The C-E staff give their views on gaming's most important issues.

Two weeks ago I bought an Xbox and Halo. *ducks* Yeah, that's right. What I've discovered is that Halo, besides being the best FPS of the generation, really is the Xbox's defining game. This doesn't mean it's just the best game on the system, but incepsulates the ethos of the console and really sells the system to the general public. Playstation 2's defining game is undoubtedly Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the biggest reason for the console's popularity. But what about Gamecube?

Does Gamecube lack that defining game?

Tom:

In an nutshell: Yes.

It has no Halo, Final Fantasy or Gran Turismo. It has two or three truly outstanding games, like Metroid Prime, Mario Sunshine and Zelda, but nothing that inspires people to buy the sytem just to play that one game. I, like many other people I'm sure, bought an XBox for Halo. And only for Halo. Unless I was a huge fan of Nintendo, which luckily I am, I would see nothing in the catalogue that would make me rush out to buy a Gamecube, even at the current price.

Sadly, it is also hard to see any game, no matter how great it is, becoming the defining game anymore. It's too late for Nintendo, and much as it pains me to say, they should cut their losses on the cube, and put all their energy, including probable greats, like Mario 128 onto the N5. No matter how great Mario is, there aren't enough people out there with a Cube, or aware enough of what actually happening with Nintendo releases to make the game THE game of the Cube. This is because a defining game isn't just a game that you know is great, but it is a game that appeals to everyone, and can be enjoyed by the masses and by serious gamers. Halo has this. Sorry to be so depressing. I have loved my Cube, and am still getting a lot out of it, but it hasn't been a 'great' console.

Jayseven:

In a nutshell: No.

Contrary to Tom's reply, I think that Nintendo's Console; The Nintendo GameCube does indeed have SEVERAL games which really really SHOULD be those console-shifters that Halo and GTA have turned out to be.

I BELIEVE that Metroid Prime is one of those games. Agreed by critics and many gamers around the world to be one of the greatest games ever, it is surely WRONG if it isn't one of the greatest selling games ever too, right?

That's right, this is another "NINTENDO SHOULD ADVERTISE" Roundtable reply from me.

Nintendo have Metroid Prime, F-zero GX, Eternal Darkness and, for some, Pikmin and Mario Kart which could all shift units by the thousands, but the only reason that I can see that this is not the case is Nintendo's passive marketing schemes... They seem to only rely on word of mouth and their loyal fanbase to keep them going, but as I have seen on the forums over the months, this loyal fanbase is slowly losing its patience with Nintendo and the way they run their segment of the industry.

If you never saw any EA Games adverts on the telly, you'd not even know the game exists -- or at least that's the case with the casual (and, to the producers of the games, the most important) gamers. EA would not nearly sell as many units as they do if they relied on word of mouth and critics' analysis of the games. Nintendo games often get the critical acclaim which means that magazine and website readers get the message that the game is worth getting, but casual gamers aren't as 'into' games as us lot, so tehy're not up to date with what's hot and what's not.

So the solution, if you ask me, is for Nintendo to aggressively advertise their past and present big hitters as well as any future games they've got planned, to really get the message across to the public in general. I want to hear my granny ask me "What's a Metroid?" because she's seen an advert during Countdown, and I want my big sister to ask me "What does GX stand for?" because she's seen an advert when she went to see Kill Bill 2 at the cinema, I want to overhear conversations on the back of the bus about how "wikkid" Eternal Darkness is... Somehow I don't see this happening for a while though... shame...

*dreams of seeing giant pikmin handing out leaflets outside GAME*

Dennis:

Without talking about nuts and shells: No.

Nintendo has its own brand of videogames with characters/sagas which more or less make the game stand out in the crowd. Take Metroid, take Zelda, Mario, Donkey Kong... Just to name a few. Sure, the XBox is well-known for Halo, but doesn't that say more about the other games? If there's not much, a single hit can be worshipped. When you've got a scale to choose from, it's hard to pick out that one winner.

Dan:

No, but in the puplic eye, yes! The Gamecube does have all those outstanding games that the others have said but the public have either no knowloage of them or they think they are 'kiddie' because the games are on a Nintendo format. Like we have said many a time. Nintendo need those adverts on there. Gaming 24/7 just ain't working anymore! Fun Anyone? Because it's good to play together. Come on Nintendo get your arses in gear!

Jan:

I played Halo on a borrowed Xbox and I think if this game is the best Xbox has to offer, then I'm very sorry for all the Xbox Fans out there. I don't know what it's like in multiplayer, but the singleplayer experience goes from A to F after the 5th or 6th level. It's just like they wanted to rush out that game for launch and decided not to design their levels anymore but instead copypaste them, so the player has to do hours of stupid killing. This is not an exxageration. To anyone who hasn't played this game yet: Go take a look. It's incredible. During the last levels you literally walk through the exact same fucking room like 20 times to your destination. Then you watch a cutscene and go back through these 20 rooms. I mean, WTF? My time is precious and this game is not worth it.

On the opposite I already played several time through Metroid Prime and I'm planning to finish Wind Waker a second time. In terms of quality games the Cube has nothing to fear. Nintendo's fault was to release these AAA-Titles too late (although I think our launch lineup was brilliant too. Never had so much fun: Luigis Mansion + Super Monkey Ball!).

Jayseven:

In an attempt to stop the flow of XBox bashing I'll write a few kind words for Team Microsoft!

I do not htink that Halo is the ONLY decent XBox game there is. It IS a damn fun game to play, but there are loads of games that get overlooked for the XBox; games like Panzer Dragon Orta and PGR2, JSRF and KOTOR. Any self-respecting Xbox owner doesn't go about blabbering about Halo, they shout their mouths off about this stuff too. I will keep my fanboyistic approach by claiming that the GC has more underrated/overlooked games than the Xbox, but I still think that we should acknowledge that the Xbox is more than a one-legged, one-game one-off machine.

Bas B:

In my opinion, a generation defining title is a game that is praised by both critics and the public at large and marks an important step in the development of videogames in general. Although the GameCube has a fine catalogue of games, I do think it lacks such a 'defining title'. Of course highly acclaimed and popular games like Metroid Prime and The Wind Waker were influental. Metroid helped regarding 'first person' as a viewpoint rather than a genre and Zelda is a prime example of games getting a more artistic look. However, I don't think they are of the same importance as Grand Theft Auto III/Vice City (groundbreaking in game structure, freedom, music and style) or Halo (a big step forward in artificial intelligence and cooperative play).

Also, compared to the N64 list of groundbreaking classics (GoldenEye, Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64), the Cube's lineup seems to miss a true killer-app among a great number of 'great but not outstanding' titles. But with the E3 just around the corner, who knows what we're still going to see...

So does Gamecube lack that defining game? What defines a defining game anyway? Is Metroid Prime or Wind Waker one?