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[Bojanglez]

At the time I probably spent more time on GameCube first party more than Sony's (at least from my memory) but at the end of the PS2/start of PS3 I spent a lot of time going back into the first party catalogue of PS2 and it was without a doubt deeper and of as good quality.

 

[keefged4]

It's a really tough one to answer. Both are just as good as each other.

 

[Sakura]

Personally I've never really liked Sony's first party stuff, except for Boku no Natsuyasumi, so Gamecube for me.

 

[Kikorin]

Yet that we even could argue on that is a sign on how good Sony supported their own console back then, compared to the embarassing situation of today.

 

[Hector Hall]

A studio doesn't necessarily have to be owned by the platform holder to make a game first party. Even though these games were made externally, Nintendo was still heavily involved creatively with the development process.

Yes, I agree, but I pointed that out because these days for Sony it seems like each externally developed and funded game is automatically labeled as non first party. Helldivers 2? Non first party Arrowhead is no proprietary studio, Death Stranding 2, the same Kojima Productions is no WWS , Lost Soul Aside, Stellar Blade, Rise of Ronin etc all externally developed and funded and released by Sony are automatically invalidated as first party games. I just wanted to point out that if this criteria has to be applied retroactively, we can chop a good amount of past games too as first party.

 

[Gaiff]

It did.

Please stop saying 'Team Ico', that was never a thing.

Half of those games are fucking trash.

WTF are those lmao?

Sony fanboys always trying to rewrite history. It did not have better first-party than GC when faced with games like Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2, Twilight Princess, or Melee. These games are better than anything Sony produced that gen.

 

[Calverz]

It did.

Please stop saying 'Team Ico', that was never a thing.

Man there is a lot of shite in that image. Jesus. How many of those titles (series) are still going?

 

[RoboFu]

No

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

It's up for debate.

If we consider that Luigi, Mario, Zelda and Kirby objectively had their darkest hour on the GC (only nostalgia can make one think otherwise), the argument can definitely stand. If PS2 didn't literally have ALL the games, somewhat diluting the relative relevance of its first-party library, it would be even more obvious.

Personally, I'd give up the entire PS2 library for Metroid Prime 1 and 2 alone, but we're discussing something else here.

 

[Griffon]

Wipeout PS2 was pretty meh. FZero GX shits all over it.

 

[Enzo88]

I would like a poll , i am curious.

 

[Physiognomonics]

I d add rogue leader as exclusive for gc

 

[Enzo88]

Half of those games are fucking trash.

WTF are those lmao?

Sony fanboys always trying to rewrite history. It did not have better first-party than GC when faced with games like Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2, Twilight Princess, or Melee. These games are better than anything Sony produced that gen.

I am just realizing how absurd people are here XD

Bragging about that image...no one took Sony seriously as a vg maker before ps3, it wasn't even a conversations at the time but apparently it is on neogaf in 2025.

 

[nial]

Half of those games are fucking trash.

WTF are those lmao?

Fantavision, Scandal, Dark Cloud, The Sky Odyssey, Extermination, Okage: Shadow King, Mister Mosquito, Rimo-Cocoron, Pipo Saru 2001, Everybody's Golf 3, PaRappa the Rapper 2, SkyGunner, Toro to Kyuujitsu, Ico, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Dual Hearts, Wild Arms 3?
Even some stuff there like TVDJ, Bravo Music or Seigi no Mikata stand out for being pretty innovative on their own.

Man there is a lot of shite in that image. Jesus. How many of those titles (series) are still going?

How is that relevant to anything?

The funny thing is that this isn't even the complete list of first-party PS2 games, it's just the games that SCEI published in Japan (including Japanese-developed titles and localization of SCEA and SCEE stuff like Ratchet & Clank or the Formula One series).
Gran Turismo titles are missing for some reason, though. I have no idea why.

 

[Deerock71]

I think the GameCube era was when Nintendo was at it's most vulnerable point. While their titles were still great, they felt rushed and incomplete. Wind Waker should've had twice the dungeons.

