Comments on: Why the Gamecube Failed

By: mike

mike — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 20:38:59 +0000

i still love the gamecube, and i still play it today.. but they should have made it dvd compatible at launch (yea panasonic made another one, but thats different) and they should have done lots of things different.. but i still love my black & my silver cube.. and oh well..

i thank them for

MGS twin snakes
RE1 (remake)
RE0

amen.

By: Austin

Austin — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 01:06:55 +0000

It’s funny reading this article in 2011, because all the comments say the Wii will fail too. The Wii knew it’s market, knew what it wanted to be. It wanted to be casual and family-friendly, and offered games for people of all ages. Also, it was incredibly innovative with the Wiimote and all and used the ‘blue ocean’ strategy, something the cube couldn’t do.

By: Varicose Veins :

Varicose Veins : — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 07:30:06 +0000

wether it is gamecumbe or nintendo wii, what matters is great graphics and ergonomics,”;

By: Bar Fridge `

Bar Fridge ` — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 17:10:40 +0000

i love both the gamecube and the nintendo DS, two of the best stuff you can get*-,

By: Fear The Claw

Fear The Claw — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 17:48:07 +0000

It’s nice to see the GameCube’s failures enumerated by a fan of the system. It’s true, the GameCube has a lot going for it, and a lot of potential, but Nintendo was stuck between trying to hold onto their family-friendly image and playing catch up to a generation of gamers who were growing up and looking for something to match their maturity levels.

The shame of the whole situation is, with the Wii’s success, and being 100% backwards compatible with all GameCube games and accessories (with the notable and unfortunate exception of the Game Boy Player), Nintendo should be pushing the fact that there is a huge library of quality, classic, and cheap games out there for it, some of which truly broke the mold. Instead we’ve got Wii owners who have no idea what the GameCube is, or that incredible exclusives like Wind Waker, Eternal Darkness, MGS: The Twin Snakes, and Rogue Leader exist and are fully compatible with their little white waggle box.

By: Lola Allen

Lola Allen — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:23:08 +0000

I like both the Gamecube and Xbox, we have them in our home office and also in our living room.’;’

By: Metal Babble

Metal Babble — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 20:13:39 +0000

I think we have to be clear about the definition of failure.

Was the GameCube a failure becuase it failed to satisfy the “so-called” hardcore gamers? Or was it a failure becuase it didn’t give Nintendo the “numero uno” spot?, or maybe because it was a financial disaster? BTW – none of those are true.

The GameCube was a pefect machine to quickly pick-up a game without jeopardizing your school/job/relationship, whatever, etc. You’ll see that a testament to that will be the longevity of it’s games through the Wii.

True gamers don’t care what their console looks like or that the competition says that their console is for kids. Don’t let mainstream perception dictate your taste; if I like a game, I’d buy the platform just to play the game.

In the business aspect, the console didn’t sell to Nintendo’s projected numbers, but it was profitable; I do agree that some decisions (such as Luigi’s Mansion) as a launch title were not the best.

And by the way, Nintendo will always be perceived as the “kiddie platform” because they’ve found a formula that works and its competitors will always play that card to the mainstream.

Focus in the games, no matter your favorite platform (Xbox, PSX or whatever) – Let the memorable moments in gaming define your satisfaction.

Happy Gaming.

By: m.a.

m.a. — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 11:04:16 +0000

When all is said and done the “Kiddy” thing is just a problem for the agegroup 12 to 20. Beyond that you should be grown up enough not to bother if a game (or a system) makes you look “kiddy” in front of your friends. A good game is a good game is a good game.

Gamecubes real problem was third party support which basically stemmed from THE main problem every console has had since the age of the dinosaurs: headstart.

Look at last generation: PS2 came out first and was the biggest success.

Look at this generation: Xbox360 came out first and is the biggest success.

For the others there is just scraps. Nintendo made the right choice by no longer trying to compete with the other consoles and instead focusing on new market segments that are just not touched by XBox360 or PS3. What really counts for the company is MONEY. They are not in this market because they like us so much – they want to earn a fair buck.

If Nintendo ever get back in the techrace (I sure hope they don’t and instead focus on making games that are actually fun) their best bet is to get out of the gate first. It’s always worked before.

By: maunders

maunders — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 23:49:10 +0000

Cori, I’m glad that your family has had such a good experience with the GameCube. I’m sure you’ll have just as much fun playing together on the Wii, if not more.

By: cori

cori — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 22:11:58 +0000

Hmm.

I’ll have to disagree with the whole failure bit. Now obviously I can’t speak to what Nintendo wanted to get out of the GC, so maybe it was a failure to them. I’m also not a big gamer – I play a few games a couple of times a week, that’s all.

That said, the GameCube was a huge success for me, personally, for 2 reasons:
1) price – it was priced right for what I wanted
2) kids – the gamecube is absolutely perfect for me, a dad with 2 pre-teen kids. It offers a *great* mix of games that my kids love and get hours and hours of play from. If the Wii is able to reproduce that, they’ll have us as customers again in a year or so.