A 2005 Holiday Look At The GameCube: What Will Be The GCN's Legacy?
Written: Mar 15 '04 (Updated Dec 18 '05)
Product Rating:
Pros: fun games, small, cheap, great accessories and connectivity, good system for kids
Cons: shrinking 3rd party support, no real online games, image, inferior hardware
The Bottom Line: The GameCube could provide one of the best values you'll see from a console in a long time, but it may be remembered for its inability to overtake the PS2.
kjell1979's Full Review: Nintendo GameCube White Console
Going The Way Of The Dreamcast?
Nintendo hasn't fared well with its latest console system. Before its latest price drop to $99, the GameCube fought against slumping sales and fading into console obscurity. Now it's Christmas of 2005, the console is now gasping new breaths of life as it has a more respectable library of games, a price that's still lower than its competitors, and is gaining the respect it initially lacked. However, it remains to be seen what the legacy will be for the GameCube. It's obvious that it won't outsell the PS2 or Xbox 360 in the coming year, but will it help usher in the era for the next console, the Nintendo Revolution? The Xbox did what the GameCube couldn't, which was garner more 3rd party support thoughout its lifespan. The GameCube meanwhile has lost what little 3rd party support it had just like the Dreamcast. In this era of gaming it's hard to separate the fanboy fluff from the facts, so it's difficult to gauge the true value of each console, especially one as misunderstood as the GameCube. It's a good system that in all likelihood has proved that it won't die out like the Dreamcast. It had a once great upside that might never be realized. So is it worth owning? It matters what kind of gamer you are.
Hardware
The GameCube's hardware is similar to that of the PS2's. In some places it exceeds the PS2, whereas in other areas it falls short. In the end, it can be agreed upon that the GameCube's hardware is nowhere close to that of the Xbox's.
The GameCube is the smallest of this generation's consoles. Its case measurements are only 4.3"x5.9"x6.3" and it’s available in blue, black, or silver. There is a hatch the opens from the top of the unit when pressing the eject button. The unit takes 3-inch media disks capable of holding 1.5 GB of data. Along with the eject button, there's also a toggle button for the power and a soft reset button. There are 4 controller ports in the front of the unit along with 2 memory card slots. The memory cards can only hold 4 MB of data and are roughly half the (both physical and data) size of the PS2 memory cards. In the back there is an analog AV output as well as a digital AV output. Also located there is the AC input. The unit also has 2 high-speed serial ports as well as 1 high-speed parallel port. Along the back there's also an arch-shaped handle used to carry the unit.
The hardware on the GameCube is respectable, but for a system that's only 2 1/2 years old it could have done much better than the PS2, which was released a year earlier. The GameCube runs on a 128 bit 485 MHz IBM processor. It has 40 MB or memory. Its graphics card has 2 MB of memory and runs at a speed of 162 MHz. The GameCube has a 16 bit sound card capable of 64 channels at a speed of 81 MHz and a sampling rate of 48 KHz. Overall the hardware is slightly better than the PS2's, however the GameCube seems to pride itself more on its compact size instead of power.
Accessories
The GameCube has some of the best accessories on any platform of this generation. Its best accessories are unique to the unit itself and improve it in many ways. Despite the great accessories, there are also some bad ones as well that really limit the GameCube's power and flexibility in becoming a major console power.
The controller is your basic accessory with the GameCube. The unit is typically sold with one controller and additional controllers sell at a retail price of roughly $20. The shape of the controller is very similar to the Playstation's. Like other controllers of this era, it has 2 analog sticks and 1 digital directional pad. The dpad and the left analog sticks are swapped where they would normally reside on the Playstation controller. On the right side of the controller is a large green A button and 3 buttons surrounding it. Those buttons are (starting on the left and going counter-clockwise) a red B button, a gray Y button, and gray X button. In the middle there's a single small start button. On the front side of the controller there is a trigger button for each side. There is also a second smaller Z trigger button on the right side that resides on top of the larger trigger. The controller has a built in rumble function. I only have two gripes about this controller. First, the buttons do not have much symmetry. This is an issue in sports games like MVP Baseball where the bases are mapped to a diamond-style button scheme. Secondly, the analog sticks are too loose for what I'm used to. Keep in mind these gripes are rather subjective as I'm used to controllers with more symmetry and joysticks with more resistance.
