Freedom Gate Co.
Banned
Objectively.
People will often say the Wii U or the Wii(due to the market it brought in, for seconds) are the worst of Nintendo's consoles but the GameCube was Nintendo's real stumble in the market.
1. The GameCube continued the N64's delay legacy, sure it wasn't as long this time, only 1 year (as opposed to the N64's 2 year delay, 3 in parts of Europe) but that one year delay put it one year after the launch of the PS2. It also brought the GameCubes launch date to match the new Microsoft console at the time.
2. The GameCube in its first year arguably was one if its worst. While some people will look back with rose tinted glasses, the market wasn't interested in the GameCube's library at the time. The GameCube did not have the games that the Xbox and PS2 had which shook things up and the GameCube was falling fast behind. People forget this fact.
3. The GameCube was the fastest to cut its price and it did nothing. In fact, in 2003 the GameCube was selling so badly, that Nintendo had to halt shipments and stop production. The GameCube was $99 and below at some retailers by this point.
4. The GameCube was constantly paired with the GBA in earnings and you could tell the GBA was used to hide how much the GameCube was losing Nintendo. But even then the earnings were substantially lower than what Nintendo Put out for 97-99 N64 by itself with both of those combined.
5. The GameCube was dirt cheap late 2003 forward. From late 2004 the Xbox, due to numerous issues, including a soon to launch successor, was gradually then quickly pulled out most of the market. During this time the GameCube and some of it's top games were cheap, Nintendo picked up advertising, focused on more GBA support, tried to grab more GameCube only titles, and even got some cross-gen games with the Wii. Effectively, the GameCubes main competition for 2nd place was gone, and the GameCube was still not able to produce significant numbers. In fact, the GameCube despite basically being left alone for years, still lost by late 2007, to what was a dead console in all but name(Xbox). Sonic Heroes, RE4, Twilight Princess, etc, where not able to move the needle.
6. Nintendos slow acceptance of online ended up costing them quite a bit. Even during the 2003 halt the GameCube was still light on online content and Nintendo decided to continue on without putting much fofcus on it.
7. Nintendo's treatment of Rare and lack of interest in keeping them was baffling. Ignoring the fact they were a big part for the great success, in one country, of the N64. Without games like GE and Banjo the droughts would have surely been doom during the N64's run. They were not able to replace them with the GC.
8. Some people think mini-dvd's were one of the biggest reasons for the GameCubes fall. While a factor I don't believe it was a major issue. Instead what made mini-dvd'a become a real problem was not the format itself but the size.
Nintendo intentionally, even when the Gamecube was floundering, refused to update the capacity for their mini-dvd discs. Japanese media and leakers reported conversations about producing 2-5GB variants and making it available for developers, but scrapped it. They kept the lowest format for most games on the system and also decided to scrap Mini-DVD movie playback which was under consideration since the GameCube launched. Ultimately, it was decided to scrap the idea of movies as well.
9. Nintendo was stuck-up. They and some fans believed their first party was first and third-parties were second, and the former alone would move many GameCubes. This really ended up causing early developers to leave the GameCube and prevented others from jumping in. It also showed that Nintendos games alone could not move the console. This point is also one of the reasons the GameCube was delayed because they didn't want Third-parties to help fill-in launch gaps.
10. The GameCube continued the drought legacy of the N64 except they didn't have a few super hit games to fill some of the air. This led to a large decrease in interest.
11. The people running Nintendo Japan were all trying to find excuses for the GameCube instead of blaming themselves. From Hiroshi's "only reason Gamecube is failing because of Violent video games" to "It was great long-term for the N64 to weed-out developers that were "weak"" and "X games would ruin our brand".
12. The people not running Nintendo but still working in the company were also insane. "But we are Nintendo" was something numerous ex-employees have recalled hearing in response to losing in the sales race. The hubris was a big issue.
13. It was the last time Nintendo directly competed with the competition and instead have released consoles indirectly competing aiming for different markets. (outside the Switch Hybrid which is more debatable)
When you look at interviews and stories from current or ex-Nintendo employees or even third-party contractors, whether in gaming or another industry, Nintendo was having a great meltdown with the GameCube, everything went opposite of what they were expecting and instead of learning a lesson from the GameCube they ran. They had the wrong attitude from the start and refused to change that attitude later.
