some GameCube-related notes

E

ejamer

Banned
An interesting observation from another post: there was only a single GameCube thread alive before this post. That's why I decided to post a couple of short notes here today... :D

So is the lack of any forum activity a sign that GameCube gaming is officially and totally dead?

At my local EB Games the other day, I picked up two titles -- Metal Arms: Glitch in the System for me and Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life for my wife, who has a strange penchant for farm simulators. Total cost: about $13. (I love getting a couple of full games for the same price as a downloadable title.)

It was a bit disappointing to see that some GameCube titles actually appear to be rising in price, though... I could've sworn they were $10 or under before, but are now creeping up to the $15-20 range. That made me wonder if scarcity was starting to come into effect since these games were old, or if the store was just hoping to sell fewer games at a higher markup to keep the same overall profit.

After taking those two games up to the counter, the cute girl working looked at me a bit funny and asked "Oh, you still play your GameCube?" I explained that I missed out on owning a console of my own last gen, but the Wii was awesome because it lets me buy GameCube title super cheap to experience the best that platform had to offer on a budget. She thought that was cool, and made a few recommendations while we chatted about her favorite last gen games.

So am I the only one who regularly takes advantage of the backwards compatibility feature on Wii?

Do you a recommendation worth playing? (I've got almost all the GameCube titles I'm interested in already... not sure yet whether it's wroth picking up a Splinter Cell game though.)

Last night after enjoying about an hour with some WiiWare favorites, I finally finished off the first disc of Baten Kaitos. Even after playing for hours, I don't really know what to think about that game. The card battling is enjoyable enough, forcing you to make some interesting choices and pressuring you to react quickly when choosing your cards. Trying to find special combos is also neat... but seems to be an unnecessary time sink. But the story is so-so and the voice acting is TERRIBLE. I'm sticking with the game, but think that Tales of Symphonia is a better RPG option.

What was the last GameCube title you've played?

Any comments on Baten Kaitos vs Tales of Symphonia?
 
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ToS is by and far the better game of the two and I say that as someone who never really liked RPGs. I was immediately hooked and sank about 60 hours into it easily. The story, while sometimes hokey and predictable as most RPGs can be, moves you along at a nice pace. I'm a sucker for the art direction they used as well.

Also, other threads exist in this forum, but you aren't set up to see them (I think it's a user CP option on this site). If you search a topic in this forum, you'll see what I mean.

I bought my Wii at launch and immediately started collecting GC games to see what I missed out on. They were DIRT cheap for a short while too until it became common practice. I have to say that I've used my Wii for gamecube games at least 90% of the time it's been on (and I have about a dozen Wii games collecting dust), so you're not alone. The GC wasn't a bad system by any means, just 3rd place for the time.
 
Yeah, the # of threads you see is changeable thru the CP. I am set to 100 days. I can see 11 threads. Still not many, but better than 1. :)

I still play my gamecube, a bit less often than I play PC or 360 games, but SSX Tricky and SSB:M STILL get regular play. I'm working my way through a few games I picked up but never played at the moment, too. I didn't buy a Wii; I haven't found a solid reason for me to justify it. There are good games out there, but not enough to justify a purchase yet. I do think it's great that they're selling like gangbusters and bringing new gamers into the fold.
 
So far all I've gotten is Animal Crossing. But when the GameCube games become really cheap (about $5), I'm gonna buy Super Mario Sunshine, Paper Mario: TTYD, Luigi's Mansion, Pokemon Colosseum, Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, Metroid Prime, and Metroid Prime 2.

Eventually, I want to get all the Nintendo franchise games on the GameCube.
 
Still have a pretty decent sized backlog of GC titles I need to go back to

Notable ones being Skies of Arcadia Legends and Baten Kaitos Origins (easily clocking in 60+ hrs)
 
[quote name='maigoyume']Still have a pretty decent sized backlog of GC titles I need to go back to[/QUOTE]
Ditto.

I just started playing Eternal Darkness in fact. It was one of the first games I bought for the GC (can't remember how many years ago) and I'm just now getting around to it, heh.
 
[quote name='Allnatural']
I just started playing Eternal Darkness in fact. It was one of the first games I bought for the GC (can't remember how many years ago) and I'm just now getting around to it, heh.[/QUOTE]That game is amazing in so many ways, I still need to get back to it, was so close to finishing it, but then I got stuck and refused to FAQ it.
 
[quote name='maigoyume']That game is amazing in so many ways, I still need to get back to it, was so close to finishing it, but then I got stuck and refused to FAQ it.[/QUOTE]

Completely agree. The mechanics are rather simple, but the experience is memorable. If you're OCD like me, do yourself a favor and ignore your sanity meter... half the fun of the game is what happens when it drops and I was constantly keeping it full and missing out on the good stuff.
 
I think Gamecube game prices are going up specifically because the Wii is backwards-compatible. However, I'm not sure how many people who didn't already own a gamecube use that feature, since it requires new controllers.

