My point being, you may want to rethink your opinion. The GC was awesome and you know it!
Oh no doubt! I LOVE Pikmin. The first one. It was PERFECT. PERFECT I SAY!!!
And you're right in pointing out how Nintendo was moving forward in a lot of ways. However, I felt like they were also bumping into creative walls in titles like Mario Sunshine, failing to find a truly compelling hook within the current confines of what they thought the game should be. And with WindWaker, I really felt like the game emerged early, without additional content and polish passes that would've helped. Also, the baton kinda sucked seeing it was a much less fun, way too cookie cutter, version of the ocarina.
Now, don't get me wrong, I love aspects of both games, and the GC era brought a ton of awesomeness in many ways, but key Nintendo titles sorta felt "boxed-in" in terms of scope, concept, and possibility. I personally see the Wii as an answer to challenges Nintendo's principal movers felt creatively with the GC.