That wasn't the context of joe's comment.

I've always thought the GC was more successful than the Xbox.  But the media has usually been softer on the Xbox division than the other two companies (lots of advertising dollars).  Even though the Xbox was intended for MS to break into the market, they did it in about the most inefficient and least cost effective way possible.  Sony was much more effective with the PS1.

OT:  I think the Gamecube couldn't shake off the "kiddy console," no matter what they did.  The Xbox was considered the "cool kids'" console.  It's just like how the PS3 can't shake off the "no games" image in America/UK and Xbox 360 can't shake off the "FPS Blood/Gore console" outside of America/UK.

Whether I like the Wii or Gamecube better at this point all depends on if Xenoblade and Last Story are going to be localized.  I more want Xenoblade, to tell the truth.

I am really surprised that so many people seem to completely forget that Gamecube was notoriously aimed at children. If you went back to any point during the Gamecube's history, EVERYONE knew this. 

The N64 was kind of a bad system too, but at least it had Rare games, although it lost Square and Enix. It also had the best Zelda, a GOOD Mario Kart, Donkey Kong Country 64, and a solid Mario game. Plus it had some interesting third party titles like Ogre Battle 64, Space Station Silicon Valley, etc... Gamecube had what? A highly overrated Metroid title, Mario with a water gun, Mario Kart with 5-20 second tracks, a Zelda which looked like a cartoon for todlers, it was purple and looked like a 5 year old kid's lunch box. That is not even a satisfactory launch lineup.

To be fair, the animation / cartoon = for children is mainly a Western thing.

I can't read this thread.  It's gotten too big.  My take on things:

-Nintendo didn't do anything new this time.  No Mode 7, no analog stick, no Wii Remote.  It was just a carbon copy of its competition.  Nintendo couldn't beat Sony at their own game.  Nintendo has always thrived by redefining the game.

-No DVD or even CD playback.  The new medium was a big deal at the time of the PS2 launch.  Like there were people who bought a PS3 for Blu-Ray, there were probably way more that bought a PS2 for DVD playback.  Most of the PS2 magazines at the time featured a DVD section.  I know the Official Playstation Magazine and PSM sure did.  The Gamecube only had games.  The competition had games, movies, AND online gaming.

-Console design.  Who the fuck designed the Gamecube?  It was a purple box with a handle on the back.  It looked horrendous.  I was ashamed to have that thing sitting on my entertainment center.  And there were a few games that I was ashamed to buy at the time so i sent my little sister to buy them for me.  Sony and Microsoft played up Nintendo's kiddie image and Nintendo suffered for it.  It wasn't a "Family Console" at the time.  It had the feeling of "Kid's Console.".  Even a kid doesn't want a kiddie console just like a fat guy doesn't want a fat woman.

-Raw power.  The Xbox didn't have the stand out library that the Gamecube had but it had third party support.  Before the end of the generation, it was widely accepted that the best version of any third party game was going to be on the Xbox.  The 'Cube was no graphical slouch but those discs hurt it.  There were full features, audio tracks, and levels left out of games like True Crime, SSX Tricky, and Splinter Cell.  Nobody wants a gimped version of their games.  I bought True Crime for the 'Cube and took it back.  It didn't have nearly as much licensed music, dialog, and side missions as the PS2 version.

-Xbox Live.  I didn't have an Xbox but when I heard about the things going on on Xbox Live, I admit i was jealous.  These guys were playing each other, downloading characters and levels, and sending each other messages.  The Playstation didn't have this.  The Gamecube didn't have this.  It made Xbox stand out among the newly forming online crowd.

-Software droughts.  The best games on the Gamecube are some of the best games of all time....but I remember a lot of times where there simply wasn't anything on the market for me.  I'm the kind of guy that buys tons of games but there was a point in time where all we had was Geist, Star Fox Assault, Mario Party, and Chibi Robo.  It was like Nintendo wasn't even trying anymore.  The first few years were great.  The last few years were embarrasing.

I would call it the latter. My guess is that Microsoft's intent was to do whatever it took to get their foot in the door, whatever blood or capital it had to expand, to put a stop to this menacing "Computer Entertainment System." Xbox was a success as far as non-winner consoles go, though few non-winning consoles could be called a success. The only others that had expectations less than what they achieved would be maybe the Master System (got Sega established in the market Nintendo created), and the Neo Geo (since it wasn't meant to be really mainstream at those prices)

In the end, I look at Gamecube as Nintendo's filler console more than anything; I don't think they were expecting it to be successful, just something to be put in place so people wouldn't forget about them completely as a home console developer. There were talks about some amazing controller which had two parts to it and such before the launch. Sega was saying that Nintendo would be the big competition next generation if the rumours turned out to be true. It was intended to be what the Wii ended up being, but the technology to create a Wii type system at the time was too expensive.

I am not entirely sure why they decided to aim the system at children, but it didn't really work out for them very well. Xbox sold better, but I still see it as a complete failure; mostly because it was almost completely aimed at PC gamers. Unlike Nintendo, Microsoft didn't have a very hot selling handheld system to make up the billions of dollars in losses.

@finalevagelion  yeah it sure could never shake that whole "kiddie" thing, its like people refused to admit that there were other colors for GC. As for PS3 I think that they have shaken that "no games" thing. 

The color thing mattered more for haters looking for an excuse than those that simply didn't buy the system. I would say that lack of mass appeal for the games is the biggest reason. The highest sellers were a Mario Kart game and a Smash Bros game, and one of those is even considered a weaker entry in the series.

No easy answer. My take is similar to many other posters:

1. No DVD playback in an era where the world was transitioning to DVD for home entertainment. The PS2 when it was first released was the cheapest DVD player on the market.

2. The worst 1st party offering of any Nintendo console. Super Mario Sunshine, Wind Waker, and Mario Kart Double Dash. The Metroid Prime series was a diamond in the rough.

3. No 2D Mario.

4. No Sean Malstrom to call the generation before it begins. Obvious sarcasm here.

5. Purple lunchbox design. Whoever designed the Nintendo Gamecube should be exiled and blacklisted from the video game industry.

6. Halo, Final Fantasy 10, and Grand Theft Auto 3. Anyone whose balls were dropping aka reaching the age of puberty could care less about Super Mario Sunshine in comparison to these three games.

7. No gimmicky feature to differentiate itself from the competition. The Super Nintendo was simplicity exemplified. The Gamecube carried the tradition of "is this a controller or some weird, 3-hole sextoy?" from the Nintendo 64. The PS2 like the PS1 had a simple, sexy controller with no frills.