Consoles Are Fun!

[clint g]

I've had my 360 for four years and never had any problems besides occasional overheating, which is fixed by keeping a fan blowing on the console or restarting it when it does happen. Yes, I play it for hours and hours non-stop at a time and the overheating is still rare. I don't know why all you guys had/are having issues with consoles breaking.

You're the exception to the rule. There is no debate that there were design flaws with the xbox 360. The repair policy for the RROD is proof enough of this. The fact that you haven't received it yet means you're lucky. It doesn't mean that the flaw never existed.

 

[bigdaddy]

Yeah I think even the New Yorks Times did reports that 75%-90% of the first 360s were bad.

But this is a Gamecube thread and I haven't met anyone that had a bad Gamecube. I had a "bad" open button, but it fixed itself after a year.

 

[Amaris]

Where?!?!

Gamestop. It was for 99 cents, and I took it home and found the disc to be unplayable. Took it back, they gave me one of the discs out of the $4.99 used sleeve at no extra charge.

Mario and Mario Kart are the worst ever made, so pass, honestly I played the hell out of Mario Kart 64 and the GC one is horrible and Mario Sunshine should pretend never was made.

Beyond Good and Evil is an amazing game, buy that. F-Zero GX is one of, if not the best racing games ever made, it looks beautiful even to this day. It was even made by Sega. Super Monkey Ball 1 is great, the sequel is based on luck and not skill, I can't stand it. Viewtifull Joe is great too, really pretty game. Buy Animal Crossing because it has Nintendo (NES) games like Donkey Kong in it. Chibi-robo is the craziest game ever made, if you can find it buy it.

Your best best is still Gamestop in my opinion because Flea Markets still charge $1-$2 for used VHS and $4-6 for used DVDs that I can find for $5 new. When the system was dying I found several games like something Wars, Chibi-Robo, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (played with drums!) and others for $10 a piece new. So even know they are normally pretty cheap.

The next game you should get is F-Zero GX.

Yes, I want that one, too. I also found the Jungle Beat drums at Gamestop for $1.99, but since I don't have the game and couldn't find it there, I didn't buy them. I get the feeling that was a bad idea.

Sony did the same thing with the PS2, they made several million consoles (at least) poorly because they didn't care, they knew after 2-3 years you would buy a new console and they get more money. I will never forgive them for that.

True, and they got away with it too, just like Microsoft.

What was really amazing for me was that it was a launch title and still had amazing graphics years after it was released. The sequel wasn't quite as good (the on foot levels were a bit clumsy), but still worth picking up because it is still more of the same.

I also want to recommend Prince of Persia: Sands of Time and Paper Mario.

I really want Paper Mario. It just looks like something that would be fun.

I've had my 360 for four years and never had any problems besides occasional overheating, which is fixed by keeping a fan blowing on the console or restarting it when it does happen. Yes, I play it for hours and hours non-stop at a time and the overheating is still rare. I don't know why all you guys had/are having issues with consoles breaking.

You're the exception to the rule. There is no debate that there were design flaws with the xbox 360. The repair policy for the RROD is proof enough of this. The fact that you haven't received it yet means you're lucky. It doesn't mean that the flaw never existed.

Agreed. Smith, you were lucky. I returned mine 3 times. I knew people who kept returning them time and time again, and as long as they didn't have to pay for it, they kept returning the dead 360s for refurb ones. At some point, though, Microsoft stopped exchanging, and if you got a bad one, you were SOL, but they'd only charge you $100 to repair something that was their fault.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I've had my 360 for four years and never had any problems besides occasional overheating, which is fixed by keeping a fan blowing on the console or restarting it when it does happen. Yes, I play it for hours and hours non-stop at a time and the overheating is still rare. I don't know why all you guys had/are having issues with consoles breaking.

You're the exception to the rule. There is no debate that there were design flaws with the xbox 360. The repair policy for the RROD is proof enough of this. The fact that you haven't received it yet means you're lucky. It doesn't mean that the flaw never existed.

