The Failure Of The GameCube Really Is Where It All Went Wrong

[teigaga]

I was about to run in here and say they didn't do too much wrong with the Gamecube but you hit it on the head. Critique of its design (also available in black) seems irrelevant compared to the fact that Final Fantasy X, GTA3, Gran Tourism 3 A-spec, Metal Gear solid 2, Tekken Tag, Devil May Cry, Crash Bandicoot were all released exclusively to Ps2 before the Gamecube even hit stores. The first FIVE
titles are amongst the highest selling franchises of the generation. There was going to be no catching up for the Gamecube or Xbox. It's a clear loss to launch a year after your more successful Competitor. Imagine Xbox 360 launched holiday 2007. 

With the OG Xbox Microsoft at least cultivated a niche which turnt into the mainstream years later with the online gaming focus and it having the highest abundance of Western RPGs and Fps. This was reflected in how their sales of third party games really shot up later in the gen compared to GC

Nintendo however just rested on their laurels and made a few futile attempts to attract playstations audience who were of course very content with their playstations (secondary consoles are not common unless it's a wii). Again PS2 pretty much ticked all the boxes along with a headstart making it the obvious console of choice for the mainstream. The only boxes it didn't tick were online FPSs and WRPGs, both of which Xbox used to grow its brand.