I like it because I can play GC games in progressive scan.
 
Heh I'm sort of in the same boat as you OP. I missed basically the entire GC/PS2/XBOX gen and only started collecting GC games about 2 years ago when my brother got one. I had about 20+ games at one point, including almost all the rare titles (thankfully at that point the GC wasn't completely dead yet and there were bargains to be had and actual stock too). Then last year I got a Wii and started playing my GC titles on it. Beat a few games, but recently I sold off quite a few titles in anticipation of double-dip titles (i.e. Metroid trilogy and NPC games).

I actually find it worthwhile to be a little "behind" in gaming, since you won't have to pay MSRP and can filter out the best of the best. Right now I'm playing No More Heroes, but when I finish that I'll be getting back into ToS (just bought DotNW recently).

GC titles with Wii component cables = awesome.
 
My son is playing Chibi-robo and I-Ninja. I bought a whole bunch of good titles for the 2 gamecubes that we have in the our den, and at his grandparents house. We have the wii in the living room. We usually use the wii for wii games though.
 
I kinda missed out on the whole last generation of games. I've kinda solved that over the past year. I got a PS2 and a Wii. (who cares about XBox?)

When I got Mario Kart, I decided to order a couple GCN controllers, which I also used on VC games. About two weeks ago, I realized all that I was missing out on by not playing Gamecube games, so I ordered Mario Sunshine and a memory card. Here's my Gamecube wish list.

-SSBM
-Metroid Prime
-Animal Crossing
-Wind Waker
-Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
-Luigi's Mansion

I probably will eventually have more to add to that, but I sure can't wait to start playing some more Gamecube games. :D
 
I think the reason some of the game prices might be going up is because people have noticed that Wii is releasing a lot of garbage games and GC actually had some good quality games (some of which are being rereleased with "new controls" but are the same but full price). IMO if you havent already, scoop up as many of these classics (Paper mario, Twin snakes, Eternal Darkness, anything made by Nintendo, Zelda, Metroid, Mario anything, Resident Evil remake and 0, Battalion Wars, Pikmin) as possible till everyone wisens up and the prices jump even more. I personally kept my GC and all the games till I got a Wii, but since launch there really hasnt been that much I wanted so I just have my GC sitting next to my PS3 and 360. A good place to go if you see all the prices jumping up at Gamestop is go to walmart or target or even pawn shops who will sell these last gen games cheap just to make room for other stuff.
 
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is awesome. You also need to do yourself a favor and get the N64 Paper Mario if you haven't played that yet. Super Mario Sunshine is too frustrating IMHO, though it does have it's moments. Admittedly I'm not a big fan of 3D platformers in general, though.
 
One of my most anticipated games of the summer arrived in the mail yesterday - although many people will probably laugh when they hear what it is. The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction for GameCube. No, I'm not kidding. This is a last gen title that is worth tracking down and playing for every comic book fan... especially if you enjoy destroying everything in sight.

There are many more missed GameCube titles that I've picked up lately, but this "best of a generation" backlog is very welcome because of the low cost and tremendous amount of value presented. Vive la GameCube!
 
I haven't been tracking GC games on eBay, but are some games going up in value? I let my copy of Pikmin 2 go on Goozex for 550 points (wasn't in mint condition and I was waiting for the Wii remake) and sold Metroid Prime 1 and 2 (in anticipation of the Trilogy). I still have Twin Snakes, every Zelda title, Fire Emblem, and a bunch of others though. It's too bad I don't have the time to play them all.
 
My girlfriend and I started playing Donkey Konga again today. As far as being purely fun to play, I think the gameplay of Donkey Konga is as good as any rhythm game out there. It doesn't have the features or huge setlist of some other rhythm games, but the bongos are so much fun. We played through all of the songs in Donkey Konga today, I think tomorrow we're going to play some Donkey Konga 2.
 
If you enjoyed the first two, see if you can find a freeloader and grab donkey konga 3 off ebay or somewhere else. Its just as good as the others except with an even beefier song list.
 
[quote name='maigoyume']If you enjoyed the first two, see if you can find a freeloader and grab donkey konga 3 off ebay or somewhere else. Its just as good as the others except with an even beefier song list.[/QUOTE]

I highly agree with this. The songlist is so good. I hate that they never brought it here.
 
Wave Race: Blue Storm is one of my favorite GameCube games. I don't even know of any current-gen racing games that have the same arcade-y, pick-up-and-play quality of the Wave Race and F-Zero series.
 
Funny you say that, I picked up Wave Race: Blue Storm and Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat yesterday from Gamestop for $12. For some reason I never got around to buying Wave Race even though I was a huge fan of the N64 version. So far I'm impressed, I like how they've added to the stunts and the graphics look great for an early Gamecube game. The championship mode seems more challenging, I remember the easy championship mode on the N64 version being fairly easy but getting through the easy championship on the gamecube version took a little more work.

