Current Events > Why are people trying to say the GCN was a flop/people hated it?

(+) Yeah! (+)

To my knowledge, it had plenty of acclaimed titles and wasn't a flop (at least not compared to say, the Wii U)

GameCube is shit. I hate it. I hate everything about what Nintendo was doing around that time, even though I bought in.

Two players makes sense. A four player console just lets me know my friend who owns it is spending time with other people.

It did undersell compared to it's competition iirc; I'd say it wasn't a complete success by Nintendo's sales record even if from the standpoint of gaming quality it had plenty of good games before it died.

The exclusive at the time Resident Evil games, Paper Mario Thousand Year Door, the Fire Emblem games, more Smash Bros, Mario Sunshine which was flawed but still a good game, Tales of Symphonia,,Skies of Arcadia remake, the Viewtiful Joe games. That's just off the top of my head.

It only sold 21.74 units

Supersex420 posted...

Two players makes sense. A four player console just lets me know my friend who owns it is spending time with other people.

yikes

It underperformed vs the #1 PS2 and didn't get all the hip/edgy games like GTA, definitely was easier to view it as the 'kiddier' console with that and the lunchbox design. But i think anything beyond that is console warriors crafting a narrative.

GameCube Nintendo?

During its lifespan it was considered a flop. It had great exclusives but was significantly gimped by its disc format.

Case in point

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/2/5/AAN5R1AAENH1.png

FatAnimeBooty posted...

It only sold 21.74 units

That is still a lot tho.
itd take forever to count to 21.74 million.

I mean it probably sold the least of all the competitors' consoles, and kinda got screwed over with some multi-platform/third-party titles.

That said I thought its existing library despite all that was really good.

At the time this felt true. We were besieged on all fronts by DVD loyalists, shovelware worshippers and casuals.
But we persevered.
Perhaps they wish to be thorough where they were once careless and finish what they started.

I feel bad that I didn't mention Eternal Darkness. And of course it had Mario Kart, Metroid Prime..2 Zelda games.. Luigi's Mansion which was short but fantastic. Animal Crossing, Killer 7, Baten Kaitos, Chibi Robo..

I had one at the time and didn't regret it.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

It's 100% the easy access to mashing A while your thumb is on one of the upper buttons. Famously useful for Smash Bros with jumping and such. Honestly I wouldn't mind seeing a return to that style of design idea in some modern controllers instead of everything just being symmetrical for the sake of it.

I typically buy Nintendo consoles for the core franchises, and between Wind Waker, Double Dash, Melee, and Metroid Prime, the Gamecube did not disappoint.

The only reason I don't regret getting a GameCube is because it was purchased for me along with all the games I ever owned for it

Supersex420 posted...

GameCube is shit. I hate it. I hate everything about what Nintendo was doing around that time, even though I bought in.

Two players makes sense. A four player console just lets me know my friend who owns it is spending time with other people.

The fuck is wrong with you lol

Best controller ever

VampireCoyote posted...

yikes

Murphiroth posted...

The fuck is wrong with you lol

Lmao

gmanthebest posted...

Best controller ever

Best intro too

The controller was literal garbage with the only praise being that it's better than most of the controllers that came after it for Nintendo systems

Great system with a solid library and one of the best controllers ever designed. I still play mine from time to time.

Dummies were into edgelord shit like Linkin Park, Godsmack, and Papa Roach so of course a purple lunchbox console wasn't going to sell like gangbusters compared to the other 2, which also had DVD drives.

It was generally considered to be a disappointment back when it was current. Most of the sequels to the N64's heavy hitters were weaker than their predecessors (Double Dash wasn't as good as MK64, Super Mario Sunshine wasn't as good as Super Mario 64, Wind Waker wasn't as good as Ocarina of Time, Star Fox Assault wasn't as good as Star Fox 64, etc.) It also missed out on a lot of the multiplatform titles that were on Xbox and PS2 due to the C-Stick being a terrible right-analog and the controller not having as many buttons as the other two consoles. It only had 2 games that supported online play, both from the same series, and you had to buy a modem and a weird-looking keyboard controller in order to play them. It just didn't have enough good games to keep players satisfied. Melee has not left GameFAQs' Top 10 Message Boards for Gamecube ever since it came out despite being a release title, mainly because there weren't enough big releases to dethrone it

The ABXY buttons were the best. There should have been a Z on the left side as well as the right and the d pad was useless, but the unique ABXY setup is the best of any controller.

I had a Gamecube and I loved it then and still do today. Plenty of great titles. Honestly the whole gen of PS2/GCN/XBOX was amazing for gaming. PS2 and GCN had plenty of amazing exclusives while XBOX only had a few good exclusives imo, but it had the best hardware by far and didn't require a memory card and was usually the best console to get the multi-plats on.

It was the last console I enjoyed before PC took over my time

Hambo posted...

The ABXY buttons were the best. There should have been a Z on the left side as well as the right and the d pad was useless, but the unique ABXY setup is the best of any controller.

Opinions like this are why.
Anyone who has ever held a GameCube controller for longer than 5 minutes and liked it can't be trusted.
It was fine for games designed for it, but for everything else in existence it's just the worst.

It underperformed in a time when harder-edged media was its zenith and importance of graphical power was a huge focus.

Gamecube has SSB Melee and the best F-Zero game. Can't hate on it.

Sales aside it had a pitiful game library, almost no 3rd party support and no online.....kind of.

Compared to the Xbox that had the most power and the best online and the ps2 that had the best library of games and doubled as a DVD player on top of it. The GCN had nothing going for it tbh.

