Nintendo Gamecube Preview DVD

[scotland]

I was cleaning out some junk and found a "Nintendo Gamecube Preview DVD". Apparently, its from mid 2002, for the Gamecube had launched the holiday season before.

It pushes the soon after launch titles. The big game is Metroid Prime, Star Fox Adventures, Mario Party 4, Super Mario Sunshine and Animal Crossing. I really can't say any of those quick cuts brief trailers were impressive at all. Actually, Animal Crossing seemed to have 4 actors in cheap mascot outfits like they panhandle with at Times Square - nothing about that trailer was appealing at all. There are also a host of 3rd party games such as 007:Nightfire, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, Tony Hawk 4, Star Wars The Clone Wars, PS Online, etc.

The trailer I liked the best was for Dragon's Lair 3D. I don't own it, and the reviews seem to paint a bleak picture, but Princess Daphne always seems to brighten my day. Actuallly, the Godzilla trailer was pretty cool.

The disc also was also promoting Metroid Fusion on the still new GBA. Its interesting to think Nintendo was pushing 2 Metroids at the same time.

I don't know if other consoles had these preview DVDs. I don't even know where this one came from - Nintendo Power Magazine maybe? Its on YouTube, but really, your life will not be improved by watching it.

[Retro STrife]

I have this disc too, though I haven't watched it in years. I think I picked it up for free at Gamestop...basically Nintendo wanted people to take them for free to watch the videos and buy the games.

But yes, there are others like this. Not so much DVDs though--it was bigger in the VHS days. Some people even collect them. Nintendo released several in the 90s to showcase their top games, like Donkey Kong Country. Squaresoft released a VHS to showcase Final Fantasy VII- I bought a copy on ebay a few years back, but haven't watched it.

As you can imagine, these VHS/DVD previews were eventually replaced by two things: (1) first, demo discs, and (2) later, the internet. Once consoles went CD and DVD based, publishers could just promote their games on cheap demo discs. Before that, for cartridge-based systems, demo carts were not cost effective...but, as you'll recall, they became a big thing on early CD consoles--Sony was especially effective at using them to promote PS1 games. Second, once broadband internet became ubiquitous, demo videos of upcoming games could just be posted on online gaming sites and distributed to a wide audience at a low cost. So VHS and DVD promos went by the wayside. In fact, even demo discs have faded away now that you can download demos directly to your console. I miss demo discs- as a broke kid, it was great to spend $5 on the new Playstation Jampack every few months and try out a snippet of a bunch of good games I couldn't otherwise play.

[Rookie1]

Had the GC played DVDs, had component out (more widespread than it was), and used actual DVDs instead of mini discs, I bet that thing would have been a monster hit and the gaming industry would be a whole lot different now. Instead, as usual, Nintendo shot themselves in the foot.

[ESauce]

Had the GC played DVDs, had component out (more widespread than it was), and used actual DVDs instead of mini discs, I bet that thing would have been a monster hit and the gaming industry would be a whole lot different now. Instead, as usual, Nintendo shot themselves in the foot.

I don't think component out would have changed their fortunes much at all. Very few people had tvs with any sort of hd in the first few years of the Gamecubes release. Plus the original Xbox had component out and used dvds and only sold 2 million more than the GameCube. No offense, but I think you are confusing features that you want with features that would have impacted sales.

[Rookie1]

Had the GC played DVDs, had component out (more widespread than it was), and used actual DVDs instead of mini discs, I bet that thing would have been a monster hit and the gaming industry would be a whole lot different now. Instead, as usual, Nintendo shot themselves in the foot.

I don't think component out would have changed their fortunes much at all. Very few people had tvs with any sort of hd in the first few years of the Gamecubes release. Plus the original Xbox had component out and used dvds and only sold 2 million more than the GameCube. No offense, but I think you are confusing features that you want with features that would have impacted sales.

Really? People flock to that stuff. Look at 4k right now and how people are going nutso with that. It was the same way with 1080p. Adding tech like that, while insignificant to some, appeals to all the techies out there who clamor for such a thing. Additionally, there were certain GC games that utilized the component out for progressive scan, but could not be experienced until the Wii came out.

