Topic: Does anyone else wish the Wii had the portability of the Gamecube?

[Mop it up]

Eh, several people I know have had issues with Wii too, including internal memory corruption, which seems more common than disc drive issues. Look around the Internet, too. Hey, look around these forums. How many people have had their Wii repaired? Quite a few. How many have had issues with a GameCube? None that I saw.

[that Baby guy]

It's because the Wii gets really dusty, and nobody ever seems to take the time to dust it off.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Eh, several people I know have had issues with Wii too, including internal memory corruption, which seems more common than disc drive issues. Look around the Internet, too. Hey, look around these forums. How many people have had their Wii repaired? Quite a few. How many have had issues with a GameCube? None that I saw.

Both my Wii and Gamecube have went out. I needed to replace both.

[Adrock]

How about a detachable cord? That's a very good idea for another reason too, because the Sensor Bar's cord is very thin and easily ripped/cut/torn/etc. Being detachable means that it could also be replaceable with a new cord, without having to throw out the whole sensor bar.

My cat was being a b-face and chewed through my original sensor bar cord a couple years ago. I ordered another one from Nintendo for $15, but also ended up getting a wireless one made by Nyko. It's worked pretty well so far. You can even set it to turn off after an hour or 2 so it doesn't kill the battery if you forget to turn it off.

Anywho, my Wii corrupted a Gamecube memory card. I haven't used it to play Gamecube games since.

[NWR_insanolord]

There are always and have always been hardware failures; the rise of the internet just brought them more attention. You hear more about it with Wiis than with GameCubes because Nintendo sold a lot more Wiis than GameCubes. We'd all agree that the DS is a well-designed, well-put-together piece of hardware, but that doesn't change the fact that I've had 5 of them (a Phat, 3 Lites, and a DSi) break on me, in 5 different ways.

[Mop it up]

That's true, plus the Wii sold a lot more than the GameCube so there's a lot more of them out there to break. Unless statistics are ever posted then there's no way to know which system has had more problems.

Still, one needn't look past the design of the Wii to see it's less durable. Compared to GameCube, the Wii has more components, more moving parts, and runs much hotter, all in a smaller space. You don't need performance tests to know that's less durable. Sure, it still beats the other systems, but that's only because it is a lot less technologically advanced.

[Chozo Ghost]

I hate to say it, but its also true that for a lot of owners the GC didn't see much use at certain periods in its life due to a very severe drought of games. That was expecially true late in its life (2004-2006). No use meant no wear, so that was certainly a factor.

[Mop it up]

The Wii had game droughts too, depending on taste. What did people play before Super Mario Galaxy? Didn't people complain about the weak 2008 holiday season followed by no notable games in most of 2009?

The GameCube depends on taste too. I enjoyed later releases like Mario Party 7, Mario Superstar Baseball, Paper Mario, TimeSplitters Future Perfect, Tales of Symphonia, and more.

[NWR_insanolord]

That's true, plus the Wii sold a lot more than the GameCube so there's a lot more of them out there to break. Unless statistics are ever posted then there's no way to know which system has had more problems.

Still, one needn't look past the design of the Wii to see it's less durable. Compared to GameCube, the Wii has more components, more moving parts, and runs much hotter, all in a smaller space. You don't need performance tests to know that's less durable. Sure, it still beats the other systems, but that's only because it is a lot less technologically advanced.

Yeah, when there are more things that can go wrong, more things will go wrong. I don't think the Wii's lower failure rate is just because of its older technology, though. Nintendo has always had better build quality than its competitors, even with the same, or even higher, level of tech.

[UncleBob]

Out of all my time with my five GameCubes and two Wiis, I've never had a GameCube fail (and four of those were purchased used).  I've had one of my Wiis fail (and I haven't even had the other for more than a month).  0% failure rate of the GCN.  50% failure rate for the Wii. :p

[TJ Spyke]

My Wii never failed in the 3 years I had it (it was stolen earlier this year), my launch GameCube eventually stopped reading all discs (and GameStop only offered $20 because of that).

[Kytim89]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inXT-CPWoHk
 
This video should prove that Gamecube is industructable.  :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3-PwYuYz9k&feature=related

I find that I would like to have thaat battle damaged Gamecube for some reason.

What are some hypotheical tests that any of you would use to test the durability Gamecube? Here is a list:

Drag behind a car coasting at ten MPH via a cord
Left under a heat lamp for twenty-four hours
Left out in a rain storm and left to dry out for three days

[MegaByte]

Sure, it's anecdotal, but I bought my first GameCube from a friend who had accidentally left it on top of their car before going down the interstate, where it fell off.  All of the corners were scraped up, but the system still ran perfectly.  My Wii had problems from the get-go.  It might not be having 360 levels of failure, but it's still not the same Nintendo quality of the past.

