience. GTA is the best example of this, and the PS2 had 5 GTA games. There was also stuff like Silent Hill, Devil May Cry, Metal Gear Solid, and all the Tom Clancy games.

[@JimmyJimmy-ho1zy]

My first console was the Gamecube. It was great!

[@Forever8Bit]

That was a fine first console, indeed!

[@norriszappa25]

I bought a gamecube in 2002 and it maybe held my interest for 5 or 6 months. I had an xbox and ps2 at the time, and i was interested in the games on those systems more at that time. Gamecube didn't seem like it had games for mature gamers at that time (i was in my early 20's back then), but recently, I've rediscovered the gamecube and plan to buy some of those games i missed out on

[@riccccccardo]

Get ready for the $$$$

[@oldmanmillennial1980]

Not including a DVD player in 2001 was a pretty bfd. At $399 a PS2 was like $100 more than a stand alone DVD player and is the reason it's the best selling system of all time. We're talking about a time when people really just bought one system per generation. Gamers that grew up with Mortal Kombat & Doom thought themselves too cool for Luigi's Mansion and Pokémon, but 20 years later we came around, remembered how much we loved the NES & SNES games from our childhood so all of a sudden the GameCube became this underappreciated nostalgia machine that we could rediscover as if it were the first time.

[@Forever8Bit]

Agreed. The absence of the DVD player definitely hurt its standing and propelled the PS2. Even the OG Xbox had that inexpensive kit to empower the system to play DVDs.

[@retrosoul8770]

The N64 hurt the GameCube more than the lack of DVDs imo. The GameCube paid for the mistakes the N64 committed. Being sending all the powerful 3rd party developers straight to their competitor, Sony. We're talking Namco, Konami, Square, Capcom etc. Causing huge sales for the PlayStation, it was only natural for that momentum to continue to the next generation especially with it being backward compatible.

[@KirbyZhang]

during GameCube's life time, video games became AAA, i.e. realistic and violent with millions of dollars invested. Nintendo went from mainstream to niche for that reason.

[@madnessarcade7447]

I think the Wii U will go through the samething in 10 years

[@arthurgamerpro6585]

That's what I was thinking, Wii U at the time was very forgotten and overshadowed, and many adults at that time didn't buy it because they either got confused by the name or it wasn't attractive compared to PS4 and Xbox One, the majority of sales that bought it are children and Nintendo fans, I'm sure it will be very appreciated in 2030s

[@Stevenmelamed]

I got the GameCube day one. Which was annoying since they didn't ship memory cards till the following week. Then I got ps2 which ironically had a memory cards shortage due to a fire in a factory that manufactured them. Or at least that's what I heard... It was a weird month or two.

[@TRJ2241987]

That's ok the PS2 didn't have any games at launch worth saving anything anyway lol

[@symboltherapper]

Great video breakdown. I regret getting rid of my GameCube collection as it would be so valuable today. It’s kinda too expensive nowadays to get again, great memories though

[@Forever8Bit]

Thanks! The irony is that the GameCube itself isn't so expensive. There's one on my local Facebook Marketplace right now for just $75. But the games ustally sell for around modern game prices, so getting them runs at about the same pace as buying PS5 or Series games, I'd guess.

[@symboltherapper]

@@Forever8Bit yeah if I was gonna buy a GameCube again I’d buy a BC Wii, which costs about 50 or 60 plus the component cables are way cheaper…but yeah most of what I’d wanna play has been ported or remastered. I hope they bring original Luigi’s mansion to Switch. If we don’t get Prime 1 and 2 ported than I’ll eventually get those on GameCube. Wii remotes just didn’t do it for me on the trilogy

[@vaughnalexander32]

Actually miss my gamecube.. the graphics STILL hold up today

[@Forever8Bit]

They certainly do! My wife has started playing Wario World on the Cube recently. It's a testament to the staying power the CUbe has, even today.

[@Facade953]

WWE Day Of Reckoning 2 comes in mind.😊

[@vaughnalexander32]

@@Facade953 i remember playing that game and Dbz

[@eol6632]

Context, When Game Cube was released most people had to make a hard choice about what system you decided to go with. Some people could afford multiple systems but that was the minority. -Nintendo did Alot of damage to its rep with the N64. People had doubts about 3rd party support going forward. - The PS2 could play dvd's and could do online multiplayer. This had a lot of value for gaming on a budget. Giving you a all in one machine. - Its not that people thought the GameCube was a bad game system but when other machines can do more and with less confidence in 3rd party support. It became an expensive gamble.

