GameCube's Timeline, Accomplishments Charted 154
Thanks to GameSpy for its article charting the progress of Nintendo's GameCube console from launch to the present day, as part of an ongoing series that has also included the Xbox. The piece starts with the bold statement: "Despite being the wrong product at the wrong time, Nintendo's durable GameCube game console has demonstrated lasting power in a market for which it was not well targeted", and ends by noting: "GameCube will certainly end this generation in second place internationally -- the virtual shutout that Xbox received in Japan settles that part of the race, and it may yet challenge Microsoft in the U.S. and European markets." What's your view of the success of the GameCube and its software titles in the current console generation?
all about the characters (Score:5, Interesting)
I haven't even bothered looking at an Xbox, but we've got a PS2, of which my gf is a huge fan, mostly for the Final Fantasy series. And yeah, the graphics are nice, but the character movement & game play just doesn't seem as fluid - especially the camera controls. Started playing Ratchet & Clank a while ago, and after being used to Mario & Zelda 64 camera controls, I find the 'set camera behind you' interface to be horribly disorienting. Not to mention the damn controller- every time it says to push square, circle, triangle, or X, I have to look down. I've never had a problem finding A/B/X/Y, and w/ color-coded screen icons representing the buttons, they're even easier to find. Better control, better characters, better games.
Re:I have 10 games for the cube (Score:4, Interesting)
That means something. It's actually pretty interesting, as I see it. Now, most of those relatively few games everybody has are the same--I know about thirty GameCube owners and every single one has SSB:M. Anyway, it means that the games are so damn good you only need a few.
If this were the case for Sony or Microsoft, it would really suck for them. If overall better games means overall less sales, it also means less profit. Which is an interesting paradox, isn't it? But Nintendo's first-party focus makes this work! The games that they make, and ultimately take ALL the profit for, are the ones that sell like mad. I'm sure they get much more money from five first-party sales than ten third-party.
Ultimately they can let their customers spend less, yet get to keep more themselves.
Is there something wrong with this analysis? It really looks almost too good to be true.
I love my GameCube (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, it has the exclusive Mario Kart on it, which I love. It has the exclusive Animal Crossing on it, which made me late for work on many an occasion and ate well over 40 hours of time each from my wife's life and from mine. It also has the only non-Nintendo-specific games I wanted, which are The Simpsons: Hit 'n Run and all of the Tony Hawk series (my wife, inexplicably, LOVES the Tony Hawk series and kicks my ass on a regular basis.)
So, it plays exclusive games I love, it plays the multi-console games I want, the controller fits my hand well (including the wavebird wireless), it tucks unobtrusively into a corner of my entertainment center, and it was c-h-e-a-p.
Finally, when my wife gives birth to our first child, I know I can throw the GameCube in the closet and pull it out a few years later and introduce them to Pikmin, Animal Crossing, and other non-violent games.
It is, in short, a great family-oriented middle of the road box with just enough hardcore game titles to keep this mid-30-year-old satisfied. Kind of the Atari 2600 of current consoles.
Plus it's blue. I like blue.
Re:The only thing lacking. (Score:3, Interesting)
Really, a realistic racing game (or a realistic anything) doesn't seem like something Nintendo would put high on its agenda, and so really shouldn't be something a GameCube owner is looking for.
To me, saying a Nintendo system is lacking a good realistic racing game is like...like saying my BMW lacks guided missile launchers. It would be nice to have, but come on, was anybody really expecting otherwise?
Re:Nintendo hasn't messed up the formula (Score:4, Interesting)
My opinion (Score:1, Interesting)
I mean, people can copy PS2 and XBOX games. Most people don't, but they know it's possible. Doesn't that play an important role in making the system more popular ?
I'm not for piracy, but I think the possibility can be a real marketing argument.
Nintendo rules all (Score:1, Interesting)
Anyone else amused by this? (Score:5, Interesting)
Steven L. Kent, crack fiend (Score:5, Interesting)
"Despite being the wrong product at the wrong time,"
Ohhhh-kay. Instant glove slap. That's GameSpy's casual sensationalism for you.
"....the market shifted toward older audiences with less toy-like tastes...."
Yes. Let's talk about "the market." The same "market" that is composed largely of children, PARENTS, and gamers who have been playing since they themselves were chilren. The same "market" that keeps Pokemon at or near the top of the sales charts in any given region for multiple-month stretches each time. The same "market" that has caused the GameBoy platform (of all things) to be the longest running and most popular purely gaming platform ever.
