Page 1 of Is the Gamecube folowing the N64.......down the plughole?

Hello there fellow console fans,Has anyone any news about how the gamecube is selling? There seems to be a few things going on which make me think that it`s struggling agianst the PS2 and X-Box.
The Gamecube has now suddenly become available with two games free (maybe just to compete with the other platform bundles).Most importantly several of the main retailers are selling their stock off and won`t be selling any more Cube stuff (PC World and Dixons etc)
Even the N64 had games sold in these stores AFTER it was announced that the N64 would be no more.
What`s the reason? My theory is that the games are not piratable yet on the Gamecube.Copies of all PS2 and X-box titles are freely available.Even if you are buying copies you still need to buy all the hardware,joypads,memory cards,magazines and probably even the odd original game (if found reduced or second hand).In fact if anything the saving on the games makes you more inclined to buy all sort of extras (putting hundreds of pounds into Microsoft`s aand Sony`s coffers).
If every game had to cost consumers £35 all console manuafacturers could be in trouble.
Is this a stupid view? Maybe.It`s an interesting theory at the least! :)

Thanks from Pete

My theory is that the Xbox will rise to the top of the console charts, and the Gamecube will indeed fail - and fairly soon.

Sony have invested enough to keep PS2 going for about another year, maybe two, but Xbox has limitless possibilities (hard disc, broadband etc.).

GC will be over by mid-2004 no doubt.

I dont think the XBox will ever rise to the top of the console charts, the hard disc and broadband connection will not sell it unless you are a converted PC gamer.

This is just my opinion, i have owned the XBox since it was released in the US and have stuck up for it in the past but it does not feel like a games console to me anymore. I am not looking for accessories in a console, i just want to play some original games that are fun to play.

Most of all the best games are made in Japan and then converted to the west, and the few that are available for the XBox are what is selling it.

We cant make games like they do, or have the imagination to invent anything as exciting. Nintendo`s new GBA SP will outsell every cosnsole when it comes out here and most of the games will have compatability with the GC, if anybody gave the GC a chance they would find that just about all the games are superior to XBox and PS2 in terms of graphics and playability.

The PS2 is starting to shine now too with the likes of Zone of the Enders 2 and Dark cloud 2, both games look better than any Xbox or GC game available at the moment.

I have been speaking to a few workmates recently who own PS2s and when i mention that my GC is holding my attention more than the PS2 or XBox they seem surprised, they are all brainwashed into thinking Nintendo`s GC has bad graphics and the worst games available.

You people need to be educated!

I completely agree with you Skirpy.I am now lucky enough to have the 3 main consoles and definitely play the Gamecube more than the others.I only just got the Cube and expected it to have inferior graphics to the X-Box but was pleasantly surprised at the quality and smoothness of games like Starfox.
Nintendo just seem to release games far too slowly.I guess it takes ages to make a really good one.The `Gamecube only` games such as Smash Bros,Starfox,Mario,Eternal Darkness,Monkey Ball 2,Metroid are in my opinion the best,most fun games available right now.There just isn`t enough of them being produced to stop the Cubes demise.
It was exactly the same with the N64 and Dreamcast which were the best consoles about but still bombed.
Nintendo also seems to have a very low opinion of UK gamers, seeming to think that we are not capable of appreciating `unusual` games like Animal Crossing.
Surely the reverse is true.Everyone I know is fed up of mediocre FPs`s and platformers and are crying out for something different.

Anyhoo it will be interesting to see what happens next in the console wars. :)
Cheers all from Pete

I think the Dixons Super Group is merely blaming the GC for their rather p*** poor sales at christmas. But then all 3 of their console selling stores have precisely dick when it comes to GC software, and in atleast the Leicester PC World they have the GC hidden round the corner.

GC looks set to pick up I reckon. Some serious quality games coming out in the next couple of months (Metroid, Zelda, PSO and Resident Evil 0 (I know they got released today) for a start) with a boat load of other damn shiny games coming out over the year.

The GC offer you mention is only 1 game... atleast as far as Nintendo are concerned. What the retailers actually do with that offer is entirely up to them.

Piracy does seem to have a part in the problem. Too many people wont buy a GC because they`ll actually have to BUY their games. True that the price is daylight robbery, but actually using your initiative and shopping around tends to bring out plenty of bargains (DSG at last :)).

And it doesnt help with people going around telling everyone that will listen that the graphics suck and its about to keel over and die like the Atari Jaguar! Or spreading the crap that it`s a "kiddy console". I`d love to see an 8 year old finish the cute and loveable Monkey Ball on Expert difficulty.

"You people need to be educated!"

I would like to be mate but I had a cube for a week with mario, die hard, monkeyball and a few other games.

My conclusion its a very good system, but I cant see where its so much better then the PS2.

Marios gameplay isnt really superior to Jak and Daxter, SLy Racoon.
And neither is its gfx.

The cube gamepad is great for some games but for fps and fighters it blows.

The xbox definately has the graphics edge over the other 2 but after playing on a gamecube I cant really see what the wait was for.

I waited for pes and GTa on the PS2 to come out before I bought one and im getting an Xbox mainly due to its media ability.

I will bet most of the people who dislike the GC, owned an early N64 and gave up on it because they could,nt wait for the quality games that were coming out, so bought themselves a Playstation. I still have my N64 and 4 of the best games ever made.....

Ocarina of Time
Majoras Mask
Mario 64
Golden eye

There might have not been a big catalogue of games but this is no reason to put Nintendo down, if you ask most people why the dislike Nintendo they will usually say....

Too Kiddie
No good games
or just that they heard the machines are crap.

It was the same with the Dreamcast, people avoided it because of the Saturn failure.

Its the games that count to me, here in the UK most people are bothered more about the Hardware, if it plays DVDs or if it can modded to play copied games.

Well, I don`t much care for the GameCube because there are not enough games that interest me. It does give out the "kiddie" vibe, but when actually played its not.

The graphics are pretty damn good though.

But the PS2 is my weapon of choice.

The Gamecube will survive at least until it`s been hacked.
The Xbox will probably be buggered because it has been chipped, software developers wont bother with if they wont earn from it. Same thing as the Dreamcast, it had an early death because of piracy.
It`s sickening to see such a legend of videogaming quit making hardware. Even completed DCgames where shelved as it was pointless releasing them. Still Billy Gates can afford to sell the consoles for a massive loss, but how long will he do so ?
I`m a huge fan of both consoles by the way, Halo is probably my fave game at the moment, but I`ve got to agree with skirpydoink that the most innovative and imaginative games are Japanese releases on the Gamecube.

This item was edited on Saturday, 8th March 2003, 21:17

Well I`ve had mine a while and at the moment and the thing that may save the cube is freeloader. don`t want to wait bloody ages to play zelda (the reason I bought it in the first place), metroid and that freaky scrolly shoot em up Ikaragua that I can`t pronounce. but in all honesty I am a lot happier with the games and the prices than I was with N64, all the new capcom releases look very cool but it`s going to be very hard for Nintendo to shake the kiddy image (mostly due to mario and pokemon which are the first things you think of when someone says nintendo) but as I`ve said before the amount of games which are cross platform now means that the conole specific titles are going to be very important lets see what happens when Metroid, Zelda, and Unity are out as well as a new mario game.

Of course even if it does go pear shaped in a year or so there are enough decent games slated (i hope) in this coming year to keep me happy.