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MdaG 07-30-2007 01:41 PM

Is it worth getting a Gamecube?
 
As I've recently discovered the PS2 and its' vast array of games, all for a relatively meager sum, I've thought about the game cube. How is it? Is it worth getting one today (are there good games out there?)? I can easily get one for about €60 brand new...

Lucien21 07-30-2007 02:03 PM

If you had the money I would say to buy a Wii as all the gamecube games are backwardly compatible.

There are a few decent games on the Gamecube

Metroid Prime 1 & 2 - Great FPS with some puzzles.
Zelda Wind Waker - Some people hate the cell shaded characters. I loved it.
Eternal Darkness - Creepy
Mario Sunshine - not the best Mario game.
Ikaruga - possibly the best vertical shooter of all time. Bloody hard though.
Resident Evil 4 - Superb.
Pikmin 2 - Cute and weird.
Paper Mario 1000 year door - Mario RPG.
Beyond Good and Evil - Lucasarts style action game.

fajerkaos 07-30-2007 02:24 PM

Yeah, those are the greatest, but I would also add:
F-Zero GX - The word speed gets a whole new mening in this racing game.
Star Fox Adventures - Zelda like adventure made by the awsome Rare, maybe a little short and a little too easy, but still a great game.
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat - Playing a platformer with a drum-controller, how can that possibly go wrong?
Skies of Arcadia - At least seems like a good game, I want this one!

... And for heavens sake, don't forget Zelda: Twiligt Princess. :pan:

SoccerDude28 07-30-2007 03:09 PM

Totally agree with Lucien. At this point in time, I would get a Wii.

MdaG 07-30-2007 09:46 PM

Ok, thanks. Then I'll probably get a Wii if I ever get a Nintendo urge. I will probably skip it and get a PS3 in the future instead.

MoriartyL 07-30-2007 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lucien21 (Post 428819)
If you had the money I would say to buy a Wii as all the gamecube games are backwardly compatible.

There are a few decent games on the Gamecube

Metroid Prime 1 & 2 - Great FPS with some puzzles.
Zelda Wind Waker - Some people hate the cell shaded characters. I loved it.
Eternal Darkness - Creepy
Mario Sunshine - not the best Mario game.
Ikaruga - possibly the best vertical shooter of all time. Bloody hard though.
Resident Evil 4 - Superb.
Pikmin 2 - Cute and weird.
Paper Mario 1000 year door - Mario RPG.
Beyond Good and Evil - Lucasarts style action game.

That is a very strange list. Super Mario Sunshine is not a good reason to get the Gamecube, Beyond Good & Evil and Resident Evil 4 are multiplatform (including PS2), and Pikmin 2 is nowhere near as good as the first Pikmin (which is wonderful).



Whether or not it's worth getting a Gamecube depends on whether you like Nintendo games. If you like exploring (a la Myst) and don't mind fighting, the two Metroid Primes are must-haves. If you like Zelda games, there are three available for Gamecube, including a very neat multiplayer one (but which you probably wouldn't have the equipment to play). If you like Nintendo's more casual style of videogames, Animal Crossing is a lovely little distraction. On the other extreme, F-Zero GX is incredibly challenging, which is good if (like me) you find that sort of thing satisfying. Pikmin and Chibi Robo are classics, if you can tolerate the incredibly cutesy styles. (I'd also repeat Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, which is wonderful, but you probably wouldn't want to buy the special controller if you're looking to get stuff cheap.) Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is hilarious and clever.

So yeah, there's plenty of good reasons to get a Gamecube. But if you don't like Nintendo games, don't bother.

MoriartyL 07-30-2007 11:51 PM

And by the way, based on how few good Wii games there are at this point, I think getting a Gamecube's a much better deal. You don't always have to have the most recent thing on the market.

MdaG 07-31-2007 01:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoriartyL (Post 428893)
That is a very strange list. Super Mario Sunshine is not a good reason to get the Gamecube, Beyond Good & Evil and Resident Evil 4 are multiplatform (including PS2), and Pikmin 2 is nowhere near as good as the first Pikmin (which is wonderful).

Whether or not it's worth getting a Gamecube depends on whether you like Nintendo games. If you like exploring (a la Myst) and don't mind fighting, the two Metroid Primes are must-haves. If you like Zelda games, there are three available for Gamecube, including a very neat multiplayer one (but which you probably wouldn't have the equipment to play). If you like Nintendo's more casual style of videogames, Animal Crossing is a lovely little distraction. On the other extreme, F-Zero GX is incredibly challenging, which is good if (like me) you find that sort of thing satisfying. Pikmin and Chibi Robo are classics, if you can tolerate the incredibly cutesy styles. (I'd also repeat Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, which is wonderful, but you probably wouldn't want to buy the special controller if you're looking to get stuff cheap.) Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is hilarious and clever.

