With all the gloom surrounding the Nintendo 3DS and the dark clouds already forming around the upcoming Wii U (whoa, industry déjà vu), I wonder how Nintendo's worst selling console (GCN {Virtual Boy a handheld or a console?}) fairs against its best selling console (Wii). Is Nintendo better games-wise when they're at their worst sales-wise? The Wii may be more popular, but that popularity might just be a case of quantity over quality. Of course, the more popular the console, the more games it receives and thus the higher the chance its library being filled with less-than-stellar entries. But for me, its been months since I bought a decent Wii game @ retail (I think it was Donkey Kong Country Returns). This inconsistency didn't happen with my GameCube, though I've got slightly more games for Wii.
So, how well do you think the Wii has fared when compared to its direct predecessor? Nintendo's presence? They never forgot Mario Kart on either console, but why didn't F-Zero and Wave Race make the drive over to Wii and its Wheel? Mario, Zelda, Metroid Prime, Fire Emblem, and Super Smash Bros. all made the leap.
Ever since the N64, there's been talk about Nintendo needing to increase its efforts to entice 3rd parties. On the GCN, Link appeared in Namco's Soul Calibur II, and Sega/Amusement Vision developed F-Zero GX (which was all result of the Triforce deal). On the Wii, Metroid: Other M was developed by Tecmo/Team Ninja (nice to see a Metroid stage in DoA Dimensions), and both Snake and Sonic appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. with respective, game oriented stages.
Second party offerings? GCN: Eternal Darkness, Metal Gear Solid (plus 3rd party collaboration with Konami), Metroid Prime (Retro quickly became an in-house studio). Does Nintendo even have any 2nd parties after the GCN era? Unimportant?
How do 3rd party offerings compare between the two? The GCN may've fell short with the amount of 3rd parties, but Capcom certainly supported it, especially with main installments of the Resident Evil series. But on the Wii it's not quite the same. And while Sega supported both (even the GCN's modem), they seem to have a more powerful presence on Wii.
And was it a good idea to make Wii sequels of GameCube games in franchises that are usually standalone entries?
For me personally I (rightly or wrongly) judge the quality of Nintendo consoles by the standards of the Mario games that appear on them.
With the Wii we were given 4 top quality Mario games, ie galaxy 1&2, nsmbw and of course Mario kart Wii.
On the GameCube however I wasnt at all impressed with Mario Sunshine and if im honest was never really into Double Dash all that much either For this reason alone ive always very much prefered the Wii, im not a fan of RPG games so I dont class the Paper Mario games in the same bracket
Even though the Gamecube has my favourite game ever on it, (Tales of Symphonia) I think the Wii is better as while there were some great first-party games on GC, I think the Wii has much better first-party games overall and I also think that the is only just better for third-party games too.
The GCN may've fell short with the amount of 3rd parties, but Capcom certainly supported it, especially with main installments of the Resident Evil series. But on the Wii it's not quite the same.
Not quite the same, but it was better. You might be forgetting Monster Hunter Tri, Mega Man 9, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, Zack and Wiki, and all of their VC support like Ghosts n' Goblins.
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There can only be one, like in that foreign movie where there could only be one, and in the end there is only one dude left, because that was the point.
"Love your ego, you won't feel a thing, always number one, the pen with a bent wrist crooked king, sign away our peace, for your war, one word and it's over." ~ Deadmau5
Well, the Wii can play Wii and Gamecube games whereas the Gamecube can just play Gamecube games - So I'll go with the Wii. I've spent a lot more time playing Wii than Gamecube too, but that's partly because I buy my own games now, and because I can play some Wii games online.
I loved my Gamecube (and probably will love it again if my friends ever ship my Gamecube games to me). There are so many incredibly well-made games and hidden gems for that system that it nearly rivals the Sega Saturn, my all-time favorite system (actually, I suppose the DS is my second-favorite, but whatever). By the time I bought a Wii, I didn't have nearly the same kind of free time or even patience to play games that I did when I bought my Saturn or my Gamecube, but I kind of missed those days. It never really worked out that way. I enjoy all the games I own, but the only ones that I ever really LOVED enough to play the crap out of and unlock everything are WarioWare: Smooth Moves, Okami, Lost in Shadow, and the Art Style series. I lived in an amazing apartment that was attached to a bar and had no immediate neighbors for five years, so I had people over all the time. Any time we had a party going, after people started leaving we inevitably turned to video games for entertainment, and that's was half the reason I bought a Wii. But if we didn't play WarioWare, we'd always turn to Saturn Bomberman or Ribbit King Plus for the Gamecube (the best $5 I ever spent... seriously, I've gotten so many friends (including people who don't even like video games) hooked on that game it's ridiculous). Hell, I was super excited about Kirby's Epic Yarn and played the crap out of it at first, but I never got around to finishing it (though a big part of that is because I promised a friend I wouldn't play through 1-player until we had finished the game as a team, but we never managed to do that). So I guess my Wii has kinda let me down in that aspect. Part of me thinks that the games just weren't given the same amount of love and/or polish in the development process that Gamecube games were... but I'm pretty sure the truth is that I just don't have the same level of patience for games that I used to. So any time I see people bashing Wii on the internet or saying it's not for "hardcore" gamers, it pisses me off. I've been playing video games all my life, and even though I'm not spending the time or money that I used to, I'd still SO much rather own a Wii than just about any other system out there, and I suppose a big part of that is because it can play Gamecube games.
...Sorry for the rambling. This thread made me all nostalgic.
In terms of first-party games I would say they're about equal. As Nintendo's output is consistently great across all their consoles. Though the whole simple, accessible game design philosophy of their Wii games is something I totally agree with, so I may give extra points for the Wii there.
