Why is the Wii a success when the Gamecube was a failure?

I've played the Wii many times so I do understand the concept behind it. While I do not own it, I've tried some of its games and do like some of them. The question I have is not why the Wii is so popular, but why it's so popular when the Gamecube wasn't?

The Gamecube was the best purchase I ever made. I loved its games and got more use out of it than any system. However, I was confused on just why the Gamecube's sales were low until I came across a very insightful article by IGN.

http://cube.ign.com/articles/561/561400p1.html" title="http://cube.ign.com/articles/561/561400p1.html">http://cube.ign.com/articles/561/561400p1.html

While the article may be pushing 4 years of age now, its points continue to remain true and I'd strongly recommend reading it.

The article states how Nintendo is defined by aging franchises from the 80s and early 90s that have been recycled continuously, with their biggest hits being from these franchises with few new additions being brought forward to great success. The Wii appears to have followed the same trend, with top sellers being Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Brothers: Brawl, Mario Party 8, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, ...and you see where this is going. Of course there may be a few that aren't first party games, but the same went with the Gamecube. The point is that the Wii seems to rely on the same franchises the Gamecube did, yet there no longer seems to be an issue with it.

I suppose one big selling point is the motion sensing additions. While I never liked them (this being the reason I haven't purchased a Wii) and still can't understand why it's such a big hit, I'll accept people like it and digress.

However, the price point isn't a very good argument. If you remember, the Gamecube was $200 when it was first released, and at the time it had graphics that competed with all its rivals. Sorry, but I've seen the Wii's graphics, and they are barely a step up from the Gamecube if they are at all. Even with a price that was 2/3 of the PS2, the Gamecube was largely ignored.

I heard many didn't like the Gamecube because it was "for kids". During the Gamecube's era Nintendo seemed to try very hard to appeal to older groups with Resident Evil games and such, but now it seems like Nintendo isn't even trying. The name "Wii" sounds kiddish, and a lot of the games are certainly more marketable for children than adults. I'm not against this, mind you, but I'm just pointing it out. Sure, it has games that are for older audiences as well, but so did the Gamecube yet the Gamecube was called a "kiddy console". Now it's considered "OK" for an adult to like the Wii when some people would have to take abuse for liking the Gamecube.

I suspect a strong reason for the Wii's success is the availability issues it has. It's apparently very hard to come by (although I've encountered it accidentally in stores many times) and many buy it off impulse purchases.

So, can someone point out why the Gamecube struggled so much while the Wii has succeeded?

3 reasons why imo:

1) Nintendo thought outside of the box when they made Wii and its motion sensing controler.

2) Nintendo came out with good games faster (or it seems that way) for Wii.

3) The main franchise games were a huge step above their GC counter parts (such as SMG compared to SMS).

I think part of Wii's success has to do with Nintendo's take on a different path from the other companies in the gaming industry, and their marketing strategies.
Nintendo now targets the Wii and Nintendo DS to pretty much everyone - providing content for all ages. Nintendo is no longer marketing just Mario and the key franchises to the public like they used to, but also products like Wii Fit or Brain Age, with a provided appeal that even adults will like them. This is crazy, even though I already own a Wii, my mom (Having never played video games), now says how much she wants her own personal Wii to use things like Wii Fit. That took me by surprise, considering she never showed interest in video games before.
Nintendo has become a company that appeals to any member of the family now, and I think that will drive it to success.

3 reasons why imo:

1) Nintendo thought outside of the box when they made Wii and its motion sensing controler.

2) Nintendo came out with good games faster (or it seems that way) for Wii.

3) The main franchise games were a huge step above their GC counter parts (such as SMG compared to SMS).

umcommon

I admit I haven't played the entire SMG, but I did get through a few levels. It really felt way too easy compared to its predecessors. Sunshine didn't feel like Mario 64, but neither did Galaxy IMO. It was in outerspace, after all. SMG also seemed a little more kiddish (Mario dressed as a bee). While I wasn't keen on the cleaning concept, I will say Sunshine was a very well-formulated game that was surprisingly challenging and over-criticized IMO. But I apparently don't fit with the norm when it comes to gaming it seems.

Super Smash Brothers: Melee and Metroid Prime were launch titles for the Gamecube, so the Gamecube did have good games from the start.

BTW, my sister has a Wii, and my parents didn't give a crap about it after playing it. However, I hear parents are loving it across the globe so I'll believe you guys.

