Cube vs. Box: The Final Showdown of WTF SHOULD I GET.

[Azaroth]

So far, I've compiled a short list of games. Please add to the gamecube list as much as possible.

TBH, I've been putting off getting a console for a long, long time. I long for the SNES days where there were like 162 games that I wanted to play. 10 max just doesn't seem like such a good deal. If I can walk out of the store once and never touch another game, it's a bit of a turnoff.  But I think it's just time to shit or get off the fucking pot here.

My only question is:

Which one of these lame ass systems should I get?

If you say PS2 I will harm your first born.

Here's my list of hot and sexy games that I would likely buy:

Gamecube:
Megaman Anniversary
F-Zero
Ikaruga
Zelda Four Swords (??)
Couple RPGs



Xbox:
Sonic Compilation
Project Gotham Racing 2
KOTOR 1/2
Couple RPGs
MechAssault
Prince of Persia, uh, maybe
Ninja Gaiden
Dynasty Warriors



Even looking at this list is pretty disheartening. These god damn things have been out for years and the list of good games is shorter than... something very short. I thought this kind crap was over with the N64.

I suppose I answered my own question in a way though. Nintendo sure did screw me last time around. I was the first kid in my town to have a N64, and it was so lame that I sold it for $60 a year or two later so I could get a very large bottle of whiskey. Or something. Who knows. But whatever it was, was probably better than my god damn N64. And looking at that pathetic list of Gamecube titles that I'd be interested in, it looks like Xbox is the way to go.

So, someone please pimp the shit out of a Gamecube here for me. If not I'll be Xboxing it later on today. Or tomorrow.

Or.. whenever the hell I get around to buying it. God damn consoles.

[WonderBrick]

I just can't get excited about the GameCube.  The closest I got to buying one was for Metriod Prime, but the lack of multiplayer kept me away.  Then I came close again, for Mario Kart.  

Multiplayer is important for me, since it is nearly the only time I play a console is with friends over.  Four-player split-screen is an important aspect of the XBox in my eyes, for all my non-LANing friends.  

Multiplayer aspects aside, GameCube just needs more FPSs and mature content.  Resident Evil was an important step for the GameCube in my eyes, but they need to followup with titles like Morrowind, Quake3, Perfect Dark(to late now), etc.  Good mature content that can be done with the limitations they have under the GameCube hood.

Perfect Dark alone would have been an instant system seller.  Someone dropped the ball there(even though Rare was sold for a hefty figure).

Even with the limited excitement I have had for console games, I still like my XBox far better then my PS2, and GameCube.

[Shockeye]

I have an Xbox for myself and a Gamecube for my kid. There are a larger number of games for children for the Gamecube than the Xbox. If you have to choose between the two I would go Xbox.

[Rodent]

I'll say what I always say when this question comes up. Nintendo has it's well known and much loved franchises ( Read: Zelda, Mario, Metroid ), the gamecube also beats the other consoles when it comes to party-games. If you're like me and enjoy having a few friends over drinking beer and playing consoles, then the Gamecube might just be for you.

If on the other hand this doesn't spark your interest, go with the Xbox. It's by the the best machine to play sports games on, and recently it's been pumping out some really great action games aswell.

If you want RPG's you'll end up pretty dry on both systems, there are a few but nowhere near enough to justify a purchase of the console for the rpg's alone.

[schild]

Xbox, they aren't even comparable. Oh and what the hell is wrong with PS2?

Disgaea
Ico*
Katamari Damacy*
La Pucelle Tactics
Nightshade*
Ribbit King*
Phantom Brave
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Time Splitters 2

I'm confused. All the games with stars cost $20 or less. I don't like children anyway, but the real showdown should never be between the Gamecube and Xbox. But rather, the PS2 and Xbox.

Edit: Rodent brings up a good point. RPGs. Gamecube has Baten Kaitos and Tales of Symphonia. Both Fantastic. Xbox has uhm........Bard's Tale and Dark Alliance II. Both very good, but no Baten Kaitos. On that note, Survival Horror on the Xbox kicks the shit out of the GC. 3 Cheers for Fatal Frame 2. Anyway, the other 'Big Deal' between the two systems is audio. Xbox has easy access to adding Optical while Gamecube has piddly dick RCA out of the box - which is the best you'll hear from the system.

[eldaec]

Buy an XBox and you will spend most of the time going 'wtf! this would be much better designed for a PC!' and 'Wtf! Why are there so few games suitable for playing while drunk with friends!'.

Buy a Gamecube and you will spend your time saying 'wtf! why are there only 6 games available for this thing!'.

Either way you will also be saying 'wtf! why can these fucktards not design a controller that is almost usable when playing an fps'.

Spend the money upgrading your PC imo.