[@vDomMusic]

To be honest at the time, the PS2 was a much better system overall, however the Gamecube has aged so much better than any other console I've ever seen. I grew up mostly with PS2 but these days, I actually prefer the Gamecube.

[@johnlucas1543]

Forever 8-bit, I'll TELL you why people are rediscovering the greatness of the Gamecube. It's because it is right there in the Gamecube where Nintendo's divergence strategies started really taking root. When Sony came into this business, they mastered the media game that Sega previously utilized against Nintendo. Sony convinced the larger gaming world that Nintendo's way was WRONG & Sony's way was RIGHT. So many companies were trying to create the Multimedia Console with their CD add-ons in the 1990s-Nintendo included. But OF COURSE it was the co-creator of the Compact Disc & one of the key companies behind music, movies, & TV that would be the one to usher in the Multimedia Console age...and I ain't talking about Phillips. Sony WAS Multimedia so it was naturally them who succeeded in creating a CD-based Multimedia Console. Sony sold music, movies, TV, as well as the media players for those mediums. Media & Media Formats is Sony's business. Nintendo sold cards, toys, & games. Play is Nintendo's business. That's the difference. Nintendo WILL ALWAYS center gaming on their gaming consoles. They don't sell CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, or TV sets. Sony DOES sell those things so it's natural for them to center THEIR strengths as a business on consoles. As a result, the public was distracted with the shiny shiny of tech in Audio/Video terms instead of Game terms. Nintendo was now WRONG to sell a gaming console centered around the core of Games. Sony convinced everyone that it was RIGHT to sell a gaming console centered around the periphery of Multimedia. The Nintendo 64 & especially Gamecube got caught up in this media campaign. Even its name GAMEcube was a problem because Nintendo stayed true to the business they resurrected in 1985. Nintendo compromised for the 3rd Party's sake. They like discs over cartridges in home consoles? We'll give them discs. But the discs can't save data without a Mermory Card (tridge). And we won't use Sony's discs either. We'll get an outside party & make custom discs OUR way. We will focus GAME over everything else. AND we will concentrate on tech size seeking to shrink the bulk for a more efficient less energy-using product. Better compression in our games, better compression in our players' living spaces, better concentration on game quality. Gamecube was pound-for-pound the most powerful console of the 6th Generation & was affordable for its power output. And the market failure of Gamecube proved that gamers REALLY don't care about power like they say they do. They diverged from this increasing Multimedia + Horsepower angle Sony had promoted & moved in THEIR OWN way. Each console since Gamecube (yes including Switch) has used Gamecube's core philosophy in one way or another. DS, Wii, 3DS, Wii U, Switch have Gamecube's ideology embedded within it. On the Wii & Wii U Menu every Channel can move around EXCEPT the gaming channel. Switch does not let you easily get to non-gaming panels on screen. Everything is laid out to keep you playing a game. It's Yokoi's principle of Lateral Thinking of Withered Technology fully powered. In the handheld console race, Nintendo never had to compromise. They STAYED with the cartridge all the way through. And in fact it was the DS which resembled the Nintendo 64 in power, that REVERTED everything back Nintendo's way. PlayStation had CD & won. PlayStation 2 had DVD & won. PlayStation Portable had UMD & lost. PlayStation 3 had Blu-ray & lost. There is a REASON why PlayStation Vita changed to cartridge. Everything came full circle from N64 to DS. The DS corrected the trajectory of the industry after Sony's mid-1990s Multimedia distraction avenging the N64. Part of why Wii U failed was the albatross of discs & the absence of cartidges. Only the Wii Mode made use of cartridges. Switch AKA the Wii U revision corrected course & restored the cartridge to realize the Hybrid Console idea Wii U introduced. So now Sony's style is out of style. Multimedia is a great SIDE function but this is the Videogame Industry. You are supposed to sell Videogames first & foremost. Nintendo's way is RIGHT, Sony's way is WRONG. 1st Party matters most not 3rd Party. Nintendo simply outlasted the media campaign & proved themselves right. Gamecube is now looked at in its proper light in this atmosphere ESPECIALLY since so many hit Switch games have their root on that Nintendo Gamecube which was once bullied out of school. Animal Crossing, Pikmin, Luigi's Mansion, game mechanics of Zelda: Wind Waker leading to Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Smash Bros. Melee advancing the series greatly, multiplayer ideas of Gamecube to Game Boy Advance fleshed out, Super Mario Sunshine's cleaning of environmental sludge done in reverse in an ink-splattering game called Splatoon. Wii was said to be 2 Gamecubes duct-taped together. That's a compliment & it explains part of Wii's massive success. A lot of strategies Nintendo comes up with in a "Down" cycle usually end up becoming an unforeseen source of strength in an "Up" cycle. The only true loss Nintendo ever had in videogames was the Virtual Boy. Gamecube was always great & now since Nintendo keeps those games in the vault, their value has only increased. Hence the Gamecube thirst.

