I bought a day 1 launch Gamecube and after 15 months I started getting a disc read error ... I called Nintendo up and they told me that, even though it was no longer under warranty, there was a problem with early optical drives and if my system was one of these defective drives they would repair (replace with refurbished system) it for no cost.

I don't know if Nintendo is better/worse for manufacturing hardware than any other company, but I personally love their customer service.

Best thing about GameCube is you can have ad isc so utterly destroyed by 2 year olds that you can't see yourself on the bottom reflection, and the disc will still be read.


Cant' say that for PS2 . The difference in readability is astounding.

But yes, most of the time, Nintendo consoles don't defunct on people. Most. I still have a working NES, SNES, N64, GameCube, and haven't had to replace anything on them at all.

I had a similiar experience as happy squirrel.  Launch gamecube that lasted about 21 months?  I didn't get Nintendo to replace mine.  I really didn't even try.  I ended grabbing the Zelda bundle w/ controller for $99 so i don't think I lost out too much.  I think the initial batch did have a bunch of disk read error problems.  As long as the one you bought wasn't manufactured in the first year, I'd think your fine.

It's a black coloured one, the launch/early ones were purple, no?

i have never had a game cube break on me

Mine broke after about 5 years of use. Luckily the launch of the Wii was imminent.

I dropped my gamecube countless times... and it still works!

Arrived in my mailbox today, didn't even start it (work, no other way I can afford my console ambitions, lol, PS3+SNES are next in line).

It's by a long way the most reliable disc based system though.... cartridges don't need moving parts or sensitive lasers so they are naturally more reliable.

My GC had a slight disc-read problem after 6 years.... by slight I mean it would very occassionally crash (I think in total about 20 times in total... most in the last year)

I think I was told it was something to do with the laser (or the plastic casing for the laser) would get slightly warped by the heat from lots of usage. Which meant the laser sometimes had a hard job finding whatever it looks for.

The problems that can occur with the gamecube are nothing compared to problems with the Wii or PS3, which from what i have heard and experienced seem to be close to each other in a kind of joint second.... and both of those are leagues ahead of the 360 or PS2.
Not sure about Dreamcast.

At launch (UK at least) it came in two colours.... black or purple.