Zip forward temporarily to 2002:
"June 23rd: Eternal Darkness ships to very disappointing sales. Only 300,000 copies are sold.
August 25th: Super Mario Sunshine ships and becomes the number 10 best-selling game of the year with over 1.5 million copies sold."
Would Mr. Kent like to explain how such a game with a "kiddy" image, not to mention one that many (not myself) consider a sub-standard Mario game, outsold such a high-quality game obviously targeted at adults by so large a margin? This only proves either that adults can enjoy colorful games, nullifying the "games for everyone = kiddy" stereotype, or that pandering to adults is not a pre-requisite to success. Win-win for Nintendo.
"When, in 2001, Nintendo unveiled the indigo box with the big black handle, Nintendo executives looked a bit like a well-meaning uncle presenting a Barbie doll to his 15-year-old niece."
More like a boombox that can play whatever she chooses.
"GameCube seemed doomed from the start."
"PlayStation 2, which had backwards compatibility with original PlayStation games and a huge list of exclusive titles, was viewed as the system with the best library and the most chic."
False. For over a year after its North American launch (the period of which Mr. Kent speaks), the PS2's library was lackluster and meager.
"....even after lowering the price of its system hardware to $99 and outselling Microsoft in 2003, GameCube did not catch up to Xbox."
Spin. Here Steven turns a positive point about a current ongoing trend into a negative point about past performance.
"....Yamauchi's comment that, "Nintendo is planning to make the Game Boy and its Advance successor the company's top priority." seemed cavalier. In retrospect, it was merely prophetic."
This seemed cavalier to whom? Those who chose not to believe him? Those who chose to ignore the fact that GameBoy sales had helped subsidize Nintendo 64 production and sales throughout its lifetime? The then-head of the company makes statements that Steven fails to understand completely almost six years later (which end up being true), and this only "merely" seems prophetic to him? Looks to me like Yamauchi really IS crazy like a fox, while Mr. Kent is just crazy.
"PlayStation 2 goes on sale in North America and stores cannot keep up with demand until March, 2001."
He (hopefully) means that SONY couldn't keep up with demand. Retailers had nothing to do with it. It was a production problem, plain and simple. Sony was either (A) deceptive enough create an artificial scarcity to increase demand, or (B) incompetent enough not to be able to gauge the market and/or keep up with market demand. Considering the low build quality of first-generation N. American PS2s, either scenario is credible.
"Many Christmas shoppers who came in looking for an Xbox or a GameCube likely settled with PlayStation 2, giving PlayStation 2 a huge install base lead at the end of the holidays."
And vice versa. This is a non-point that Mr. Kent tries to turn into a negative against the GameCube. Why?
"By the end of 2003, Nintendo's decision to
Re:all about the characters (Score:3, Interesting)
The heritage of Nintendo is definately one of the main appeals of Smash Bros, but don't sell the game short: it has a really unique play mechanic that no other fighter really has, the whole knock the opponent up up and away, and that has some cool side benefits like making the layout of the levels much more important than in a typical 2D or even 3D fighter. Combined with the huge amount of weapons and surprisingly balanced yet amazing diverse characters, and it would be a great (if less compelling) game even w/o the known characters.
If you have a Dreamcast, you might also enjoy Powerstone 2, which is also 4 player mayhem, but more 3D feeling.
Re:Nintendo hasn't messed up the formula (Score:2, Interesting)
Although their target market seems to be kids, they create games with such amazing gameplay, design, and detail that they appeal to people of all ages (in addition, they seem to be expanding their target market with games such as nightmare and the resident evil games). They've cultivated brand identity and brand loyalty, and they've even created a sense of community with their website and their magazine, Nintendo Power.
Innovation? I'd say the original Gameboy was quite amazing (I spent HOURS playing my mom and my friends in head to head tetris), and now with the gameboy integration into gamecube games (a la windwaker and FF:CC). I believe that the windwaker was also one of the first if not the first console game to use cell shading (quite a risk to mess with a game with such a fanbase).
As a business entity, Nintendo remains strong and is still turning a profit (although recent profits have been negatively impacted by a declining $). While they make take a loss on their gamecube, they're able to make up for it with software sales. Think of it like a mach3. You buy the razor cheap, but they get you with the blades. In addition, the gameboy and its' software still sells quite well.
I think Nintendo will be around for quite some time.
Re:I have 10 games for the cube (Score:2, Interesting)