Also started playing Donkey Konga 2 last night. I like the music in Donkey Konga 2 but I think the songs in the first one are more fun to play. I enjoy the minigames in Donkey Konga 2 more, they're a blast with friends.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']Wave Race: Blue Storm is one of my favorite GameCube games. I don't even know of any current-gen racing games that have the same arcade-y, pick-up-and-play quality of the Wave Race and F-Zero series.[/QUOTE]

I'm looking into that game. That, and F-Zero GX, since I loved those games back on the N64.

I just got my Wii back, and I have a lot of new WiiWare and games to play, so I'm probably gonna be busy with that, maybe I'll play some GC after I play Mario Kart online tonight.

Before I sent my Wii in, here's my thoughts on the games I have right now.

Super Mario Sunshine - Haven't really liked this one. My sister liked it a lot more than me. I have about 8 stars, it's just too much of a difference between it and SM64.

Super Smash Bros Melee - Imo, the best in the series. It's probably the best fighter I've played. I'm kind a noob (medium), but I still have fun.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door - I'm about 6 hours in, on chapter two. It's a really fun game, and is tied with Kingdom Hearts for my favorite RPG.

So, I sure have a good outlook on a lot more of my Gamecube wish list.
 
I bought Wave Race at the flea market yesterday. One vendor had it for $5. Very nice shape with manual. The vendor RIGHT NEXT TO this guy wanted $15 for a very dirty covered one. Crazy people! Course, that vendor thinks highly of every other game in their store, so I wasn't surprised.

I unboxed my purple gamecube and started playing it last night. I have the Wii, but there's something about playing the game on the original hardware. I'm waiting for Gamestop to have another 2 for 1 sale on used games before I buy there.

Just checked my old memory card to see how many stars I had on Mario Sunshine......I have 78!!! Wow, I didn't think I had gotten that many!
 
[quote name='bigdaddy']I don't know why all the other topics had been deleted, there was a lot of good info in them.[/QUOTE]

They didn't get deleted. If you go to the bottom of the GameCube forum and change the "From the" option (in the display options), you'll be able to choose and see everything.

I picked up F-Zero GX and Metroid Prime at Gamestop today, using $15 of my $25 gift card. So pumped to play both of them. (The reason I got Prime and not the trilogy was because I've never played a 3D Metroid before.)
 
[quote name='maigoyume']If you enjoyed the first two, see if you can find a freeloader and grab donkey konga 3 off ebay or somewhere else. Its just as good as the others except with an even beefier song list.[/QUOTE]

Well, except that using Freeloader or even some mod chips, progress isn't saved in Japanese Donkey Konga 3, which really sucks. I was going to bite the bullet and buy a real Japanese GC from Play Asia as it now seemed to be cheap, especially after Visa discount, but then saw the shipping. Ouch. Guess I'll wait even longer.
 
[quote name='Jmclark']They didn't get deleted. If you go to the bottom of the GameCube forum and change the "From the" option (in the display options), you'll be able to choose and see everything.
[/QUOTE]

Awesome! Thanks!

F-Zero GX is probably my favorite racing game of all time, and I love racing games.
 
I've been playing GC on my Wii as well. Trying to pickup whatever I can find that's good and cheap. Picked up 3 games today best of all was F-Zero GX at gamestop (complete copy in awesome condition) for a measly $4.99.

$5 bucks for a first party nintendo title is a good deal.
 
I'm probably going to buy a Wii if the price drops, so hearing that it is backwards compatible makes me really happy. My poor GC is probably going to bite the dust soon from overuse(I blame Phantasy Star Online and Animal Crossing). I've kept all my old GC games, and am looking forward to picking up more GC titles on the cheap soon.
 
Watch out when using your old GC memory cards with a Wii. We've lost two cards worth of GC game data. There were both 1st party memory cards. Glad so many of our GC games are fun enough to play from the beginning again.
 
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[quote name='Ye0ldmario']I got a complete copy of Viewtiful Joe for $2.99 today. Haven't played it yet.[/QUOTE]The difficulty MAY put you off at first (read: the
chopper
will probably kill you MANY times) but once you get into it, theres no turning back.

Oh and the VA's are some of the best/hilarious I've ever heard from a game.
I'd probably rate is as one of my top 8 GC games.
 
[quote name='bulldog93']Watch out when using your old GC memory cards with a Wii. We've lost two cards worth of GC game data. There were both 1st party memory cards. Glad so many of our GC games are fun enough to play from the beginning again.[/QUOTE]

Do you have Wii Connect 24 off? Because it should be.
 
I have a large white memory card and a small black memory card. I transfer saves to the small one before I use it on the Wii--and never use the white one in the Wii because I have heard it can get erased that way. (Of course, I still have the Gamecube to do the transfers.)
 
I heard the GameCube memory card problems came from the Wii getting too hot when it's in standby mode. Turning off Wii Connect 24 should help, I think they've also addressed it in firmware updates by tweaking the behavior of the cooling fan.
 
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