Let's Talk Nintendo Gamecube

The SNES remains my favorite system hands down, but a close second is the Gamecube. I've thought about picking up another one of these overlooked systems, but having more than one console at home makes my stomach turn...which is why I want more of these titles on the wii u eShop.

Anyway, this little cube was often mocked, but damn did it have a powerhouse line-up of high quality titles:

Nintendo classics
Wind Waker
Mario Kart: Double Dash (I was a fan)
Smash Brothers Melee (the reason why gamecube controllers are bought for wii u smash)
F-Zero GX
Star Fox: Assault
Star Fox Adventures
Metroid Prime series
Eternal Darkness

Sweet Exclusives (At the time)
Resident Evil ReMake
Resident Evil 4
Viewtiful Joe
Killer 7
Sega Soccer Slam
Ikaruga

Some 3rd party titles were great as well
Gladius (still one of my favorite turn based strategy games)
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Beyond Good and Evil
NBA Street
Lord of the RIngs: Two Towers
Freedom Fighters (man, I could replay the stages in this Red Dawn game over and over...multiplayer was a hoot aslo)
TimeSplitters 2

I had some fun times with this system.

I enjoyed mine for a while, and eventually grew frustrated at its lack of titles. Sold it for the original Xbox. Gamecube games I liked:
1. Animal Crossing - the best thing about the Gamecube
2. Super Smash Bros. Melee - pretty fun, with plenty of frustration thrown in
3. Resident Evil - my first time playing any of the series. I liked it but after beating it in a week, it was pretty useless to me
4. Wind Waker - I really enjoyed this game
5. Pac-man Vs. - Super fun
6. Metroid Prime - pretty cool take on Metroid. I didn't finish it.

I hated the SNES but I LOVED my Gamecube. i think N64 was my favourite of their systems though, but I had a total blast with the Gamecube. Played a great, great mix of single-player stuff (RE4, etc) and multiplayer stuff (Mario Tennis, Super Smash, Mario Party, Mario Kart Double Dash, etc).

The thing is that I KNEW the Gamecube was the worst/weakest of that generation (well behind Xbox and PS2) but I didn't care, I loved it. It's sort of like how Barnes says loves his Wii U but actually claims it's the best console. There's a disconnect there. It's okay to know you have the worst console but still love it. Nothing wrong with that.

Oh yeah and Resident Evil 1 was terrifying on the GC. Wind Waker was bliss. FZero GX..oh man, so much great stuff on that little box.

I didn't have a GC, but I had a Wii and got myself set up with some classics. GLADIUS was one, and I also enjoyed ETERNAL DARKNESS. My favorite though was INCREDIBLE HULK ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION. Holy shitballs this is an awesome game. It's basically GRAND THEFT AUTO 3 except you are the motherfucking Hulk. Running and jumping from buildings to helicopters, throwing cars at tanks, it was a blast. There were sotry missions and stuff, but who cared about those--I spent more time in the Tutorial Area fucking around than doing anything else. Amazing game.

Ikaruga, Gods way of telling you that you don't belong in the group of console gamers who might call themselves "good"



wasnt the haunted Wario game one of the bundles with the cube?

I worked in computer games programming for a few years (99-02) for Infogrames who'd just bought out Gremlin in Sheffield. I worked on the cross platform engine, and actually did some of the awesome effects on the surfaces in Micro Machines, which we also ported to Gamecube. I also did a pretty good job on the flapping cape of superman in Shadow of Apokolips. Game was shit though haha. I also made a cup of tea for Rik Mayall who did some of the voices in Hogs of War.

The guys I worked with however all lamented that the Dreamcast was their favourite console and was severely underappreciated.

I think GC looks better in retrospect than it did at the time. It was my only console that generation for a long time. It had some classics on it (RE4! Wind Waker!) but it was a thin lineup.

the lineup looks solid until you compare it the lineup the other consoles had at the time. wow

If you don't mind voiding the warranty on the Wii U and have the patience to step through some hack instructions (all of which are pretty clear) you can get the Homebrew channel on your Wii U (in classic Wii mode). Once that's set up, you can use Nintendont to play any Gamecube ISO natively (not emulated). It supports the Gamecube controller adapter, Classic Controller Pro, etc. I've now ripped several of my old Gamecube games to the SD card (another homebrew app called CleanRip can do this) and play them with my original Gamecube controller.

This has allowed me to stash my old Wii and Gamecube in a closet. I'll probably get rid of the original Wii soon.

Also, since Homebrew supports several emulators, including Virtual Boy, I can now also play the fan translation of Mother 3 (Earthbound sequel) on the Wii U, which is perfect (playing this stuff on the PC just never felt quite right).

The Gamecube was awesome. I think it's biggest downfall for most is that it it's thin lineup was REALLY apparent when it launched and for a year or two after. But that would be perfect for me now since I no longer buy a tonne of games. Thin lineups = easy decisions.

Oh, and Super Mario Sunshine rocked. A little buggy in places, but I loved it. I spent way too much time slipping and sliding around the main hub and listening to that main track.

I spent way too much time in Pinna Park. I couldn't get enough of interacting with the various rides. So much fun.

Gamecube went through the same industry/fan hazing that every Nintendo console since N64 went and will continue to go through. Most of which is completely irrelevant. Who cares if the Nintendo system is the "weakest" of the generation, what the fuck does that even mean? The best system to me is the one that has the games with the best gameplay, the best value and the best longevity. Not the ones that have the most junk-ass third party stuff on it. Sure, quality third party titles are important...but one Nintendo first party title that you still love, play, and remains timeless 10/20/30 years later is worth like ten third party titles you forget about two months after you finish them. And all the hem and haw over hardware...Nintendo hardware has zero trouble running Nintendo games. So what if they don't run the latest annual Ubisoft shovelware? I don't see anyone complaining about the graphics in a Mario title being "poor". Even Mario 64, which is probably the most dated-looking game in the entire series, still looks great. Because art and design trump polygon-pushing every time.