[@masterclass7525]

Wow, wise words.

[@damian9303]

Exactly, such a prominent business strategy I remember of the PS2 was that it seconded as a DVD player for families who didn’t already have one at the time. The Microsoft Xbox was trying to compete in the same league, while heavily pushing the DirectX 9 technology that was in Windows XP which made PC gamers at the time interested in its offerings. That too could play DVDs, but it required special use of a IR transmitter to use with the included remote. The downsizing into the compact form of the GameCube made it specialized in its purpose as its name entails, as it takes up so little space I still have mine hooked up to this day

[@johnlucas1543]

@@masterclass7525 Didn't see your comment earlier. Thank you for the compliments! I lived through this era. That's why I know it so well. I'm so glad everything's reverting back Nintendo's way in the general mindset of the public. The Neg Campaign against Gamecube was a travesty as was the loss of Sega Dreamcast. The disrespect of those two excellent consoles STILL sticks in my craw all these years later. I was so happy to see Nintendo restore the balance through DS & Wii. Switch is the beneficiary of these efforts. GAMING first & foremost. The industry must never forget.

[@kylewilliams6091]

Game cube was one of my favourite consoles have a lot of fond memories playing it

[@Forever8Bit]

I love hearing about these kinds of stories! The memories we make playing our favorite games, especially with our favorite people, are what make gaming so much fun.

[@gameofyou1]

I still own both a Dreamcast and Gamecube, and think they are both fantastic systems. I really like the Gamecube’s controller.

[@lordchaos9148]

I still think it was mid. It had some great games so I can understand the covet but compared to the competition at the time it sucked.

[@heathjohnson2575]

I dont do online gaming so perfect for me. I absolutely hate having to wait on updates also. Old gaming was so much better

[@03chrisv]

I loved my GameCube. Despite owning a PS2 and Xbox I probably played the GameCube the most, there were a lot of great first party games.

[@johnmisrahi9922]

It's also probably my favourite controller ever...it just alwAys feels so comfortable and well laid out to me

[@squidwardtentacles2736]

when I started playing GC on my pc I eventually got the pc adapter that you can also use on Wii U and lemme tell you...playing those games without GC controllers just isn't the same, so much more satisfying with og controller.

[@barrybb5409]

My friend hated the gc controller. Ripped on it constantly. Big huge A button. Small B. Like on a 20 million dollar fighter jet control lol. I found it easy to know where my thimb was by feel than the ps2/xbox controller. The abalog sticks were better on the gamecube really, with the c stick being the only downside imo.

[@mynie]

The online stuff wasn't a deciding factor for most people in 2001. It was by around 2004, but certainly not in 2001. Xbox had easily the best connectivity for its day and that was still pretty niche at the time--because outside of PC gamers who already had experience with online FPS's, people had to see and experience Halo before they could really conceive of it.

[@Forever8Bit]

Good points here. Even the Dreamcast had a moden built in, and it didn't tip the scales back then either.

[@Picnicl]

DVD compatibility was too important to people then though. And being 'gritty'.

[@mynie]

@@Picnicl I knew at least a half dozen people who used their PS2 solely or almost solely as a DVD player. Like, they'd have 1-2 games that never got played.