So yeah, there's plenty of good reasons to get a Gamecube. But if you don't like Nintendo games, don't bother.

The Zelda and Metroid franchise are the only two franchises I miss in my Microsoft and Sony world. I'll give it some thought and since a Gamecube isn't THAT expensive anymore it might be worth buying for those ~10 games that I'll buy.

Starflux 07-31-2007 01:28 AM

The Gamecube definitely hinges on only a few excellent titles. But those titles are so iconic, unique and exclusive, it's worth it nonetheless :) You will not find anything like a Metroid game anywhere else, and they're pretty much incredible (if brutally difficult sometimes).

SoccerDude28 07-31-2007 10:05 AM

While the game cube has a few exclusives that are worth it, would you really want to buy a console for only 8 or so good exclusive games knowing that it has been completely dismissed by every publisher including Nintendo, or would you rather buy a console that can play those 8 games, and has much more third party support this time around (not to mention the ability to play the old nintendo greats like ocarina of time). To me, it is a no brainer.

Spiwak 07-31-2007 10:18 AM

I agree with SoccerDude. Just get a Wii. You can play those games plus you'll be able to get the great Wii games that inevitably come out (including the few already out that are great). Plus the VC.

I think the GC is some $70-100 nowadays. Just save up a little more and get a Wii... It's nearly the same as buying a GBA at this point. Sure it's cheap and you have some great games to mess around with, but why not invest a little more in the better system that can not only play those same games but also play the games of the near future. You know you'll just end up buying it anyway, even if in a few years.

MdaG 07-31-2007 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spiwak (Post 428997)
I agree with SoccerDude. Just get a Wii. You can play those games plus you'll be able to get the great Wii games that inevitably come out (including the few already out that are great). Plus the VC.

I think the GC is some $70-100 nowadays. Just save up a little more and get a Wii... It's nearly the same as buying a GBA at this point. Sure it's cheap and you have some great games to mess around with, but why not invest a little more in the better system that can not only play those same games but also play the games of the near future. You know you'll just end up buying it anyway, even if in a few years.

Point taken... :)

MoriartyL 07-31-2007 11:22 AM

You might also consider that there's an attachment for the Gamecube called the Game Boy Player that essentially gives it all the functionality of a GBA. That is, it lets you play any Game Boy games on the TV. I don't know how much that peripheral sells for these days, but it's worth pointing out in comparing the number of games playable. (Wii doesn't let you play Game Boy games.)

MdaG 07-31-2007 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoriartyL (Post 429004)
You might also consider that there's an attachment for the Gamecube called the Game Boy Player that essentially gives it all the functionality of a GBA. That is, it lets you play any Game Boy games on the TV. I don't know how much that peripheral sells for these days, but it's worth pointing out in comparing the number of games playable. (Wii doesn't let you play Game Boy games.)

I don't think I'll bother with the Gameboy games. It's still some time (if ever) before I buy either a Gamecube or a Wii. Thanks for the pointers though. :)

Lucien21 07-31-2007 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoriartyL (Post 428893)
That is a very strange list. Super Mario Sunshine is not a good reason to get the Gamecube, Beyond Good & Evil and Resident Evil 4 are multiplatform (including PS2), and Pikmin 2 is nowhere near as good as the first Pikmin (which is wonderful).

Ok SMS isn't the greatest game however Pikmin 2 is widely regarded to be a better game than the original. (Check almost any review site)

RE4 was originally a Gamecube game and is superior to the PS2 version. The PC version has only recently been released and was a poor conversion. BG&E is multiplatform, Still a decent game though.

Spiwak 07-31-2007 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lucien21 (Post 429035)
RE4 was originally a Gamecube game and is superior to the PS2 version.

But check any review site and they'll confirm that the Wii version trumps them all.

I'd also like to add a disclaimer to my GC : Wii :: GBA : DS analogy from before. There's a big difference between the DS and the Wii, in that the DS at this point has more awesome games than the Wii has games. Whereas the DS has proven to be a tried and true gaming staple this generation the Wii still has to sort of prove that, but things look good for the future when the novelty inevitably wears off. There will be way more third party games and exclusives this generation around, and of course Nintendo games will always rock the pants off anything else.

