Topic: Why does Nintendo hate the Game Cube?

[UncleBob]

Seriously, what's their deal?

I have it on good authority that one of the largest sellers of Video Games and Video Game Accessories looked into getting special edition "Wii-White" WaveBirds for the release of Smash Bros. Brawl and were shot down by Nintendo, stating that the WaveBird molds had all been destroyed.  This retailer ended up with crappy Pelican Wii-White-ish wireless GameCube controllers though.

This same retailer also tried to get some "Player's Choice" two packs of some of the best selling GameCube titles.  Seriously, copies of Pikmin 2 are going on eBay for $50... why the heck wouldn't Nintendo go back and republish some of the harder to find GameCube titles for the Wii?  Any of the Mario Sports titles would be great sellers, and Nintendo could sell them in two packs for $50 or something and make some money.

Then, in addition, Nintendo won't let Publishers re-release GameCube titles with packaging that refers to the Wii.  And I'm not even talking about super-awesome packaging like what MookyJooky from CAG came up with:

I'm talking about just slapping a sticker or something on the package and calling it a day.  Nope.  No Wii on GameCube game packaging.
This greatly limits the ability of publishers to sell their older GameCube stock to retailers.  Which is sad, because a big chunk of the GameCube library is better than a big chunk of the Wii library at this point.

Then, the was rumors that one publisher was looking into releasing GameCube games that, when played in the Wii, you'd get special content.  Apparently Nintendo put the hammer down on that idea real quick.

Seriously, why even bother to make the Wii backwards compatible if you're not going to allow people to do anything with the feature?

[Ceric]

To say that they had it.  I personally was sort of suspicious when the Gamecube side couldn't use the internal Wii memory for game saves or the Classic controllers but, I originally chucked it up to Nintendo wanting to save money.  Then once they released the Wii and it become almost impossible to find Gamecube Memory cards and Wavebirds I pretty much chucked it up that it was just there to be in name alone.  I will not be surprised if Nintendo starts phasing out the GCN ports on the Wii this summer.

[UncleBob]

You know, that does make me wonder... if Nintendo did gut the GameCube components out of the Wii, would they be able to make 'em faster?

[NWR_insanolord]

Quote
Originally posted by: UncleBob
You know, that does make me wonder... if Nintendo did gut the GameCube components out of the Wii, would they be able to make 'em faster?

I'm sure if it would have that effect they would have done it by now. Besides, I think the only Cube-specific parts in the Wii are the controller and memory card ports, and since quite a few Wii games allow for GameCube controllers and Smash Bros. accesses the Cube memory card and backwards compatibility is still a nice feature despite Nintendo's best efforts to ruin it, I doubt they'll drop it.

[darknight06]

I think the better question is why wouldn't they?  It called reimaging your brand.  Yeah, sure in a few of the ads you see them do a quick blurb on Gamecube backwards compatibility but that's all they ever plan on doing with it.  The last thing they want to do is deeply associate the GC with the Wii.  Stuff like the Wii name, knocking the Nintendo label away from the Wii logo so it stands on it's own, and underplaying GC compatibility along with limiting GC was to get as far away from those days as they could.  Which they should do, afterall the GC was in trouble on day one of it's arrival.  

[stevey]

Reason 1:Game what?

Reason 2:That what they get for not sticking to Nintendo's side for the cube  

[LuigiHann]

The point of backwards compatibility was to encourage Gamecube owners to trade up, and that's about it. It's a shame, since I never had a Wavebird and would love to get one now.  

[darknight06]

I still see a few new Wavebirds around here and there, and some used ones as well.  Unless you just can't stand the used controllers, all you have to do is just look around.  They are out there, it's how I grabbed up one.

[bustin98]

To me backwards compatibility is giving people who missed out on a generation a chance to pick up games they didn't have the opportunity to play before.

I think wavebirds could be one of the top accessories for the Wii.

[Kairon]

Unclebob, I hope this retailer will be stocking these Thrustmaster White Wireless GC Controllers...

[Mario]

Lots of "apparently"s

[Infernal Monkey]

GameCube and consumers had their chance, if all the people who ignored Nintendo last generation want to play some Wario World, they'll have to work for it! AUUHWHUAUHAHUWUHAUHAUHWUHAUHUHWAHUUHAUHWA

[Mikintosh]

They do stick "Wii-compatible" stickers on GCN games; I saw some at Target a week ago. Not sure if they were Nintendo games, but if the big N wanted no connection between the two, they could've said "don't do it."

And I don't see how failing to make new controllers and new printings of games for a dead system of whom only a few people *still* need new controllers or new games for puts them at fault. If Pikmin 2 had sold better, there'd be more copies lying around, and the eBay price wouldn't be so high. And who needs new Wavebirds 7 years later?

That said, why would they take out the controller ports? SSB Brawl is going to be the flagship game for the system, and its director said the best way to play it is with the Gamecube controller, not to mention it put those ports in specifically to appeal to its base?

I also submit as evidence that the "disc loading" animation the Wii Menu is of both a Wii disc and a Gamecube disc; if they were phasing out the old system from everything, they could've changed that graphic with a patch by now.

[matt oz]

I completely agree with UB about repackaging "old" GC games in two-packs, or some similar kind of deal.  There are so many Nintendo-published games that are impossible to find: Pikmin 2 (mentioned above), Mario Baseball, Mario Tennis, and Fire Emblem, just to name a couple.

