Was Gamecube the best ever?

[theRepublic]

In general, the GameCube is pretty underrated as a console.  It didn't sell as near as much as it should have.  I remember in college (around 2007 I think), one of my friends asked me what must play games did it really have?

Then there are discussions online like this, where it gets massively overrated.  Nintendo's best?  Not even close.  Even if we do limit it to the home consoles only.

Let's start with the pro's:

• Arguably the best traditional controller ever made.  Still the most comfortable I have ever held.  Plus the Wavebird was an amazing wireless controller.
• Great hardware for the time.  Outclassed the PS2 pretty easily.  Not quite as powerful as the Xbox.  Still, developers like Factor 5 showed it was a powerful little beast.
• Last Nintendo home console with pretty universal third party support.  Got pretty much all the big multiplats, and even a few exclusives.
• I personally like the form factor.  Did get some criticism about being a "purple lunch box".

That is some good stuff there.  But when I go to the negative, it is all pretty much the games:

• Super Mario Sunshine - Don't get me wrong, I had a lot of fun with it.  It is a worthy Mario platformer, even if it is a little strange.  But a gimmicky follow-up to Super Mario 64 was not really what people were looking for.
• The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - I think it is a beautiful game.  But let's not act like the art style didn't turn off a bunch of people from this game.
• The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess - The OP includes this game, but let's be honest, this is a Wii game.  It launched first on the Wii in every region but Japan (where it launched same day).  It sold far more on the Wii.  Plus, the GameCube was pretty much done by this point.
• Starfox - I never played them, so I don't know if they are good.  My general immpression was they don't live up to the 64 game.
• I don't have anything bad to say about the other games listed by the OP.  Metroid Prime and Pikmin are indeed awesome.  Yes, there are a bunch of awesome third party games (Star Wars, Eternal Darkness, etc.).

But let's compare this to the Wii for a second.  The Wii can play all Gamecube games, plus has the Virtual Console, plus WiiWare, plus (last but not least) Wii games.  Wii beats it hands down.

Games wise (just speaking for me here)?  Galaxy beats Sunshine.  Twilight Princess plus Skyward Sword beats The Wind Waker (2 vs 1 isn't fair).  Brawl beats Melee.  MK Wii beats Double Dash.  Prime Trilogy beats just having 1 and 2.  Plus the return of 2D platformers with NSMB and DKCR.  Plus a bunch of cool Wii games (Sports, Sports Resort, Fit, etc.).

And I still don't think I can call the Wii my favorite Nintendo console.  Both the SNES and N64 were awesome too.  I hate to say it, but the GameCube might actually be Nintendo's worst home console.  Which, come to think of it, for my favorite console of the sixth gen, maybe that just means the sixth gen kind of sucked.