It only means that he jinxed himself. It will happen Probably even a week from making the post. It usually happens that way.

 

[bigdaddy]

I also found the Jungle Beat drums at Gamestop for $1.99, but since I don't have the game and couldn't find it there, I didn't buy them. I get the feeling that was a bad idea.


True, and they got away with it too, just like Microsoft.

I wouldn't worry about it. I have four drums (came free with the $10 game), they are dirt cheap. Find a game and then the drums because you can play the game without the drums, but I have never tried.

Sony was found guilty of fucking up and paying a fine of $10 or $100 million dollars, I think it was $10 million. Even at $100 million they still made billions off of it.

I never bought Paper Mario, I don't know why, just doesn't seem my thing, but looks beautiful.

 

[Lonemagpie]

So I'll ask, since I'm so very new to the Gamecube, are there any games that really stand out?

Need For Speed Underground,
Medal Of Honor Frontline,
Everything Or Nothing,
Splinter Cell 1,2 and 3
Metroid Prime
Resident Evil 1 and 4
XIII
Second Sight
Eternal Darkness
Hitman 2

 

[T.Geiger]

I'll echo several people's sentiments here:

Resident Evil Remake, RE4
Metroid Prime 1, 2
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
Eternal Darkness (Not quite as awesome as a couple of people indicated, but still pretty good)

If you are not a big RE fan, you will probably want to skip RE0. I still recommend the other two games though. The Remake is very high quality and RE4 is one of the top games to come out of the last generation of consoles.

Personally, while I thought Mario Kart Double Dash had a neat mechanic, both me (a MKart fan) and a friend (a racing game fan) thought the overall game was rubbish.

Most people violently dislike Super Mario Sunshine. I gave up on the Mario games after the SNES era, so I haven't played it myself.

There were two major Zelda games. Wind Waker had a controversial art style shift that kept several gamers (myself included) away from the game. The reviews that mentioned there were only three dungeons and tons of backtracking and hours upon hours of sailing around, doing nothing, didn't help its reputation. You might want to look into it before you spend any money.

The other was Twilight Princess. While I did pick up this game, it was unbelievably boring. ("Seriously? A fetch quest for a cat?") I guess people liked it a lot better than Wind Waker, but I just couldn't bring myself to care about it and gave up a dozen or so hours in. Like another poster, I really don't care about the series anymore after those two misfires.

What you may want to look for are the two non-commercial releases. One disc had Zelda 1,2, Ocarina of Time, and Majora's Mask on it, while the other had Ocarina of Time along with a "Master Quest" version of the game. One was a pre-order bonus for Wind Waker (which I never bothered to go back and get) while the other was available by registering two of four games titles online.

It might be incredibly difficult to find now, but there was a gameboy advance player widget that can be attached to the bottom of the gamecube, allowing for playing GBA titles on a television.

Also, you might want to check to see if "super saver shipping" is available for the titles on Amazon. If it is, you just need to find enough stuff to add onto your order to exceed $25. I need to do it frequently when I buy older titles for the current generation. Add a package of food or batteries or something else you use on a regular basis.

 

[BlobVanDam]

Personally, while I thought Mario Kart Double Dash had a neat mechanic, both me (a MKart fan) and a friend (a racing game fan) thought the overall game was rubbish.

Most people violently dislike Super Mario Sunshine. I gave up on the Mario games after the SNES era, so I haven't played it myself.

There were two major Zelda games. Wind Waker had a controversial art style shift that kept several gamers (myself included) away from the game. The reviews that mentioned there were only three dungeons and tons of backtracking and hours upon hours of sailing around, doing nothing, didn't help its reputation. You might want to look into it before you spend any money.

The other was Twilight Princess. While I did pick up this game, it was unbelievably boring. ("Seriously? A fetch quest for a cat?") I guess people liked it a lot better than Wind Waker, but I just couldn't bring myself to care about it and gave up a dozen or so hours in. Like another poster, I really don't care about the series anymore after those two misfires.

