Why do you love the GameCube?

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greenmagic469
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Why do you love the GameCube?

Post by greenmagic469 » Sun Jul 05, 2015 5:42 am

Let's face it, the GameCube is as niche as it gets. Even the Sega Saturn and Turbo-Grafx have a larger fan following, and both of these consoles sold about half as many units as the GameCube... Combined. With the advent of the backwards compatible Wii, porting of the system's most popular games (like RE4), and general lack of interest, the GameCube is a truly obscure console which attracts only the most hardcore of fans. If you google "dreamcast fan site", you'll yield dozens of results, but the number of dedicated GCN fansites can be counted on a single hand (in fact, maybe a single finger...).

But yet, here we are, on one of the only, perhaps THE only, dedicated GameCube fan-site. My question is, what brought you here? What did you love so much about the GCN that you decided to actively seek out a message board to post about it?

I'd like to share my reasons.

To me, the GameCube is the perfect console. Just look at the thing... It's colorful, attractive, interesting, and beautiful. It is a harmonious combination of form and function. The GameCube is not only a great looking console, in my opinion, but perhaps one of the best designed. The cubic design, wherein the main components are housed in the center of the machine, with fans on either side, results in a machine that lasts practically forever. Seriously, this thing is a beast. It is so well designed in so many ways, it's unbelieve. Can you say that you've used a console that actually "felt good" to put a disc into? From the disc tray, to the easily removed port covers, to the convenient yet unconventional handle, to the compact size, the GameCube is simply a masterpiece. Add on a top of this some of the best games ever to release on a Nintendo system, like Super Smash Bros. Melee and Resident Evil 4, and you've got yourself a serious machine.

But there's so much more to the console than its successes. In fact, I think one of the things I love most about the GameCube isn't just what it does right, but the potential it has to do more. A console like the PS2, for example, was spoiled. Having been loaded up with unsatisfactory online games, it felt like a cheap gimmick, but on the 'cube, there were so few of these kind of games and features, that what DID exist had to be truly excellent, and the rest is left up to us, the user. The resulted in services like Warp Pipe, where we took control of what this system could do and made it our own, turning something like Mario Kart LAN mode into an actual online game.

And then there's the simple intrigue of the GCN... The myrid of strange attachments and softwares, the ease of modification and use, the numerous trippy and downright strange games... It's all there. In a way, the GCN is so similar to the Dreamcast, but yet never achieved the same cult following. Regardless, I love it, for all of its successes, quirks, and even failures.

But the real question is, why do YOU love the GameCube? I'd like to know. Perhaps I just love the mystery, history and strangeness of it, but I'd like to know your feelings too. Let the internet record, one and for all, why you love the GCN as you do, and if you love it the most, proclaim it to all...
novenary
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Re: Why do you love the GameCube?

Post by novenary » Tue Jul 07, 2015 11:42 am

It's powerful and has a very simple architecture. I love this.

Now why did I go for the GC instead of another console ? Well, I happened to have one collecting dust, so I set it back up, played games on it and randomly found out about modchips which in the end got me all the way to the point of rolling my own and hacking around with homebrew. :P
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emu_kidid
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Re: Why do you love the GameCube?

Post by emu_kidid » Wed Jul 08, 2015 2:44 am

Great post, it warmed up the nostalgia factor of the cube for me once again.

For me, it's a two sided love for the GameCube. There's the games side of things, and the homebrew aspect.

I can remember back quite fondly to many Saturday mornings and high school holidays playing Metroid Prime, Windwaker and Melee, such simple days I wish I could go back to or relive now. I also vividly recall the day my brother and I bought the Indigo GameCube on the AUS release date (May 17th 2002) with Luigis Mansion, Wave Race & Star Wars Rogue Leader. We bought it with 2 controllers initially at 8am that day but by 1pm we wanted another 2 controllers cause it was so much fun and we could imagine what the future titles would bring in terms of multiplayer, even if we only had wave race at the time that supported 4 players. We played the crap out of that first GameCube and it didn't miss a beat. I still have it now albeit in a new case since around mid 2005 I'd hacked up the lid to allow 12CM discs.

By the time I was almost bored with the console around mid 2004, it came to me in a whole new light and combined itself with my next best hobby after gaming, writing code. It's a simple console to write code for (single core, limited RAM) but very fun at that. 10 years later I still haven't made use of some aspects of the GameCube as much as I'd like to such as writing a game for the console that will utilise all 4 controller ports and have some basic form of GX accelerated visuals.

