GameCube calls it quits -- you're on your own now, Wii

Maybe it was the purple hue, maybe the lackluster 3rd party game catalog, or perhaps the non-standard disc size and missing DVD playback did it in, but for whatever reason Nintendo's 6th generation console never really caught on, and now the GameCube is no more. Nintendo of America's VP of marketing and corporate affairs, Perrin Kaplin, pulled double duty at a recent Q&A session, and confirmed the cease of production: "Are we producing any more GameCubes? No," said Kaplin. "But do we have the inventory there for people to still purchase? Yes." She says the console has moved past the point of being for core gamers, but the remaining inventory should still be plenty desirable for a Family's First Console, thanks to the dirt cheap pricetag and decent catalog. On the other end of Nintendo's console front, the Wii is rocking preliminary sales numbers for January, and might even have some sort of revision due in the not so distant future, according to a different interview with Kaplin. When asked if the Wii is going to see the sort of revisions Nintendo's handhelds have, she responded: "Sure, absolutely. You'll see the ways in which we do that." Not exactly the confirmation of the century, but it'll do for now. Oh, and in case you missed the GameCube love song on Valentine's Day, you can peep it after the break in some YouTube trimmings -- the passionate lyrics seem all the more appropriate after the passing of this dear console.

[Via Joystiq]

Read - Nintendo kills off GameCube
Read - Nintendo confirms Wii 2.0?

[Nick @ Feb 22nd 2007 4:02PM]

RIP GameCube, We'll Miss You x

[Mark Gillespie @ Feb 22nd 2007 4:02PM]

Arn't they virtually identical anyway, aside from a controller gimmick thing?

[Jesse S @ Feb 22nd 2007 5:28PM]

Seriously, aren't they?

[Todd @ Feb 22nd 2007 4:09PM]

( pours a little bit of Old English 800 out of bottle onto the floor ) "...This goes out to one of the best game consoles EVAH!"

[wigglesxjr @ Feb 22nd 2007 4:10PM]

How is this the 6th generation nintendo console?

1 - NES
2 - SNES
3 - N64
4 - Gamecube
5 - Wii

[Brian @ Feb 22nd 2007 4:45PM]

don't forget Famicom
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famicom

[toolwerx @ Feb 23rd 2007 1:46AM]

forgot virtual boy

[Chris @ Feb 22nd 2007 4:35PM]

wigglesxjr, I direct you to Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_consoles

[JT @ Feb 22nd 2007 4:49PM]

Ah, including all consoles, not just Nintendo. Gotcha.

[Zorque @ Feb 22nd 2007 4:47PM]

The Famicom is the NES.

[Ryan @ Feb 22nd 2007 4:56PM]

People always talk about the lackluster performance of the GameCube, but it's the only console I really had tons of fun on. Super Smash Brothers for hours and hours.

[Loban @ Feb 22nd 2007 5:03PM]

I agree with wigglesxjr due to the wording of the article. While it may lie in the industry's 6th generation of gaming console, the Gamecube IS in fact Nintendo's 5th generation console. If a new company started up right now, let's call it Lobanica, and released a gaming console, we wouldn't say "This is Lobanica's 7th generation gaming console" even though it exists right along side the Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360. No, we would say it's Lobanica's 1st generation console wouldn't we.

[AndrewNeo @ Feb 22nd 2007 5:15PM]

Scott beat you guys to it. http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=220

[Mark @ Feb 22nd 2007 5:34PM]

Do I hate it when people talk by asking questions and then answering them themselves? Yes.

[some person @ Feb 22nd 2007 5:44PM]

"Or perhaps the non-standard disc size"

You guys are stupid, why do you care about that kind of stuff?

[Jesse S @ Feb 22nd 2007 5:56PM]

Because they could barely hold anything?

[Castle @ Feb 22nd 2007 5:59PM]

Being that the Wii is backwards compatible with Gamecube games, it really isn't like the GC is really gone. Also, it'll be nice now if they can devote more energy in getting Wii on shelves.

[tiuk @ Feb 22nd 2007 6:15PM]

Since the Wii has just as many GC controller ports and memory card slots, and can play all GC games, I figured they'd quickly kill off the GC. It just wouldn't make sense to keep making it.

