GameCube: Is It The N64 All Over Again?

   While the long-term potential of the system could still be great, the 
GameCube is looking more and more like the N64 on an almost weekly basis due
to a lack of third-party support and a lack of ability on Nintendo's part to
release anything on time.  Let's first consult the list of every single 
GameCube game that is scheduled to be released this year.  Don't worry, it 
won't take you too long to read this list.

Nintendo: Luigi's Mansion, Wave Race: Blue Storm, Pikmin, and Super Smash 
Bros: Melee

Acclaim: All-Star Baseball 2002, Crazy Taxi, NFL Quarterback Club 2002, 
Extreme G3, and Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX

Electronic Arts: Madden NFL 2002, SSX Tricky, and FIFA Soccer 2002

Midway: NFL Blitz 2002 and NHL Hitz 2002

LucasArts: Star Wars- Rogue Leader

Sega: Super Monkey Ball

   Think about this for a moment.  Acclaim is planning on releasing more 
GameCube games this year than any other company (including Nintendo itself) 
with such gems as another port of the two-year-old original Crazy Taxi, and 
the latest installment of its laughing-stock-of-the-industry NFL Quarterback
Club series.  EA is releasing just three games for the system this year-- 
that's a heck of a lot better than zero, but it's still not a significant 
amount.
   Perhaps most telling of all, Sega is releasing just one GameCube game 
this year, and that's the quirky, limited appeal offering of Super Monkey 
Ball.  Not Phantasy Star Online, not NBA 2K2, not NFL 2K2, not any other 
sports game, not a new Sonic game, not even the freaking GameCube port of 
Sonic Adventure 2... absolutely nothing other than Super Monkey Ball.
   Even Nintendo's first-party line-up looks unimpressive.  While every 
GameCube game I review will be given a fair shot, I'm not exactly frothing 
at the mouth in anticipation.  Pikmin could be anything from the crown jewel
to the flop of this year's line-up, and the other three games have already 
been bashed in the previews sections of several video game magazines.
   It's significant that Luigi, Wave Race, and Smash Bros have been bashed 
in previews, because it takes a lot for hype-happy video game magazines to 
say anything remotely negative about a game in a preview.  Rather than being 
the usual glorified and re-written press releases, numerous previews for 
these games have implied or outright said that Luigi's Mansion is far too 
simplistic and repetitive, and that Wave Race and Smash Bros are almost 
carbon copies of their N64 predecessors.
   If the GameCube's US launch is anything like its Japanese launch, it's 
going to go off with all the fanfare of Punky Skunk's release on the 
PlayStation.  Even the Nintendo 64, which saw its sales all but disappear 
after its first few months on Japanese store shelves, had a very successful 
launch in Japan that induced a large amount of hysteria in the Japanese 
gaming public.  The GameCube hasn't even been able to muster that much in 
Japan, although things could certainly turn around in the future.
   Not surprisingly, Nintendo is by far the least committed of the Big Three
companies when it comes to online gameplay.  Nintendo of Japan executive 
Hiroshi Imanishi recently stated that Nintendo will not develop any online 
games whatsoever until the company "can confirm profitability in network 
games."  This is a typical example of Nintendo's arrogant attitude that if 
Nintendo doesn't understand something and/or it doesn't know how to do 
something, then it must not be a viable market.
   Mario and Zelda have traditionally been the franchises to bail Nintendo 
out of otherwise shoddy-looking holiday seasons, but now they are nowhere to
be found.  Nintendo just recently made the first announcements about the 
release dates of the first GameCube games in these two franchises.  Mario 
Sunshine has been announced for a summer 2002 release in Japan, with Zelda's
Japanese release to follow in December 2002 and the American releases of 
both games to follow sometime thereafter.
   As if that's not bad enough, consider the fact that no Nintendo game has 
ever met its first announced release date.  Without exception, all of the 
company's games are delayed at least once, and most of them are delayed 
several times before they are eventually released.  If you think I'm 
exaggerating, I challenge you to name one Nintendo product over the past ten
years that has shipped on its first ever announced release date.  You can't 
do it, because no such product exists.
   Given this historical fact and the first announced releases dates for 
Mario and Zelda, my common sense tells me that Mario Sunshine will not be 
released in any country until September 2002 at the absolute earliest, and 
Zelda will not be released in any country until January 2003 at the absolute
earliest.  These aren't exactly bold statements; I'm just stating the 
obvious.
   Speaking of Zelda, has the video game industry ever seen a bigger moment 
of resounding, silent disappointment (rather than the expected wild ovation)
as there was when Nintendo unveiled the new direction of Zelda for the 
GameCube?  I don't think I am the only one who considered the thought of 
vomiting violently upon seeing that Link looks like a three-year-old kid who
may or may not be genetically linked to the Teletubbies.  If Nintendo 
doesn't counter-balance the "infant factor" with sensational and innovative 
gameplay, it's going to be Teletubbie bye-bye time for Zelda's status as an 
unblemished and beloved franchise.

Send your thoughts on this editorial to ivan@mastergamer.com

    
 
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