November 29, 2012 by

Anyone else recall the gamecube?  I know that many readers were a bit young when it, the Xbox, and the PS2 reigned over the console landscape, but I'm sure some of you remember it too.  The gamecube was a great little box which supported some great games and to this day the editors will recall it lovingly every three or four pod casts, but at the time it wasn't so cool.  Back at the lunch table everyone was talking about Halo while I tried to explain what Metroid Prime was, everyone was playing Grand Theft Auto while I was exploring super Mario sunshine and everyone seemed convinced that their Xbox or PS2 was better then the poor little purple box.  I was told over and over how the ol' cube's hardware, games and controller were terribly inferior by almost all my peers consoles.  Looking back, the gamecube really was a great console with some great games that's beloved by the critics, but not the masses, and I don't think anything will change with the Wii U.

Sadly, Nintendo just wasn't "Cool" then and still isn't now.  With the launch of the Wii U I see the old grumblings that plagued the Gamecube, voiced primarily by those who had rarely played the console and I realize that nothing has really changed.  Back in the day it was "the gamecube is junk 'cause it can't play DVD's and can't play games over the internet" and now it's "The Wii U sucks because the launch lineup is ports and the hardware will soon be dated".  Seeing the similarity in the two eerily similar situations, it might be worthwhile to make some predictions about how this generation will appear looking back 10 years from now.  So here goes!

1) Haters gonna hate!  People who don't own Wii U tend to believe their console of choice is best, and some will chose to express their opinions rather trollingly.  And just like in the old days, when lack of a DVD drive made a console garbage regardless of how many great games it had, the lack of horsepower will be a deal breaker for many.  Similarly, while the lack of internet gaming led some to call the gamecube inferior regardless of its innovative points, a funny controller will make the Wiii U worthless regardless of it's cool uses.  There are plenty of points to hate about the Wii U, but you can just as easily find just as many cool things about the Wii U, and there will always be the trolls who ignore innovation in favor or raining on someone else parade.

2) You won't notice it if your don't try to.  Even the most reasonable PC, 360 or PS3 owner won't notice the Wii U's upsides if they don't ever see it (unless they are cool enough to keep informed on sites like IGN).  Gamecubes largest problem in the US was a its much smaller install base.  Fewer people had a Gamecube, so fewer people knew what its great points were compared to their own consoles, and therefore, it was never noticed by many.  If the Wii U doesn't sell a ton of consoles people wont ever get to know it and it will remain "that under powered console with some crazy extra screen" in the minds of the gamer masses.  This point may be moot if the Wii U sells well, but it seems like it may be off to a slow start.

So what do you think?  Do you see any other comparisons between the Wii U and gamecube that are worth noting?   Do you think my arguments are reasonable?  Let the world know below, and thanks for reading!

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