Topic: Is the GameCube Dead?

[Nile Boogie]

Forgive me for saying what some of us have been thinking ...

No releases for 7weeks straight.
Nothing really on the radar until Zelda.
Sorry to compare but at this same time the Ps2 And Xbox flurish during the so-called "dead season". (Post Holiday, pre E3)


I don't want to think so and I really hope I'm overlooking something but it just seems to me that my beloved Gamecube has seen its best days. Please if it is possible to do so, restore my faith. I long for some good news from the front line but all I seem to get are promises broken(The Ds). I guess I can go back and get some of the games found to be sleepers and try them out(Beyond Good And Evil). I thank you in advance for you support in these days of turmoil.  

[Chris1]

Well, we still have Killer 7, Geist, and Pokemon and Zelda, and I'm looking forward to those, so the Gamecube really isn't dead to me.  but i can't speak for everybody

[Mario]

Mine still works.

...

I just bought RE4 the other day, and i'm still in the middle of playing through Paper Mario and Jungle Beat, right now i'm having an awesome time with my GameCube! I still have to play through Wind Waker again and I feel like playing both Metroid Prime's again after i'm done with my current games. Then who knows what i'll play! I still need to pick up Viewtiful Joe 2, Mario Power Tennis and Four Swords too... i'm overwhelmed with games here, no complaints from me.

Kirby GC, Zelda, Donkey Konga 2/3 and DDR With Mario are the only games not out yet that i'd be interested in buying though from the top of my head... but i'm sure we'll see more GC games at E3 next month.

[PaLaDiN]

Token PaLaDiN selfish comment: personally, this drought exactly coincides with my exams so I couldn't be happier.

I think you're being a little unfair though. Name me one game either Xbox or PS2 has in the pipeline that competes with Zelda. You can't cast it aside so cavalierly.

[RABicle]

I'd be ready to call my Gamecube dead when an April release list is full of bullcrap sequels, rehashes, and other assorted rubbish.
I mean if the Gmaecube's April release lsit looked something like this:
      > Rise of the Kasai
   > Dead to Rights II: Hell to Pay
   > Ford Mustang
   > Stolen      
   > Area 51   
   > Resident Evil: Outbreak 2         
   > Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity      
   > Predator: Concrete Jungle

That's when i'd call it dead

[dack25]

I think its on life suport right now. I barely play my GCN anymore (infact its not even hooked up right now) unless I'm playing with my friends. Yesterday when I was at EB I couldn't even find a game I wanted to buy for GCN. The last game I bought that was a new game when it came out was Metriod Prime 2 (then I bought Sonic Adventure DX). Since RE4 there hasn't been that great of games coming out. I mean DKJB and Star Fox are okay but besides from Geist (maybe), Fire Emblem, and Zelda I'm not really looking to buy many games for GCN this year. But then again I'm not looking to buy too many PS2 games this year and that might just be a sign that this generation is coming to an end.  

[razr]

last game i bought was resident evil 4 and im still playing that. gamecube isn't dead - not untill zelda anyway.  

[SgtShiversBen]

For some odd reason, the game I've been playing the most is Midway Arcade Treasures 2.  The game of choice in there isn't, suprisingly, Mortal Kombat 2 or 3 but it's that Sprint somthing game (the one that looks like Offroad).   My friends and I play that game almost non stop, next to Smash Bros of course.  It's intense and a bit wierd.

But no, the GameCube isn't dead by MOST of our eyes, but by publishers it is.  Who can blame them, they're morons.

[nemo_83]

the only reason i have not sold my cube is because of Zelda and nothing else.  i wasn't even going to get MP2, but Zelda convinced me to keep it so I ended up getting MP2 because of it.  now there is nothing left in my eyes but zelda which sucks because REV is the only next gen console officially backwards compatible and developers should be jumping all over the Cube right now.

[zakkiel]

Maybe I'm alone in this, but I don't have the need (or money) to buy new games for the Cube more than once every couple of months.  

