Are GameCubes on the way out? We’re not big gamers (and we’re happy with the GC) but it seems like everytime a new game comes out that I think my son would like, it’s not being made for the GC platform. Should I give up the ghost and just purchase a different system?
Nintendo is focusing on the Wii, and the Gamecube is pretty much dead or dying. The good thing is, the GC games that are already out will get a lot cheaper. The bad thing is, there weren’t that many good games for the GC.
I’m not a console fan, so I can’t make a recommendation.
I can tell you the new PS3 and 360 systems are fairly expensive ($400 - 500), and work best with newer high def televisions.
My sisters brood (they are more casual gamers) just got a Nintendo Wii and they like it a lot.
The Playstation 2 is available new now for $125, and while it’s also aging, there’s a pretty impressive library of games for it that you can pick up on the cheap. PS2 has a lot of kids games too, from what I’ve seen my nephew playing.
I’m pretty sure they stopped making games for the 'Cube over a year ago…
The last major game that saw a GameCube release was probably Legend of Zelda : Twilight Princess.
I would recommend investing in a Nintendo Wii, honestly, if you can find one. It’s backwards-compatible with the GameCube, so you can keep playing all the games you currently have, and you get access to some of the newer stuff coming out.
I’m actually giving away my GameCube to a guy I know online, because my Wii has completely replaced it.
When people ask about buying games for a console, it sometimes stuns me how much of their disposable income they are willing to shell out on full priced titles in a short amount of time. But then if the OP is buying for their offspring that may not be something to consider.
I love my GC, the games are so damned cheap and there’s still room to buy more. Mario Kart, despite its detractors, still provides a tonne of entertainment for a multiplayer bash. The N64 is still popular for having a Kart game and Goldeneye for that reason.
Do you wanna recommend a list? I have a GC and have very few games on it.
I don’t like Zelda or the Mario games, though… I do have Mario Kart, Super Smash brothers, and Paper Mario.
I like racing games, RPG games, mostly. I don’t even particularly like Super Smash Brothers that much. But I do like building games, and I don’t mind the cutesy aspect.
My favorite GC games:
Starfox-Dinosaur Planet
Resident Evil 4
Tiger Woods Golf
Prince of Persia-Sands of Time
We’ve enjoyed the Lego Star Wars games immensely, and they pretty much sparked my son’s interest in the whole Star Wars universe.
Animal Crossing is worth picking up. It’s sort of a ‘life simulator’. You take up residence in a town full of animals, make friends, catch fish, plant trees, find and play classic NES titles, etc.
The game uses a real time calendar and the town changes with the seasons. Different fish and insects appear during different times of the year. There are even special events on holidays.
It’s the title that sold me on the Gamecube in the first place and is still my favorite for the system.
After digging around a bit, I found this list of games I might consider:
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
Battalion Wars
DK Jungle Beat
Soulcaliber 2
Beyond Good and Evil
Animal Crossing
Pikmin 2
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Reqiuem
Any input on any of them? Pithy Moniker, found it. 
I have Sands of Time on the PS2 and I cannot play Resident Evil unless you want me to be screaming every 3 seconds. I tried playing that once.
Skies of Arcadia
It’s my favorite RPG of all time. It was originally released on the Dreamcast and then rereleased on the GameCube. I’ve played it all the way through 3 times … most RPGs I never even finish. My 11-year-old son is on his second or third playthrough right now.
Looks very pretty. I started it, but couldn’t continue because the text was so tiny on my TV; I’m planning to wait until I get a larger TV to play it (and the sequel).
Attractive and fun fighting game, with lots of unlockable extra weapons and outfits.
I highly recommend this one. Nice art, good characters, and an interesting storyline.
One of my favorite games for the GC, but it was quite scary. It might not be quite as in-your-face as Resident Evil, but eerie nonetheless. [shameless plug]I have an old review of it at Strange Horizons. [/shameless plug]
If you like RPG-type games, I would also recommend Tales of Symphonia and the port of Skies of Arcadia. Gladius was fun but a bit heavier on the strategy side.