[Bunk]

PS2:

GTA: San Andreas

[Rasix]

Reasons for owning a Gamecube:

Eternal Darkness (SEQUEL ME, FUCKERS)
Zelda: Windwaker (it's art)
Metroid Prime (awesome transformation from 3rd to first person, didn't think they could pull this off so well)
Super Smash Bros Melee (best multiplayer game, EVAR)
I hear the Pikmin games are fantasic

Reasons to own an XBox:

TopSpin (best tennis game.)
Fable (yes, I liked it)
Halo 2 (good, but I got distracted from it easily, I just don't dig console FPSs that much)
KOTOR 1/2 (but these will be pc)
Links 2004
ESPN NFL 2K5
Crimson Skies (just well done)

Future reasons to own an Xbox:
Jade Empires (this game looks OMG fantastic)
MechAssault 2 (could be good)

I like both just about equally. I probably play the Xbox more, because it's the one I happen to have hooked up to the TV at the moment.  Gamecube's franchise games are pretty goddamn strong and a good reason to own the console.  XBox really scored a coup when they landed Bioware.  Jade Empires looks like the Bruce Lee/Crouching Tiger version of KOTOR.  

If I had to just purchase 1, I'd probably get the XBox. I think it has a brighter upside and better online support. If children are an issue, I'd get the Gamecube.   If I could choose anything, I'd get a damn PS2.  I fucking miss my epic RPGs, even though I don't have the time to sink into them. /sigh

[Roac]

Well, the decision was made for me, since my parents are getting me a cube for Christmas.  Not supposed to know, but the wife can't keep a secret.

Not sure why you'd want to get an XBox.  Best I can tell, the line is drawn between PS2 and Gamecube; PS2 is far better a target machine for late teen and 20s type users.  GC has the best selection for younger kids, with a handful of titles to target the teen/20s audiance to keep them from hating it.  Several of them are really good, but you'll have a much wider selection on the PS2.  

My main gripe with GC is the lack of online support.  It has it, in theory.  I mean, there's a LAN adapter for it, but something like two games that use it.  Having to pay for XBox Live, on the other hand, is total crap IMO.  Should've been more like Battle Net.  

While I'm at it, anyone have suggestions for good multiplayer co-op games on the GC?  

btw, Metroid Prime 2: Echos is has multiplayer.

[HaemishM]

Fucking X-Box... there really isn't any comparison unless you are in love with the Nintendo franchise games. Althouhg, the GameCube can probably be had for about the price of a pack of Necco wafers.

X-Box pwns all for sports games. The Live service is decent, though highly dependent on whether you like the game you are using it for or not. Buy your games "pre-played" and you can get some great deals. Games like Splinter Cell, while also designed for PC, work better on the X-Box because they were designed there first.

[Soukyan]

PS2:

GTA: San Andreas

Wait for that to come to PC.


Get an XBox. Although I have a GC because I like the Zelda series so damn much. But really it just gathers dust. I usually go over a friends house to play XBox. Heh.

[Paelos]

Games like Rome:TW show me how pitiful my Cube really is.

[Sky]

I have an xbox and a gamecube, and the xbox is in storage. The cube has been out because recently I scored a cheap copy of RE0. In hindsight, I wouldn't have bought my xbox, but the cube, which I only bought for Zelda, really, I ended up enjoying a lot more than I thought I would. Combination of the first party nintendo stuff and the horror games like Resident Evil and Eternal Darkness (ED is must-own).

In short, everything I've liked on the xbox has been done better on the pc, except sports (which can be debated because I'm not a madden fan). The cube has a strong exclusive catalog, and looks on par with the xbox graphically.

But really, I've decided I really don't like consoles and they're both in storage, where both spend the bulk of their crappy time.

Spend the money upgrading your PC imo.

I agree. But I bet you buy a suckbox anyway ;)

[CmdrSlack]

So just as an aside, how "new gamer" friendly is the Cube?

I have noticed that it's VERY cheap as of late.  

I ask because my girlfriend has finally discovered games via The Incredibles for my Xbox.  I have a PS2 as well, but would pick up a Cube if I thought the games were the kind she'd play.  

The goal is to give her a ton of gaming options so I can play MMOs (which she has no interest in) while she plays whatever.

I think she likes cartoony games.  That's the sense that I'm getting.  She's not a fan of GTA or the Tony Hawk series (which sucks, because I have shiny new copy of THUG2 waiting at my neighbor's house), and she's not really that big on driving games.

Her comment last night during one level of the Incredibles game was, "Hey, can you come do this?  It's like a driving game and I hate those because I suck at them."

So maybe not Mario Kart, but what other cartoony titles are there for the Cube?  I figure it must be pretty cartoony since it's geared more towards kids.

