Gamecube because I see myself enjoying their library of games more than what Xbox has.

The original Xbox was quite the technological marvel for the time. From having LAN parties, simplicity of Xbox Live, ripping CDs to have a custom soundtrack while gaming, it’s futuristic sci-fi UI, and having the built-in hard drive that negated needing a memory card. There was a lot to love.

And that was before getting to the exclusives of Halo, KOTOR, Elder Scrolls: Morrowind, Gotham Racing, Amped, and essentially Dreamcast 2.0 of Sega exclusives.

GameCube has arguably the better exclusives overall, but the original Xbox felt like a true evolution in gaming.

I haven't touched a PS2 or XBox game in about 15 years. While I regularly go back and play, RE4, rogue squadron and Wind Waker to this day. So it has to be gamecube for me.

I think PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast were by far the better systems of that generation, they have many more interesting and creative titles in my opinion. I would probably pick Xbox over Gamecube though. Gamecube probably has the weakest first party lineup of any Nintendo home console. Xbox had Halo, which was huge for me, and retrospectively it also had some of the more interesting third party hidden gems of that generation. Xbox also easily had the stronger hardware and superior versions of most multi-platform games.

I prefer Gamecube because of Nintendo, Resident Evil / Capcom, Sonic / Sega, and THQ.

Man though if you were a Sega fan back during the 6th gen and had to choose PS2, Xbox or Gamecube after the Dreamcast it was a hard choice. Each system had their own exclusive titles from Sega while some were on all of them.

Heck I’d go as far as to say GCN is home to Nintendo’s strongest software lineup of any console to date— so yeah, this one is no contest for me. Granted I don’t have a lot of expertise nor knowledge on OG Xbox, I would be stunned if it could top that little purple cube.

(Also helps that GCN was my childhood console…)

Xbox was the best system of that gen by about five million miles. Everything about it was awesome. It was the library that lacked. In that department, the Gamecube bested it easily.

Oh man, it’s really close.

Both systems had a lot of the big multi platform games of the day, although they performed better on Xbox. Also, Xbox got a handful of important titles missing on GCN, namely MGS 2/3 and Grand Theft Auto III/VC/SA. So that’s advantage Xbox.

But I think exclusives — both first-party and third-party — are more impactful for this debate. Let’s start at the beginning. In terms of launch lineup, I think Xbox wins. Halo: Combat Evolved is, in my mind, the best console game of the entire 6th gen. And Dead or Alive 3 is excellent. GCN had a really solid launch thanks to Luigi’s Mansion and Super Monkey Ball, but I feel that Rogue Squadron II and Wave Race: Blue Storm are inferior to their 5th gen counterparts. And that’s sort of a running theme for GCN. A bunch of IPs failed to reach the heights achieved on N64: 1080 Snowboarding, Mario Tennis, Star Fox, and, most significantly, Super Mario. To be fair, though, some IPs maintained their greatness or even improved: Zelda, Paper Mario, Mario Kart, Mario Party, Mario Golf, F-Zero, and so on. Then there’s Smash Bros., which represents an enormous leap in quality over its predecessor. And we can’t forget about Metroid, which didn’t appear on N64 at all but which thrived on GCN. And Pikmin. And Baten Kaitos. And weird, quirky stuff like Jungle Beat, Chibi-Robo, and Odama.

The first-party output on Xbox simply wasn’t as good. Apart from Halo and Dead or Alive 3, you had Oddworld, PGR, RalliSport Challenge, Crimson Skies, Forza, Fable, etc. — all good or great games that pale in comparison to the top homegrown games on GCN. Halo 2, conversely, is right up there with GCN’s best.

Where Xbox made the biggest splash is with third-party exclusives and PC conversions: Ninja Gaiden, Psychonauts, Escape from Butcher Bay, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Far Cry Instincts, Doom 3, Half-Life 2, Morrowind, KOTOR, Jade Empire, etc.

GCN was no slouch though, in terms of third-party exclusives. Three amazing Resident Evil games, include RE4, one of the best games of all time. Viewtiful Joe. Super Monkey Ball 1&2. Tales of Symphonia.

Honestly, I’m right back where I started. These are incredibly well-matched rivals.

I decided to go to my top 50 list from last year to break the tie. I have more Xbox games than GCN games on the list, so I guess that settles it. For now…

Some of you may be surprised to learn that I love the OG Xbox. The unique combination of TeamNinja, Sega and PC ports (that could only run on the Xbox) made it a groundbreaking console.