[Hostile Creation]

Well, DS is going to be taking up most of my funds for the next few months, but offhand there are five Gamecube games I'm looking forward to getting, not to mention some I'm uncertain about or that are too far in the future to say for sure.  So no, it's not dead by a longshot.  Because, in fact, that's the most games I've wanted at one time for the entire generation.

[CHEN]

I haven't beaten Metroid Prime 2 yet and I'm in the middle of Baten Kaitos right now. Also, I've pre-ordered Fire Emblem and it should arrive next week. Some people just don't have the cash and/or time to spend countless hours of gaming. With recent releases such as Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat which are perfect for short bursts, I couldn't be happier as a GC owner. I'm sure E3 will show something spectacular, like Miyamoto, who hinted that Mario 128 will arrive for the GC. May can't come soon enough!

[Hostile Creation]

What, Fire Emblem in April?  But. . . Fire Emblem isn't due for another several months, I thought.

[Renny]

Released next week in Jpnland.

People have the powah.

[CHEN]

Yeah, I don't think I can wait until Fall. The lack of patience creates a problem from the depths of hell though. Blasted Kanji!

[Ymeegod]

Well the last game I bought was Juggle Beat but that was over a bit to quickly :0.

And B rated games are better than none at all :0  There's nothing on my buy list until June (Geist and Killer 7) so that's 4 titles in 1/2 a year (JB, RE4, Geist, Killer 7).  

Fire Emblem has a NOV release date for the US .  Advance Wars is coming in August but it's realtime so I might wait until reviews for that one.

IMHO both Xbox and PS2 have a better lineup so far for the upcoming quarter.

[Nile Boogie]

Thank you. Thats what i wanted to here. I did forget about Killer7 but other than that and Zelda I'm just not really that excited for anything. Maybe I'm getting older so, wait no thats not it. I just don't have anyting to play on my beloved Cube. Naruto3 and RE4 Mercs, thats the only thing I have been playing for the last 3months. I think I feel this way because I really want Jade Empire but I cant give in to the darkside of the force and buy an XboX (Not to mention XboX 360 may be here in close to 4 months). And I was so hyped for Star Fox Assult that when I finally played it I felt so dissipointed. I knew that the end...

Anyway, here to the good times. Hopefully they're not all gone. Cheers!!!!!!

[Ian Sane]

If you looked at the N64 lineup around this time things were drying up too.  The console war of this generation is over for the Gamecube.  Everyone knows it has no chance of changing it's market position so third party support is dropping off and naturally Nintendo can't completely fill the gaps in themselves.  The PS2 however remains the market leader and the Xbox keeps selling better and better each year so thus interest is still high.  The really popular consoles that remained strong until their successor were always either the market leader or they looked like they had a shot at the market leader.  The Cube doesn't have that illusion so interest is dying down.  The season isn't over but everyone already knows the Cube can't make the play-offs.

Still we do have some major titles to look forward to so it's not like we're totally screwed.  If you play your cards right this Christmas there will be at least one 2005 Cube game on your list.  Though I am concerned about 2006.  2001 for the N64 SUCKED.  We got Paper Mario in February and Conker in March (I think) and then it was just OVER.  Sure there were some nothing titles released like Mario Party 3 and Dr. Mario 64 but we pretty much had nothing for the rest of the year until the Cube launch.  Even if you played all of the N64 titles that year the last one came out in May.  So there were five months with literally no games on a Nintendo home console released.

And that really hurt the Cube.  Nintendo wasn't getting any coverage during that time.  From E3 until weeks before the Cube launch for all intents and purposes Nintendo was portable-only.  So the Cube had like no momentum going in.  Too many Nintendo 64 fans got bored and bought PS2s.  And then the Cube had a huge post-launch drought.  So we waited five months, got some games, and then waited for another five months.  There are a lot of factors that contributed to the Cube's "failure" but nothing killed it more than those months of sheer nothing.

