...But It's Not Yet

It saddens me, as a gamer than has grown up with a Nintendo joypad in my hands, to find that across many 'specialist' magazines and internet forums we're seeing the same message, one that GameCube owners are now accustomed to seeing � Nintendo's GameCube is a redundant console, apparently. Even those who are too polite to admit it at least imply it. A console that looked set to correct the mistakes of the Nintendo 64, now with even bigger problems than its predecessor. Third party support is dropping, former exclusives have turned multi-format (Resident Evil 4, anyone?), and 'crucial' second parties have been lost. Everything looks a little bleak as far as GameCube owners are concerned � or does it? Is the GameCube really that hard up? You'll forgive me for disagreeing. Sure, our beloved Cubes have had more problems than its competitors. On some of Nintendo's promises, the console has failed to deliver. But is that the end of the world? No. Is the GameCube redundant? No.

For starters, let's take a step back and look at the Nintendo 64. As a gamer, I only became truly interested in the games industry as a whole about midway through the N64's lifespan, though I've always been playing videogames. As games journalists or industry experts, the N64 might have been a poor, deprived mistake of a console, maybe even a failure. Cartridges instead of discs. Chunky instead of compact. A controller that was blatantly designed around Mario 64, its flagship game. But as a gamer, was the Nintendo 64 a failure? On the contrary � I thought it was a huge success. Think back to all those brilliant titles, all of those games you loved so much. Remember Goldeneye? Donkey Kong 64? Pokémon Stadium? Perfect Dark? Banjo Kazooie? Mario Tennis? Super Smash Bros? Majora's Mask? All fantastic, nay, exceptional games. All of those games kept me, and thousands of other gamers, playing Nintendo 64 for years and years. Remember how much time you spent playing them?

And let's not forget two of the very best videogames that made their appearance on the N64, two of the very best games ever created. Two games that deservedly earned a legendary 10/10 rating in the ten years of the respected and acclaimed Edge magazine � and to this day are two of only five games to earn it. Those two games, I'm sure you know, are Super Mario 64, and Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Two games that stand out, one of which is almost undisputedly the greatest videogame ever, were on the Nintendo 64. Such titles kept the Nintendo 64 alive as far as a gamer is concerned � as long as you have great games to play, why should you care where they come from?

The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed that a few of the titles I mentioned in the list above were made by Rareware � a British company famed for a kind of magic that even rivalled that of Nintendo. And, as I'm sure you know, the company was sold to Microsoft. Indeed, that is a loss that many Nintendo gamers took badly, and rightly so. Even though Nintendo gamers now claim that Rare have lost their magic (which I refuse to believe � even Nintendo make duff games now and then), Rare are extremely talented developers, and that is an advantage that Nintendo sold to the devil. But even so, does that mean that the GameCube, that Nintendo, cannot survive without Rare? Of course not. We still have Nintendo. We will always have Nintendo. And that is why the GameCube is not a redundant console in my eyes.

As GameCube owners, we have to put up with a lack of decent third party support, a lack of official online support, and a lack of the many other factors that make the PS2 and Xbox success stories. But we have Nintendo � and that is something that no PS2 or Xbox gamer has, and never will have. Not only that, but having Nintendo is a huge advantage. Remember the above list of games? Add Pikmin, Donkey Konga, Wario Wares, Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime (fine, that's second party, but it still counts) and Wind Waker to that list and you will see my point. All fantastic games. None on other consoles, nor will they ever be.

True, some of those titles did not reach the dizzying heights of greatness that the likes of Majora's Mask or Perfect Dark, nor the revolutionary achievements created by Mario 64 or the huge gameworld of Zelda OOT. Does that mean Nintendo have lost their magic? Of course not. It may be slightly obscured, perhaps, no thanks to the added pressure of Microsoft's Xbox or the sudden swarm of new handheld consoles, but it is still as strong as ever. Not as strong, perhaps, in the titles we expect it to be, such as The Wind Waker or Mario Sunshine, but almost pleasingly in the smaller franchises such as Donkey Kong, Paper Mario, Wario Wares and Pikmin. In my opinion, this is a great thing � we still have the brilliant titles we expect (if you didn't like the new Zelda or Mario, more fool you), and thankfully a whole new range of new, equally brilliant and exciting games from franchises that didn't even exist before.

This broader variety of excellent franchises looks like it will stay that way, with not only a new, realistic Zelda on the horizon, but Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, Resident Evil 4, Mario Power Tennis and Viewtiful Joe 2 all coming to your GameCube very soon. It is games like these that we will be talking about in years to come, titles that will be long appreciated and well remembered long after the GameCube shifts over for the Revolution, just like the N64 did for the GameCube.

Thinking back from a consumer standpoint, when you think about the three consoles and decide which one to buy, what helped you decide to go with a GameCube, as opposed to a PS2 or Xbox? I think you'll find that the answer is that magical company that made it. Why? Because of the games. The games that made them what they are, the games that put them in a special place in the hearts of many, and the games that they continue to make to this day. We love those games, and if you weren't a GameCube owner, think about all those titles that you'd be missing. A redundant console, you say? Hardly. As long as Nintendo keep making those titles, there is a reason to own a GameCube and any other console they throw at us, no matter how gimmicky it is or how many screens it has. So don't chuck out your little box of wonders just yet � there's plenty of life left in that machine.

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