Why is the Wii a success when the Gamecu ...

I've played the Wii many times so I do understand the concept behind it. While I do not own it, I've tried some of its games and do like some of them. The question I have is not why the Wii is so popular, but why it's so popular when the Gamecube wasn't? The Gamecube was the best purchase I ever made. I loved its games and got more use out of it than any system. However, I was confused on just why the Gamecube's sales were low until I came across a very insightful article by IGN. [url]http://cube.ign.com/articles/561/561400p1.html[/url] While the article may be pushing 4 years of age now, its points continue to remain true and I'd strongly recommend reading it. The article states how Nintendo is defined by aging franchises from the 80s and early 90s that have been recycled continuously, with their biggest hits being from these franchises with few new additions being brought forward to great success. The Wii appears to have followed the same trend, with top sellers being Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Brothers: Brawl, Mario Party 8, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, ...and you see where this is going. Of course there may be a few that aren't first party games, but the same went with the Gamecube. The point is that the Wii seems to rely on the same franchises the Gamecube did, yet there no longer seems to be an issue with it. I suppose one big selling point is the motion sensing additions. While I never liked them (this being the reason I haven't purchased a Wii) and still can't understand why it's such a big hit, I'll accept people like it and digress. However, the price point isn't a very good argument. If you remember, the Gamecube was $200 when it was first released, and at the time it had graphics that competed with all its rivals. Sorry, but I've seen the Wii's graphics, and they are barely a step up from the Gamecube if they are at all. Even with a price that was 2/3 of the PS2, the Gamecube was largely ignored. I heard many didn't like the Gamecube because it was ''for kids''. During the Gamecube's era Nintendo seemed to try very hard to appeal to older groups with Resident Evil games and such, but now it seems like Nintendo isn't even trying. The name ''Wii'' sounds kiddish, and a lot of the games are certainly more marketable for children than adults. I'm not against this, mind you, but I'm just pointing it out. Sure, it has games that are for older audiences as well, but so did the Gamecube yet the Gamecube was called a ''kiddy console''. Now it's considered ''OK'' for an adult to like the Wii when some people would have to take abuse for liking the Gamecube. I suspect a strong reason for the Wii's success is the availability issues it has. It's apparently very hard to come by (although I've encountered it accidentally in stores many times) and many buy it off impulse purchases. So, can someone point out why the Gamecube struggled so much while the Wii has succeeded? Why is the Wii a success when the Gamecu ...
Because the GameCube had to compete with the Ps2 which had more hyped gamesWhy is the Wii a success when the Gamecu ...
Because the Wii is a completely different console. It's a revolution, according to Nintendo.
The Wii-Mote... I say this because the system has become so causal friendly that my 58 year old mother could not wait till I brought my wii home for her play. I never heard that about the gamecube. Now, that is only one example but she has never willingly picked up a controller to any system besides the wii. That and the Wii was the cheapest console of all three. So Cheap+easy to use = High sales. IMO
Nintendo took a gamble by doing something different than it's competitors and, as they say, the bigger the risk the bigger the reward.
3 reasons why imo:1) Nintendo thought outside of the box when they made Wii and its motion sensing controler.2) Nintendo came out with good games faster (or it seems that way) for Wii.3) The main franchise games were a huge step above their GC counter parts (such as SMG compared to SMS).
the gamecube wasn't a break through, but it was NOT a failure. I don't need to come up with reasons. The reasons are right in front of you. It's clear as to why the Wii is a huge breakthrough.
I think part of Wii's success has to do with Nintendo's take on a different path from the other companies in the gaming industry, and their marketing strategies.
Nintendo now targets the Wii and Nintendo DS to pretty much everyone - providing content for all ages. Nintendo is no longer marketing just Mario and the key franchises to the public like they used to, but also products like Wii Fit or Brain Age, with a provided appeal that even adults will like them. This is crazy, even though I already own a Wii, my mom (Having never played video games), now says how much she wants her own personal Wii to use things like Wii Fit. That took me by surprise, considering she never showed interest in video games before.
Nintendo has become a company that appeals to any member of the family now, and I think that will drive it to success.
[QUOTE=''umcommon''] 3 reasons why imo:1) Nintendo thought outside of the box when they made Wii and its motion sensing controler.2) Nintendo came out with good games faster (or it seems that way) for Wii.3) The main franchise games were a huge step above their GC counter parts (such as SMG compared to SMS).[/QUOTE] I admit I haven't played the entire SMG, but I did get through a few levels. It really felt way too easy compared to its predecessors. Sunshine didn't feel like Mario 64, but neither did Galaxy IMO. It was in outerspace, after all. SMG also seemed a little more kiddish (Mario dressed as a bee). While I wasn't keen on the cleaning concept, I will say Sunshine was a very well-formulated game that was surprisingly challenging and over-criticized IMO. But I apparently don't fit with the norm when it comes to gaming it seems. Super Smash Brothers: Melee and Metroid Prime were launch titles for the Gamecube, so the Gamecube did have good games from the start. BTW, my sister has a Wii, and my parents didn't give a crap about it after playing it. However, I hear parents are loving it across the globe so I'll believe you guys.