As I have all 4 of these games, I'll chime in with my opinion.

I like Mario Kart Double Dash. It's a little bit different, so I can understand if you didn't like it as much. The game is only really good in 2 player imo, otherwise you're at a disadvantage in the more difficult races, and it is a more difficult game. Personally I'd still recommend it to any Mario Kart fan, but that's my opinion.

I didn't get extremely far into Mario Sunshine, although I liked what I played. I found the platforming levels extremely annoying and frustrating due to the very touchy controls, and that's why I gave up on it, but aside from that, I found it about as enjoyable as Mario 64.

I was hugely turned off by the art style of Wind Waker, like many others. And the more I played it, the more I disliked their choice of direction. The first 3/4 of the game are great, but the sailing kills it as much as everyone says. Just when the game gets good with 3 amazing dungeons, the game is basically over and you're stuck sailing boringly for the final 1/4 - 1/3 of the game. It's like having sex, but right when things are getting good, she stops and tells you to take a sail boat across the Atlantic Ocean instead. It shouldn't be too hard to pick it up at a reasonable price, so I guess it's still worth it if you're a Zelda fan.

Twilight Princess took some time to grow on me. I can understand if you gave up, because it took a long time for me to really get into it too, but as I got into the second half and decided to explore a bit instead of just going from dungeon to dungeon, I started to appreciate the game a lot more. I'd now say it's my second favourite Zelda game, to OoT of course. It won't give you anything unexpected, but it has a great atmosphere to it, and it's familiar without diverting off course like Wind Waker and Majora's Mask. Some people consider that a minus, although I like that it stuck closer to what I liked, rather than including gameplay elements that I felt largely detracted from the gameplay.
I'd say it's a game worth playing for any Zelda fan, although for the price it fetches these days, it really may not be worth it to many.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I never finished Twilight Princess, and I imagine I'm going to eventually, but I thought the beginning of the game was amazingly beautiful. I loved the detail of the town and the people and the amount of stuff you could do. It really impressed me.

 

[Amaris]

So I'll ask, since I'm so very new to the Gamecube, are there any games that really stand out?

Need For Speed Underground,
Medal Of Honor Frontline,
Everything Or Nothing,
Splinter Cell 1,2 and 3
Metroid Prime
Resident Evil 1 and 4
XIII
Second Sight
Eternal Darkness
Hitman 2

I have the two games I bolded here, and they're solid. I'm really thinking about Eternal Darkness, as it seems to be getting rave reviews.

I'll echo several people's sentiments here:

Resident Evil Remake, RE4
Metroid Prime 1, 2
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
Eternal Darkness (Not quite as awesome as a couple of people indicated, but still pretty good)

If you are not a big RE fan, you will probably want to skip RE0. I still recommend the other two games though. The Remake is very high quality and RE4 is one of the top games to come out of the last generation of consoles.

Personally, while I thought Mario Kart Double Dash had a neat mechanic, both me (a MKart fan) and a friend (a racing game fan) thought the overall game was rubbish.

Most people violently dislike Super Mario Sunshine. I gave up on the Mario games after the SNES era, so I haven't played it myself.

There were two major Zelda games. Wind Waker had a controversial art style shift that kept several gamers (myself included) away from the game. The reviews that mentioned there were only three dungeons and tons of backtracking and hours upon hours of sailing around, doing nothing, didn't help its reputation. You might want to look into it before you spend any money.

The other was Twilight Princess. While I did pick up this game, it was unbelievably boring. ("Seriously? A fetch quest for a cat?") I guess people liked it a lot better than Wind Waker, but I just couldn't bring myself to care about it and gave up a dozen or so hours in. Like another poster, I really don't care about the series anymore after those two misfires.

What you may want to look for are the two non-commercial releases. One disc had Zelda 1,2, Ocarina of Time, and Majora's Mask on it, while the other had Ocarina of Time along with a "Master Quest" version of the game. One was a pre-order bonus for Wind Waker (which I never bothered to go back and get) while the other was available by registering two of four games titles online.

