Topic: GC technical problems in comparison to other systems.

[Thepeug]

On average, how does the GCN fare concerning technical problems in comparison to XBox and PS2?  I've heard that the PS2 has frequent problems, but I don't own one.  My GC used to freeze every now and then, and it was only a year old.  My Xbox has never had any problems.  Does anyone have access to statistics comparing the frequency of problems on the three systems, or any personal experience with technical problems on the GC?  

[ruby_onix]

I don't have any stats, but I can explain the basics to you.

Every disk-based system has moving parts and is subject to breaking and "disk read errors" (DREs).

A DVD player that reads both CDs and DVDs is usually supposed to have two lasers inside of it, because DVD and CD operate on different wavelengths. In order to make the PS2 backwards-compatible, Sony had to make the PS2 able to read CDs. But instead of doing it the typical way and including a second laser, Sony made a cheaper "dual wavelength" laser that could "shift" between the two modes. It's apparently a cheap piece of crap that's prone to breaking. If it breaks, you'll either lose your abilitly to read CDs (which doesn't just affect the backwards compatibility, because some smaller PS2-native games have been on CD) or DVDs, or both.

Sony made a newer version of the PS2 called a "50,000-series" which has a quieter fan and a quieter motor. They might have improved the durability of the laser for this model.

But then, Sony made the new smaller-model PS2 which people are calling a "PStwo", and most people suspect that it's extremely flimsy all-around, as the redesigned PSone was, even if some key parts like the laser might not be.

For the XBox, the thing to understand is that there are three seperate DVD drives being made for it by three different companies, called the Phillips, Thompson, and Samsung. Each model has it's own seperate quality debates, but generally they're all supposed to be better than the PS2.

The GameCube's drive is... ummm... good?

[Thepeug]

Thanks for the info, ruby.  I didn't know about any of those differences, though I had heard of the Thompson XBox before.

[TMW]

Whats this I hear about Sony supposedly "forgetting" to put cooling fans in the new slim PStwos?  Vicious rumor, or hilarious fact?  

[KDR_11k]

Well, they ARE silent but I'd chalk that up to such old hardware not needing active cooling.

[Renny]

The Slim PS2 definitely has a fan. Do you mean some of the production models missed getting fans?

[BlkPaladin]

The Gamecube has a Panasonic drive in it, and I'm not too sure about the quality of their normal DVD drives but it seems it works pretty well for the Gamecube. I'm only on the second only because I bought the Gamecube when it first came out and it had a defect prone to first run systems. Now I have two Gamecubes at home and both work very well. (I had to two since its the most played system of the three console types I have.)

[Dirk Temporo]

In my years of owning the Gamecube (I've had it since it came out), I've had a single error. That was with Metroid Prime, and it happened once a few months ago, and hasn't happened since. My friend however, he's had a PS2 the same amount of time I've had my Gamecube. His first one was having problems, getting disk read errors and such, and then it wound up getting knocked over and broke entirely. He got a new one, and recently, it's started having disk read bullshits. Some games won't load at all, and some will load after a few resets, then get random DREs in the middle of playing.

[KnowsNothing]

I've got two GC's and I've had my share of errors.  But this wasn't becasue of the drive, it was becasue of the game discs being dirty (thankfully not scratched).  With a little brother who has his own GC, it's hard to protect all your games ^_^  Remember it's not always a drive error, but the game disc may just need a little cleaning.

The only other disc-based console I have for comparison is the PSone, but I haven't played that for a long time.  I've had a few games freeze on me, and the lid has popped open during gameplay a couple times, but nothing too major.

But generally, it seems that the PS2 (in all of its many varieties) have the most problems, next the X-Box, and I've heard the least about the GC.

[boggy b]

I've had a PS2 for three years (three years today, in fact ) and I've had not a single problem. It said my Vice City disc was invalid once, but I gave it a wipe and now it's perfect again. I think there are a larger percentage of PS2s failing, but I think a lot of it is hyped by over-zealous fanboys who hate Sony and want all of their products to crash and burn.

[xts3]

GC has had problems with certain games, although it may be the games themselves.

Metroid prime has some freezing issues in certain parts of the game, the game will during certain points lock up.  I'm not sure if this is due to over-heating or if this has to do with an ingame bug that causes an infinite loop.

Also game hitching sometimes when the GC is trying to read gamediscs and is encountering errors (although you dont really see it, you can hear the drive trying to re-read disc when the game is hitching).

Those are the only problems I've really noticed.  Most games are designed pretty but some games don't stream their data properly or were quick and dirty ports (Like NFSU 2).

[Gamefreak]

The Metroid Prime errors are NOT a Gamecube hardware problem. Anyone who bought Metroid Prime within the first few months of released most likely experienced this problem at least once. It's a rare software problem that got overlooked, because it's not a bug. During the elevator sequences environment data is quickly streamed into RAM so that there's not loading screens. However on 2 specific elevators (i think one to phendrana and one to chozo ruins or something) the code for the game occasionally overflowed data and the GCN froze. This is a software problem that was overlooked during bug testing cause it's not a bug, it's a tiny programming glitch that possibly never occurs on developer's kits or any of Retro Studio's particular GCN's, or maybe one or two playtesters noticed but didn't know why the crash happened (most people don't know how MP loads unless they are familiar with the method or have been told how) or assumed it was being fixed as a bug..

Oh and this was fixed on later MP copies...this does not happen unless you bought MP fairly close to release date.

[The Omen]

I have had GC since the launch date, and I have never had a freeze up, or anything else.  I bought Metroid Prime at launch, and no freeze ups in it either.  And I've played through it several times.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

I've made SSBM freeze MANY TIMES during Event Match 51.

I have one of the worst problems ever(or so in my head). Star Wars The Clone Wars and Sonic 2 won't work for my gamecube. after you play for a while they just freeze. I know its not the games having dirt or dust because I've traded the games for another copie plenty of times. What is the reason for this. How can I fix it? Someone please tell me.

[KDR_11k]

"Crap protector". The Cube detects an awful game and attempts to protect the user from overexposure to bad games.