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Key Publishers Scaling Back GameCube Titles, Zelda Sequel Hints
Thanks to Gamesindustry.biz for its article discussing the list of specific games and publishers going without GameCube support, mentioning: "Joining the swelling ranks of publishers without any Cube titles in their portfolios (which already includes the likes of Acclaim and Eidos) is Lucasarts, which currently has no titles for the platform on its internal schedules." It goes on to note: "While support from Japanese publishers remains strong... Western third-party support for the Cube is facing a serious decline this year." Elsewhere, 1UP reports that a Game Developer's Conference lecture by Nintendo's Eiji Aonuma had oblique news on a GameCube Zelda sequel, since he "showed in his presentation a slide reading 'Wind Waker 2: 2XXX,' so we can expect to play the game within the next 996 years." Aonuma also "strongly hinted at the prospect of a new Legend of Zelda or Zelda-related game for the DS."
But it's worth saying again.
Relevent Penny Arcade Comic
People always talk about how Playstation and XBox have more games than the GCN. They sure do, but have you seen those games? They are all the random, crappy, hollywood licensed, violence without gameplay, total crap games. On the GameCube you have to compete with Nintendo to sell software and so very few developers can hold a candle.
When a Nintendo game comes out for the GCN it sells zillions. When other games come out for the cube the players compare them to the Nintendo games they have and say "screw that! it isn't worth my money or time." So what you get on the cube is quality before quantity. If you stop making games for the cube your only two possible reasonings can be these
1) You're stupid
2) You can't compete with Nintendo in quality.
3rd parties can succeed on the cube *cough*soul calibur 2*cough*. Cube owners are just too smart to buy stupid generic movie based game number 3.
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I have thought about this for a while. Wasn't the gamecube one of the best selling systems over the past holiday season? Is so you would think publishers would be drooling over game releases for the 'cube.
Or does Nintendo hold some kind of draconian hold over development houses that want to make gamecube games? Restrictive licenses, exorbitant fees, overly complicated SDK's, etc. There are many ways Nintendo could be making it difficult, but you wonder for what purpose?
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When's the next platform due - 2005? That's a year or so away. If developers were abandoning a future system before it hit the market, Nintendo would be in trouble. Right now they can just coast to the next system on sequels to their best games (Metroid 2, Wind Waker 2, Mario Tennis).
That was sarcasm.
You mean I cant play crappy, repetative, inane, consumerist based Starwars games with poor writing on the gamecube?!
OH NO!!
Oh well, I still dont own a gamecube yet. Gotta get one and play through metroid.
I already posted my thoughts on lucasarts.
no
I read elsewhere that the presentation said the date was 200X.
I have a GC. I love it. I also have a PS2, which I love, but I spend more time with the GC. I know a lot of folks with two systems.
I don't think the GC was originally meant to be a secondary system, but it is cheap enough that it works well as one. And as a second system, the titles that matter are the unique ones. And Nintendo has a lot of great titles that are unique to the platform.
As an aside, some people say that they are not innovative since the same characters are used, but I don't see why they care. Even if Super Monkey Ball 2 still has a monkey in a ball, it is still a blast to play, and the same with Mario Cart, Super Smash Brothers, and other titles. The game play is fun, and for a game that is the important part.
Hyperbole is the worst thing ever.
Curse you for thinking a word means what everybody else (except for the quy who wrote that summary) thinks it means!
There is one key difference between the GameCube and the Dreamcast, Nintendo managed to make a profit.
Now this has been in more doubt lately when they reported a loss for the quarter before the price cut, but overall Nintendo has managed to make a profit out of all their operations.
Sega, on the other hand was losing money for years leading up to the Dreamcast's demise. The problem wasn't just the Dreamcast, the problem was Sega. They had lost a lot on previous consoles as well.
If Nintendo can continue to make a profit as the number two console, they will probably continue that indefinitely. Sure, they'd like to be number one, but as long as they make profits they'll take it. No one's saying their number one, but they're not bleeding cash, either.