[Brent @ Feb 22nd 2007 6:44PM]

The nice thing about this is that they can just pull the guts from all of the remaining GameCubes and build brand new Wii's out of them! We all know they're the same thing with a different controller, right? I honestly can't believe people are buying this thing. I mean, it's a nice toy for 8 year old girls, I guess. I'm honestly no fanboy...I've played all three consoles, and both 360 and PS3 destroy the Wii. Who is buying this thing? Hasn't the novelty worn off yet? Please somebody explain to me why the Wii is great. Thanks in advance.

[Veritas II @ Feb 22nd 2007 7:23PM]

Essentially I think they're opening up a new market, in addition to the already extremely loyal Nintendo fans. The numbers so far haven't been that different than the Gamecube launch, so it'll be interesting to see the monthly totals after a year. I suspect they'll continuously hit the 200,000 mark at least, which is a lot better than what the Cube did. Really, whether or not the novelty wears off for those who have already bought it, as long as people keep buying it, Nintendo will be happy.

[Tim @ Feb 22nd 2007 7:50PM]

Don't be such an idiot Brent.

Just because there's no glitzy "next gen" graphics you decide to bag on the hardware? People buy consoles to play games, and judging from the way the Wii is selling like hotcakes, people like the games available on the Wii.

[Frank @ Feb 22nd 2007 7:15PM]

Brent, the novelty hasn't worn off yet. But it will in a year or two. I predict a Wii Advance to come out next year. It will be twice as powerful, this time in black, and built-in HD-DVD/Blue Ray player.

[Krakn3Dfx @ Feb 24th 2007 12:20PM]

"Brent, the novelty hasn't worn off yet. But it will in a year or two. I predict a Wii Advance to come out next year. It will be twice as powerful, this time in black, and built-in HD-DVD/Blue Ray player."

A new Wii might come with the ability to play DVD or an HD format, but Nintendo will not release a more power system from a game standpoint and abandon current Wii owners within a 2 year window, it would be PR suicide.

[Henry Yeh @ Feb 22nd 2007 8:00PM]

The Wii is NOT the same thing as a GameCube. The Wii may be based around the same architecture (ATI GPU, PowerPC CPU), but it uses faster components. Faster GPU (243MHz vs 162), CPU (729MHz vs 485) , etc. All these people that say the Wii is the same thing as the GameCube are idiots (Brent, etc).

[fistpittingnork @ Feb 23rd 2007 12:04PM]

Thank you for pointing this out, saved me the trouble of doing so.

[CaptSaltyJack @ Feb 22nd 2007 9:01PM]

The Gamecube "never caught on"? Are you f'ing serious?

[SKI @ Feb 22nd 2007 9:44PM]

@ Frank

I would like that but I suppose some wouldn't... PS3/360 quality graphics in Metroid would dominate anything on the other consoles.

[Jonn @ Feb 22nd 2007 11:16PM]

But it'd still be the same Metroid. Just with less doors.

[Xander @ Feb 23rd 2007 8:01AM]

I read the wiki link about video game consoles and a few things caught my eye.

I quote 'The 3DO cost more than the SNES and Genesis combined, and the Jaguar was extremely difficult to program for, leading to a lack of games that used its extra power'.

Does this not sound like the PS3? The 3DO bombed because it tried too hard to beat the competition with the most powerful console, and it was very hard to develop games for.

I quote again 'Atari Corp.'s Jaguar was released to combat the dominance that Nintendo and Sega were fighting for. Atari's hope was that by designing a more powerful console, they would be able to leapfrog all of the released systems of the day and give gamers a technologically superior system. The Jaguar eventually faded into the twilight due to a number of reasons. For example, it was difficult to program for the Jaguar, thus making it too problematic to have good third party support'.

Again, this sounds like the PS3, the Jaguar also bombed.

I'm not saying that it will happen with the PS3, because of the Blu-Ray drive and that it's got Sony behind it, but it is strange that the consoles which try to beat the others purely with processing power don't usually win.

[Jarrett Kaufman @ Feb 23rd 2007 12:18PM]

Brent, you and other Wii-haters can say the Wii is just a GameCube with a new controller all you want, but that won't make it true.

Yes, the architecture it almost identical, but at the very least the Wii's processor and GPU are clocked at much higher speeds than those of the GCN, making the idea that they can just pop the ones from the GCNs into the Wii absurd. As well, the Wii versions have some extensions to them that add some new capabilities. So it really is a different system, just with a similar architecture.

But enjoy your anti-Nintendo sentiments all you want, while I enjoy my Wii.