Why do you think OG Xbox often viewed as successful and Gamecube as unsuccessful, when they sold almost the same

[Chrkeller]

curl-6 said:

KLXVER said:

The Xbox was Microsofts first console. The GC was Nintendos fourth.

True, but Nintendo's first console sold 60m and Sony's first sold 100m, with both winning their respective generations. 

A console being a first doesn't in itself mean low sales.

Sure, but those are outliers.  We shouldn't use outliers as a baseline for expectations.  Sega, NEC, SNK, Phillips, Apple/Bandai, Commodore, Panasonic, Mattel, Magnavox, Google (streaming) Steambox, etc first consoles were not that successful.  

Xbox established a brand, GC made people question if Nintendo should go third party (which was stupid IMO, but did exist).  Consoles went on to have HDDs are standard and online become a thing.  And PC ports become normal (when they were not previously).  The xbox had an impact, the GC didn't (from a hardware perspective).  Nobody uses z-buttons, c-sticks or mini disks.  

Edit

Apple has been trying to break into gaming as well, so far very limited success.  The OG xbox breaking into gaming is by default a success.

Last edited by Chrkeller - on 05 May 2026