[@K11micra_mcr]

It’s the same with the Wii U, why did you losers not buy the Wii U then (those who bought the Wii U when it was brand new, you’re all chads)

[@arthurgamerpro6585]

It's probably because they either had a Wii or DS, or they are adults at that time and thought it wasn't as attractive compared to PS4 and Xbox One, but anyone who was a child in the 2010s at that time and never had a Wii or DS has a great chance of having a Wii U and 3DS, and they will be very appreciated in the 2030s, I really hope so.

[@rkbelmont1138]

Loved that console. Luigi's Mansion, Smash Melee, Pikmin, Eternal Darkness, Mario Sunshine, Starfox Adventures, Zelda Wind Waker.

[@glang5154]

I'm interested in the Gamecube today to see what was it I missed back in my PS2 days and some of its exclusives are very fun, but in all honesty, if I went back in time I would keep my PS2.

[@Forever8Bit]

I get that. Looking at it with the lenses of that era, it was highly compelling to have a great game system ad DVD player together. Made a lot of sense.

[@MegaFinalRound]

Final Fantasy XI on ps2 was ground-breaking!!!!

[@blackrambo7417]

The GameCube is highly under rated, that’s what it is.

[@justjay1337]

wait till people catch onto the Wii U. it's the only system you can pretty much play the entire Nintendo library from Nintendo thru Wii U at full speed in great resolution, compatible with tons of blue tooth controllers, etc. a hacked Wii U is insane. it can even play some "switch" titles, such as skyward sword, mario kart 8, splatoon, etc. unfortunately since the switch can't really play gamecube games at full speed, it isn't overall better than a hacked Wii U IMO. i really hope in the future someone makes a 3DS emulator for the wii U.

[@connoryork6631]

Older games are aging with fine wine too. Modern games lack basic effort and creativity

[@neoflashjf]

This is a clear example of the difference between what the news says and what's actually happening in the streets. Though magazines and numbers say the gamecube was a flop, I knew many people who had GameCubes, even if they had PS2 or Xbox(which sold better) as well. Yea we played halo and grand theft auto, but rarely did a game night happened that didn't include Mario kart double dash and smash brothers melee. I don't care what the numbers say, GameCube was in these streets and was just as relevant as the other systems in this era. Not a flop culturally at all. The virtual boy however...... Lol

[@Forever8Bit]

I loved my GameCube! I had one back at launch, along with the OG Xbox. I actually didn't have the PS2 back in the day. Go figure. I loved the Cube back then and still do. Wait, you're saying the mainsteam news outlets don't have the true pulse of what happens in the world and push their own narratives instead? Say it ain't so! :)

[@PjKneisel]

Actually the news was probably statistically correct in it being a failure, your evidence is what’s called “anecdotal” and while it’s compelling to you, it’s not universally true. This is the same logic of the “old wives tale.”

[@theinktician]

@@PjKneisel Im pretty sure they were meaning at the time of release and stuff. back in those days - especially on the internet, it was easy for journalists to see things vastly different from the common gamer, sometimes to the point of creating a common false perception. Example: Shadow the Hedgehog. Mediocre game, but no one that was of the target age group stopped buying Sonic games because of it. Instead it supplemented the Sonic X show and made Shadow one of the most popular characters in gaming. Even liked by those that joke about him, like myself

[@Nomadnetic]

It's weird seeing the overton window change for the little Indigo lunch box. I remember people doing nothing but trashing it, when I tried to sell people on the quality titles it had. Especially the gaming media like TechTV/G4TV. It's funny how the novelty of online gaming/having a DVD player has worn off and people are appreciating the system for what it is. A great little stable console that had a bunch of great titles.

[@graalcloud]

The gaming press was extremely biased against Nintendo in those years. In fact in many cases they still are. IGN used to list Gamecube at the far end of the page after PC as if it was the most irrelevant platform.

[@coopercummings8370]

This has some massive errors in it. The gamecube was not the first system to use optical disk media, it wasn't even close. The sega genesis/megadrive, saturn, dreamcast, NEC pc engine/turbo grafx and PC-FX, Atari Jaguar, Sony playstation and playstation 2, 3DO, Amiga CD32, Phillips CD-i, Commodore CDTV, FM Towns Marty, Pioneer LaserActive, Neo Geo CD, Bandai Playdia, and Tandy VIS all beat it to the market, and the xbox beat the gamecube to the north american market but was released the day after the gamecube released in japan. It also wasn't the first to use memory cards, many of the above systems had some form of memory card as well. The gameboy player also wasn't innovative, the Super Gameboy and Super Gameboy 2 did the same thing on the SNES except they could only play gameboy games. Making an updated version of an existing product that is compatible with the latest systems isn't innovation.

