GameCube a fixed Dreamcast?

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08-08-2008, 10:59 PM
MN12BIRD

GameCube a fixed Dreamcast?

I've been thinking about everything I liked about the Dreamcast lately and came to the conclusion that the Nintendo GameCube is so awesome because it was a newer version of the Dreamcast with all the DC's problems fixed. Seriously think about it.

The GC was small and only played games, not DVDs. It did however have 4 controller ports. It used a proprietary disc format not really used for much of anything else in the industry. It held more than a CD, but still not as much as a DVD. It had good anti-aliasing and bright vibrant colors or so I thought. Mario Sunshine for example had some really beautiful locations with bright blue sky and water that was crisp and smooth... yet sharp?? Vibrant! Just like Sonic Adventure 2 or Crazy Taxi 2 had.

What they fixed?

Well the DC GD-ROM drive isn't the most robust piece of kit out there. The Matsushita (Panasonic) drive in the Cube was bullet proof. Quiet, fast and reliable.

The controllers. I don't find the DC controller to be that comfortable and it only has 1 analog stick. I personally like the Cubes controller, I find it comfortable and it does have 2 analog sticks.

What they missed.

Modem. The Cube should have came with the network adapter and more than 1 damn game should have used it! What a waste!

VMU. The N64 IIRC started the idea of 4 players/4 memory cards. Putting the memory card in the controller seemed like a stupid idea when I first saw it but it made sense when you thought about it. Your friends come over, 4 friends, 4 controllers, 4 memory cards with your friends controllers. The DC took this idea to the next step with the VMU.

In the end I think both are nice looking compact systems. Having fun was the name of the game.

Both are now over-looked... under-rated... underdogs.

Does anyone else like the Cube??
08-08-2008, 11:52 PM
Night Driver

Quote:

Originally Posted by MN12BIRD

The Matsushita (Panasonic) drive in the Cube was bullet proof. Quiet, fast and reliable.

That certainly hasn't been my experience.
08-09-2008, 12:04 AM
MN12BIRD

Really? Everyone I knew with one had no problems with it. Actually most of my friends had a Cube and a PS2 and they almost all had problems with PS2 drives but not the Cube. Plus most of these where owned by kids too. I bought one for $10 and it had pop and legos inside it. I mean there was actually lego pieces inside the laser assembly! Cleaned it up and it still works great!
08-09-2008, 04:10 AM
Dirt Ball Gamer

The things I don't like about the dreamcast is the D-pad, they should have used the saturns D-pad. It could have used that second analog feature also. The vmu is a great feature I just wished they held more saves, but love the stats it displays in games etc. The rumble in the dreamcast is great also
08-09-2008, 05:00 AM
j_factor

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dirt Ball Gamer

The things I don't like about the dreamcast is the D-pad,

Certainly not something the Gamecube "fixed" -- that shitty little cross is much, much worse than the Dreamcast d-pad, which was serviceable.
08-09-2008, 06:25 AM
playgen

The Xbox is far more similar to the Dreamcast than the Gamecube is. Very similar controls, with the obvious second analogue addition. Online was a major selling point for both, only with DC it was too early. The cube may have had colourful bright games, but I don't think the mario spin offs and n64 sequels really compare to all the amazing original games the Dreamcast had.
08-09-2008, 06:54 AM
nathanallan

My GC has been almost as durable as my 2600. I really liked both controllers, as far as that goes. And agreed, it should have had built in networking with more support. A huge waste.

I actually have a junker GC in right now that I plan on hot rodding with the case mod for full sized disks and anything else that I can afford. It promises to be a really cool machine after I'm done with it.

Nathan
08-09-2008, 07:28 AM
mick_aka

My original blue gamecube has been dropped down stairs, fallen off my cabinet numerous times, had coke spilled into it... still fires up like the day it was new, never had a single problem with it.

Use my lovely black one regularly now though :)

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/b...urnuk/cube.jpg
08-09-2008, 08:12 AM
17daysolderthannes

blech, gamecube, I'll take the DC any day thank you. The gamecube always felt (like the N64) like it had no direction, just like "we didn't know what to do with this so....you take it!"
08-09-2008, 12:38 PM
Mordan

I buy many gamecube games because I can play them on the Wii.
I love the GC controllers
08-09-2008, 03:49 PM
GameUser-16-32-128

I only like the Gamecube because it has Resident Evil 0,4, Legend Of Zelda and Soul Calibur II. Other than those 4 games, the Gamecube isn't that great. I like it but I believe the DC has far more lasting value than the GC. The DC has awesome shooters and good fighting games plus it can emulate other game systems!
08-10-2008, 02:27 AM
Dirt Ball Gamer

My 3 dreamcasts are currently all needing repair. The laser needs replaced on 2 of them (im too lazy at the moment), but my big black treamcast SE has gone kaputskii and won't power on. I think maybe its the fan, but I can't open it up because of the way the damn pirate machine is built the front controller port is like welded to the top and bottom. I could just rip it open but I don't want to hurt it, I need it for playing all my jap games and its great for taking to work to play on the little screen it has. I think I might send it to a computer shop or someplace to see if they will fix it.
08-10-2008, 02:33 AM
MN12BIRD

yeah I know a ton of people with Dreamcasts that won't read discs anymore and the drives are so damn loud. Mine was starting to go it got to the point where it wouldn't read any burned games and one in every 3 times it wouldn't boot real games. I sat there once trying like 20 times in a row to get a CDR to boot!! I got so mad at it but found a "fix" online. I adjusted a POT on the drive assembly and now it reads them all first try! It really made a complete difference! I don't know if its a long term fix or if its only going to wear out faster now but I made a youtube video about how I did it.