One accessory that GameCube owners will enjoy is the Wavebird controller. This controller is wireless and is a huge asset for people who do not like to be tied down by wires or keep on tripping over them in a crowded room. Other consoles have wireless controllers as well, but these are made by 3rd party companies and are inherently less reliable. This is important with wireless devices because you cannot pause the game to correct the problem if the unit isn't receiving any signal. Nintendo makes the Wavebird so its reliability is going to be much greater than the 3rd party devices.
GameCube owners have the option to buy a couple accessories that tie in with the Gameboy Advance. There is a link cable that allows you to use your Gameboy Advance as an extra controller. There are also games out there like Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles and Pacman Vs. that allow you to use the Gameboy screen as well. This connectivity opens the door to many new gaming options like in-game help and other features. The other accessory is the Gameboy Advance player. This allows you to play Gameboy Advance cartridges on your GameCube. This is perfect for people whose hands are too big to grip the Gameboy unit, but can grip the larger GameCube controller. In addition to the Gameboy Advance games, it can also play all the older Gameboy games as well. Also, it can link up to other Gameboy Advance units to play multiplayer games. This accessory increases the library of games available to the GameCube as well. However, it isn’t as useful as the PS2’s backward compatibility because their games run on a more advanced technology and you don’t have to buy a new unit to use them.
Despite all these great accessories, there are also some bad accessories out there. The memory card has a large design flaw. It can only support 4 MB of data. This isn't enough for many sports games because they cannot save franchise or game data to a single card. The solution has been for Nintendo to come out with a compressed and more expensive memory card. While the new card can hold enough data, it isn't as big as a 8 GB hard drive. This is really serious since you may end up spending tons of money for all sorts of memory cards. The other poor accessory is the network adapter. While the unit itself is ok, there are hardly any online games released for the GameCube. While the Playstation 2 has allowed its online library to grow leaps and bounds, the GameCube's online library came ended the same way it started, with a wimper.
Games
A system's library of games determines how well a console sells. The Playstation 2, which is a technically inferior machine, outsold all of the other consoles in gaming history because of its gaming library. The GameCube has a strong library in some areas, but they are weak in many other areas as well. The GameCube's library has also taken a lot of heat for being too family-centric and not providing enough mature games. However, that doesn't mean you have to be a kid to enjoy most of their games. The lack of mature rated games shouldn't be a detriment to the console, rather a scar on the gaming industry for relying on objectionable material to generate interest. It reminds me of the phrase, "just because you're 21 and can legally drink, it doesn't you should". But this is a larger issue for another time.
The GameCube library's strength comes in its exclusive titles. Up until recently, you couldn't play a Square Enix game on a modern console not made by Sony. Now Square Enix has released its first non-Sony console game in 10 years called Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. While this game isn't the same as a Final Fantasy X, it certainly is a step towards more exclusive Square Enix games being developed for this platform.
Nintendo also has its big 3 out in force for the GameCube. Mario has his own platformer in Super Mario Sunshine. For Zelda fans there is Zelda The Wind Waker, which is a huge success. Finally Metroid Prime and its sequel are considered two of the best games ever released for a Nintendo platform. Compared to Playstation's platformers and mascots, they just don't measure up to Nintendo's big 3 in gameplay and star power.
In addition to these exclusive titles, there's Mario Kart Double Dash, Pikmin, Animal Crossing, Soul Calibur II featuring Link, F-Zero X, Super Smash Brothers Melee, Tales of Symphonia and a couple installments in the Star Wars Rogue series. With the notable exception of sports, these exclusive titles span many different gaming genres and are the highest of quality and gameplay.
There are also many other game series that are also developed for other platforms. This is where you can find many of the different sports titles. For instance, EA Sports ports most of their games to the GameCube. For extreme sports fans there's the very successful SSX3 and the last 3 Tony Hawk games. Successful action games include Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Viewtiful Joe, and Timesplitters 2. For horror fans you can even get all the games in the Resident Evil series.
Despite all these great titles, there is one major problem. The GameCube has to rely on its own games to carry the system and doesn't draw enough 3rd party support. A little while ago Sega announced it was pulling its sports series from the GameCube because of lackluster sales numbers. Many great games are released few and far between. And it looks as if the GameCube failed to gain 3rd party support when Xbox did just that over its lifespan.
GameCube vs. Xbox
When comparing the GameCube to the Xbox, your results depend on what kind of a gamer you are.