Becuase the wii has the wii-mote

and I love playing mario,metroid, and zelda games Nintendo can milk them all they want

Ultimately because the Wii is unique, while the GC (no offense to the system that I own the most games for) didn't really stand out among the crowd. The GC had the unfair image of being "kiddy," and the lower price tag corresponded with less features than the PS2 or Xbox (remember that they had DVD playback, and this was at the time when the DVD market exploded). In turn, this made people think that the GC was less powerful than the PS2 (untrue) or the Xbox (true in some areas). Furthermore, you had the primary color of the console (purple), lack of certain key genres that Nintendo had a lock on before (even though the PS1 outsold the N64 by a lot, the N64 was the party console and easily the home of the console FPS thanks to Goldeneye, while Halo meant that Xbox had FPS gamer from launch), and a lack of support in Japan due to their actions in the N64 days.

Even though you had the Nintendo franchises still, many of those games weren't considered to be as good as their predecessors, or at least didn't have the same impact-- Super Mario Sunshine didn't launch with the system nor was it considered to be as good as Super Mario 64, Mario Kart Double Dash to many wasn't as fun as Mario Kart 64, and Zelda: The Wind Waker wasn't well-received by many thanks to the graphics style. Many multiplatform titles were afterthoughts on the GC, coming out much later than their counterparts and receiving much less effort.

One thing that many people don't mention however is the memory card. The sports gamer is one of the most important casual gamer markets, and Nintendo did a poor attracting them right out of the gate thanks to the Memory Card 59. While the PS2 had an 8 MB memory card, and the Xbox had a 10 GB hard drive as well as memory cards, the only memory option for the GC from the start was the Memory Card 59, which amounted to a measely 1/2 MB. If you wanted to save a season in Madden, you'd need a card for the game alone, and there was a baseball game where you'd need 2 cards in order to do a season. The result was that the system may have been cheaper, but what's the point of buying so many memory cards when you could play Madden on another system and still have enough room for other games? Nintendo waited a while before releasing the Memory Card 251 (2 MB), and the 1019 (8 MB, which they should have had from the start) was too little too late.

The Wii stands apart now as a unique console, but to go into many of those would degrade this into System Wars. ;) Let's just say here that a $250 price tag doesn't amount to a lesser value, but something different.

Mailer-Daemon, you point out some interesting things. I myself was not aware of the issues with the memory cards. Probably because for one I don't like sports games, but also I bought my Gamecube a year after its launch and by then the black memory card came out that has held more than enough space. I assume the poor memory card you are referring to was the standard gray one. I do recall back in 2002 noticing how little space it held in comparison to the black one, which held roughly 5 times as much space I think for not much more money.

Just curious, has anyone glimpsed the "Playing it Safe" article I mentioned? I'm just wondering how people respond to those issues that plagued the Gamecube and how they stand with the Wii.

I never liked the Wii-mote. To be honest, it always felt like a step backwards in my mind. What use to be the push of a button has to be the swing of an arm now. I'm sure most if not all of you disagree with me, but I just never liked it and I'm lazy. I like loafing around when playing my games. :P

I also personally don't like Nintendo's strategy to appeal to casual gamers, since I'm not a casual gamer. I don't blame them for doing this. It obviously was the right idea, but I feel a little more neglected than I did with the Gamecube, another reason why I didn't get the Wii.

the gamecube wasn't a break through, but it was NOT a failure. I don't need to come up with reasons. The reasons are right in front of you. It's clear as to why the Wii is a huge breakthrough.wiifan001

I agree. Although, in Gamecube's defense, the GC made the conscience effort to make games with great graphics. The Wii on the other hand, looks like Gamecube 1.5. The Wii has the innovations, they just need to pump out better looking graphics and I know they can but they dont want to. It's a shame, imo.

[QUOTE="umcommon"]

3 reasons why imo:

1) Nintendo thought outside of the box when they made Wii and its motion sensing controler.

2) Nintendo came out with good games faster (or it seems that way) for Wii.

3) The main franchise games were a huge step above their GC counter parts (such as SMG compared to SMS).

congokong

I admit I haven't played the entire SMG, but I did get through a few levels. It really felt way too easy compared to its predecessors. Sunshine didn't feel like Mario 64, but neither did Galaxy IMO. It was in outerspace, after all. SMG also seemed a little more kiddish (Mario dressed as a bee). While I wasn't keen on the cleaning concept, I will say Sunshine was a very well-formulated game that was surprisingly challenging and over-criticized IMO. But I apparently don't fit with the norm when it comes to gaming it seems.

