Some good news and some bad news for Gamecube owners.... (1 Viewer)

[Morgan Jolley]

It's a bit of a surprise to me, as Nintendo could have put Metroid back on the shelf again like they did after Super Metroid!

Nintendo and some other reps from the company (like Shiggy himself) said that multiple games in a series could be in development at the same time to speed up their releases. Mario has a few games being developed right now (and I mean real Mario games, not ones like Mario Party). Pikmin 2 has been in development since right after the first one came out. There's probably another Zelda in development, too.

 

[Eric C. Mylonas]

Aye. Onimusha is well past 1.5 million worldwide. And VF is well over a million, too.

 

[Mark Evans]

If only everyone was as intelligent as you

I'd have that bronzed if I had bronze :p)

 

[Rob_Pierce]

Sidenote: I'm a big Nintendo fan and I'm tired of seeing the company do stupid things that cost them marketshare. My criticism, such as it is, is meant constructively, not derisively.

Here, here, Eric. I love the GameCube and have had every Nintendo product in the last 15 years. As far as offline games go, the GC is clearly my favorite system, though my XBox has been red hot lately since I got Live.

Nintendo dominated with the NES, SNES (Genesis was close), and started with domination in the N64. Obviously, Sony got a jump with the PS2, but Nintendo made a HUGE mistake by not having Mario, Link, and Samus available for the GC at launch. Releasing Zelda 16 months after the system launch? Come on. SSBM and Rogue Squardron are great games, but every other Nintendo system has launched with a very, very good Mario game. The 'cube is lagging behind the other two and I don't think anything will catch them up.

I was playing on Live the other night in a full room of Moto GP (15 other players). Someone asked, "Which is better, the PS2 or XBox?" A few people answered, then I said, "I like the GameCube the best." Geez, you would have thought my GameTag was "OsamaBinLaden" based on the ripping I received. My point is that Nintendo has seriously destroyed its brand name and I don't really think they can recover unless their next system launches with some monster games up front. They will always remain my favorite video game company, but I hope they've learned from their mistakes.

Here's an idea: Save the next Metroid for the next system launch! I want a sequel to Prime just as bad as everyone else, but maybe it will help the Big N out.

 

[Romier S]

SNES (Genesis was close), and started with domination in the N64.

Nintendo hardly dominated with the SNES. The Genesis-SNES generation was back and forth for years and thier are still arguments as to who came out on top in that battle. Even as a diehard Sega fan I can tell you I preferred the SNES and it can even be shown/argued that the SNES did trump the Genesis but again, it hardly dominated.

With that said, now that was a console war! Back then when someone argued about which system was better it came down to the games bar none. These days arguments revolve around company loyalties and what "features" are included in the hardware. This nonsense we have today is more along the lines of a corporate war. Maybe I'm being harsh but I certainly see less arguments revolving around games and more about which piece of hardware can push more polygons. Or how evil MS is and how the Playstation 2 is "outdated".

As for the N64, I don't know where it started, moved onto or ended with any kind of domination. Its userbase was sizeable thanks to Nintendo's first party titles and the powr of Pokemon but make no mistake, the only console that dominated anything last generation was the Playstation.

 

[BrianB]

Screw the good news listed above.

THIS is the best news the GameCube has had in ages. Jeff Minter's next title unveiled as "Unity" on the GC with the backing of Lionhead. You can view a bunch of screenshots here.

Think REZ taken to the n-th degree but with the focus on light instead of sound/shooting.

 

[Joseph Young]

Here's an idea: Save the next Metroid for the next system launch! I want a sequel to Prime just as bad as everyone else, but maybe it will help the Big N out.

Wouldn't be the first time the 'Big N' has, or will start development on one console and carry it over to a next-gen.

Since Retro is perportedly investigating a multiplayer aspect to the Metroid Prime sequel, perhaps the new 'N' console's inevitably intense focus on online content would better suit a Metroid sequel anyway?