So I'm worried about how the Revolution is going to start out.  The Cube is following the same path as the N64 so it's very likely that sometime in early 2006 the Cube is just going to abruptly end.  The Rev already is going to have trouble starting out  just because it's following two "failures" in a row so a negative bias is already there.  But if Nintendo disappears again the Rev is going to have no momentum at all.  The Xbox 360 will already be out by then and we know the PS2-PS3 transition will be incredibly smooth.

Nintendo has to make sure they keep the games flowing.  Though if they want to beat Sony to the market they will likely have to launch in the first half of 2006 so realistically they don't have to hold out quite as long.  

[Bartman3010]

I picked up an XBox in March, unaware of the Gamecube drought in April.  But just so you know. Outside of Doom 3, Dead to Rights and maybe Unreal Championship 2, there really isnt anything worth noting, not to mention other than Doom 3, I doubt the others will sell very well.

Its just not a very good time for new games to come out, I guess.

[Miyamoto Osaki]

OK gamcube is sleeping now, just 'try' to wait a little more and then you shall see Gamecube awaken.

[TheYoungerPlumber]

Third party support for the GC is dead, but we've still got another round of games left from Nintendo.  The first party is honestly doing a pretty decent job of providing titles on its own for this year, all things considered.  Maybe some will be pushed to 2006, but I think we'll have Fire Emblem, Kirby, Geist, Advance Wars and Zelda this year.

As Ian said, 2006 will probably be N64-bad.  If it ISN'T horribly dry, it will be because
a) Nintendo Revolution is released before the end of the year or
b) Nintendo makes more GC games at the cost of a better Revolution line-up.

(b) would just be foolish, but (a) is a possibility.  I have no idea how well a July console launch would work, but September was OK for GC in Japan.

MS is really in a good position to get GC-but-not-Xbox owners for the next generation.  MS is cutting its own Xbox's life short, and PS2 fans can probably wait for the PS3, but with the right software near launch Xbox 360 could punch Nintendo in the stomach.  If the first party support in 2006 is as horrible as I expect, I know I'll need another console unless the DS is brimming with good software.

[Nile Boogie]

Not only is it the lack of games for the GameCube, even the games that do come out that should be hits end up being ho-hum at best(StarFoxAssult I' looking your way). In all fairness I did make a list of games that I didn't get that I probably should have so I'm just as much of the problem. I really does feel like the N64 "ReDux". Between the lack of games for the Cube and The Ds, its like when you're in a relationship with somebody and you can't seem to get it right. And even when you do, it only last for a moment and then its back to the same ol' story.

XboX 360â„¢ is something that really seems to be a wild-card. I'm thinking bout one just of the strenght of BioWare alone but if it's not Backwards compatible AND if it still uses the same disc format(Blu-Ray/ HD-DVD still not confirmed) then I can wait till the Rev. However, if they can squeeze both of those features in at a good price point, $249.99 or less, then I may have to make room next to the Cube/N64/Snes/cable/stereo/ too many damn things hooked up to a 27" Tv.

[PaLaDiN]

"Not only is it the lack of games for the GameCube, even the games that do come out that should be hits end up being ho-hum at best(StarFoxAssult I' looking your way)"

Is there some justification for using the plural form of game in that sentence? Surely you're not suggesting that DKJB was ho-hum.

[dack25]

I think an advantage that the Rev will have over the GCN is that its backwards combatibile. If Nintendo could put out a couple of decent games for GCN in 2006 they might be able to convince people to stick with them and people might think that the Rev is worth it more than an Xbox 2 (if Xbox 2 can't play Xbox games).

[CHEN]

Star Fox: Assault was developed by Namco. If Nintendo wasn't so busy with its other prestigious projects, I think they would have done a far better job at giving us a satisfying rail-shooting experience. I mean, what gives, Namco? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MAP?

And I have a bad feeling about Advance Wars: Under Fire. Why must you lend IP's to everyone? Metroid came out all right, but not everything will turn into magic.