If, however, Nintendo continues to lose developers, there is the possibility of a problem further down the road. But I think most developers will see the next Nintendo as a freash start, and if it has the specs that they need, they'll be just as quick to sign back up again.
The GameCube is now Nintendo's cash cow. They're trying to milk it for all it's worth at this point by releasing sequels and nothing terribly innovative (which would be tied to expensive R+D). They'll get some cash out of their game sales untill the next console comes out, but they're not out to rule the world.
But the other games are innovative, because they have different names than the Nintendo games! Ugh.
Some people really seem to think that it's a bad idea to take a risk on innovation (even though they don't mean innovation, just new trademarks) when you can just improve on something everybody already loves. Doing the tried-and-true thing is generally better business, and generally produces better product.
Of course, the characters in the games are largely meaningless, except for their contribution to the atmosphere. The fact is that Nintendo's games--even the games using old characters--are the most innovative, high-quality games out there. They're always trying something new. Even the water jet in Mario Sunshine was pretty out there, considering the absolutely massive effect it had on gameplay.
Bah, I personally don't care if lots of developers start ignoring my Cube. I probably wouldn't have bought their games anyway. The only two third-party GameCube games I own at the moment are Rogue Leader (developed by Factor 5) and Viewtiful Joe. The Nintendo games are just better, and I doubt anybody, corporation or consumer, is really going to suffer from this at all.
Elsewhere, 1UP reports that a Game Developer's Conference lecture by Nintendo's Eiji Aonuma had oblique news on a GameCube Zelda sequel, since he "showed in his presentation a slide reading 'Wind Waker 2: 2XXX,' so we can expect to play the game within the next 996 years."
I don't think "2XXX" is referring to a generic release date, but is actually part of the title. I think it means that there's going to be adult content in the game, like Zelda and Link porn. The '2' just means that it's going to be twice as hardcore as the nudity in "BMX XXX".
If publishers are dropped GCN games, it's because they are preparing their titles for the next gen Nintendo system. Nintendo has made it known that they want to be first 'out of the gates' with their system, so it would seem logical that they have dev kits ready for it and have distributed them to developers. Hence, the companies are moving their game ideas to the new system.
;-)
I hope I'm right
(which already includes the likes of Acclaim and Eidos)
No, it does not include Acclaim. It was reported that they were dropping support for the GameCube, but the *same day* they clarified that this was wrong, they were merely no longer going to release every game on every platform. A check of their website shows upcoming GameCube games, including one that's not coming out for the PS2.
Nintendo makes extremely innovative games. They just put the same characters in all of them. I love the Nintendo franchises, so I think this approach is fantastic.
It's ridiculous to declare that the new Zelda game won't be innovative based only on the title.
I'd rather be lucky than good.
Codemasters have never supported the GC, so how can they pull out?
LucasArts have not dropped the GC, this is pure speculation.
Neither have Ubisoft.
EA are only going to release one football game on the GC this year (FIFA 2005) instead of two. Holy shit, man the lifeboats.
GI.biz and Eurogamer are already well known as sites with a vendetta against the Gamecube.
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The only 'new' information in this article is that EA isn't planning on publishing a European football game on the 'Cube.
... to work on the N5.
... Maybe he meant Midway.
... Wake me up when the next Metroid and Zelda games get cancelled, or at least fail to sell a million copies.
Umm, so? The 'Cube isn't selling terribly in Europe, which is a large part of the non-Madden-type football-game-buying market. I can hardly say I blame them.
Lucasarts has no games scheduled for this year? Well, it's fairly well known that Factor 5 is working on a Pilot Wings sequel for the next Nintendo system, so in that sense they've dropped support for the 'Cube
Codemasters isn't releasing any 'Cube games? You mean they made it out of the '80s alive? Why should I care again?
After those few factoids, the author of the article apparently had to flesh it out with the usual "so and so has also dropped support, as has such and such," but then they don't even get those facts straight. Acclaim is still working on Gamecube titles
Pointless article, author didn't even do rudimentary fact-checking
--Jeremy
Jesus was a liberal