In terms of third-party games the GameCube wins. There's a misconception (often spread by the more paranoid Nintendo fans) that the GameCube lacked third-party support and that's what caused its downfall. For a large chunk of its life the GameCube had very decent third-party support. Because of its graphical parity, most of the big multi-platform games were on the GameCube; your Soulcaliburs, Burnouts, Call of Dutys, Resident Evils, Sports games, etc. Even things like True Crime and Hitman came to the GameCube. It had third-party games in a way that the Wii could only dream of. Third-party support dropped off when the GameCube's sales dropped off, not the other way round. The only problem for the GameCube (and the Xbox) was that the PS2 was so established and so dominant that they were seen as unnecessary by most people.
In terms of the controller, for me the GameCube wins hands down (quite literally!) I was excited for the Wii's motion controls at first, but I soon discovered that I don't really like them. I've found them to be quite annoying, awkward, clunky, unresponsive and tiresome. Miming and flailing isn't really very intuitive or immersive and I just much prefer the simple, relaxing, tactility and reliability of a controller like the GameCube's. There's an exactness and precision of button controls that I love, there's a vagueness and ambiguity of motion controls that I don't. I don't recall playing many GameCube games where the controls were gimmicky or broken, I don't recall playing many Wii games where they weren't.
Also on a general note, looking back I loved the simplicity of the GameCube. This may seem odd as simplicity is what the Wii is supposedly all about. But I miss the days when consoles were truly simple and just played games. That was it. I guess the GameCube is probably the last Nintendo home console to be like this, now that they all have to be multimedia hubs, wannabe PCs, filled with all sorts of pointless non-gaming guff, bells and whistles, 100 page manuals, etc. I don't really like turning on a Nintendo console and being greeted by a bloody desktop!
Mario Sunshine Vs Mario Galaxy 1 and 2. Er Wii clear winner.
Wind Waker Vs Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. Seriously? Wii again.
Double Dash Vs MK Wii. Both poor in my opinion. Draw.
Melee Vs Brawl. Seems to be some debate. I like both however. Call it a draw.
Metroid Prime 1 and 2 Vs 3. Ok, GameCube wins.
Luigi's Mansion Vs nothing. Alright, alright. GameCube.
Wario World Vs not having a game that bad. Wii wins again.
Starfox Assault Vs .... Ok, GameCube winner.
That pedestrian Kirby racing game Vs Return to Dreamland and Epic Yarn. Come on. Wii Winner.
DK Jungle Beat Vs DKC Returns. That's right, Wii again.
Pokemon... Eugh, draw I guess.
And so on. I suppose the picture we get here is that the Wii has missed out on some franchises like F-Zero, Starfox etc. but on the big ones like Mario and Zelda it's far better.
Well the Gamecube and LoZ: Collector's Edition in particular brought me back to console gaming. But I'm still more of a handheld gamer, so they're both great. If I had to pick one, I'd say Wii because Wii Sports and Warioware were fun!
Current games: Everything on Switch
Switch Friend Code: SW-5075-7879-0008 | My Nintendo: LzWinky
the gamecube had some great nintendo games and more quality 3rd party titles than the wii; however, the wii have more quality games made by nintendo and is graphically more powerful than the gamecube.
therefore, in spite of the shovelware, i'd still go for the wii.
In terms of first-party games I would say they're about equal. As Nintendo's output is consistently great across all their consoles. Though the whole simple, accessible game design philosophy of their Wii games is something I totally agree with, so I may give extra points for the Wii there.
In terms of third-party games the GameCube wins. There's a misconception (often spread by the more paranoid Nintendo fans) that the GameCube lacked third-party support and that's what caused its downfall. For a large chunk of its life the GameCube had very decent third-party support. Because of its graphical parity, most of the big multi-platform games were on the GameCube; your Soulcaliburs, Burnouts, Call of Dutys, Resident Evils, Sports games, etc. Even things like True Crime and Hitman came to the GameCube. It had third-party games in a way that the Wii could only dream of. Third-party support dropped off when the GameCube's sales dropped off, not the other way round. The only problem for the GameCube (and the Xbox) was that the PS2 was so established and so dominant that they were seen as unnecessary by most people.
In terms of the controller, for me the GameCube wins hands down (quite literally!) I was excited for the Wii's motion controls at first, but I soon discovered that I don't really like them. I've found them to be quite annoying, awkward, clunky, unresponsive and tiresome. Miming and flailing isn't really very intuitive or immersive and I just much prefer the simple, relaxing, tactility and reliability of a controller like the GameCube's. There's an exactness and precision of button controls that I love, there's a vagueness and ambiguity of motion controls that I don't. I don't recall playing many GameCube games where the controls were gimmicky or broken, I don't recall playing many Wii games where they weren't.
Also on a general note, looking back I loved the simplicity of the GameCube. This may seem odd as simplicity is what the Wii is supposedly all about. But I miss the days when consoles were truly simple and just played games. That was it. I guess the GameCube is probably the last Nintendo home console to be like this, now that they all have to be multimedia hubs, wannabe PCs, filled with all sorts of pointless non-gaming guff, bells and whistles, 100 page manuals, etc. I don't really like turning on a Nintendo console and being greeted by a bloody desktop!
So anyway, yeah, I kind of prefered the GameCube.
Pretty much this for me, except for the Wii part. I enjoy mine, but the GameCube is really where it scratches my gaming itch.
You know, a lot of people wax poetically about the Gamecube but aside from Animal Crossing, Wind Waker, Luigi's Mansion and Mario Sunshine, I didn't really play much on it. The Wii, however, with it's downloadable library of Virtual Console titles really appealed to me as a retroist and I have far more retail games for it than I ever did on the Gamecube.
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