The Gamecube couldn't have outperformed the PS2 with the mentality Nintendo had at the time. The PS2 was pushed DVD tech, had a better relationship with third parties and still had a competitive price. Nintendos biggest issues back then were the following scars from the N64 era in lacking adequate third party support to gain enough attention vs the Playstation. The Model of the Gamecube turned off people giving them the image that this box was just for children, when the games proved that couldn't be any further from the truth. Their marketing was off and their first party games were second tier compared to even the N64. People waited forever for the successor to Super Mario 64 and got Super Mario Sunshine and Luigi's mansion. They could've used that idea as a new IP and made a spiritual successor to Super Mario 64. Theres so much more, but I'll leave it at this for now.

No doubt all of that would have made a huge difference. But it's easy to have 20/20 vision looking into the past.

No arguements on making the system look too much like a toy.

That said I think the system would've gained a fair deal of third party support. It was more powerful than the PS2 and far easier to program for and even cheaper in cost. So there was nothing wrong with the chip itself, it was very well designed, it was the casing that was slapped over it and Nintendo taking so long to release it.

Dump that mini-DVD design choice and ditch the kiddie colors and it probably would've sold quite a bit if they had released the console sooner, which in turn would've brought in more third party support.

I think it would be less about Sony though, what would've happened if Nintendo made a few common sense adjustments to the GameCube is that the XBox would've just failed flat out, as there would be no room in the market for it, so Nintendo probably would've gained from that more than anything.

Thats how I see it, earlier release, less kiddy image and better management of key franchises could have helped it alot. I doubt it would have beaten PS2 but could have reached 40-60m and as a result make Microsoft rethink continuing in the console market.

If such a thing were to happen, I wonder if Nintendo would have still gone the blue ocean route or made a more powerful console with a trafitional controller

Well the power part definitely was in Nintendos hands but Sony and MS had more storage capacity because of the 8GB DVD sizes. It gave devs an advantage in making larger scaled games where as the Cube could only make games around the size of a GB. Sony made up for their losses by thinking wisely about what would keep the hardware cost efficient in that way and kept tech ahead of the curve. The potential for the larger games were closed for Nintendo. Very similar issues as to why the N64 though higher in graphical ability than the PS couldn't out do its multimedia capabilities and it changed the way we think about scalable games on consoles in a median view to how traditional gaming and PC. basically the perfect blend. MS followed suit with DVD and it was a wise decision.

Nintendo's kiddy design is really was not a marketing failure, but truly showed who they are focused on as a child/family oriented brand. The other games for the older gamers would come but Nintendo traditionally knows where they stand. From a mass market perspective, none of those boxes were good looking and they ended up all looking like bulky bricks. The only console I could say was genuinely awesome looking was the PS2 slim. The cube was definitely not designed to appeal to a mass audience though.

Was there alot of games that took advantage of the disk space back then? I assume games like GTA and Final Fantasy did but im unaware of the amount of games that needed it.

I dont quite agree with what u say about kids/families being there main focus at the time. Why would they buy Resident Evil exclusivity, publish Eternal Darkness, Twin Snakes, and develop games like Metroid Prime if kids were there main focus? I just think they made a mistake with the way the console looked. PS2 looked like a typical DVD player and Xbox resembled a PC so they actually looked like they would fit in with ur other electronics as opposed to a purple lunchbox.

You pretty much just changed everything about the console and it's history. That's like saying "how would the Vita be doing if it has Monster Hunter, Dragon Quest, and Kingdom Hearts exclusive? And it's only 150$, and it comes with a 32 GB memory card, and a slice of pie."

Ya I admit its a bit silly thinking about how things could have gone but its something thats always fascinated me, not just gaming but also historical events and in sports. And to answer ur question, Vita would sell amazing if it did that

So.... your whole point is "what if the GameCube were the ps2"

No I didnt include DVD or the exclusive franchises PS2 had, all im asking is how would it have done if it didnt look so kiddy, didnt release so much later than the competition and its main franchises actually felt like sequels rather than spin offs.