Remember the Gamecube? Its 20 years old now, and you won't believe what it looks like now!

[The Predaking]

Just kidding about the click bait title.


The console just recently turned 20 years old, and I figured that we could talk about it. I got my Gamecube in 2005 from as a Christmas gift from an ex-girlfriend. It was a neat system and I really wanted to play Resident Evil 4. I loved that game. I beat it over and over again to unlock more content. I was working at the University back then, and I would work late hours at their help desk. It was an easy job, and we had a lot of downtime. So we would bring in game consoles and hook up to this nice (at the time) CRT SDTV that was on a cart. I had a buddy that would come in on his days off to play RE4 with us. It was a great time and we all had a blast playing that system. I mainly just stuck playing the resident evil games as I already had an Xbox and PS2, but years later I would pick up a few games to add to my collection. Here is what I have now.

So what are your Gamecube memories? Do you still have yours?

 

[Haywire]

I loved my Gamecube! Played Pokemon Coloseum and XD, and Metroid Prime 1 and 2 many times into the wee hours of morning. Plus, had the Gameboy Advance reader add-on, so even got to play regular Pokemon on a decent-sized screen.

I still kick myself for selling it, but at the time it was either the gamecube or the job, and being the responsible adult won out. That time.

 

[Daith]

The Gamecube years were my Army years. A few years I obviously didn't get to play much thanks to being deployed but the few I were on base was spent having SoulCalibut 2 tournaments with my friends in the barracks.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

For anyone who doesn't understand the appeal of the Gamecube because you weren't there or just chose wrong in that particular console war, you need to understand how hard they tried to tie it with the Game Boy Advance early on. They were supposed to be a shared experience. You could get them in the same color and have a real matching set. There were companion games early on. Not a console game and a barebones handheld port, I mean two different games that just went together. And sometimes they weren't just spiritual companions. The GBA could plug into a Gamecube controller port and the games could interact with each other in ways that seem trivial but at the time it seemed like the future.

We could go down the list and say "What are you talking about? Nothing they did with that gimmick is all that memorable", but I think the attempt at it had other effects that helped make the era more memorable. Like, Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion were made to connect with each other, but a more important effect of that is they were released almost simultaneously. Same franchise, but two completely different play styles, in two very different settings, on complete opposite ends of its fictional timeline, for two different systems. Having to do marketing for both of them at the same time made for a more memorable combined splash of "Metroid is back", I think.

And of course it helped that the Gamecube had outstanding games and an underrated controller. But I really think the goal of connectivity between console and handheld led Nintendo to manage its brands in ways that subtly made the whole era more memorable than it would have been.

 

[The Predaking]

I had a Wavebird controller, (still have it in fact) and I thought that was a really great controller, but it got outshined immediately by the 360 controller for me. Still, I played my Gamecube with that for 90% of its life, and I had a blast with it.

I am thinking about going to the local retro game store and see what they have in stock to beef up my collection.

 

[Pale Rider]

It was the only generation that I bought all three consoles (four, if you include Dreamcast).

RE remake, RE4, Wind Waker, Rogue Squadron and Metroid Prime were my big GC games. I wasn't really into the 3D Mario games or Smash, but I didn't need to be in order to appreciate the Cube.

And it wasn't even my main. The OG Xbox probably wound up being my primary console, with the PS2 getting the least attention.

 

[Thefakelink]

I bought a GC with Metroid Prime 1 with my first paycheck from my first job. I ended up having Wind Waker, MP2, Twilight Princess, Twin Snakes, Smash, and a few others. I think I still have some of them but no console to play them on. One day maybe I’ll get one for old times sake.

 

[The Predaking]

It was the only generation that I bought all three consoles (four, if you include Dreamcast).

RE remake, RE4, Wind Waker, Rogue Squadron and Metroid Prime were my big GC games. I wasn't really into the 3D Mario games or Smash, but I didn't need to be in order to appreciate the Cube.

And it wasn't even my main. The OG Xbox probably wound up being my primary console, with the PS2 getting the least attention.

I had all three too(And the Dreamcast but I got that way after it was discontinued). I preferred to get the games on the Xbox as they were just a little bit better. For the PS2 I had a bunch of games, like I got it used for Christmas and it came with a dozen or so games, and I got a few for it as I went along like Dragon Quest 8. I like Grand Turismo 3 on the PS2, as it was my racing game that generation. My main use for it was DDR though. I think I had 6 different DDR games for it. The Xbox and the 360 DDR games later on just kind of paled compared to the PS2 versions. Funny enough, I got my buddy the Mario DDR game for the Gamecube as a graduation gift, as he loved playing DDR with us, but didn't have a PS2 or Xbox. I hear that game is quite rare and expensive these days.