It really is, market and industry wise, their biggest home console failure.
People will often say the Wii U or the Wii(due to the market it brought in, for seconds) are the worst of Nintendo's consoles but the GameCube was Nintendo's real stumble in the market.
1. The GameCube continued the N64's delay legacy, sure it wasn't as long this time, only 1 year (as opposed to the N64's 2 year delay, 3 in parts of Europe) but that one year delay put it one year after the launch of the PS2. It also brought the GameCubes launch date to match the new Microsoft console at the time.
2. The GameCube in its first year arguably was one if its worst. While some people will look back with rose tinted glasses, the market wasn't interested in the GameCube's library at the time. The GameCube did not have the games that the Xbox and PS2 had which shook things up and the GameCube was falling fast behind. People forget this fact.
3. The GameCube was the fastest to cut its price and it did nothing. In fact, in 2003 the GameCube was selling so badly, that Nintendo had to halt shipments and stop production. The GameCube was $99 and below at some retailers by this point.
4. The GameCube was constantly paired with the GBA in earnings and you could tell the GBA was used to hide how much the GameCube was losing Nintendo. But even then the earnings were substantially lower than what Nintendo Put out for 97-99 N64 by itself with both of those combined.
5. The GameCube was dirt cheap late 2003 forward. From late 2004 the Xbox, due to numerous issues, including a soon to launch successor, was gradually then quickly pulled out most of the market. During this time the GameCube and some of it's top games were cheap, Nintendo picked up advertising, focused on more GBA support, tried to grab more GameCube only titles, and even got some cross-gen games with the Wii. Effectively, the GameCubes main competition for 2nd place was gone, and the GameCube was still not able to produce significant numbers. In fact, the GameCube despite basically being left alone for years, still lost by late 2007, to what was a dead console in all but name(Xbox). Sonic Heroes, RE4, Twilight Princess, etc, where not able to move the needle.
6. Nintendos slow acceptance of online ended up costing them quite a bit. Even during the 2003 halt the GameCube was still light on online content and Nintendo decided to continue on without putting much fofcus on it.
7. Nintendo's treatment of Rare and lack of interest in keeping them was baffling. Ignoring the fact they were a big part for the great success, in one country, of the N64. Without games like GE and Banjo the droughts would have surely been doom during the N64's run. They were not able to replace them with the GC.
8. Some people think mini-dvd's were one of the biggest reasons for the GameCubes fall. While a factor I don't believe it was a major issue. Instead what made mini-dvd'a become a real problem was not the format itself but the size.
Nintendo intentionally, even when the Gamecube was floundering, refused to update the capacity for their mini-dvd discs. Japanese media and leakers reported conversations about producing 2-5GB variants and making it available for developers, but scrapped it. They kept the lowest format for most games on the system and also decided to scrap Mini-DVD movie playback which was under consideration since the GameCube launched. Ultimately, it was decided to scrap the idea of movies as well.
9. Nintendo was stuck-up. They and some fans believed their first party was first and third-parties were second, and the former alone would move many GameCubes. This really ended up causing early developers to leave the GameCube and prevented others from jumping in. It also showed that Nintendos games alone could not move the console. This point is also one of the reasons the GameCube was delayed because they didn't want Third-parties to help fill-in launch gaps.
10. The GameCube continued the drought legacy of the N64 except they didn't have a few super hit games to fill some of the air. This led to a large decrease in interest.
11. The people running Nintendo Japan were all trying to find excuses for the GameCube instead of blaming themselves. From Hiroshi's "only reason Gamecube is failing because of Violent video games" to "It was great long-term for the N64 to weed-out developers that were "weak"" and "X games would ruin our brand".
12. The people not running Nintendo but still working in the company were also insane. "But we are Nintendo" was something numerous ex-employees have recalled hearing in response to losing in the sales race. The hubris was a big issue.
13. It was the last time Nintendo directly competed with the competition and instead have released consoles indirectly competing aiming for different markets. (outside the Switch Hybrid which is more debatable)
When you look at interviews and stories from current or ex-Nintendo employees or even third-party contractors, whether in gaming or another industry, Nintendo was having a great meltdown with the GameCube, everything went opposite of what they were expecting and instead of learning a lesson from the GameCube they ran. They had the wrong attitude from the start and refused to change that attitude later.
It really is, market and industry wise, their biggest home console failure.