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GameCube's Timeline, Accomplishments Charted
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?
Nintendo plays it safe for the most part. The GameCube continues a long tradition of building a good, reliable console that plays games. Plain and simple. And the games aren't bad. I enjoy mine. Metroid Prime rules, Wind Waker is highly enjoyable, and Viewtiful Joe is amazing. What's not to love? I think the pros heavily outweigh the cons. There's just too much focus from game critics on the marketshare. What does marketshare matter when your games are good, sales are good (doens't have to be the #1 seller to remain profitable), and you keep rolling out original titles (Crystal Chronicles as the most recent example). I think Nintendo is here to stay for quite some time. They definitely have not made the mistakes Sega made. They still have good brand-indentity.
Nintendo has always had Mario, Zelda, and Metroid. I never had a SNES, but I've played all the way through every NES, N64 and GC version of each of the three series, and ALWAYS look forward to the next ones. Why? It's all about the characters. Which is also why I love Super Smash Bros. Melee so much, despite the fact that I never really liked any other combat-type game (Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, etc.).
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.
Net result: there might be one, maybe two, games on the PS2 I can find in a hurry that I can't get on the Gamecube that I'm interested in. But there's at least three games on the GC that aren't available on the PS2 that interest me: Metroid Prime, Pikmin, and Eternal Darkness. That makes the decision a no-brainer.
I go where the games are. This round, that's Nintendo. Next round, who knows? But I expect the GameCube to give me good gaming for quite some time yet.
Why do I love my GameCube?
;)
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.
"Are you being weird, or sarcastic?" said Emma. I said I didn't know because I get the two feelings mixed up.
This guy's nuts. Grape Nuts. He could have titled the article, "Many flawed reasons why I don't like the GameCube."
....to Steven L. Kent, I'm sure.
"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
Er... Online play is a necessity?
I keep hearing this repeated again and again, by both 'professional' critics, and online experts debating the various consoles. But if you look at the numbers, it just doesn't add up. When compared to the installed user base, or compared to the sales of blockbuster(or near blockbuster) game titles, the numbers of consoles being used online is rather pitiful.
This isn't to say that going online is a bad step for a console, but the reality of the current situation is that a very vocal minority are hyping the concept, but the majority are rather lukewarm to it. If online consoles were the must have killer app that people make them out to be, then the Dreamcast should have done a lot better. The XBox should be overtaking the PS2, not losing to the Cube in Japan, and fighting on fairly even footing across the rest of the world. If online console gaming is such a killer app, then XBox live subscriptions should be through the roof.
A good online system is definitely a benefit to a console. Currently, in the console market online gaming sells, but it's not the sort of issue that makes or breaks a deal yet. The market for online consoles is definitely improving, and growing and one day a strong online function will be a requirement for a console, but given the current numbers that day hasn't occured yet.