 

[Gridlock]

As a kid I LOVED the Rogue Squadron game on PC. So ofcourse I was quite sad upon learning, that its sequel is gonna be a Gamecube exclusive. There was no way my parents would consider buying it, as money was tight. About ten or so years later I went to my first job, and accidently discovered that I could buy used Gamecube for about 60$, and both Rogue Squadron sequels for about 10$. I was so happy! Wasn't even considering buying any other games for it, I just REALLY wanted those two. Granted, the third one was a bit ehhhh, do to the walking sections. But I still had the time of my life with both of them.

 

[Pocket]

The GameCube controller had the only face button arrangement that has ever made sense. No need to memorize which color, letter, or symbol means which direction to flick your thumb when the very shape of the button itself makes it clear where it is relative to the home position. No one else has ever understood this, including whoever designed the Wii pro controller (or whatever it's called).

 

[CoffeeHorse]

And the buttons worked. I hugged up plenty of times in plenty of games and not once could I convincingly lie to myself that the controller missed my inputs.

 

[The Predaking]

Sadly, my local Retro game store's selection of Gamecube games was crap. All the halfway interesting games were $40-$60, and the rest of the games were shovel ware for $20-$35. Granted they tend to stick pretty high prices on stuff, so I am not that surprised.

I did get a copy of TMNT for the NES for $15 though.

 

[Telly]

i had one. but the only games i had were twilight princess and some collection of zelda games. it had oot (as well as the master quest version), original zelda and zelda 2 on it.

 

[Pale Rider]

My sister was obsessed with Eternal Darkness.

 

[Exatron]

I still have all the Nintendo systems, aside from my older Game Boys that got upgraded from GB to GBC to GBA in turn. Yes, I even have a Virtual Boy, not that it ever got much use.

Anyway, yeah, had and still have a bunch of games for it that I really appreciate. A couple good Zelda games, the first two Metroid Primes, Luigi's Mansion, Eternal Darkness, a couple Rogue Squadron games, etc. I don't hold Melee up to the level I know a lot of people do, but it was fun at the time.

And speaking of the Game Boy integration, can't leave out the Game Boy Player. Up until Phantom Hourglass came out on the DS, it was possible to play the entire Zelda series, all 13 games, on a Gamecube with a GP Player. I've read that there's some software that can be used to improve the quality of the video output when using the GB Player. I haven't ever looked into it much, but it's one of the things I want to do once we finish our home reno and I can get a good setup for all my game systems.

 

[The Predaking]

There are some Gamecube HDMI adapters, but they are really expensive, so I haven't tried them. Adam Koralik has done a video on them that you should check out though.

 

[engledogg]

My mom and sister were obsessed with Animal Crossing...to the point that Mom actually bought a Gameboy Advance just so she could go to the island.

MIKE
engledogg

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

GameCube was our first new-release console after getting married (Dreamcast was our first new console, but it was already being phased out at that point, so different distinction). Some good memories there.

Some bad, too. Namely, my 1019 Memory Card losing all the data on it, including my Animal Crossing town, New Iacon, which was the one thing I didn't have backed up anywhere. Nintendo's consumer service were less than sympathetic to my cause.

Got a Wavebird at some point, but at some later point, the receiver died on me. Pity, it really grew on me, but now it's just a fancy paperweight.

Controller in general was really good... for games made for it. I can't even begin to imagine trying to play something like Street Fighter on there, and I'd have to completely redo how I play Mega Man X if I ever tried it on there.

Played lots of Super Smash Bros. Melee on there, which we got when we got the console the Christmas it came out. I'm sad that our copy was stolen. Someone replaced it for us with the "Player's Choice" version, but I'm still kinda sad that "our" copy is gone. I do remember finally beating Giga Bowser in there, too.

Sonic Adventure 2 Battle was another I put a lot of time into. I practically mastered it, but picking it up recently, I learned it's kind of an acquired... not taste, but to kind of get used to the controls and such.

I know it sounds like I'm being negative, but I did write some fond memories of hunting down Super Mario Sunshine (and subsequently falling in love with Luigi's Manion more) here some years ago.

We didn't have a Game Boy Advance at the time, and could scarcely afford one, so the Game Boy Player was a savior for a while there.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures was a game I regard fondly.

I'll try to think of more things to say later.

 

[Glitch]

I recall when I saw the games on a DVD freebie, one was Luigis Mansion with it's rounded characters and Casper/Ghostbusters/Frighteners ghosts which was visually a huge step up from N64 and to some extent Dreamcast. Next was a trailer for Resident Evil, after Nemesis and Code Veronica it was impressive and more importantly it looked closer to actual horror unmarred by polygon models. One vid was Rogue Leader, the trench battle no less but to actually play that in store was something else and that was Gamecubes showcase game.

 

[Ironbite4]

Gamecube had the best wrestling game on the planet. Day of Reckoning and it's sequel was a masterpiece and had the best grappling system of all time.

Ironbite-and nobody can ever tell me otherwise.