I liked the combat system and keep meaning to get around to playing it some more but it got dropped on me at a time when I was busy.
A very clever rhythm platformer different from any other rhythm game out there. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
A decent enough fighting game but not to my tastes.
Absol-freakin’-lutely brilliant. I suppose you could call it “action/adventure” but that isn’t giving the game enough credit. It’s got a touch of everything in there and for once its all done really well.
I don’t know how people can stand to play this game. It’s designed to be poked at in ten to fifteen minute bursts each day and it takes a long time before you can do much. It’s like The Sims on downers and you can’t even kill the Sims. I never found anything interesting in the game.
Quite a bit of fun; a different kind of real time strategy game.
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THIS ISN’T HAPPENING!
Ahem.
The single best adaptation of Lovecraft to a gaming platform. It may not have the license but it has the style and some exceptionally clever mechanics to go with it.
If you can’t play Resident Evil without screaming then you will wet yourself playing this game. It’s all about mindscrewing the player.
Then I won’t be playing it. 
Thanks for all of the input, guys - I made a list, and will buy the ones I like.
Some other games you might not have thought of. We have Sims Pets, and the kids at least like it. I bought pinball game that has authentic recreations of Gottlieb pinball machines. That was surprisingly fun for a while, and it was only $10 a year or two ago. Simpsons Hit and Run was fun. Also, I’ve got two or three collections of arcade video games. Even if you never used to play them when they were in the arcades, a lot of them are still fun.
Oh, just remembered: you might also like the Harvest Moon game series (A Wonderful Life, Another Wonderful Life, Magical Melody) also. Basically, you run a farm, try to win a spouse, go fishing, etc. The first game is played from a male perspective; the second, from a female perspective (and has you get married and raise a child too!) The third, I think you can choose whether you play a boy or girl.
My wife is playing Another Wonderful Life right now and she’s really enjoying it.
I got my GC second hand with Eternal Darkness and the first Pikmin games, terribly addictive for quite different reasons.
You might try Metroid Prime and it’s sequel if you’d like to try a FPS crossed with an adventure game. The controls are spot on, it really is like the old platform versions from the SNES and NES flung into 3-D.
I’ve tried the second and third Rogue Squadron games, they do a good job of recreating the Star Wars universe, even if the bits of the third where you hop about on foot are a bit lame.
XIII is another great shooter, it has a nice cartoon feel to it, as if you’re shooting up the pages of a comic. There are the Medal of Honour games too, if you’re into your FPS games.
I’m thinking of picking up Battalion Wars too, perhaps another puzzle game in a similar vein to Pikmin if I can find a decent recommendation.
I’m curious now what your tastes are. Short of wrestling games, this is about the only fighting game I like (and like enough to get a 360 in anticipation of the next one).
I second Metroid Prime. I have the third one for the Wii and while I normally can’t stand FPS games (or, honestly, anything in first-person perspective), the focus is more on puzzle solving than shooting things up.
Heresy! Your punishment is 40 whacks with a bug-net!
Not to be snappy with you on this but my tastes are complex; refined from decades of not just playing pretty much every variety of game you can think of but really getting under the hood with them. They tend to run counter to popular tastes a majority of the time due to my odd perspective on things. I could be here all day trying to define them so that I could point out why I like A and not B.
So let me just bring this down to fighting games. They’re typically too focused for me. There’s only two major lines that I’ve ever really gotten into: the later era Capcom 2D fighters (Street Fighter Alpha 3 is my favorite but I like both Marvel vs. Capcom games quite a bit) and the Smash Brothers games (with the exception of the N64 one). They offered a depth of play styles and characters that I appreciated. There’s also a few exotic ones I’ve enjoyed because they brought something different to the party than the typical format that has been pretty much the same since Street Fighter 2 (Bushido Blade and the Power Stone series for example).
I can recognize skill in crafting a game I don’t like and you’ll note I didn’t say a bad thing about Soul Calibur 2. But I can’t praise a game that I don’t care for so I just noted that it wasn’t my kind of thing.
Ouch! Ouch! Why is everybody picking on me?! Ouch!