[Kytim89]

What kind of aesthical desigh would everyone like to see of the wii 2? Not hardware itself, but the body or shell of the wii 2. I have already stated what I invision the wii 2 looking like when it is revealed.

[King of Twitch]

shell

That's a brilliant idea. I'd love a koopa shell-shaped console.

[UncleBob]

Future Nintendo System design... It's entirely hand held, games are 100% downloadable (with super-crappy DRM).  System has screens and buttons, but also has a wireless receiver that you can plug into a TV to play games on the TV while the system acts as your controller.

[Chozo Ghost]

When you make stuff smaller it almost always makes it more destructable. Check out those old computers from the 1940s that were the size of houses. Do you think those broke easily? You could probably pound on them with a hammer without destroying them... but now we have cell phones far more powerful that can fit in your pocket. Try hitting one of them with a hammer and see what happens.

So that's the downside (or one downside anyway) of technology getting smaller and smaller.

[MegaByte]

I'm pretty sure my Droid is way more durable than the Wii, and possibly the DS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh2g7AIHdc8

[GoldenPhoenix]

When you make stuff smaller it almost always makes it more destructable. Check out those old computers from the 1940s that were the size of houses. Do you think those broke easily? You could probably pound on them with a hammer without destroying them... but now we have cell phones far more powerful that can fit in your pocket. Try hitting one of them with a hammer and see what happens.

So that's the downside (or one downside anyway) of technology getting smaller and smaller.

So the DS and GB series of handhelds are more destructible then the SNES or NES (or even the Wii?)? Or the new cellphones are more destructible then the walkie talkie sized phones? Or a PDA is more destructible then some of the original PC towers? Heck

I am not sure, your statement has much truth to it.

[ThePerm]

Eh, I still think the NES easily beats the Wii in terms of durability. I mean, mine's over twenty years old and still works fine. Sure, I replaced the 72-pin connector, but that wasn't until only a few years back, and it technically still worked, just not very well. That replacement was pretty easy and cost $8. The Wii, on the other hand, lasted only two-and-a-half years before it needed a repair from normal use, and that sure wasn't cheap. That's a pathetic amount of time.

I agree, i bought a replacement 72-pin connector as well, and aside from that issue the NES is built like a tank. Wii seems much more breakable then the other systems because the type of plastic they used. N64 is probably the most durable one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EYAfQds1cs

[TJ Spyke]

When you make stuff smaller it almost always makes it more destructable. Check out those old computers from the 1940s that were the size of houses. Do you think those broke easily? You could probably pound on them with a hammer without destroying them... but now we have cell phones far more powerful that can fit in your pocket. Try hitting one of them with a hammer and see what happens.

So that's the downside (or one downside anyway) of technology getting smaller and smaller.

Those computers usually required at least one person to be employed whose sole job was to maintain them since they broke down often and required a lot of upkeep.

Has anyone ever seen the Ironix XR 1 Rugged Notebook? There are similar laptops too, check out YouTube videos to see what people put them through. They run over them with trucks, leave them out in the rain, leave them out in 120 degree heat for several days, etc. and show that they still work perfectly.

[Kytim89]

Eh, I still think the NES easily beats the Wii in terms of durability. I mean, mine's over twenty years old and still works fine. Sure, I replaced the 72-pin connector, but that wasn't until only a few years back, and it technically still worked, just not very well. That replacement was pretty easy and cost $8. The Wii, on the other hand, lasted only two-and-a-half years before it needed a repair from normal use, and that sure wasn't cheap. That's a pathetic amount of time.

I agree, i bought a replacement 72-pin connector as well, and aside from that issue the NES is built like a tank. Wii seems much more breakable then the other systems because the type of plastic they used. N64 is probably the most durable one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EYAfQds1cs

Nintendo needs to make the plastic of the wii 2 as strong as the N64. That console seems almost bullet proof!

[greybrick]

Anything can be solar-powered, it converts the sunlight into electricity.

Are they cost effective enough for Nintendo to use on a wireless sensor bar?

It would need to have a battery anyways, so that wouldn't be cost effective. Plus, you would need a very special panel to be able to broadcast a wireless signal, and output two heat sources all from the lighting in your room.

[MegaByte]

The sensor bar doesn't broadcast anything, and infrared, while an indicator of heat, doesn't require much of a "heat source" when your LEDs are tuned to that wavelength.

[Guitar Smasher]

I'm not really familiar with the typical failure modes for Wii (disc-drive? bad memory? overheating?), but somehow I don't think the plastic is the reason.

I certainly haven't heard of a situation where the console broke because of structural failure, without it going through unusual abuse.