It might be incredibly difficult to find now, but there was a gameboy advance player widget that can be attached to the bottom of the gamecube, allowing for playing GBA titles on a television.

Also, you might want to check to see if "super saver shipping" is available for the titles on Amazon. If it is, you just need to find enough stuff to add onto your order to exceed $25. I need to do it frequently when I buy older titles for the current generation. Add a package of food or batteries or something else you use on a regular basis.

I've got Amazon Prime free for two weeks, and I'm trying to capitalize on it.

 

[DBR]

One of my favourite Gamecube games was SSX Tricky.

I know it wasn't a GCN exclusive, but that was the system I played it on, and frankly, I fuckin' rocked!'

All the other SSX games were inferior.

 

[bigdaddy]

Nintendo admitted to fucking up Wind Waker by cutting half the game to make the deadline instead of delaying the game for the 5th time.

It can easily be found for cheap, and should be bought because it's an amazingly beautiful game.

I'm not a Zela fan, so I don't care if it doesn't fit, it's just really nice to look at.

 

[BlobVanDam]

I never heard about Nintendo cutting half the game, but I always figured that was the case, because it's painfully obvious from playing it. But what's there is still quite good, aside from sailing. It's just too short a game to really be one of the better Zeldas for me.

 

[bigdaddy]

Two dungeons were cut from the game, and one was rather large. Nintendo broke their rule, better to have a great delayed game than a lesser game on time. No one will remember the delay, everyone will remember an unpolished game.

 

[Amaris]

I read a review from Gamespot and Amazon, saw a few screenshots and a video of the gameplay and now I want it.

 

[bigdaddy]

I read a review from Gamespot and Amazon, saw a few screenshots and a video of the gameplay and now I want it.

I'm not a Zelda fan, but I think it should be found for maybe $15, and it's well worth that because it's simply beautiful. Probably the most beautiful game since Yoshi's Island.

This is the order I'd buy them...
F-Zero
Chibi-Robo
Zelda
Animal Crossing (Just for the NES games. If you get it let me know and I'll send you some. Plus the beginning of April the trees are pink and that's pretty. )

 

[Amaris]

I'll look into that. I just received my s-video adapter today, and I love being able to actually read the text in the games now.
Seriously, though, the games look much better now. Sharper and cleaner. I also know this will be the best picture I get out of the GC, which is fine.

 

[bigdaddy]

So what games have you bought recently? Have Fzero yet?

 

[FPAlpha]

What makes consoles so fun is that you can sit back on a couch, controller in hand and make yourself real comfortable (unless you are playing a high octane action game in which case you are sitting on edge anyway). Try to do that with a PC.. keyboard on your lap and mouse on a pad besides on the couch just doesn't work as well as on a desk.

Besides that one of the advantages is teamplay.. just get a second controller and play together. Also hard to do with a PC because they are not wired that way unless you play a game with a console controller.. it's just not the same to play online against someone as opposed to someone sitting right beside you.

Consoles are much more social and Wii (and perhaps Kinect) has done their share to get non-gamers in it too.

 

[Amaris]

So what games have you bought recently? Have Fzero yet?

Yep! I have F-Zero. Unfortunately, it's only so-so for me. I'm actually having a lot more fun with Mario Golf.

What makes consoles so fun is that you can sit back on a couch, controller in hand and make yourself real comfortable (unless you are playing a high octane action game in which case you are sitting on edge anyway). Try to do that with a PC.. keyboard on your lap and mouse on a pad besides on the couch just doesn't work as well as on a desk.

Besides that one of the advantages is teamplay.. just get a second controller and play together. Also hard to do with a PC because they are not wired that way unless you play a game with a console controller.. it's just not the same to play online against someone as opposed to someone sitting right beside you.

Consoles are much more social and Wii (and perhaps Kinect) has done their share to get non-gamers in it too.

Exactly. Just put the game in, sit back and enjoy. Easy as pie.