To sum it up, I'd have to say that the GameCube will always remain fresh and with plenty of potential to explore. I only recently (2 years ago) discovered how awesome Pikmin 1 & 2 were, I'm sure there are many other gems still waiting for me to play, while at the same time there are so many homebrew/hardware possibilities awaiting too!
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AC_Orange
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Re: Why do you love the GameCube?

Post by AC_Orange » Wed Jul 08, 2015 5:33 am

Initially I decided to get the Gamecube because of Resident Evil Remake and later Zero. The new Mario was also a big thing as well as Donkey Kong Racing. Sadly, I was disappointed in Sunshine and DKR never came but we still ended up with some great games on the console. Both Pikmin and especially Pikmin 2 were so adorable and fun. Mario Kart wasn't that great but we could play it online, on the other hand F-Zero GX was pretty damn good.

Emulators were another big thing for me, unfortunately Snes never reached full speed on the Dreamcast so being able to play Yoshi's Island and Seiken Densetsu 3 was a big deal for me. Streaming games over the BBA before they were released was also an amazing thing. I remember playing RE4 demo which I quite enjoyed, shame the game never reached the heights of the Remake or RE2.

In the RPG department there wasn't much there, Paper Mario, Skies of Arcadia port, Tales of Symphonia, and Baten Kaitos games were excellent, again BK2 being much better as the battle system was so much more refined. Game I played the most on the system was Phantasy Star Online, something I missed on the Dreamcast but managed to experience what the fuss is all about.

Luigi's Mansion was surprisingly good but on the short side. Star Fox being so out of place in Dinosaur Planet world was still enjoyable. Fire Emblem deserves a special mention as one of the best games on the system. Rayman 3 didn't quite work as well as Rayman 2 on Dreamcast. Zelda and Metroid games really showed off the graphics and Four Swords was the only game that showed us that GBA connectivity actually works.
I'm probably forgetting some other highlights but I will wrap up and post later as I remember more
greenmagic469
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Re: Why do you love the GameCube?

Post by greenmagic469 » Wed Jul 08, 2015 6:58 pm

emu_kidid wrote:Great post, it warmed up the nostalgia factor of the cube for me once again.

For me, it's a two sided love for the GameCube. There's the games side of things, and the homebrew aspect.

I can remember back quite fondly to many Saturday mornings and high school holidays playing Metroid Prime, Windwaker and Melee, such simple days I wish I could go back to or relive now. I also vividly recall the day my brother and I bought the Indigo GameCube on the AUS release date (May 17th 2002) with Luigis Mansion, Wave Race & Star Wars Rogue Leader. We bought it with 2 controllers initially at 8am that day but by 1pm we wanted another 2 controllers cause it was so much fun and we could imagine what the future titles would bring in terms of multiplayer, even if we only had wave race at the time that supported 4 players. We played the crap out of that first GameCube and it didn't miss a beat. I still have it now albeit in a new case since around mid 2005 I'd hacked up the lid to allow 12CM discs.

By the time I was almost bored with the console around mid 2004, it came to me in a whole new light and combined itself with my next best hobby after gaming, writing code. It's a simple console to write code for (single core, limited RAM) but very fun at that. 10 years later I still haven't made use of some aspects of the GameCube as much as I'd like to such as writing a game for the console that will utilise all 4 controller ports and have some basic form of GX accelerated visuals.

To sum it up, I'd have to say that the GameCube will always remain fresh and with plenty of potential to explore. I only recently (2 years ago) discovered how awesome Pikmin 1 & 2 were, I'm sure there are many other gems still waiting for me to play, while at the same time there are so many homebrew/hardware possibilities awaiting too!
Sounds a lot like myself, I received the cube back in 2001 or 2002 here in the USA, with a copy of Smash, and my love was forever sealed. Then I got into tunneling MKDD and playing PSO, and things only grew from there. I definitely agree that there is a lot to explore, it wasn't until just a few years ago that I discovered great games like Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, the same Pikmin games you mention, and a few oddballs like Geist and Eternal Darkness. Despite the relatively small library (647 games I think?), there are some truly quality games on this system, and I've yet to play a dozen or more that I've been putting off. And of course, the home-brew aspect you mentioned, which allows for limitless potential and creativity in the years to come. Combined with the fact that the console is so unique and easy to program for (again drawing upon some of that Dreamcast vibe), I have a feeling that this console will become "retro chique" over time and may once again gain interest in old-school hobbyists and collectors.