I am a fan of the Gamecube not because of the numerous ports available for other systems, but for the Nintendo exclusive games like Pikmin and Animal Crossing. The PS2 has the selection to beat, and the Xbox has some pretty amazing games out for it right out, as well as arguably the best online access (Xbox live).

Wonder when MS will decide to craft an 'Xtraordinary' line of best selling titles at $19-$29 MSRP.

~j

 

[Dave F]

THIS is the best news the GameCube has had in ages

I completely, 100% agree. I'm ready to place my vote for best GC game of whatever year it is released.

-Dave

 

[Romier S]

Jeff Minter's next title unveiled as "Unity" on the GC with the backing of Lionhead

Yep, saw those today Brian, would of posted them if I saw them last night but I didn't.(So screw YOUR good news girly man!)

Looks freakin awesome by they way! Can I give my money over now or do I have to wait for the release?

 

[Graeme Clark]

Just as a sidenote, Nintendo always had their players choice titles at $29.99 in the past. N64, as well as SNES.

Yes, but those were on the more expensive cartridges. $30 for an N64 game usually WAS a good deal when you consider how expensive they tended to be.

Greatest Hits is one of the PS2's strongest selling points right now for new buyers. You can look at the rack of games and see a wide selection of great games all at $20 a pop. For someone who's shelling out a few hundred bucks for a system, memory card, and any other extras, the thought of being able to pick up a great game like Metal Gear Solid, GT3, Tekken Tag, Baldur's Gate, Jak and Daxter or any of the others for only $20 is a huge thing. For you they might just be a bunch of old games, for most people though they are still new.

And the fact that they're usually all quality games helps. There are cheap games for XBox and GC, but that doesn't mean they're any good (usually quite the opposite).

 

[Ryan Peter]

Oddworld, DOA3, Amped, THPS3, Max Payne

I'm pretty sure these all retail for less than $30 at this point.

 

[Graeme Clark]

Perhaps, but the point isn't to just lower the price of the games.

 

[Damien]

microsoft is very aggresive in lowering there prices, even more so than sony. nba inside drive 2003, quantum redshift, blinx, buffy, enclave, serious sam, metal gear solid 2, nfl fever 2003, unreal championship, JSRF, gunvalykre, and some other crappy titles(redshift) were under $30 within a couple months or so of release. games like gotham racing, rallisport, oddworld, payne, doa3 and the rest of the launch lineup for xbox have been found for under $20 in a lot of places as well.

 

[GlenHaag]

Damien. The thing is with almost all of those titles, is the fact that poor sales led most of them to their price drop status.

Like people before have said, Halo is still $50 because people will pay for that for that game. Sadly, games like Serious Sam(once you can find a good copy of it), Buffy, JSRF just didn't sell all that well and are seeing post holiday drops so most stores can get rid of the excess inventory.

Glen

 

[CameronS]

Gamecube currently has its share of low priced games. These were recently seen at Best Buy.

Beach Spikers - $9.99
Rougue Leader - $19.99-$29.99
SSX Tricky - $14.99
Eternal Darkness - $19.99
Turok - $19.99
Swingerz Golf - $14.99
Tony Hawk 3 - $9.99

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...5&pagenumber=1

 

[Mark Evans]

Beach Spikers - $9.99

ARGH! And yet it's not listed on their website! Is this new or used? I mean, my lord, I would pay $20 for this new... Canadian, mind you .

Stupid nearest Best Buy being over a thousand miles away :p)

 

[Trevor Harveaux]

XBOX will be releasing their Platinum Hits very, very soon. Look for a MSRP of $20.

 

[BrianB]

XBOX will be releasing their Platinum Hits very, very soon. Look for a MSRP of $20

Yup. I know Amped & PGR are due for official re-releases with that pricetag very soon. I'm sure there's more.

 

[Dan B]

Here's a first look at those Platinum Hits:

JeuXpress (French Site)

 

[Romier S]

Nice. Thanks Dan. The packaging stands out really nicely. I like it. Hope we get some screens of Nintendo's players choice soon.