Super Smash Brothers: Melee and Metroid Prime were launch titles for the Gamecube, so the Gamecube did have good games from the start.

BTW, my sister has a Wii, and my parents didn't give a crap about it after playing it. However, I hear parents are loving it across the globe so I'll believe you guys.

The Wii is so popular because they won over the biggest gaming market (the casuals) and even created new casual gamers. All these people who bought PS2's last gen are now buying Wii's.

The only reason the Gamecube failed was because of the sheer amount of stupidity on Nintendo's part last gen.

That entire gen was a trainwreck for Nintendo when it comes to the home console

You start off with them so afraid of piracy that they decide to shun the DVD format and start their own disk format for the games. This of course makes devs have to rethink about making games for the Gamecube not only in in the development stage but in the production aspects of it too. To further make matters worse they actually tried to tie value to getting two disks, somehow the Gamecube rewarded customers by forcing them to change disks during games.

Then you have the controller which further cramped devs by putting some of the worst button placement in the history of gaming. The only button not wrecked with the big green "A" button that was 25% of the entire button side of the controller. Nintendo's idea is that you use one button more then any other button so why not make it so easy to hit that someone who was just dealt a severe blow to head could still find it.

Lastly you tie in the online that needed to be bought separately. I know that the Japanese as a whole are far behind when it comes to online access but for Americans we were well grown out of out 28.8 external modem phase. The idea that I needed to find a dongle to add on was absurd considering it's launch window. If it was first to the store I could understand but that late in the development process? No excuse.

Anything would have been better then the Gamecube this gen, heck they could have just given users a cardboard tube with "Oooo periscope!" written on the side of it and it would have delivered less disappointment then the Gamecube.

Wii = Innovation

Cube = Purple

I think the main reason GC failed was because of their marketing strategy and poor planning on releasing games. The system came out with a 'Luigi' game? WTF. Granted, I like the game and wish they would make a sequel, but come on, your audience expects a mario game. Also, if you look at how they released the games back then, there was no real timing nor did they build or maintain any momentum. They just released everything when it was ready with little thought. That is way Reggie made a point to say they would work on keeping the momentum going and space out their releases (to paraphrase). I loved WindWaker, but lovers of older Zelda must have felt bummed.

Yes, that small format did not help. Made it harder to port games from PS2 (such as DDR's and games with FMV).

Also, they had to compete with the PS2 and gaining the players of PS1. This was hard to do with the PS2 hype, dvd player, etc. Remember, there was Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox to compete against as well.

Wii is a success because

A) It's very approachable. Non-gamers or older gamers see how the Wii-remote works with Wii sports and get it instantly. Also, using Sports as a launch was genious because THOSE GAMES DON"T HAVE TO BE EXPLAINED and can be enjoyed by practically anyone

B) Its affordable. The other two systems simply outpriced themselves

C) I think also the previous generation that enjoyed NES/SNES and even N64 have families now, and now want their kids to enjoy games like they did. Not everyone plays games non-stop their entire life like us nuts here.

D) Nintendo also has that 'family friendly' reputation. A mother is more likely to buy a system for their kid that doesn't have the most violent games as their launch titles.

expanded audience

Wii: New controller. You swing, you character does something. Check out how awesome golf, baseball, bowling, tennis are now! Almost anyone can relate to pointing the remote, or swinging it. Most importantly though: Wii = $250 X360 = $400 PS3 = wtf! Hate to break it to you, but the majority of the people are going to get something that is the least expensive (at first appearance) to occupy themselves and their kids. raahsnavj

Awesome, so the Gamecube won last gen?

And the cheapest software outsells the higher priced software each week?

Because the GameCube had to compete with the Ps2 which had more hyped gamesSupBrah8

Along with a greater variety of games.

Wii: New controller. You swing, you character does something. Check out how awesome golf, baseball, bowling, tennis are now! Almost anyone can relate to pointing the remote, or swinging it. Most importantly though: Wii = $250 X360 = $400 PS3 = wtf! Hate to break it to you, but the majority of the people are going to get something that is the least expensive (at first appearance) to occupy themselves and their kids. The advertising and word of mouth hype is what kept it from flopping. It appears different from a control perspective and it is cheaper. I think that is the reason it is doing better.raahsnavj

The GameCube was the cheapest console last gen and it was 3rd. So your logic failed.