By the way, you mentioned you haven't explored the entire GC library (nor have I), but if you haven't already, I highly, HIGHLY suggest you check out a game called Goblin Commander: Unleash the Horde. If you like PC and/or RTS games like Warcraft 3, you'll love this game. It was actually conceptualized and developed by a few dudes who use to work for Blizzard, as it were. One of the lesser-known gems on the system, and definitely worth a peek if you haven't played it already.
XC-3730C
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Re: Why do you love the GameCube?

Post by XC-3730C » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:07 pm

I like GC because of the Gameboy Player. I just wish component cables weren't so ridiculously expensive.

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andre104623
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Re: Why do you love the GameCube?

Post by andre104623 » Thu Aug 20, 2015 11:08 pm

XC-3730C wrote:I like GC because of the Gameboy Player. I just wish component cables weren't so ridiculously expensive.

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The component cable is nice and all but gcvideo is the future of gamecube progressive mode. I have the DVI version and made some shuriken videos there soooo much better then the official cables picture quality wise and digital audio which was only possible with MEGA3 and MEGAaudio.

Why do I love the gamecube. Becuase for a 15 year old console we are still coming up with new ideas and concepts also the homebrew is great. I had to have one in 2003 becuase of resident evil 1 remake and resident evil 0. Im a huge resident evil fan and the cube had them all. I pre-ordered all of them but my gamestop didn't get code Veronica X i was pissed. Took me a while to acquire this game but did a few months later.
Last edited by andre104623 on Thu Aug 20, 2015 11:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Why do you love the GameCube?

Post by XC-3730C » Thu Aug 20, 2015 11:10 pm

Where would I buy this DVI thing for Gamecube and how much is it?

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AC_Orange
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Re: Why do you love the GameCube?

Post by AC_Orange » Mon Nov 30, 2015 10:23 pm

Thanks for the Goblin Commander recommendation. I actually don't own that game, will try and get it even though I've slowed down when it comes to collecting. Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance is pretty good, one of the first games I hired from Blockbuster back in the day. Timesplitters 2 was fun, I kinda forgot that game.
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Re: Why do you love the GameCube?

Post by cornandbeans » Thu Mar 03, 2016 5:04 am

Ah, the GameCube. Some of my fondest memories in life revolve around this console. I could shed a tear thinking about the hundreds of hours I've put into this console and I'm proud to say it's my favorite of all time. I remember when my dad bought my brother and I our first gamecube somewhere around SSBM's release. He was hooking it up, and we were watching the intro of the game, basically drooling, ready to push our father aside just to play. I remember when my brother and I would stay up all night playing all of the Mario Party games, I remember we stayed up til like 5AM, and woke up at 4PM...that's the first time I ever stayed up all night, which I do pretty often now since I work from home. I remember going to the gc menu screen just to listen to that beautiful, ambient music that I'd literally leave on all night sometimes to sleep to. Thank god for the luxury of YouTube now lol. On a random note, I've actually been through three gcs in my childhood because we'd play them so much their lasers would burn out or whatever and we'd have to buy a new one. I don't play my gc much now but every time I walk past it I have a mental orgasm, as I'm sure all of you do, because the console is just that fucking good.

LONG LIVE GAMECUBE
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Re: Why do you love the GameCube?

Post by LargoLaGrande » Wed Apr 20, 2016 10:16 pm

I love pretty much all about the GameCube: the Design of the Cube, the Controller, the Mini Discs, the Game Boy Player, the Library of great games and the amazing SD Loader Software to creat a "virtual console" esque Platform.

The only complain I have is the lack of great ports later on in the lifespan of the GameCube. The Cube would be greatest game console ever made - in my opinion - if it would had Titels like Persona 3 & 4, Dragon Quest, Yakuza, Hunting Ground, Shadow Hearts, Project Zero, Silent Hill, More Capcom Games, More jRPGs (Like Tales of games), SHMUPs, More Collections, More exclusives etc.
Sadly the Cube died pretty fast in the end...

One more thing: the "PAL" Problem... no supported (game wise) progressive mode and rarely a 60hz mode.
jdollatari
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Re: Why do you love the GameCube?

Post by jdollatari » Sat Sep 17, 2016 1:32 pm

had one as a kid that my bro and i played a ton with loads of great games like rogue squadron luigis mansion and animal crossing with our aunt
we had a black one and i loved the little discs and handle it was unique. had an awesome controller and my first wireless controllers to.
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