MoriartyL 08-01-2007 01:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lucien21 (Post 429035)
Ok SMS isn't the greatest game however Pikmin 2 is widely regarded to be a better game than the original. (Check almost any review site)

They're wrong. :P The first Pikmin, as I said, was a classic. And the second was a chore to play. The first was carefully crafted and the second had a lot of randomness. The story of the first is more charming. I would hesitate in recommending the second game even to someone who'd already played the first, but I'd certainly never recommend it to someone who hadn't.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spiwak (Post 429074)
I'd also like to add a disclaimer to my GC : Wii :: GBA : DS analogy from before. There's a big difference between the DS and the Wii, in that the DS at this point has more awesome games than the Wii has games. Whereas the DS has proven to be a tried and true gaming staple this generation the Wii still has to sort of prove that, but things look good for the future when the novelty inevitably wears off. There will be way more third party games and exclusives this generation around, and of course Nintendo games will always rock the pants off anything else.

But why wait a few years for games, when you can get good games right now?

Oh, and Lucien's not wrong: You should get Beyond Good & Evil for whatever platform if you haven't already.

Spiwak 08-01-2007 04:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoriartyL (Post 429172)
But why wait a few years for games, when you can get good games right now?

That's kind of what I was saying earlier. I added that disclaimer because I admit that at this point the Wii is a riskier purchase. Things look great for Nintendo this generation, but at the moment there are only a few games I would consider buying, those being:
Twilight Princess
Super Paper Mario
Resident Evil 4 Wii
But I suppose when you factor in the Gamecube games it's already well worth the purchase.

MoriartyL 08-01-2007 06:19 AM

That's funny- I have Twilight Princess and RE4 for Gamecube. (I would recommend both.) I'm sort of annoyed about Super Paper Mario- they originally said it would be for Gamecube, and then tacked on some motion control gimmicks to justify the move to Wii. Still, it does mean that I'm going to have to eventually find a Wii to play it. Blah.

If I may rant a little, I'm very disappointed in how little they've done with the motion controls so far- it seems like all the good games (with the exception of Wii Sports) could have worked with ordinary controls. Even Super Mario Galaxy (which is sure to be amazing, since it's made by the same team as DK: Jungle Beat) looks like it doesn't really need the motion controls they've given it. The only hardcore game coming up which seems significantly better for the motion controls is Metroid Prime 3 (which looks very disappointing to me), and I'm sure that won't be much better than a mouse-and-keyboard interface. And on the casual game side, Nintendo seems to already have gotten bored with the remote, seeing as how the game they're promoting most right now (Wii Fit) uses an entirely different controller!

Okay, I'm done now. Get a Wii, if you like.

Starflux 08-01-2007 02:10 PM

I've just come back playing a bit more of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and it's another fantastic game for the Gamecube / Wii. Not many other games manage an atmosphere so thick you have to pluck it out of your hair every now and then. And truly tense too: I'm a frightened gamer and this game frightens me.

Kolzig 08-01-2007 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoriartyL (Post 428893)
That is a very strange list. Super Mario Sunshine is not a good reason to get the Gamecube, Beyond Good & Evil and Resident Evil 4 are multiplatform (including PS2), and Pikmin 2 is nowhere near as good as the first Pikmin (which is wonderful).

BG&E for Gamecube is the creator Michel Ancel's personal favourite, and that's the version he was most involved with.

And like Lucien said, RE4 was originally made for GC and the only version that is even better done than that, is the Wii version. :)

kndy 08-01-2007 09:06 PM

Hi,

First: Here are IGN and Gamespy's Top 25 or top 20 Gamecube games ever:
http://cube.ign.com/articles/772/772300p1.html
http://cube.gamespy.com/articles/639/639689p1.html

OK, with that out of the way, is it worth getting a gamecube. Well, at this point of time, only if you don't intend to buy a Wii or if you keep your consoles and collect them.

I have not bought a Nintendo console (Aside from portables) since the SNES and recently with the Wii. Several months before I purchased the Wii, a friend of mine wanted a Nintendo DS badly and didn't have money. I figured I could buy it for him but trade me the Gamecube and games and he was cool with it.

Present Time: As mentioned on the Wii thread, I haven't played the Wii except Wii sports. Not many games interest me right now and for what I use it for..Wii boxing for working out or Wii Sports/Play for party games when friends are over. Also, for buying Virtual Console games that I don't really play.

So, I decided to look at those top 25 games list and because there are major sales on PS2, XBOX and Gamecube games at the stores, I figured that I could easily purchase many of those games on the top 25 without breaking the bank.