I enjoyed mine for a few years but after running through all the games I just wish I owned one of the other two. It was the same story for the Wii, and WiiU.

I missed out on so many great games then it's not even funny.

Calling something a flop isn't a statement of its quality, it's a statement on if it met or exceeded commercial expectations or not.

A flop might be overstating reality, but the Gamecube definitely underperformed and could be called a mild flop. It having great games doesn't change that.

Obviously, it wasn't a Wii U level of flop, which itself also had some good games.

dur posted...

GameCube Nintendo?

Yeah wtf was the acronym that way

The GameCube was way better than the OG Xbox thats only good games were Ninja Gaiden (niche) and Halo 1/2. PS2 was completely ahead of them both. The issue was Nintendo was just bad at business at the time. They went with smaller discs and didnt pay out for enough 3rd party support. They also let Rare go. People try to say Nintendo once had a powerful console and it didnt work out for them when in reality Nintendo made bad choices when they had a powerful console.

FuriousFox posted...

Melee has not left GameFAQs' Top 10 Message Boards for Gamecube ever since it came out despite being a release title, mainly because there weren't enough big releases to dethrone it

That is absolutely not the main reason it's still there, competitive play is.

It was a flop. It sold like 20 million units. It is one of the worst Nintendo flops, only doing better than the Wii U and Virtual Boy.

That said I loved the library and thought it was awesome.

I got mine for the RE 1 remake and was not disappointed. It also gave us RE4 (which had superior graphics to the later PS2 port). Mini discs was a mistake though.

Prismsblade posted...

it had a pitiful game library

It really didn't though

Melee
Wind Waker
Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime 2
Custom Robo
Luigi's Mansion
F-Zero
Skies of Arcadia Legends (Dreamcast port but still not available on PS2 or XBOX)
Fire Emblem Path of Radiance
Mario Sunshine (I enjoyed it more than most apparently, didn't know it was so hated)
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil Remake
Eternal Darkness
F-Zero GX
Paper Mario TTYD
Star Fox Adventures (I liked the game, was just linear and the ending was just kind of a let down)
MGS Twin Snakes

I mean how can you say it had a shit library? To each their own

It was a flop by any conceivable commercial metric, but I don't think it was hated. If it was, it was mainly in the context of console wars. I do distinctly remember the GameCube suffering from lack of traction by the mid of its shelf life, with little or nothing relevant releasing after a few years.

EDIT: I suppose the "game library was lacking" observation is in comparison to the PS2's own, which, again, was advantaged by giving you more "value for buck" in the long run. But again, the highs of the Gamecube were undeniable; probably above Wii's best for me.

The PS2 shouldn't even be used as an example for Gamecube having a weak library considering PS2 had one of the densest quality libraries of any console ever. The Gamecube had a lot of great games, and still couldn't touch PS2's library...but most other systems couldn't either.

I love the GameCube, but Nintendo wasn't happy with its sales. It's a shame Nintendo crippled it with those dumb mini disks and refused to let it be used as a standard DVD player. Nintendo never tried having a decently powerful system again especially after the success of the Wii.

Would the GameCube has sold THAT much more if it used regular discs?

VGAddict90 posted...

Would the GameCube has sold THAT much more if it used regular discs?

Probably. There is a nontrivial amount of sales from Korea/China that only happened because of piracy. While it wouldn't matter elsewhere that much it would have definitely sold more consoles if the discs were more easily to pirate.

VGAddict90 posted...

Would the GameCube has sold THAT much more if it used regular discs?

It certainly would have helped since that helped drive the adoption rate of the PS2. People were buying it since it was a cheaper DVD player back when they were still expensive.

WaterLink posted...

It really didn't though

Melee
Wind Waker
Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime 2
Custom Robo
Luigi's Mansion
F-Zero
Skies of Arcadia Legends (Dreamcast port but still not available on PS2 or XBOX)
Fire Emblem Path of Radiance
Mario Sunshine (I enjoyed it more than most apparently, didn't know it was so hated)
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil Remake
Eternal Darkness
F-Zero GX
Paper Mario TTYD
Star Fox Adventures (I liked the game, was just linear and the ending was just kind of a let down)
MGS Twin Snakes

I mean how can you say it had a shit library? To each their own

Aside from MGS I either played and or beat everyone of these titles. Over the course of that console generation those weren't enough to keep a kid with near infinite free time occupied for long. Especially with no multiplayer to help pad it.

Phantasy star online was a thing but I never saw it available for rent. And even then I lacked the add on I think you needed for online play.

Master_Bass posted...

People were buying it since it was a cheaper DVD player back when they were still expensive.

Yeah this was probably one of the biggest things that hurt the GCN. My uncle never even played video games but he bought a PS2 simply because it was a DVD player. He was a former baseball pitcher that got as far as the minor leagues so he did end up buying an MLB game but that's all he had, it was mostly just a DVD player for him. If the Gamecube had DVD compatibility I think the sales would have been better, even if it would have required a higher price tag. The GCN was what, $50-$100 cheaper? DVD players were going for more than that back then so a GCN+DVD player purchased separately were more expensive combined than just buying a PS2.

Prismsblade posted...

Aside from MGS I either played and or beat everyone of these titles. Over the course of that console generation those weren't enough to keep a kid with near infinite free time occupied for long. Especially with no multiplayer to help pad it.

You mean online multiplayer? Because there were multiplayer games though yes it didn't really have much online support. The games I just listed were exclusives, or at least timed exclusives in the case of RE4 and maybe a couple others. There were still multi-plats you could get like the James Bond games or Tony Hawk games or sports games, and more that had local multiplayer.