and while I dont really have any complaints directly about the performance of the console, I have certain issues with the game library.
I am not your "typical" Gamecube owner, in fact it's the first Nintendo product I own. Previously I owned a Playstation and way back in the old days an Atari console. Otherwise I have always been more of a PC gamer. I played action and sports games on consoles and strategy&simulation games on the PC.
My Playstation finally broke down, so I needed a new console. Obviously I was looking at the big three, X-Box, PS2 and the Gamecube. At the time people were already calling the Gamecube a bust. I however looked at the games and saw that the big titles usually came out on Gamecube as well, I also didnt notice much of a quality difference in graphics. And of course the price difference made an impression, too. I dont want to spend too much on video games, I'm a little too old to consider it my first priority in life so the $50 savings sure sounded good to me.
I got a deal to buy the Gamecube and a game of my choice for $189, we are talking over a year ago so that sure sounded good. So I got me a Gamecube, I picked Madden 2003 and was quite happy with my purchase. I bought 2 more games and again I didnt really notice much of a problem with the Gamecube myself. I played those games and didnt really bother anymore with looking for new titles since I am a casual console gamer and I usually dont devote too much time to it. Well until now that is. I thought "hmm now in the "holiday season" it may be time for a new game."
So I looked around for a while and I suddenly noticed that Sega stopped making its sports titles for the Gamecube. I want to buy a college basketball game. There is none.
Sega has killed off its ESPN games completely and EA doesnt release its March Madness game on the Gamecube. Whoops, that sucks. Now for consolation I looked for NBA and NHL games but NBA Live 2004 and NHL 2004 are my only options in that field as well. And most reviews say things like "good but ESPN 2k4 is better". Too bad I'll never find out.
So I looked for action games, hm Conflict: Desert Storm II sounds neat. Too bad its not out on the Cube at the moment. I guess I'll have to wait 3 months.
Now I dont want to ask for pity since obviously nobody forced me to buy the Gamecube and I still think that performance-wise it can hold its own against the competition.
But maybe this is a general problem of the Gamecube. I have no affiliation to characters like Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Starfox and all these other Nintendo greats. I would never buy a console for a game like Mario Kart, in fact I have no idea what people like about any of the Mario games, I've played em and they have no depth whatsoever. It's a jump and run, if the characters hadnt become "legends", those games would ve been forgotten by now.
Now you as Nintendo fans may hate me for that, but generally I am the type of guy Nintendo needs in order for it to have a shot in the console wars. The Mario generation has grown up and soon will reach the age at which you buy opera tickets for $ 60, not video games. The young teen today has only distant memories of the NES or even the SNES, they were toddlers, kindergarten kids, maybe 1st graders at the time. In a few years the majority of teenagers will say that they grew up playing the Playstation, they will look at Mario without the nostalgia factor.
I really think the Gamecube has lost majorly because it put so much emphasis on its classic characters and missed out on the new generation of gamers as well as "converted" PC gamers (there are many who played PC games forever but went out and bought a X-Box or PS2 due to the hype etc.) and casual gamers, GTA is an infamous example here but there are many other examples. When SEGA cancelled its sports series for the GC, Nintendo lost all hope to ever get back the sports crowd, one of the largest groups in the gaming community. Of course, SEGA stopped making sports games for the GC because they didnt sell. Why didnt they though? Because the sports crowd had already jumped on the X-Box and PS2 bandwagons..and why is that...because Nintendo never put much emphasis on sports games, it just didnt bother.
So the Gamecube got a reputation as a "kiddy" console..because, make no mistake, the Nintendo in-house characters are considered "kiddy stuff" by most non-Nintendo fans. Of course, having "Disney Sports" games didnt help to alter that perception.
And of course, the GC missed out on the online gaming gravy train as well. They basically just ignored the people acquainted with PC gaming and focused on their Nintendo fans, a group that's hardly growing by the day.
Nintendo will never have a chance again against Sony or Microsoft competition unless they step up their efforts to reach the people who never loved Mario, who want more adult-orientated games, sports titles, action titles, who want online gaming. The "new" Nintendo console that I heard will come out in 2005 or so better starts with a "hot" action title and ALL the sports titles ....the rule is if other consoles have a big hit, Nintendo better jumps on the bandwagon..otherwise the new console will be toast as well.
The Nintendo pricing is by the way attractive, but I dont think Nintendo is making much money giving those Gamecubes away for 99 bucks.
Topic: I've owned a Gamecube for a year now (Read 1974 times)