 

[Ev1L AuRoN]

Gran Turismo 3 and 4 alone make it better.

 

[Gaiff]

Fantavision, Scandal, Dark Cloud, The Sky Odyssey, Extermination, Okage: Shadow King, Mister Mosquito, Rimo-Cocoron, Pipo Saru 2001, Everybody's Golf 3, PaRappa the Rapper 2, SkyGunner, Toro to Kyuujitsu, Ico, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Dual Hearts, Wild Arms 3?
Even some stuff there like TVDJ, Bravo Music or Seigi no Mikata stand out for being pretty innovative on their own.

Mostly a bunch of shovelware nobody remembers. Nothing on this list comes even close to Metroid Prime or Melee.

 

[diffusionx]

List of Sony Interactive Entertainment video games - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Feel free to browse the list. Even if you take away "co publish" games, it's a pretty huge and varied list.

 

[Tg89]

Naw. GC first party has super high highs and that's ultimately what makes the difference for me.

Obviously PS2 library overall smokes GC though.

 

[nial]

Mostly a bunch of shovelware nobody remembers. Nothing on this list comes even close to Metroid Prime or Melee.

Okay, I do, and that's enough for me.

 

[existensmaximum]

I personally never really cared for the PS2 first party games outside of God of War. I prefer the GameCube games and it's not even close for me.

 

[neocycle]

No. Nothing comes close to what Nintendo did, pre-Wii.
The only 1st party stuff I like from Sony are God of War (1-3), The last of us 1 and uncharted 1-3 and whatever Housemarque did. Their other franchises are weak.

 

[vodka-bull]

It did.
Please stop saying 'Team Ico', that was never a thing.

Is team Fumito Ueda better?

 

[nial]

Is team Fumito Ueda better?

Nothing is better, really.
Development staff overlap between Ico and Shadow of the Colossus is way, WAY smaller than what people believe.

 

[EruditeHobo]

In terms of "first party", it can be considered pretty close. I could understand someone giving this to Nintendo.

But "first party" doesn't really matter. That's just a selective reframing of what it means to have one console or the other. My question, as always, is what could you get on PS2 that you couldn't get anywhere else, and how does that compare to the GC? What were you truly missing out on by only having one console, and not the other?

On those terms, to me it's pretty clear that PS2 blows the GC away, fairly comfortably -- in variety, in overall quality at the top end, and in the sheer volume of "good" at minimum games. But that said, these kinds of things always come down to personal preference.

 

[Jubenhimer]

no one took Sony seriously as a vg maker before ps3, it wasn't even a conversations at the time but apparently it is on neogaf in 2025.

Once again, this feels like an argument invented by GameCube owners who were jealous of the massive library the PS2 had.

I mean, GoW, Shadow of the Colossus, Gran Turismo, and the platformers (Jak, Ratchet, and Sly) were all taken pretty seriously.

 

[LakeOf9]

Obviously

GameCube's best game isn't even first party

 

[Ceadeus]

First party? Absolutely not.
Metroid Prime alone is in a completely different stratosphere compared to what Sony produced at the time.

I would add that any first-party title on the PS2 shows its age, they look and feel dated.

Metroid Prime, on the other hand, much like Zelda: The Wind Waker is absolutely timeless and impeccable. So yes, MP is in a completely different stratosphere.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Game cube was an honor to play, but PS2 was first class.

 

[Gaiff]

Obviously

GameCube's best game isn't even first party

What an awful argument.

 

[Midway-AGNC-]

As much as I have my serious reservations about the GameCube, I wouldn't say so — Nintendo's first-party lineup was overall ahead of Sony's during that era. Sure, the PS2 is undoubtedly the best console overall, but that doesn't automatically make its first-party catalog superior by default. Titles like God of War I–II, Shadow of the Colossus, ICO, the Ratchet trilogy, and the Jak trilogy were fantastic, but they still don't quite top Metroid Prime 1–2, Melee, Sunshine, WW and TP, PM:TTYD, F-Zero GX, MK: DD, Fire Emblem: PoR, Eternal Darkness, etc., as a whole.