[Paelos]

Zelda Windwaker. It's perfect. Cartoony, cutesy, with open-ended gameplay and a very solid control scheme that keeps newbies from having fits. Plus driving a boat around is very very easy and require little to no skill like the racing games.

EDIT: Also Super Monkey Ball and Pikmin are great choices.

[CmdrSlack]

Hmm...now to figure out how to resist pulling her further down the rabbit hole before Xmas.

Thing is that an Xmas gift that gets left at my house (altho she does practically live here) isn't really a gift for HER.

Maybe I can just make it part of my discretionary spending fund for this month.

[geldonyetich]

Having dabbled in all three, my own impressions of the three big contenders can be boiled down like so:

Gamecube: Highest quality games, smallest selection.  (That is to say, the games that are high quality are the best around, and the games that aren't high quality aren't even worth playing.)   Best games 3v4r here, but they're few and far between (although less so now than release).   If the console is lacking in graphical firepower, it's not evident, possibly because of superb use of style over substance.

X-Box: Better selection than the Gamecube.   The X-Box is the most powerful of the three boxes, but not many developers can put all that power to good use.   Some real gems here, but a surprisingly high amount of genuinely buggy games here too.   Due to the ease of cross developing X-Box and PC ports, if you've got a PC, you'll get at least 1/3 of the good games released for the X-Box on your original platform, eventually.   There are some real gems uniquely X-Box showcasing the cutting edge of graphics.

Playstation 2: Selection, Selection, Selection.   Most dated hardware, jaggies galore if the developers don't know how to anti-alias their PS2 engines, cross-ported games tend to be slower here than the other consoles, but the PS2 has some of the higher "gameplay" quality games out there.  Dated as the PS2 is, I expect the PS3 will replace it fairly soon (looks like PS2 developers are saying 2006 at the earliest).   This is the best "budget" selection for those who aren't obsessed about graphics.

[SirBruce]

I was going to post telling you to just get the X-Box, but you specifically said you were already leaning that way and wanted people to post to pimp the Gamecube to you.

Then most of the posters ignored that and told you to get an X-Box.

So I will join them.  Get an X-Box.

Bruce

[Roac]

So just as an aside, how "new gamer" friendly is the Cube?

My wife wants it for some of the games.  Like your gf she hates GTA-esque games.  She tried to play the Simpsons game for the PC (the one based on GTA), but fell out of it because she felt she sucked at it.  She loved Kingdom Hearts for PS2 (which, unfortunately, she can't get for GC).  That's one of the main reasons she liked the GC for herself, over PS2.  Lot of the stuff she likes is stuff designed for a younger audiance - she's NOT a hardcore type.

For myself, there's a couple titles to keep me interested in it, like Metroid and Resident Evil.  I'll still be buying a lot of my stuff for the PC though.  I MUCH prefer a mouse in FPS games, and of course I gotta get my MMOG fix.

Much of the stuff on GC is cartoony - I mean, it's designed for kids.  Right now the only game we've had much time to play in the cartoony category is Finding Nemo - ask me again after Christmas.  It's pretty well done,  but not a title I care for.

[Mr_PeaCH]

I'm down with ol' GC.  But then, I've got kids.

On the advice of many in this same forum I got it for my kids (ostensibly) last Xmas I believe and it has payed dividends many times over with quality multiplayer family entertainment.

The boy (now 5) and girl (8) mastered Super Mario Sunshine (wahoo!) and the game proved to have a ton of replay value.  Has anybody played Paper Mario yet?

Me and the boy played the hell out of Dark Alliance (2 player mode) and we still pick it up and play over parts now and again from all of the save games we left behind.

Super Monkey Ball 2 (party games) is addictively fun; plus the wife loves it.

As previously mentioned, Super Smash Bros. Melee is simply incredible; great for having the neighborhood kids over for an afternoon.  

Anybody else play Shrek 2?  I found it most enjoyable.  Rather a unique approach to multiplayer as you can easily switch between characters in mid-game and the different characters have very different abilities.  Sometimes it's a little too much like an MMO party where you have your tanks, ranged attacks, crowd control, etc; scarily so, I should say.  Plus it's just so damn cute.

All in all, more hits than misses with the games we have picked up.  And the unit by no means is picking up dust; both my kids and their friends enjoy it and it's a fun thing for me and the kids to do together.

[toma levine]

I'd say don't waste your money on either console and stick with PC games. You don't seem particularly impressed by or enthusiastic about either one.

Don't get me wrong, I think they are both great consoles, but if there aren't several games that say to you "I HAVE to get that console!", whichever one you choose will likely be collecting dust by January.

Do they still rent out consoles? Personally I'd go that route first, if I didn't buy every damn console just on principle anyway.

[Xilren's Twin]

I'm down with ol' GC.  But then, I've got kids.

