Ninty ends GameCube support

[Ashy]

Nintendo of America’s Perrin Kaplan has confirmed that the company has ceased production of its last generation console, the GameCube, and will not release any further games for it.

Spong reports that whilst Nintendo still sees a place in the market for its struggling last-gen machine, manufacturing efforts have now shifted over to the likes of Wii, DS and Game Boy Advance.

“Are we producing any more GameCubes? No,” Nintendo of America’s vice president of marketing and corporate affairs Perrin Kaplin explained in an interview with GameDaily. “But do we have the inventory there for people to still purchase? Yes.

“Just like the PS2 sold really well this past holiday, GameCube is a great starter system – price, ease, games. Every one of the consoles has had its cycle and every single one of them has become a great starter system at the last leg of its cycle, and that's where GameCube's at.”

Kaplan also went on to confirm that Nintendo will not release any new games for the system – a decision reinforced by the company’s recent change of heart in relation to Super Paper Mario. That platformer was announced for GameCube at last year’s E3, but has since gone on to become a Wii-only title.

“If you're a core gamer you wouldn't buy a GameCube,” she continued. “It's not aimed at you anymore. But for new people as a starter system, how many games are there for them to pick from? Plenty.

“I mean, I wasn't the first to buy an iPod. By the time I bought it, it came to a price where I wanted it to be and looked the way I wanted it to look. So we're not selling GameCube to the people who are hardcore players and want all the gadgetry – we're going after the people who never really bought a system before now it’s finally at a price that they can afford for their family.”

Source: Nintendo ends GameCube support - www.mcvuk.com

[wiistar]

the gamecube was crap!! i would rather have had a snes that a gamecube, everything about it I hated. I hated the colours and design and the games were poor.

It remind me of the those 15 in 1 controllers that you plug into your scart socket or av sockets and have all the old games.

So glad to see the back of it...!

[Ashy]

I get the feeling you didn't like it then WiiStar :P

[Craig]

I actually liked my gamecube!

Poor games? - Obviously you've not played Eternal Darkness, Pikmin 1+2, Paper Mario, Luigis Mansion, and Star Wars Rugue Squadron to name a few.

[jord@n]

what about that pokemon gaem on GC, i thought that was good but i do have to admit, the gamecube defo wasnt what i accepted it especialy as i grew up with my N64, that was classic

[jord@n]

i wish there was bomberman on ninty :( i loved bomberman

[shaunyboi]

Personally, I thought the gamecube was a fantastic machine, and still is. Yes, it's all too easy to forget it with the Wii now well and truly here, but it's hard to say that their were no great games out on it during it's life time. I myself, a devoted gamecube owner (and now a Wii owner) have 40+ games for the little box of tricks, and still have my gamecube set up in my room (mainly because I can't be arsed to pack it away). That console has given me years of gameplaying enjoyment.
Great thing about it was that the games were cheap, and it was easy to pick up games for a bargain. The majority of games for the cube were fantastic. I once read somewhere "The gamecube may only have a couple of hundred games, but 75% of them are great. Whereas the PS2 has many hundreds of games, with only 25% of them being great."

Of course, this is just my opinion, but I have to say, the gamecube was great, and any true games fan will tell you the same.

[Joe]

I was never that big on gamecube. There was really only select games that I played alot :P

[Gaffer]

The biggest thing I disliked about my gamecube was the lack of support.

First, some big developers started withdrawing from NGC developement. This meant that lots of great games on my ps2 and the xbox wouldn't make it over.

Then, the knock on effect was that, whereas we waited about 1-2 weeks for every new ps2/xbox title, I remember having to wait 1-2 months for the next NGC title (ALWAYS the same old games whenever I checked).

The thing that sells consoles isn't the hardware spec...it's the games....and the serious lack of games (esp "grown up" / adult themed ones) really started to annoy me after a while.
Yes there was Rogue Squadron II & III, resident evil 4, etc etc.....but there still simply wasn't enough c.f the other contenders.

On top of this, ninty simply stopped promoting it's own product. I can't even remember seeing any adverts for it anywhere (unlike sony/m$).
Walking into Game/Gamestation you'd see a whole wall of xbox games and 2 walls of ps2 games. I'd then have to sheepishly walk past, over to the back of the shop, where there was a lone small cupboard with NGC games (almost labelled as the "you're too poor and embarrassing to shop with everyone else" cupboard).
How many times did I walk into my local whsmiths only to find that the game section simply didn't contain any NGC games at all?
It's as if a lot of shops simply ignored the ngc completely in favour of the xbox/ps2

I hope they don't make the same mistake with the Wii.....yes it's fun, but ninty & others shouldn't make the mistake of assuming we're all 12 yo.
Games like Red Steel and Heatseeker are good signs imo that this time we'll get a "grown up" console .

The cessation of NGC support isn't too bad, because we can still use a Wii to play the same games (and it's pretty cheap at £180 as it is).
Again, the console was good, yes, it was the lack of support (esp from developers) that sucked.

What I'd like to see on the Wii to stop it "doing a gamecube" is:
GTA (if it's on the 360 and (eventually) ps3, why not on the Wii?)
Pro Evo (ditto)
Serious racing sim anyone (a la "GT5/Forza")
Wipeout clone (before anyone says, F-Zero is a completely different style of game imo......no weapons make it completely different for a start) [or maybe the next F-zero should include weapons ]

Fortunately, I predict that the new control system will have developers flocking to the Wii, hopefully broadening the spread of genres massively (and enticing shops to at least stock them).

[jord@n]

very good post, one of the things that i woried about the wii is how many games would i like