Anyway I still say the NGC was the most reliable system from the 128 bit era.
08-10-2008, 02:37 AM
gamevet

Quote:

Originally Posted by MN12BIRD

yeah I know a ton of people with Dreamcasts that won't read discs anymore and the drives are so damn loud. Mine was starting to go it got to the point where it wouldn't read any burned games and one in every 3 times it wouldn't boot real games. I sat there once trying like 20 times in a row to get a CDR to boot!! I got so mad at it but found a "fix" online. I adjusted a POT on the drive assembly and now it reads them all first try! It really made a complete difference! I don't know if its a long term fix or if its only going to wear out faster now but I made a youtube video about how I did it.

CDRs will tend to wear out the drive, because the files aren't exactly set like the official versions of the games.
08-10-2008, 02:43 AM
gamevet

Quote:

Originally Posted by GameUser-16-32-128

I only like the Gamecube because it has Resident Evil 0,4, Legend Of Zelda and Soul Calibur II. Other than those 4 games, the Gamecube isn't that great. I like it but I believe the DC has far more lasting value than the GC. The DC has awesome shooters and good fighting games plus it can emulate other game systems!

The GC isn't that bad. It has the best version of Metal Gear Solid (The Twin Snakes), Rogue Squadron 2 (I'd bought the system for this game), F-Zero GX, Resident Evil (The best version as well), Super Mario Sunshine, Zelda: Wind Waker and Metroid Prime. The system at least offers progressive scan for most of its games, unlike the PS2.
08-10-2008, 03:13 AM
MN12BIRD

Resident Evil remake is sooo damn amazing I think that's the reason I bought a Cube in the first place. RE4 was also great but having grown up on the original RE so many years ago when PSX came out it was like the first jaw dropping console game of the 32 bit "3D" generation playing it again with the updated graphics was great. They changed a ton of stuff too and added new areas etc. I think its one of my all time favs actually. I wouldn't mind getting MSG Twin Snakes either. MSG was a great PSX game also.
08-10-2008, 03:24 AM
otaku

The gamecube is still one of the coolest looking systems even more so than wii. I think its a neat machine for sure but it could use more games (as could the dreamcast, though it did well for its short time)
08-10-2008, 03:54 AM
nathanallan

Quote:

Originally Posted by otaku

The gamecube is still one of the coolest looking systems even more so than wii. I think its a neat machine for sure but it could use more games (as could the dreamcast, though it did well for its short time)

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels the same. I mean, the Wii is a great system and all, but it looks like a CD-ROM sitting in a cradle. It's not really that exciting to look at to me. After seeing so many car kits with blue lights hitting the ground that part had also lost its novelty for me, too.

As far as that goes, I'd like to see the next Wii have a light that changes colors. Yeah, that would be pretty cool to have; color changing Wii lights.

Nathan
08-10-2008, 11:31 AM
MN12BIRD

I'm not a fan of the Wii at all. It uses the basic CPU and GPU from the GC they just overclocked em like %30 or something. The NGC technically speaking was really competitive in its generation. It was more powerful than the PS2 weather or not the average person realizes that is another story. I mean look at Zelda Twilight Princess it came out of the GC and Wii and really doesn't look much better on the Wii does it?? Even RE4 doesn't look much better on the Wii really! The fact the Wii can't do HD is also ridiculous if you ask me. I mean the 7 year old PS2 could do 1080 in games like GT4! Everyone has LCDs now a days that do at least 720.

Someone once said "the Wii is nothing more than an overclocked GC with a fancy controller" and I agree!! I think most Wii games could have been done on the GC and I think the wireless controller system with IR beacons could have been done on the GC as an optional controller!!!

I just think from a technical stand point, merely looking at the system itself and the potential it had the NGC was at the top of the game. After the N64 failure and Sony owning most of the market it was hard at that time to take a chuck out of the PS2s share. The fact many kids owned an N64 carried over to the NGC as well as the majority of Cubes may have been owned by younger kids in contrast to the PS2 and XBOX.

I think its funny how the Cube was almost considered a failure yet it was more competetive with its generation yet its rehash has done so well. Its sad really.

I don't think any of this is Nintendo's fault. They really made a great system as Sega did with the Dreamcast. Sometimes it doesn't matter what has the most potential the market decides the winner. The failure of the N64 may have stuck in peoples heads as the failure of the Saturn may have also worked against the DC to a small degree anyway.

I still think the NGC and the DC have lots in common. Including their underdog status.
08-10-2008, 05:36 PM
j_factor

Quote:

Originally Posted by MN12BIRD

I'm not a fan of the Wii at all. It uses the basic CPU and GPU from the GC they just overclocked em like %30 or something. The NGC technically speaking was really competitive in its generation. It was more powerful than the PS2 weather or not the average person realizes that is another story. I mean look at Zelda Twilight Princess it came out of the GC and Wii and really doesn't look much better on the Wii does it?? Even RE4 doesn't look much better on the Wii really! The fact the Wii can't do HD is also ridiculous if you ask me. I mean the 7 year old PS2 could do 1080 in games like GT4! Everyone has LCDs now a days that do at least 720.

Someone once said "the Wii is nothing more than an overclocked GC with a fancy controller" and I agree!!

I agree too -- but what's so "wrong" with that? A system should be judged on its games, not its technical limitations. I still greatly enjoy my Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube games, and I don't see the problem with another system giving me more games with the same level of graphics.