[@Dumahlok]

Glad someone else said it! Also ,No mention of eternal darkness or resident evil remake is a travesty.

[@blackstep_dad2572]

The GameCube was my jam during high school. My all time favorite Nintendo console

[@Forever8Bit]

Awesome! I keep telling my son I'm going to show up at his school walking around carrying a GameCUbe by its handle. He said he would not be down with that. 🤣

[@Neon_Nyanian]

Surprised there was no mention of Twilight Princess. It was literally made for GameCube, then a decision was made to rework it for Wii controls so it could be a big title to attract people to that system. Thus they had the game done, but sat on it until that release, then released it for GameCube as well (fortunately). The Wii version has a horizontal flip running on it (thus mirroring the entire world) so Link is right handed to cater to more gamers (and ended his left handed history from this point on for some reason?). To me, it's obvious that the GameCube version should be considered the original product, and thus a Game Cube original. Regardless of release order or whatnot, the Wii one is just a modded game.

[@Forever8Bit]

That's a fine choice. So many great games on the GameCube, and a much larger library that a lot of gamers might realize. Thanks for your input.

[@Neon_Nyanian]

@@Forever8Bit Indeed! The Wii didn't really interest me as a lefty when they changed Link to be a righty (I'd started with the first Zelda, and the dude was always my childhood favorite 'cause hey, left-handed hero! Still mad they don't make him left handed much since). Anyway, I did end up getting access to a friend's GameCube just to play a copy of Twilight Princess I'd bought and that's as far as I went. I really missed out on that generation. I should track down some of the classics sometime. GC Twilight Princess is still my favorite of the series. Although... I ended up seeing today that the Wii-U version isn't mirrored and has much better graphics. I don't know how it plays, but I'm interested to look into that now. And somehow I actually have a Wii-U sitting around that a friend "got rid of" on us, too... lol

[@aceassn716]

Thank you as a Lefty growing up Link is one of my favorite characters Same deal with Breath of the Wild for Wii U Switch They took gamepad features out of Wii U version so new switch adopters didnt feel they were missing out

[@johnpexton3614]

I agree I didn’t like the wii version. I preferred the GameCube version.

[@damian9303]

Especially since it wouldn’t be the only game Nintendo would port to the Wii from the GameCube

[@goldenpp72]

Halo wasn't online, Xbox and PS2 didn't get online until later, and it wasn't built into the PS2 either.

[@aceassn716]

I was playing online on Sega Dreamcast then.. NFL 2k1, Phantasy Star Online, Quake III Arena Dreamcast even had a web browser!

[@itsdinkd1771]

Ps2 network adapter. Xbox did come with its own adapter. It shipped out with Xbox live service

[@goldenpp72]

@itsDinkd Yeah the Xbox had an ethernet modem built in, but Xbox Live came like a year later and Halo 1 never had online for the Xbox. Basically no one launched their consoles with online. Sega took awhile to get their service running too but it wasn't too long.

[@thecrashito]

the problem with GC was not the lack of online games or the lack of a DVD player or the lack of an HDD bay, it was the lack of third-party support because of Nintendo bad corporate decisions (they should have never sold rareware...), the low storage space of mini-DVD format (they should have used the 12cm DVD with 4.5GB which was way easier for developers back in the day to put standard 2000s games on it) and having lower DRAM than the competition didn't help either. Looks like Nintendo shoot itself in the foot... I acknowledge that Wii and switch did great having lower hardware specs than their competitors, but it was the beginning of 2000s, and GC was not an innovation like its predecessors to sold consoles just because of its concept.

[@tooplanx]

The Gamecube was always great, it's just that at the time people were obsessed with gaming being 'grown up' and serious. The Gamecube was considered babyish and not 'cool' like the PS2 and Xbox.

[@PaperBanjo64]

Look which systems ain't cool now and it sure ain't the GameCube.