On the April 10th 2007 edition of the "Hotspot", Jeff Gerstmann was explaining how the Gamecube and GBA section of Gamespot's web site days are numbered. Therefore, I was just what wondering what everyone thought of the Gamecube at this point in its history.

While the Gamecube came in third place in the last generation, I think it may have been the mot successful third place in the history of consoles. The Gamecube's library is full of excellent games, and it had much better third party support than the previous Nintendo console, the N64. While many people may feel that the Mario and Zelda experiences on the Gamecube are lesser experiences, it is clear that Metriod Prime, Resident Evil 4 and Super Smash Bros. clearly dominate this system as stand out games within the scope of all consoles. In fact, Metriod Prime, Wind Waker and Resident Evil 4 all won Gamespot's "Game of the Year" award, making it the most critically acclaimed system of the previous generation.

Luckily, with the Wii, many players are discovering the Gamecube library for the first time. I think that history will show that the Gamecube was anything but a loser, and will eventually take its place among the greatest systems of all time.

One thought though.....where will we go to discuss Gamecube games once Gamepot closes the Gamecube section of the site?

Any thoughts?

On the April 10th 2007 edition of the "Hotspot", Jeff Gerstmann was explaining how the GBA section of Gamespot's web site day's are numbered. Therefore, I was just what wondering what everyone thought of the system at this point in it's history.

In my opinion, and I realize that I may be alone on this, the Gameboy Advance is definately one of the best game systems of all time, and the greatest portable gaming system of all time. I consider the GBA library to be leaps and bounds better than that of the NES, SNES, Master System, Genesis, TG-16 and previous iterations of the Gameboy. Let's take a more detailed look at that argument.

- Ports: we cannot deny that the GBA was a great place for remakes and ports of older software. Just about all of the biggest titles from the NES, SNES and Genesis have been ported over or remade on the GBA in one form or another. The entire Super Mario series, entire pre-Sony Final Fantasy series, pre-Sony Breath of Fire series, clssic NES series, Capcom Mini Mix, Sega's Smash Pack, Phantasy Star Collection, entire Donkey Kong Country series, Lunar, Zelda: A link to the Past, Shining Force, Comix Zone, Earthworm Jim, Rock and Roll Racing, Double Dragon Advanced, Final Fight One, Super Ghouls and Ghosts Advanced...these a just a few examples of a collection that rivals what is available and going to be available on the Wii's Virtual Console. With a robust collection of Arcade Game Collections as well, there actually is more retrogaming available for the GBA than any other system.

- Great sequels: the GBA was a great place to resurrect alot of dormant franchises that had been forgotten since the beginning of the 3D era. Many of these franchises were continuations of existing series from other consoles, evolved to a form that seemed beyond the scope of a portable game system. The Castlevania Series, the Fire Emblem series, the Advance Wars series, Metriod Fusion, Sword of Mana, Final Fantasy Tactics, Zelda: The Minish Cap, MarioKart, F-Zero, Super Gunstar Heroes, the Pokemon games, the MegaMan Zero and Battle Network series...these are just a few examples of previously existing series on other platforms that really came into bloom on the GBA. Some of the best entries of these series are exclusive to the GBA.

- Original software: with all of the great ports and sequels making their way to the GBA it's easy to overlook the vast majority of original titles for the GBA. Great titles like Racing Gears Advance, Warioware, the Golden Sun series, the Boktia series, Car Battler Joe, Tron 2.0, Drill Dozer, the Iridion series, Mech Platoon, Ninja Five-O, the Super Robot Taisen series, Yggdra Union, Riviera: The Promised Land, Astroboy: The Omega Factor, Top Gear Rally, Scurge: The Hive...these are a fraction of the quality original games in the GBA library.

While at this time, the DS and PSP have captured the imaginations of current gamers, I believe that history will show that the GBA was a legendary system, taking it's place among the greats. I'll be playing GBA games for many years to come. How about you?

This is the biggest thread I've ever seen. Hopefully, the Gamespot staff talks about this issue on "The Hotspot".

This is very important. I believe everything that CaptainCrazy has told us, and I think people posting here trying to post here saying he's telling lies are wasting everyone's time.

If the leading retailers of the industry are commonly engaged in business practices that are at best called "dishonest", perhaps everyone should boycott buying their systems from these stores. The only way they'll change is when they start losing sales.

First of all, I think Nintendo would do well to try and get some re-releases done with some old classics from the NES. That would, at least, pull in some older fans of the NES. Would love to see some games updated like Metroid was (Metroid Prime is one of the best games GC has to offer.... my personal opinion mind you). I think it's awesome to see an old game remade into an updated version. The new Zelda and the two Metroid Prime releases have been a big hit, I'm sure the same could happen with a lot of other classics. If you have a Gameboy Player for your Gamecube, you can play Metriod: Zero Mission, which was an excellent remake of the original Metriod and includes the original game. If you're looking for other NES games, Legend of Zelda collector's edition and Megaman Anniversary Collection are a good play to start. Of course, if you have a Gameboy Player, you can play all kinds of "Classic NES series" GBA releases.