Nintendo has a new team of marketing in Iwata (NCL) and Reggie on NOA. The GameCube was dead like in 2002 because the 3rd party companies were more for the PS2. Yamauchi didn't help the console. And people say that Wii is a casual games console. The PS2 is probably worst than that.

The GameCube didn't have anything original. The PS2 had the backwards compatibility with the Ps1 games and the Xbox had Xbox Live. The GameCube was ment to die however Nintendo did make profits on the console.

[QUOTE="raahsnavj"]Wii: New controller. You swing, you character does something. Check out how awesome golf, baseball, bowling, tennis are now! Almost anyone can relate to pointing the remote, or swinging it. Most importantly though: Wii = $250 X360 = $400 PS3 = wtf! Hate to break it to you, but the majority of the people are going to get something that is the least expensive (at first appearance) to occupy themselves and their kids. Jaysonguy

Awesome, so the Gamecube won last gen?

And the cheapest software outsells the higher priced software each week?

[QUOTE="raahsnavj"]Wii: New controller. You swing, you character does something. Check out how awesome golf, baseball, bowling, tennis are now! Almost anyone can relate to pointing the remote, or swinging it. Most importantly though: Wii = $250 X360 = $400 PS3 = wtf! Hate to break it to you, but the majority of the people are going to get something that is the least expensive (at first appearance) to occupy themselves and their kids. The advertising and word of mouth hype is what kept it from flopping. It appears different from a control perspective and it is cheaper. I think that is the reason it is doing better.chris3116

The GameCube was the cheapest console last gen and it was 3rd. So your logic failed.

Nintendo has a new team of marketing in Iwata (NCL) and Reggie on NOA. The GameCube was dead like in 2002 because the 3rd party companies were more for the PS2. Yamauchi didn't help the console. And people say that Wii is a casual games console. The PS2 is probably worst than that.

The GameCube didn't have anything original. The PS2 had the backwards compatibility with the Ps1 games and the Xbox had Xbox Live. The GameCube was ment to die however Nintendo did make profits on the console.

Wii's cheaper than all the other systems so obviosly more people can afford it. Then there's the Wiimote: smooth, not too big, wirless, and motion controls. 360 and PS3 controllers: cord, basic controller style, basically the same as last gen controllers. Then the Wii has a wide variety of games that appeals to both hard core and casual players.COKTAL

Both the PS3 and 360 come with Wireless controllers. And compared to those consoles, there are not many games made to suit hardcore gamers on the Wii.

different company.

yes its nintendo but were looking at a very different nintendo from the N64 and GC days. during those times, they did no advertising and no promotion. with the N64 they lost a whole load of 3rd parties due to terrible policies (carts wherent a defining factor here realy) and massive development costs and licencing fees (sony were far more generous at the time).

with the GC, ninty just lost the plot...that simple. heads in the clouds...stoned out of their mind. they made a great console (imho the GC is the pinnacle of what a console should be from a hardware perspective. dedicated and 100% for gaming. no fluff) and they made it cheaper than the competition. great. they then marketed it in purple (even so they had a black GC also). they then backed it with....nothing. no advertising..no promotion...zip. nada. they also had the rubbish licencing policies from the N64 days (expensive discs, large licencing fees) so 3rd parties werent interested.

so yea....basically nintendo was broken. whats different? well look at what there doing now since iwata took over.

we saw inklings of the change late in the GC days. ninty was talking to publishers and devs again and asking them how they could help. but its with the DS that we saw iwata-sans effect really come in.

first they offered soemthing a bit different...somethign easy to use and interesting. they then promoted the hell out of it. not only were there alot of adds...but they were also done well. they werent flash...all they did was explain certain games on the DS and how they worked. thats it. and its very effective. no BS...no messin. this is a DS..this is what it does. simple and effective. ninty also had the games to back it up of course like nintendogs and brain training to get at the new markets. as for developer relations...vastly improved. licencing fees and dev kit fees were far far lower...and the cost of DS carts was far more reasonable according to an interview in Ngamer before the DSs launch.

overall its the same strategy with the wii. somethign different...not the usual console. effective promotion to inform everyone about what ti does. far better developer relations (yes wii suffers from crap from 3rd parties....but at least its not being completly ignored by everyone like the GC was) and the games to back up their claims.

alot fo ppl say that nintendo have abandoned their routes. poppynotch....this is nintendo of the nes and snes days....at their very best. imho the wii is the nes of the 21st century and its nintendo returning to what made them great in the first place.