Needless to say that I found some cool games, quite a few not on the list. For example, I am enjoying the Naruto fighting games.

As for the Gamecube, it's collecting dust. All games and the Gamecube controllers, I'm playing on my Wii.

Now, if you can find a Gamecube cheap and don't intend to buy a Wii, it's up to you. You'll find a few (or a lot of) games that might entertain you.

kndy

JemyM 08-05-2007 10:51 PM

I played the first level of Metroid Prime. It reminds me alot about Halo. Halo was recommended by fans of XBox but when I played it it was a quite ordinary and not that spectacular FPS. Metroid Prime was recommended by GameCube fans and when I played it... well, the same. I turned it off after half an hour without even bothering to save the game.

Resident Evil 4 is as far as I concern overrated. It's not scary and the game is inconsistent jumping between areas that simply makes no sense which distance me from the story.


Having said that, I am amazed none in the thread have mentioned Resident Evil 0 and Resident Evil Remake yet. The remake is really one of the finest horror games ever made. It's a gamecube exclusive and it's worth buying a gamecube for that game alone for a horror fan. Resident Evil 0 is also quite good.

Another game to look for is Eternal Darkness, inspired by the cthulhu mythos. That's a real gem that scored 90-95% average among the leading internet sites. It's a game you never forget. The gameplay is insane, literaly. It's difficult to sum up how much wierd stuff is pumped into that disc. The character grows more and more insane the further you get into the game, which leads to more and more wierd effects that simply mess with the players brain. Insanity makes you hear whispers, cries, noises, the cameraview is messed up, and you even get faked errors such as corrupt TV set, broken gamecube or when you try to save you get the disclaimer "Do you wish to delete all save files" with the options "Yes" and "Continue without saving", everything to mess with your brain.

MoriartyL 08-06-2007 06:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JemyM (Post 432785)
I played the first level of Metroid Prime. It reminds me alot about Halo. Halo was recommended by fans of XBox but when I played it it was a quite ordinary and not that spectacular FPS. Metroid Prime was recommended by GameCube fans and when I played it... well, the same. I turned it off after half an hour without even bothering to save the game.

One half hour? You can't get a feel for the game within a half hour. The tutorial section up in space is nothing special- it's just to let you get the hang of the controls. You can only really start appreciating the game when the controls are completely second nature and you figure out that the shooting is secondary to the exploring. Then the game becomes amazing. But how long it takes you to get to that point can vary. I know people who understood Metroid Prime almost instantly, and I've talked with people who played through the entire game and never "got" it. Myself, I was only marginally impressed by the game the first time I played it, because I was approaching it as an action game. It wasn't until the second time I played it that I fell in love with it.

So a half hour? Not nearly enough. Plus, you've gotta stop thinking of it as an action game. Then you'll start to appreciate it.

Quote:

Resident Evil 4 is as far as I concern overrated. It's not scary and the game is inconsistent jumping between areas that simply makes no sense which distance me from the story.
The story is worthless and it's not trying very hard to be scary. The value of the game comes from the diversity of approaches to its levels. No two parts of the game are quite the same, which makes the whole experience fresh from start to finish.


It sounds to me like you have a tough time getting over your preconceptions. You're trying to enjoy Metroid Prime like a standard FPS, and you're trying to enjoy Resident Evil 4 like the previous Resident Evil games. But you haven't played games like these before, because they're pretty unique. So if you don't have an open mind with them, if you don't wait to see what they are rather than judging them by what you think they should be, you don't even have a chance of enjoying them!

JemyM 08-06-2007 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoriartyL (Post 432836)
The story is worthless and it's not trying very hard to be scary. The value of the game comes from the diversity of approaches to its levels. No two parts of the game are quite the same, which makes the whole experience fresh from start to finish.

That's what I hated about it, the lack of consistency. The environment was great in the beginning, with the run-down rural landscape with scattered villages and sheds. Then suddenly it broke off and you were running around in a medieval castle filled over the edge with extreme richness, a lava filled cellar, a working internal subwaysystem and huge walking robot. My mind snapped there and I had completely lost the immersion I had to the game, not to mention how misplaced the merchant system felt.

Had I been an art director for Resident Evil 4, I would have replaced the castle with a small mining town instead, traveling from the las plagas infected village in the beginning into more and more civilization except that everyone is still infected with the parasites.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoriartyL (Post 432836)
It sounds to me like you have a tough time getting over your preconceptions. You're trying to enjoy Metroid Prime like a standard FPS, and you're trying to enjoy Resident Evil 4 like the previous Resident Evil games. But you haven't played games like these before, because they're pretty unique. So if you don't have an open mind with them, if you don't wait to see what they are rather than judging them by what you think they should be, you don't even have a chance of enjoying them!