That said, I still personally find the GameCube's first-party output rather lackluster by Nintendo's usual standards.

 

[GametimeUK]

It's a weird one because a lot of those criticisms for the GC games were indeed a thing, but I think the GC games have aged better over time along with their reception.

Sony win by volume, but Nintendo still take it from a quality perspective in my opinion. My vote goes to GC.

 

[scydrex]

I had both. The GameCube was horrible for me and hated the control. The ps2 was superior in every way.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

ICO and Shadow of Colossus easily are better any other thing Nintendo produced on GameCube era.

Shadow of the Colossus in 2005 and Twilight Princess in 2006 was an incredible back-to-back combo. Some of my favorite gaming memories of all time between those two.

 

[Gaiff]

ICO and Shadow of Colossus easily are better any other thing Nintendo produced on GameCube era.

Metroid Prime, Melee, and even WW play incredibly well to this day.

Shadow of the Colossus and Ico play like shit. This is a textbook example of games being only good for their time. What stands the test of time are the atmosphere and art direction. The gameplay is whack in both games.

 

[Bondo]

PS2 easily
Especially then as it was happening.

That being said- nintendo as usual put out good stuff.

 

[SpiceRacz]

In terms of quantity of first party games? Yes.

In terms of quality? Absolutely not.

 

[Parazels]

The full collection of RE games makes the GameCube a standout console by default.

 

[DinoD]

I bought Game Cube for $149 AUD sometime between late 2003 - early 2004, only to be able to play RE0,RE1 remake and in the anticipation of RE4.
I did play few Nintendo games like Metroid Prime and Super Monkey Ball 2, but must say PS2 FP support was an order of magnitude better than Nintendo's.

 

[cireza]

Sony first party games are poop for the most part, Nintendo games have always been much better, despite being very low risk.

Add third party exclusives/first released on GC on top of this, and you get a much stronger console and library of games.

 

[MaxwellParrish]

It did.

Please stop saying 'Team Ico', that was never a thing.

Strange commemorative image : 2 Fantavision, lot of F1, even a controversial classic like Rule of Rose, but no Gran Turismo at all?

 

[Neff]

Uh, no

 

[killatopak]

Half of those games are fucking trash.

WTF are those lmao?

Sony fanboys always trying to rewrite history. It did not have better first-party than GC when faced with games like Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2, Twilight Princess, or Melee. These games are better than anything Sony produced that gen.

I mean that's not even the full list. I can at least name a dozen more like Dark Cloud 1&2, God of War 1&2, 5 Jak and Daxter games, Socom etc. The picture. mostly ignore the western games.

 

[RAIDEN1]

No chance would Star Wars Rogue Squadron games, would have looked half as good on the PS2

 

[Artistic]

This game isn't first party, but I wished Capcom would remake/remaster Viewtiful Joe for modern consoles.

Never got a chance to play it.

 

[Jubenhimer]

As much as I have my serious reservations about the GameCube, I wouldn't say so — Nintendo's first-party lineup was overall ahead of Sony's during that era. Sure, the PS2 is undoubtedly the best console overall, but that doesn't automatically make its first-party catalog superior by default. Titles like God of War I–II, Shadow of the Colossus, ICO, the Ratchet trilogy, and the Jak trilogy were fantastic, but they still don't quite top Metroid Prime 1–2, Melee, Sunshine, WW and TP, PM:TTYD, F-Zero GX, MK: DD, Fire Emblem: PoR, Eternal Darkness, etc., as a whole.

It does seem like the reception of Nintendo's games on the GameCube have soften a lot over the years, with Wind Waker, Luigi's Mansion and Sunshine for example, now regarded as classics. And you can make the argument that GCN's first party perhaps aged better than PS2's first party gameplay wise (though that's debatable IMO).

That said, from the perspective of a gamer in the early 2000s, after seeing Nintendo disapoint game after game on GameCube releases with regular droughts, meanwhile Sony's putting out bangers or at the very least, decent titles on a more frequent basis, the latter starts to look like the better option.