The hardware on the Xbox is superior to the GameCube. As far as the processor speed, RAM, video and sound card goes, the GameCube is far behind the Xbox. Both units have 4 controller ports built in it. However, the GameCube doesn't have any kind of DVD support, whereas the Xbox has the ability to play DVDs with the purchase of an additional accessory. The GameCube's media can hold a little more than 1/8 as much as the Xbox’s discs, and it relies on small memory cards instead of a built in hard drive. I prefer the GameCube's controller to the XBox's because it isn't as big and bulky. If you want to play games online, you're out of luck with the GameCube for now. While it has an online adapter, there are hardly any online games out there for the GameCube. However, with the Xbox you have a great amount of online games, but you have to pay a subscription fee to play. The Xbox offers no backwards compatibility whatsoever, whereas the GameCube has the Gameboy Advance Player accessory that allows you to play any Gameboy game on the system. It costs an additional $50, which is roughly $10 to $20 less than having a portable Gameboy Advance unit.
As far as the games go, the Xbox is beginning to pull away. While neither console has a massive game library, the Xbox has more games due to a signficantly greater number 3rd party developers in its camp. In addition they have much stronger online titles and sports titles. The hardware for the Xbox is so advanced that it's raising the ceiling for game development and gaming possibilities. The GameCube is beginning to lose 3rd party publishers like Sega due to slumping game sales. That doesn't mean that the GameCube is completely sunk when it comes to its games. Their exclusive titles are individually much better than the majority of the Xbox titles. But in time that may change. If you have young kids, the GameCube has a smallest percentage of rated M games compared to any other console including the Xbox. These games also have great graphics and finely tuned gameplay so even adults and experienced gamers appreciate their worth.
With the Xbox priced at $150, you certainly get your money's worth for the extra $50. However its worth compared to the GameCube is relative to the kinds of games you like to play. If you like sports and online games, then the Xbox is the way to go. If you like great gameplay and don't mind a smaller less controversial gaming library, then the GameCube is the better value.
PS2 vs. GameCube
The GameCube does match up well with the PS2, except when you factor in the games.
The hardware is where the GameCube edges out the PS2. As far as it's processor speed, RAM, video and sound card goes, the GameCube is slightly better. It also has 4 controller ports built in it. However, the GameCube doesn't have a DVD drive, it's media can hold only half as much as the PS2, and given the support of the PS2's hard drive both will require memory cards to store saved data. While this is highly subjective, I also prefer the PS2 controller to the GameCube's. If you want to play games online, you're out of luck with the GameCube for now. While it has an online adapter similar to the PS2's, there aren't any online games out there for the GameCube. Finally, there is no backwards compatibility to the early Nintendo cartridge games. The only exception is that there is a Gameboy Advance Player accessory that allows you to play any Gameboy game. However it costs an additional $50, which is roughly $10 to $20 less than having a portable Gameboy Advance unit.
As far as the games go the PS2 just is much better. The library for the PS2 is just massive compared the GameCube's paltry library. Even worse is that the GameCube is beginning to lose 3rd party publishers like Sega due to slumping game sales. That doesn't mean that the GameCube is completely sunk when it comes to its games. Super Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, Zelda The Wind Waker, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Resident Evil are all great games that can carry a platform. In addition, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles looks to revive the Nintendo-Square Enix relationship. Also Tales of Symphonia is a very solid RPG. In addition, if you have young kids, you'll be pleased to know that the GameCube has a smallest percentage of rated M games out of the 3 major consoles. These games also have great graphics and finely tuned gameplay so even adults and experienced gamers appeciate their worth. Unfortunately it's just too little to help the system. Just about the only reason why you'd get this system over the PS2 is if you have a small child, and even then the PS2 has games like Kingdom Hearts that feature Disney characters.
If you're looking for a cheap system, at $99 the GameCube is definitely worth the price. This is more appropriate if you don't mind owning two consoles. If you can only have one of the three major consoles, this might not be an option for even a casual gamer.
Value
Given the current market for today's games, the GameCube is still a great deal especially if you've never experienced the console's exclusive games. While you have to put in a little bit of money into accessories like memory cards, the games more than make up for it. Meaning, the $99 suggested retail price is a bargain. I would degrade its value as time wears on, as other consoles' libraries will grow to greatly exceed the GameCube's. However as it stands this console makes a great second console for any gamer. If it's going to be your primary console, then I would value it significantly lower if you like sports games or online games. While this console will probably not break any sales records, it definitely is pretty good deal.
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