Becuase the wii has the wii-moteand I love playing mario,metroid, and zelda games Nintendo can milk them all they want
i dont think the gamecube was a flop
Ultimately because the Wii is unique, while the GC (no offense to the system that I own the most games for) didn't really stand out among the crowd. The GC had the unfair image of being ''kiddy,'' and the lower price tag corresponded with less features than the PS2 or Xbox (remember that they had DVD playback, and this was at the time when the DVD market exploded). In turn, this made people think that the GC was less powerful than the PS2 (untrue) or the Xbox (true in some areas). Furthermore, you had the primary color of the console (purple), lack of certain key genres that Nintendo had a lock on before (even though the PS1 outsold the N64 by a lot, the N64 was the party console and easily the home of the console FPS thanks to Goldeneye, while Halo meant that Xbox had FPS gamer from launch), and a lack of support in Japan due to their actions in the N64 days. Even though you had the Nintendo franchises still, many of those games weren't considered to be as good as their predecessors, or at least didn't have the same impact-- Super Mario Sunshine didn't launch with the system nor was it considered to be as good as Super Mario 64, Mario Kart Double Dash to many wasn't as fun as Mario Kart 64, and Zelda: The Wind Waker wasn't well-received by many thanks to the graphics style. Many multiplatform titles were afterthoughts on the GC, coming out much later than their counterparts and receiving much less effort.One thing that many people don't mention however is the memory card. The sports gamer is one of the most important casual gamer markets, and Nintendo did a poor attracting them right out of the gate thanks to the Memory Card 59. While the PS2 had an 8 MB memory card, and the Xbox had a 10 GB hard drive as well as memory cards, the only memory option for the GC from the start was the Memory Card 59, which amounted to a measely 1/2 MB. If you wanted to save a season in Madden, you'd need a card for the game alone, and there was a baseball game where you'd need 2 cards in order to do a season. The result was that the system may have been cheaper, but what's the point of buying so many memory cards when you could play Madden on another system and still have enough room for other games? Nintendo waited a while before releasing the Memory Card 251 (2 MB), and the 1019 (8 MB, which they should have had from the start) was too little too late.The Wii stands apart now as a unique console, but to go into many of those would degrade this into System Wars. ;) Let's just say here that a $250 price tag doesn't amount to a lesser value, but something different.
The Wii isn't the Gamecube, it's a whole new system.
There is one simple reason, The Wii has changed how we play games. Thats all there is to it.
If I remember correctly, Gamecube sales were on par with Xbox sales. It wasn't a total failure. As pertaining to why the Gamecube did not succeed it comes down to one thing and that is the exclusion of a DVD player during a time when DVD adoption rate was blasting through the roof. This resulted in smaller disc capacity which elimated the possibility of games like GTA, not to mention the ability to play movies. With $30 DVD players now days it's not a big deal, but back in 2001 when they were $150-200 it was a main buying point. The lack of backwards compatibility(for obvious reasons) like the PS2 was a big deal too.The Wii is far beyond the Gamecube in every manner. Better graphics, way better controller, fun pack-in game, DL-DVD support, actual online support, full hardware backwards compatibility+GC controller/memory support, better 3rd party support, and most important of all to me is the inclusion of the Virtual Console. The ability to instantly download NES, SNES, TG16, GEN, NEOGEO, and N64 games destroys the Gamecube by itself. The Virtual Console alone has better games than Gamecube. The fact that the Wii is ''hard-to-get'' has nothing to do with the popularity. That is the result of how much people love the Wii. People under-estimate how many new gamers are being brought in by the Wii via the Wiimote. Not to mention what the Balance Board/Wii Fit is going to do for the future.
Mailer-Daemon, you point out some interesting things. I myself was not aware of the issues with the memory cards. Probably because for one I don't like sports games, but also I bought my Gamecube a year after its launch and by then the black memory card came out that has held more than enough space. I assume the poor memory card you are referring to was the standard gray one. I do recall back in 2002 noticing how little space it held in comparison to the black one, which held roughly 5 times as much space I think for not much more money.Just curious, has anyone glimpsed the ''Playing it Safe'' article I mentioned? I'm just wondering how people respond to those issues that plagued the Gamecube and how they stand with the Wii.
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I never liked the Wii-mote. To be honest, it always felt like a step backwards in my mind. What use to be the push of a button has to be the swing of an arm now. I'm sure most if not all of you disagree with me, but I just never liked it and I'm lazy. I like loafing around when playing my games. :PI also personally don't like Nintendo's strategy to appeal to casual gamers, since I'm not a casual gamer. I don't blame them for doing this. It obviously was the right idea, but I feel a little more neglected than I did with the Gamecube, another reason why I didn't get the Wii.
''Hardcore'' gamers are getting equal or more support this generation on the Wii. Zelda, Metroid, No More Heroes, Okami, Brawl, Mario Kart, Mario Galaxy, Paper Mario, Manhunt, Zack and Wiki, Resident Evil 4, Call of Duty 3, Sonic, NIGHTS...and not even two years in. We have Skate It, Star Wars:Force Unleased, and CoD 5 on the way, plus a load more. Not seeing from the same point of view as you. I'm loving this Nintendo generation, far better than last gen.
...because the change in casing and the imput device make the console look more appealing. There is also the disaster that the Gamecube had with making developers money.