Second, Gamecube desperately needs a new big-name RPG game that would pretty much replace Final Fantasy (since that game has spread into all platforms and systems by now). The early Final Fantasy series were, by far, my favorite games to date. Especially FF2 from the SNES. But, since they've already redone most of the classic Squaresoft games, I say it's time to move on, start a new series. Something exclusively on Gamecube, maybe adding network capabilities. Unfortunately, it is too late for the Gamecube to start up an exclusive RPG series since the market has shifted to the Wii, but if you're interested in some good RPG's you can't play anywhere else, give Skies of Arcadia, Tales of Symphonia and Baten Kaitos a try. Read Gamespot's reviews to see if any of them are right for you. Most 'Cubers agree that these are quality experiences.

Third, how about some adapters that allow you to play your older NES, SNES, and even Gameboy cartridges on the new system? One of the things Playstation has going for them with each new system they release is that all of their games from previous systems will play on the newer systems. This is a big 'plus' in my decision to purchase a new system. If you're seriously interested in playing games from older systems, my first suggestion would be to upgrade to a Nintendo Wii. Downloading old games onto the Wii through the virtual console is by far the easiest way to play these older games. If you are determined to do this with the Gamecube, a Gameboy Player is a must have. In the GBA library, there were many NES, SNES and Genesis remakes and remakes and rereleases. The Gameboy player not only plays GBA carts, but black and white Gameboy carts and Gameboy Color carts as well. There are also third party devices that allow you to play NES ROMS through the Gameboy player, making the entire NES library available, but keep in mind the graphical quality takes a big hit being sqashed into the GBA's screen dimensions. Purchasing a Wii is recommended for a quality experience.

N2TheFlames

To the rest of you, (not the original poster) you should be ashamed of yourselves. Obviously, this guy is too busy to follow every nuance of the video game industry. It's quite easy to miss an announcement regarding the death of the Gamecube when you only use Gamespot once in a while. This guy's been a member for 2 years and has made 11 forum posts. You guys should be the one's using their heads. If you guys have nothing helpful or friendly to say, don't post. Go play some video games or something.

I somewhat understand what you mean. It's annoying that the game that stays on the number #1 spot consistantly is Pokemon Emerald. A truly unremarkable game, in all respects. The Final Fantasy Advance series is awesome, don't get me wrong, but the Golden Sun RPG's are much better. I love Fire Emblem though, I agree with everyone else's opinion there.

Yet there are so many great GBA games out there that no one has a clue about. One of the most common complaints I hear about the GBA library is that it's "just a bunch of NES and SNES ports". While there are quite a few of NES and SNES ports, there are also a surprisingly great number of original games as well.

The GBA has five star games in every major genre. Of course, 3D efforts on the GBA aren't often successful but there are a few good efforts. At any rate, there is a hell of a lot more than six versions of Pokemon to play. I guess that's my point.

Nintendo did make a new Gamecube. It's called a Nintendo Wii.

It might be a little too early to say, but I'm starting to get that sinking feeling from Nintendo again. I really thought this generation would be the one where they change their strategies, but it looks as if the Wii s repeating the mistakes of the N64 and Gamecube.

- No online yet...every third party EA sports game should have had an online component by now. Nintendo has only announced Pokemon Battle Revolution as an online title. That's good if you're one of the 10 gamers over the age of 15 that likes Pokemon.

- Third parties aren't making mone on Wii software sales. If this trend keeps up, third party developers are going to drop support for the Wii just like they did for Gamecube.

- Big titles are being pushed back too far. At E3 2006, Super Mario Galaxy and Metriod Prime 3 looked almost done. Both should have been out by now, if not at least one of them. Nintendo seems to be strategically spacing titles out because it doesn't have enough of them. Super Paper Mario and Fire Emblem don't count......they were once Gamecube games.

Don't get me wrong, I like the Wii and I think it has the most potential of all the next generation consoles. But these trends can't be ignored....

I don't think Gamespot hates the Wii either. I think alot of other sites have given Wii games "inflated" scores. The Wii has definately captured people's imaginations, but none of those ideas have yet to come to life. When the Wii has a game released in the vein of Gears of War or Oblivion...meaning an absolutely fresh, mind-blowing experience....you'll see Gamespot give high marks. Ports of games designed for other systems (PS2, Gamecube) with motion controls don't deserve more than the scores they're getting.

We haven't seen anything built from the ground up specifically for Wii that goes beyond the flavour of an elaborate tech demo, and that's the truth. Hopefully this changes, and soon.

especially during battle. maybe it's just me. but i don't like that you can't do strafe turns.shimmyshnardd

I actually prefer the controls in Metriod Prime. Combat is quite easy in that game.