Had Nintendo launched a "Gamecube" in the last generation against the expensive HD consoles it probably would have sold better than the Gamecube did, and I think it would have probably seen about 60 million units sold.

I'm not sure how that strategy would work in the current generation because we really don't know what Sony and Microsoft are doing. Sony and Microsoft will likely try to balance processing power, new features, new services, and cost and will probably not find the perfect mix (few companies ever do); and (depending on where their strategies are strong and weak) the Gamecube strategy could be very successful or a disaster.

As an extreme example in one direction, if Sony or Microsoft produce a highly powerful system with an advanced UI device it could end up costing $600 (or more) for a consumer at launch; in this environment a moderately powerful barebones gaming console that is agressively priced could be very successful. In contrast, if Sony and Microsoft release more modest hardware and keep new UI devices as add-ons, the Gamecube strategy could have Nintendo releasing a "generic" product against 2 companies which didn't work out well for them in the past.

The funny part about the Nintendo adult/kids argument is...

the Wii was totally targeted at adults. That's where the whole big casual audience came from afterall.

In videogames things most people think are "targeted at adults" are really targeted at 14 year olds who want to be adults. While the things most peope think are targeted at kids, are actually targeted at adults.

What Nintendo gets is the Old CS Lewis Quote...

“Critics who treat 'adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”

nice said..bravo!

thanks for those wise words

In the late eighties to mid 90's videogames were considered toys. Now they are considered competent multimedia devices.

lol at some people hating on GC. it had amazing games except for Mario sunshine and MKDD other than that it had some of the best games out there like 2 Metroid prime games, F-Zera, 2 amazing Pikmin games, SSBM, Eternal Darkness, Resident Evil 4 and other amazing games. It also had the best controller at that time with intuitive button placement as you just had to place your finger over A and you would reach the other buttons easily and it was the most comfortable out of the three controllers.

the only downside with the GC was it's toy like look on the controller and it being purple and for the so called hardcore gamers the kids who just were to insecure owning it just could not afford to look kiddy in front of their buddies.

If it would work now though hmm. it might as 3rd parties would have no excuse and also Nintendo would have been able to cram in more power instead of using the resources on the gamepad

The irony... Saying they are considered competent multimedia devices, is saying they are considered toys.

The margin for error in this business is very small.

Nintendo did some good things with the GameCube, and they did some bad things with the Wii, yet one has sold almost 4x more.

The main mistake with the GameCube IMO was it launched too late. Had it launched in fall 2000 with Zelda: Majora's Mask, Perfect Dark, and Conker's Bad Fur Day (they should've yanked these from the N64), I think it would've carved out a very nice no.2 spot for itself of 50-60 million+ sold in the end. It would've been a nice alternative to the PS2 which was hard to program for.

But they launched too late and let Microsoft get their act together and had to go toe to toe with Halo and got caught flat footed. And then it was very hard for them trying to fight off Sony and Microsoft.

Also yeah, the purple as the primary color and all that was a mistake. Should've been silver and black available for the Western launches, with the "wackier" colors being quietly rolled out later. They went to all the trouble to get Resident Evil exclusive and make games like Eternal Darkness and Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes -- there was no need to make the box look too Fisher Price-y. It was counter productive. Save the purple, etc. for the Game Boy.

Also I think DVD playback should've just been standard. Yes mini-DVDs were cute and loaded faster, but not having DVD playback killed Nintendo's price advantage, no one cared the GCN was $100 cheaper because the not playing DVDs kinda cancelled out the value proposition.

actually yes, gamecube's biggest problem was the PS2 because it was also a DVD player and gamecube was only a games console which make it look more "toy-ish", not to mention the external design. Nintendo didn't bother to do what microsony did when they were lagging: launch redesigns and peripherals to copy the thing that made the competition successful. If a gamecube2 was launched today that was technically the same as the others (in the same way PS3=360) the market of 150M will simply be split between the 3