I had to pay $30 on ebay for a damaged complete copy of Fire Emblem a few weeks ago.  All because I wanted to replay it before getting into the Wii version.  I searched everywhere for the best price, but the game had a limited run, is out of print, and ebay was the only place to find a game that was barely two years old.  (I had a close call at a Gamestop where they had the case for the game on their shelf, but didn't have any actual copies of it.  So close!)

I get that they're trying to erase the Gamecube from consumers' memories and everything, but look at it this way: anyone who gives a crap that the Gamecube was a relative failure already knows that the Wii is made by the same company.  All the non-gamers buying the Wii probably never heard of the Gamecbue.  So what difference does it make if Nintendo wants to capitalize on the GC/Wii backwards compatibility?  Are they afraid of confusing all the old people?

[Shecky]

And at what stores have people actually found NEW Wavebirds.... I've looked and never seen one.  It be nice to know what chain still has some in their warehouses.

[UncleBob]

Quote
Originally posted by: darknight06
I think the better question is why wouldn't they?  It called reimaging your brand.

If they wanted to kill the GameCube, they shouldn't have made the Wii backwards compatible.


As per the Thrustmaster linked to above, I've got one and it's great.  Not quite a WaveBird, but still worth the cash.

[BranDonk Kong]

The DS plays GBA games, but they don't keep shipping old GBA games...let's also not forget that the Gamecube is dead. No one's selling Xbox games, and the 360 plays (some of ) them. I've seen the Wavebird (new) at stores many times recently around my area (Brevard County, FL).

[Shecky]

Quote
Originally posted by: Brandogg
The DS plays GBA games, but they don't keep shipping old GBA games...let's also not forget that the Gamecube is dead. No one's selling Xbox games, and the 360 plays (some of ) them. I've seen the Wavebird (new) at stores many times recently around my area (Brevard County, FL).

Those stores have names?  Are they major chains?  Or smaller shops?

[DAaaMan64]

Maybe cause in 10 years it'll be looked at as the red-headed step child in the Nintendo console legion, even more so that the N64.  At least the N64 had hype to ride on and Ocarina of Time.

[Infernal Monkey]

No, in ten years all the goons that laughed at the system will pretend they always loved it. Look at the Saturn for example!

[Mario]

You know what, Nintendo could be readying their own Wii versions of GC classics already and don't want anyone to jump the gun.

[SixthAngel]

Releasing old games and accessories with new stickers will get a very small number of sales, confuse current customers and most importantly take up valuable shelf space from new Wii games and accessories.  Many people would buy games that say "Wii" on it only to discover that they have to buy an entirely new controller just to play it.

Backwards compatibility isn't an attempt to keep releasing new old games, it is so people can keep playing their existing games and gives new adopters a larger library immediately.  Making new wavebirds would require starting the production lines for the controllers once again, which means opening a closed factory or converting a factory back to wavebird production.  It doesn't make much sense to do so a very few people can buy a controller (that is already available) just to play Brawl.

The Gamecube was also Nintendo's worst performing system on several levels.  It sold less (Wii already outsold it) and it didn't have the all time classics that other systems had.  Mario Sunshine will be forgotten by many and Windwaker, even though I liked it, will not be remembered as fondly as its predecessors either.  Even if the N64 sold less then its competition it had groundbreaking games like Mario 64 and OoT and Gamecube never reached those levels.  There is really little reason to keep the Gamecube name alive.

[18 Days]

48 Platinum Wavebirds left
And yes, that price is fair dinkum. Welcome to Australia.  

[UncleBob]

With new WaveBirds averaging about $45-$50 each on eBay, I think the demand for them is obvious.

Anywhoo, people keep throwing out the XBox as an example of Backwards Compatibility, why not look at the PS2?  Granted, good, new PS2 titles are few and far between, but we're still seeing quite a few Greatest Hits titles re-released (and re-re-released).  Look at the things like the GTA Trilogy, Hitman Trilogy, etc.  I can still go to the local stores and find 1st party PS2 controllers and memory cards.  All this and the PS3 is barely backwards compatible.

As per the DS/GBA comment above - We saw brand new GBA titles being released up 'till last year.  1.5-2 years after the DS was released.  Hell, the GBA Player's Choice wasn't even started until after the DS was released.  Granted, there were like 12 GBA Player's Choice titles - but at least it was *something*.

Anywhoo, I don't expect Nintendo to keep the GameCube on life support... It just seems silly to push GameCube controllers for Brawl, then not want to re-release them for Brawl.  Or to hoard up good (and popular) titles that they could re-release and get some money for.  As for shelf space, I think many retailers are ready to expand the Nintendo shelf space, especially if it means selling more Nintendo stuff (and thus getting more shipments of Wii.)  Besides, perhaps a good helping of GameCube AAA titles is what the Wii needs to help some of these people who are "bored" with their Wii and complain about all the garbage titles the Wii has.

[Kairon]

What GameCube AAA titles?

Yeah, I definitely see shelf space as something that should be prioritized for the Wii and DS over the GameCube. The Wii has to sell software, period, and to distract from that would be counter-productive for Nintendo, whether or not the hardware supports GC controllers. I agree with Sixth Angel.

Besides, Iwata dislikes the idea of old games being budget-ized and encouraging consumers to not pick up games when they come out, and this perception may even extend to Gamecube titles.