But it doesn't matter, the dudebros will roll up every time lambasting Nintendo for somehow "selling out" or "neglecting" hardcore gamers...when that was never their intent in the first place. Gamecube was as close as Nintendo has ever gotten to doing a console comparable to others on the market...but they still did it their way with unique hardware design, minidiscs, weird controllers and so forth.

Gamecube, in retrospect, was GREAT. I didn't have one, but I played a friend's a lot. I'd go over and play Metroid Prime while he was at work. When the Wii came out, Gamecube compatibility was awesome. I caught up on a lot of things I missed. Like Eternal Darkness, Killer 7, Viewtiful Joe, Super Mario Sunshine, etc. I hate that they took it out of Wii U, hopefully they'll eventually bring some GC stuff into Virtual Console.

So many must-have, timeless games...but I think it's easy to pick out Metroid Prime, Wind Waker, and RE4 as the best of the best. It says a lot that those games are still available today in HD form. Where are 90% of the PS2 and Xbox games from that time period? Gone.

NX will go through the exact same thing. All the huff and puff about it being "underpowered", "hardcore" gamers lambasting the lineup, cries that there is no software for it...but the new Zelda game will likely be on it and probably a new Mario title. And it's time for Metroid to come back, maybe even a new F-Zero. Maybe the new Star Fox will lead to renewed interest there. But even if it only plays legacy titles in these series, it will still be the best console on the market.

I think the whole "not enough games for it" thing says a lot about game consumption. NES had HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of games. But when we were kids, we played just a small fraction of them. It didn't matter. It wasn't until we got older and could spend our own money that it mattered if a console only released four or five titles a year. Now, people expect new releases WEEKLY and there's content dumps like the Steam sales that ensure that everyone has more games than they can possibly ever play. What's the point? It really has become quantity over quality...just take a look at any number of pixel art puzzle platformers, "goat simulator" and all that shit that's out now. Just junk food. But only Nintendo is making games that you can play now and then play with your children a decade later and they'll still feel fresh, magical and current.

Also, Beyond Good and Evil 2 is looking like it is going to be picked up and published by Nintendo as an NX exclusive. Hell yeah.

Gary Sax wrote: I think GC looks better in retrospect than it did at the time.

I think so...I mean Metroid Prime and RE4 are often considered some of the greatest games of all time. Titles like Wind Waker and Smash Brothers Melee aren't far behind the conversation.

Oh, I also dug that MUSCLE game by AKI



Maybe I should get involved in this hacking thing. Frohike, tell me more...

Yeah, obviously, I've never been one to get caught up in 'most powerful'. I too, never really understood what that meant. I could play F-Zero GX just fine. What was the problem? Yeah, I'd still play any of these GC games today and doubt I'd feel like it was video gaming time poorly spent or that I was missing out because the system couldn't push some number of some technical mumble jumble that doesn't really matter.

Heck, right now I'm playing through Super Metroid (for the first time) and having a blast!

It's really a teenage boy thing. And a way that people try to validate the $200, $300, $400 whatever they spend on a console. Making the other guy's look "weaker" or smaller"...based on shaders, CPU speed, etc....who the fuck cares. I can assure you that at no point playing a Nintendo console have I felt that I was playing a "weak" or "worst" console. That is bullshit fabricated as marketing and also by the Internet. It all comes from that whole Atari/Intellivision rivalry...remember how Intellivision was presented as the more mature, sophisticated console (all that GOLD)? That lead into "Sega does what Nintendon't" ...bullshit corporate tribalism that only the weak-minded- and those looking to sell advertising space in magazines and web sites- really buy into.

Nintendo is the ONLY manufacturer of console hardware today that is a TOY maker. Sony and Microsoft are massive, multination corporations with relatively small entertainment wings. Why would anyone show any kind of "loyalty" or "fealty" to one console or the other?

It's different when Xbox One is announced and it looks like total shit with confused marketing messages and ham-handed attempts to make industry changes that benefit everyone but the consumer. That makes me say "no" to Microsoft, even with all of the backpedalling after the negative reaction. But PS4 is also my choice out of those because it is the console where most of the Japanese games that I like go to including many exclusives (like Bloodborne). I also feel like there is a healthier relationship there with independent developers. But I could give a fuck what CPU is in there, what the maximum anti-aliasing buffer is or whatever. Who gives a fuck. Digital Foundry, I guess, but not I.

It's like I've said before...if you love video games, Nintendo is the top choice. I went through a crisis of faith a few years ago and traded my first Wii U away...but literally the day I sent it out I was sad and regretted it. It is the ONLY time I have ever regretted trading or selling ANY console. Now I have 20 or so games for it, it's played almost every day by either me or my kids, and I'm looking forward to it lasting literally for all of my kids' time at home. PS4, will probably be traded in as soon as there is a successor available.

I am extremely excited for NX.

Michael Barnes wrote:
Where are 90% of the PS2 and Xbox games from that time period? Gone.

HOW CAN YOU SAY THIS?! Nintendo has FAR more shovelware than any other console. It is brutal. There are FAR more PS2 and Xbox games that have been remade HD versions from that era than Nintendo could ever dream of. I don't know how you can ignore such a deep and amazing list of games just because you like SOME of the Gamecube games.

And this is coming from a HUGE Gamecube fan. It was my favourite console of that generation even though I knew it was the weakest. Just because we like something doesn't mean we have to be stupid and ignorant about better things.