Third Party Lineup: Xbox just had better versions of 3rd party games. I'm looking at my Gamecube collection right now and realizing that 14 games in my  50-game Gamecube collection are also on OG Xbox where they run and play better. +1 to Xbox

Reliability: The OG Xbox has a clock capacitor that routinely leaks onto the motherboard, killing it. The GPU and disk drive in OG Xboxes die a lot and the parts aren't the same for different systems. Meanwhile every dead GC drive I've ever seen was able to be brought back with a simple recap. GC caps go bad but don't tend to leak. GC uses almost all the same parts across the different versions. +1 to GC

First Party and 3rd Party Exclusives: OG Xbox had a ton of PC Ports that weren't even on the other two consoles. Considering that a PC back then cost a ton of money to build and was very confusing, I'll just count those as Xbox Exclusives. Xbox had...

Halo 
Halo2
KotOR (Also on PC)
KotOR 2 (Also on PC)
Jade Empire (Also on PC)
Theif Deadly Shadows (Also on PC)
Half Life 2 (Also on PC)
Steel Battalion
JSRF
Sega GT 2002
Chronicle of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay (Also on PC)
Return to Castle Wolfenstein (Also on PC)
Oddworld Stranger's Wrath (Also on PC)
Phantom Dust
Oddworld Munch's Odyssee (Also on PC)
Otogi Myth of Demons
Otogi 2
Dead or Alive 3
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Fable (Also on PC)
Ninja Gaiden Black
Morrowwind (Even though it hasn't really aged well lol) (Also on PC)
Project Gotham Racing
Project Gotham Racing 2
Crimson Skies (Also on PC)
Doom 3 (Also on PC)
Mech Assault (Also on PC)
Dues Ex (Also on PC)
Shenmue II (Also on PAL DC)

Gamecube had...
Windwaker
Twilight Princess (Also on Wii)
Zelda Four Swords
Tales of Symphonia
Melee
Super Mario Sunshine
Star Wars Rogue Squadron II
Skies of Arcadia Legends (Also on DC)
Resident Evil 4 (Also on PS2 but why would you ever play it on that?)
Resident Evil Remake
Pikmin
Pikmin2
Paper Mario 2
Metroid Prime
MetroidPrime2
Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes
Mario Power Tennis
Mario Golf
MarioKart Doubledash
Luigi's Mansion
Ikaruga (Also on JP DC)
Fire Emblem Path of Radiance
F-Zero GX
Eternal Darkness
Baten Kaitos
Baten Kaitos Origins
Animal Crossing (Also on JP N64)

+1 Xbox (but barely because GC had all original games for this list, while a lot of Xbox exclusives were PC ports.)

Extra Features: Xbox had XboxLive but that's down now. Gamecube has the Gameboy Player which let's you play a massive number of GBA, GB, and GBC games. Yeah, the OG Xbox has emulators but those don't run very well compared to FPGA emulator devices of today. The Gamecube has a plethora of aftermarket shells, fan replacements, and console mods like GCDual. You can do a solderless Picoboot mod to easily unlock all Gamecube games without needing to play the disk. Xbox has similar mods but they are not so easy to install and OG Xbox harddrives often die. Also GC has the Wavebird. +1 Gamecube

Controller: Both controllers are great. I wanted to give this to OG Xbox for being the first controller that had twin sticks, but then I remembered that PS1 had twin sticks too. Halo just made better use of it. The gamecube controller is only good for GC games but Smash players refuse to use anything else to the point that Nintendo just keeps making a new version of the GC controller. Where's my reprint of the OG Xbox duke? +1 GC (But barely.)

Overall: Gamecube +3 Xbox +2 Winner: Gamecube (But mostly due to the passage of time. The Gamecube is just more reliable, has more mods, and the GBPlayer Library is a massive plus.)

Gamecube had a far better library. The Zeldas, Metroid Primes, RE4, Tales of Symphonia, Soulcalibur 2, etc.

I never saw the Xbox as anything more than Microsoft trying to use its money to encroach on another industry, and it honestly didn't have a lot to offer me in any case. PC ports didn't interest me, and I wasn't especially impressed with its visual presentation over the Gamecube.

A lot of the Gamecube's library has found its way to Switch and Switch 2, and I'm there for it.