I did not feel RE4 was anything really new or unique. Look at a game like Psi-Ops which follows a similiar design to RE4 when it comes to how areas are put together and how you aim and shoot. That was an innovative game, the story was not spectacular but it was consistent with some nice twists and the mechanics was quite different.

Spiwak 08-06-2007 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JemyM (Post 432844)
I did not feel RE4 was anything really new or unique. Look at a game like Psi-Ops which follows a similiar design to RE4 when it comes to how areas are put together and how you aim and shoot. That was an innovative game, the story was not spectacular but it was consistent with some nice twists and the mechanics was quite different.

I was just reading about how that game lifted many of its ideas from some screenplay written ten years ago. Innovative, eh?

(not an argument starter, just found the story interesting)

MoriartyL 08-06-2007 10:55 AM

What screenplay? Where did you hear this?

Spiwak 08-06-2007 11:19 AM

http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/p...pdates;title;1

JemyM 08-07-2007 03:48 AM

I thought we were talking about gameplay, not about story. If anything Psi-Ops borrows from Jedi Outcast even if it takes the mechanics a few steps further.

Spiwak 08-07-2007 05:02 AM

I realize that. Hence why I said it wasn't for argumentative purposes.

wilco 08-07-2007 07:32 AM

I got a Wii recently, and started playing some Gamecube games recently, got Metroid Prime, Eternal Darkness, Resident Evil and soon Wind Waker.
Metroid is fantastic, I agree that half an hour in not nearly enough to get a good impression of how it plays. the tutorial level "feels" like an action game and it's an excuse to understand the new controls (which are great, by the way, I usually don't like FPS on consoles but this is working great). After she loses her powers and you first start to understand how big the world is and how to explore it multiple times with different powers, is when the game really starts
By the way, I think that the big action Metroid Prime 3 demo that was shown at E3 might work has the tutorial level in this one and the game could quite different.

Resident Evil is fun but I hate the controls :)

And to answer the topic, it's worth geting a Cube but I think the Wii is a better purchase right now with all the virtual console stuff and soon to be released new games.

MoriartyL 08-07-2007 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wilco (Post 433047)
By the way, I think that the big action Metroid Prime 3 demo that was shown at E3 might work has the tutorial level in this one and the game could quite different.

It's possible. I hope you're right.

Spiwak 08-08-2007 04:45 AM

I don't remember where but I remember reading that Retro is still emphasizing that it's a First-Person Adventure, not shooter.

Endosanity 08-08-2007 05:40 PM

I like my Gamecube. I wanted to play the RE games and a few other Nintendo exclusives and I didn't feel like spending $250 for a Wii just yet. Plus, it was $50. I was even lucky enough that it's one of the older versions with the digital output on it... too bad the connector cord for the digital hookup is just as much as the system itself.

All and all, I say why not? I was always skeptical about it until I picked one up... now I'm kicking myself for not grabbing it earlier.

MdaG 08-12-2007 09:51 AM

There are some games i want to play:
  1. Metal Gear Solid - Twin Snakes
  2. Metroid Prime 1, 2 & 3
  3. Zelda - Twilight princess
  4. Resident Evil
I guess this means I need to get a Wii... I'm in no hurry, I can wait a while my X360 and PS2 is keeping me occupied at the moment.

ProggleRock 08-13-2007 03:28 PM

I bought a GameCube about two years ago for $99 just for Wind Waker and Resident Evil. WW was great, and RE4 is one of the best games I've ever played, so that alone was worth the purchase. Then I discovered other gems like Beyond Good & Evil, Killer 7, Resident Evil (remake), and Metroid Prime.

Endosanity 08-13-2007 09:32 PM

Killer 7, a true gem amongst the Gamecube games. I totally dig that game. Sure there was a PS2 version but reviews stated it paled in comparison to the Gamecube version. The game is so totally out there that it was a love/hate affair. I, for one, loved it.

Jaggo 08-14-2007 11:48 AM

As good as the gamecube is, I wouldn't go spending money on it when the Wii is around, but to be fair, if you can get one for cheap and don't wanna fork out then it might be worth your while for a little bit :)

MdaG 08-14-2007 01:17 PM

Heh, my brother just donated his Gamecube along with all his games. He says that now that he's going to Colleges he won't have time or interest in it anymore :D .
.
.
.
.
Yay!

MoriartyL 08-18-2007 09:37 AM

Have fun!


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