The Gamecube was such an epic fail, because it wasn't innovative.

Chris Slate puts in best: "Nintendo makes the best consoles when they take risks and go out of the box, that's why the Gamecube, which is nothing more than an N64 with updated graphics don't not do so well".

If you haven't noticed, Nintendo decided to make a console with more or less the same graphics as the GCN. They thought that when you have all these consoles vying for graphical power, they're going to kill each other out. That's why they went with innovation on the Wii's part, The Wiimote and Nunchuk, Wiiconnect24, Virtual Console, motion controls and so on.

I really don't get why the GC was a "Failure".

I thought it was fun when I was younger. It had better graphics and games than the PS2, and the PS2 is the most sold console ever.

Only downside was. No online. (I don't count the Japanese broadband adapter thing)

One of many reasons the Wii is successful than the GameCube was the marketing of the former. The Wii was marketed to a broad demographic that the video game industry often ignore (older adults, females, so-called "causual" gamers). It shows that video gaming is not just for young males or nerds, but can appeal to everyone.

I personally think this is a positive direction as I am sick and tired of gaming as being a male or nerd "thing," as do not see anything positive if gaming is associated with blood, gore, and sexuality. There is more to gaming than these elements, and gaming will continue to be misunderstood and attacked because of them. Gaming is intended for a broad demographic, never for a niche group.

I really don't get why the GC was a "Failure".

I thought it was fun when I was younger. It had better graphics and games than the PS2, and the PS2 is the most sold console ever.

Only downside was. No online. (I don't count the Japanese broadband adapter thing)

awssk8er716

As stated in my initial post, the Gamecube was the best purchase I ever made. However, it still was a failure because its competition (PS2) sold 5 times as many systems and the Gamecube was 3rd (or a close 2nd with the Xbox, I really don't know) in the generation. By the end of its run it was being largely ignored, and once the Wii hit shelves support for the system was immediately dropped, although most support was dropped before then as well.

How else do you declare a console a failure? Must it be like Dreamcast and simply be discontinued? I loved the Gamecube. It had amazing hardware (my system is still going strong after 6 years of continuous play) in a compact form, excellent graphics that were top-notch at the time, and many first party games that I loved. But its sales were very poor and had little 3rd party support.

Oh, and I feel an example of Wii neglecting its hardcore gamer audience is through Super Mario Galaxy. Yes, Nintendo still produces its 80s franchises, but I feel SMG was simplified to appeal more to children. From what I played of it it was way too easy compared to its predecessors. Nintendo probably felt it would be more profitable to make SMG appeal to the casual gamer fanbase it has drawn in more than its loyal fanbase. However, I never played it through so I can't be sure just how hard it gets, but in Mario 64 and Sunshine it was never this easy.

heres why gc failed

1- nintendo promised online play but then took it out or didnt utilize it only 3 officail games were online all ported dc titles and 3 through warp pipe=mariokart dd 10802 and kirby air ride

2 mainly kiddie titles with the exception of timesplitters 3 re series and geist

3 nothing new about it ,

wii is a success because

1 it had a good launch line up and price compared to 360 and ps3 definatelly also remember now wii is the only system to be fully bc with its prodecessors, as the 60 20 and soon the 80 gb versions are discontinued ,

and it has a vc which plays games from various old consoles including all past n systems except gc which is already bc

and 3

the new controller setup makes playing a game fell like new, compared to the ol style controllers

also it has more mature titles

red steel

moh

metroid 3

driver paralel lines manhunt etc

and i like it

some say it lacks games but they best look again because thats not the case and mario galaxy is 2 x more better then ss and as good as n64s,

it isnt that easy, the controls alone make it challenging that ball thing is annoying though still its an amazing game

and marioparty has never been this good

except 1 and 2

every game i have i enjoy except alien syndrome even a game like bmx challenge, i rarely get into extreame sports but with wii , it makes it fun ,

and sports games even though i have many football games on other plats wii opened up this genre for me more so

rpgs im still waiting for one ,

and im not into these, so ya kinda tells you somthing

even the genres a person can hate or not be interisted can be fun , these controls alone, and the gameplay,

in a sales prospective gc was a failure but not like dc it is still a good bargin ,

n64 sold more then it and had many good games