Me and the boy played the hell out of Dark Alliance (2 player mode) and we still pick it up and play over parts now and again from all of the save games we left behind.

You really can't go terribly wrong with any of them, but I would agree that for younger kids, the GC is probably the better choice.  Not only does it seem to have better party games put they can also play their Gameboy games on it (adapter sold seperately :) ) which, is basically required equipment these days for boys.

As the kids ages is starts to matter less and less which system they prefer, it just comes down to what games they enjoy.  We have all 3 plus PCs and handhelds and they ALL get frequent use.   Fer instance, in the past 3 days my 9 year old and I continued our hack through Champions of Norrath on the PS2 and play some Pokemon on the GC, my 5 year old and I played some SSX Tricky on the PS2 and half dozen games on Cartoon networks website; the whole family got in some SC2, Fusion Frenzy, and Midway Arcade Classics on the Xbox and I played some Vampire and CoH on the PC and Football on the Xbox.

In case you hadn't figured it out, kids are a great excuse to keep buy games and gaming systems and I would much prefer them playing games than simply watching TV.  It's a win win.  So be a good little consumer and buy em all.

Xilren

[Morfiend]

I have all three, and by far the Xbox gets the most play time. It just has the most quality titles.

A few you guys forgot.

GTA: Double Pack
SSX Tricky
SSX3
Beyond Good and Evil
Project Gotham Racing 2


There really is no choice IMH. If you buy a gamecube, you will be out of games to play in less than 2 months, if you plan on playing any more than 30 minutes a day or so.

[sidereal]

I think she likes cartoony games.

  Toontown.  It's the gateway MMO.  6 months from now you'll be RPing an online wedding in EQ2.

[Velorath]

Not quite sure why the Cube is a valid option here while the PS2 is out of the question, but I guess if Sony or the PS2 in particular somehow wronged you or your family in the past, so much so that you're willing to miss out on some good games, so be it.  I'd go with the X-box then.  Also, add Burnout 3 to the list of good games on X-box that you can't get on Gamecube.

And do you think that the selection of SNES games was really that much better than today's systems, or did you just have that much more time and money to spend on games back then and weren't as picky?  The Cube doesn't have much of a selection, but if you do get an X-box, or God forbid a PS2, than I'd suggest maybe getting a gamefly.com subscription (it's pretty much a video game version of netflix).  When I had more free time to spend playing games than I do in recent months I had the 2 game plan and it worked pretty well.

[Mr_PeaCH]

... I'd suggest maybe getting a gamefly.com subscription (it's pretty much a video game version of netflix).  When I had more free time to spend playing games than I do in recent months I had the 2 game plan and it worked pretty well.

Not to derail the topic at hand but The Blockbuster video online movie deal (3 DVDs at a time for @ $18 / mo?) just got sweeter since they now offer an additional 2 coupons PER MONTH which you can redeem at Blockbuster stores for DVD or VHS movies OR games.  Sold me on it; we were already dropping 5 or 6 dollars once or twice a month at Gamecrazy and Blockbuster; when you look at it that way it's more like paying for 2 game rentals a month and getting your DVD movies for only $8 per month.

[Rodent]

I have all three, and by far the Xbox gets the most play time. It just has the most quality titles.

A few you guys forgot.

GTA: Double Pack
SSX Tricky
SSX3
Beyond Good and Evil
Project Gotham Racing 2


There really is no choice IMH. If you buy a gamecube, you will be out of games to play in less than 2 months, if you plan on playing any more than 30 minutes a day or so.

You do realise 3 out of thoose 5 games are availible for the cube?

[murdoc]

The fact that the xbox has a harddrive is/was enough reason to choose one for me.

[Riggswolfe]

I have all 3 systems plus a PC. Only the PC and the XBOX see use by me. The PS2 collects dust except when an exclusive I want badly comes out on it. (I'm about RPGs like most people are about FPS, I believe for the most part they are better on PC).

My daughter plays my gamecube but other than that it's not on.

If you are buying for your own enjoyment I highly, highly recommend the XBOX. It has the most fun RPGs out of the 3, the best graphics, the best sound, the fastest loading times, a hard drive, the best controllers (IMO, they're built for adults, not for kids).

If you can, find screenshots of the same game released on all 3 systems. IF it is optimized it WILL have better graphics on the XBOX. Also, out of the 3, XBOX is less prone to slow down in games because of the higher processing power.

[Azaroth]

I really liked the snug feeling of the large controllers. I'm not allowed to buy them anymore. Built for adults my ass.

[Sky]

Want to buy 2 large controllers? ;)

[doubleplus]

I have a couple laying around, but the S-Controllers fit my massive American hands incredibly well. My right thumb is really flexible, too, so the idiotic placement of the black and white buttons doesn't even bother me. It's like Microsoft was thinking of my hand when they built that thing.