Xbox was Microsoft's first console in a gaming world dominated by Sony and Nintendo at the time. Had Nintendo done the GC right, it would have been a smash, and could have possible destroyed the Xbox. Instead, they steered clear of the technical advancements that made the PS2 a massive success and did their own thing, again. DVD playback, multimedia playback, internet usage, the first HD games on a home console, etc. That was a huge part of the success of those consoles.

[scotland]

Another interesting reason people cite for the Gamecube's performance include the loss of Rareware to Microsoft. Nintendo already was a part owner, and the story is they had the opportunity to just purchase the studio that gave us Goldeneye 007, Donkey Kong Country and others. These were some of the most popular games on their consoles.

From my own biased point of view, I think the system was too light on JRPGs and sandbox RPGs. The N64 also had lots of racing games, but I don't recall the Gamecube having nearly as many.

[Rookie1]

Another interesting reason people cite for the Gamecube's performance include the loss of Rareware to Microsoft. Nintendo already was a part owner, and the story is they had the opportunity to just purchase the studio that gave us Goldeneye 007, Donkey Kong Country and others. These were some of the most popular games on their consoles.

From my own biased point of view, I think the system was too light on JRPGs and sandbox RPGs. The N64 also had lots of racing games, but I don't recall the Gamecube having nearly as many.

Nintendo was still in a good place with the GC despite its setbacks. Devs were still bending over backwards to get their games on a Nintendo console. Heck, just look at the hoops that were jumped through to get RE2 on the N64. They completely remade RE for the GC and Metal Gear solid was completely remade for the GC as well. Those were the two biggest franchise at the time, aside from Final Fantasy. That was a pretty huge deal at the time when those games came out.

Like I said, had Nintendo added the technical features the PS2 had, the GC would have probably dominated. Instead they didnt, and the Xbox took up their slack.

[Retro STrife]

Like I said, had Nintendo added the technical features the PS2 had, the GC would have probably dominated. Instead they didnt, and the Xbox took up their slack.

I think "dominated" is too strong a word. They definitely could have cut into Microsoft's share and maybe there's a distant chance that a better showing by Nintendo could have killed the Xbox and prevented the 360 from ever existing. (Remember, once the Dreamcast died, many "experts" opined that the market wasn't big enough to support three big consoles, so Microsoft was taking a huge risk by joining the fray.) Still, I think no matter what Nintendo did, the Halo franchise was single-handedly going to carry the Xbox through that generation. But sure, Nintendo could have kept a bigger share of the market if it made better design decisions, and stayed at #2 rather than dropping behind Microsoft. I don't agree that it would dominate though, because they had little chance of getting anywhere near the PS2, which truly did dominate--in fact, to this day, the PS2 remains the best selling home video console of all time, by a mile (150+ million sold, compared to 100 mill for PS1 and Wii). The PS1 crushed the N64, so the PS2 came out with tons of momentum and hype, and was able to follow through with it. Short of shooting themselves in the foot (like they did with the PS3), Sony had that generation wrapped up before it began.

I also agree with Esauce that bonus tech features aren't the big drivers in console sales. Component, HDMI, 4K, etc...these are all nice bonuses, but when systems first start adopting them few people usually have TVs to support them and, even for those that do, the features aren't anywhere near as important as games, and hardware specs, and system personality/marketing. One exception though-- DVD playback. Back then, DVDs were getting big, but the players were expensive. So not having DVD playback was a huge "tie-breaker" if someone was considering the GC vs. Xbox or PS2. My Xbox was the first DVD player ever in our house growing up.

I remember the PS2/Xbox/GC console war pretty vividly, because it was the one I was most involved in when it happened, in terms of online discussion and such. I debated about the consoles for a year before they came out. Back then it mattered more to me, since the consoles came out around the same time and I could only afford one and I played a lot more games back then. Despite being a PS1 gamer, I went with the Xbox, as the marketing definitely hooked me, especially the fact that it would be the most powerful console ever. It had a lot of buzz for that reason, and the intrigue of a new console manufacturer by a big American company, and the fact that it was making consoles more like PCs (including the built-in hard drive and Xbox Live online gaming). And Sony definitely had even more support than the Xbox, especially with all the PS1 holdovers. The GC was a distant third in terms of buzz...besides an interesting appearance and the promise of new Mario/Zelda games in some distant future, there wasn't much to look forward to over the other two consoles.