Goodbye Sweet Cube

So here is the mass exodus, the final crescendo, the final moment in the Gamecube’s lifespan. The Wii is out. The Wii verdict will have to wait a moment, because first we must pause and look back to where the Gamecube has left us. I’m not going to draw a timeline or select a few of the choicest games, you already know them all and what I’m going to do is give you my take on Nintendo’s box of tricks.

The Gamecube followed the N64, a chaotic and turbulent period in Nintendo’s history. Unlike the N64, there was no talk of novelty. Instead, Nintendo decided to build on what it had done before. Which resulted in a torrent of sequels that almost all failed to impress fans. Even though I? Well, that’s a completely different matter.

A history of nonviolence

I’ve been with Nintendo since the SNES era, though only properly since the N64 era. I loved the N64. Even now, my green and gray box-o-tricks still sit comfortably under the Gamecube in my game room, or sometimes next to the SNES in another room. I still pull it out and play it from time to time, Goldeneye is my ultimate retro game of choice.

Even though I was playing those games, I had no idea what they really meant to other people. Super Mario 64 was even more of a revolution in gameplay than the new Super Mario Galaxy will be when it finally arrives. Adding a whole dimension to a game and still making it work is more complicated than it sounds. Many games fell into the hurdles, but most Nintendo stock made the jump without a hitch.

However with the Gamecube there was no jump. It was more of a nervous shuffling forward with just a few nonsensical numbers to quote passersby. No one really cares how many bits a machine has, no one cares how many lines of pixels a console can put out, especially when your TV is only about 2 inches wide and can easily fit inside a matchbox. If you know whatever those stats mean, he has more problems than me, and I enjoy running a website on video games and being able to write HTML from scratch.

With nothing to impress punters, it looked like the Gamecube would be a disaster from the start. There wasn’t even a Mario game for sale at first; we had to settle for Luigi. Sure, the same thing has happened with the Wii, but this time we have a Zelda game. They are even better than the Mario series.

No Revolution, No Games, No Hope: It seemed like the Gamecube was a long way away, and there was no ray of hope in the distance.

external forces

Nintendo was saved. Somehow. And it wasn’t because of Pokemon. You see, while Nintendo had been working on its own titles, it had also done something considerably smarter (and something it hadn’t done with previous consoles). By working with third-party game manufacturers, he had begun building relationships and securing exclusive new games for the Gamecube. The Gamecube arguably saw more third-party games than any of Nintendo’s previous consoles, with the return of Square-Enix and even SEGA, Nintendo’s arch-rivals in all previous console wars, providing some brilliant titles for launch.

With the release featuring only a handful of good games, it would have sadly been seen as a miss were it not for the support of new friends at Nintendo. After the release of Super Monkey Ball, it became an instant classic and its sequel has also been a prominent launch game for the Wii. Lastly, Monkey Ball remains just about the only launch game that hasn’t lost anything over time.

After the release, the trend continued. Sega continued to develop more games for the Gamecube, and EA delivered a full series of games each year1. The Gamecube lineup was packed with exclusive classics like Zelda: Wind Waker and 1080 Avalanche and third-party titles like Burnout, Timesplitters, and Conflict: Desert Storm, to name a few.

And you know what, the Gamecube may not be remembered as Nintendo’s best, but that’s okay. Because if this was just the stepping stone for the Wii, forging relationships and getting developers to take Nintendo seriously, then it’s going to be worth it. Yes, Nintendo made a few mistakes this generation, but as the old comedian says, “you have to shell out 100 times to be considered an amateur.” Surely at Nintendo’s age, five generations into the industry, they should be at the top of their game. You are never too old to learn and, by the same logic, you are never too old to make mistakes.

The moral of the story

And Mistakes is just what Nintendo did. GBA-GC link? Crap. Wind Waker? Poor, by Zelda standards anyway. Mario Kart? Garbage battle mode. But at the end of that we’ve ended up with a great selection of quality titles.

Also, Nintendo has made some of its old brands famous and created some new ones as well. It’s fair to say that Animal Crossing has really hit its peak on the DS, but that might never have happened if it wasn’t for the quality work done on the Gamecube version, which itself was almost a remake of the original. incarnation N64. Similarly, Donkey Kong also found a home on the Gamecube disc. However, the biggest arrival was undoubtedly Metroid Prime. Many believe it’s Halo from the Gamecube, and while the multiplayer may not be able to compete, the single player experience is simply amazing.

Ironically, Metroid Prime (and its sequel), while one of the best Gamecube games, did not adequately represent Nintendo’s fourth game on the multiplayer front. And what a front Third party games aside, Super Smash Bros Melee has to get a mention. If someone has made a better fighting game, then I don’t want to know anything about it. Fantastic, fast and frenetic fights2, and five points for that example of alliteration. Elsewhere, the Japanese showed signs of going crazy on Wario Ware and we know they have 7 extra Mario pieces. Oh good.

Then, coming back to the old third-party titles, I’ll just mention a few names. Time dividers: future perfect. Conflict: Desert Storm. Super Monkey Ball. FIFA 2005 (yes, it’s pretty good. The sequels get worse and worse, though.) 3d worms. The list really goes on and on. And so on. And in. Then some more.

end GC

So while the Gamecube may not be the greatest console ever made, it will be fondly remembered by those who played it. If not for the quality of single player games, the horrendous crap (except Zelda: Four Swords Adventures) GBA – GC link or the return of many third-party developers, then for multiplayer. I’ve wasted weeks of my life on my old Gamecube, and you know what? If the devil offered them back to me, he wouldn’t take them. That was time well spent.

2 – That it has nothing to do with meat or sex

1 – And I mean every fucking year