It's been nearly four years since the GameCube died, and yet it shambles on. Through its hardware, through its software – it's just never really disappeared, even after almost half a decade of the Wii replacing it as Nintendo's flagship console. The system's legacy continues, undeterred, crawling constantly forward with undead resolve.
And the 3DS may be this zombie's next meal.
Now, the GameCube hardware itself has certainly slipped out of sight. Our purple lunch boxes have been packed away, traded in for GameStop credit or hidden in closets to collect dust for eternity. But it's undeniable that, in nearly every other way, Nintendo's GameCube has kept a subtle pulse pumping ever since 2006.
The first piece of life support came through the Wii's backwards compatibility with Cube software – to this day everyone who buys a Wii is also getting a hidden Cube inside, as that disc slot dutifully boots up every miniature optical disc placed within. The second is that the Cube's controller has lived on, still utilized by Nintendo with new Wii releases that require more complicated input that the lone Wii Remote can provide – Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Sin & Punishment: Star Successor, and every single Virtual Console title retain compatibility with the pad.
But it's the GameCube's library of software that has continued on to be the most prominent memory of the previous hardware generation here in the current era. Through ports, remakes, and play control overhauls, many of Nintendo's Wii releases have simply been updated editions of games we first played back in the earlier half of the '00 decade. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess launched the Wii this way, as a GameCube swan song shoehorned into motion-control form at the last minute – and titles like Metroid Prime Trilogy, Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, and the New Play Control! releases of Pikmin, Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, and Mario Power Tennis have kept the trend going.
And it's that trend that I think may continue on to infect Nintendo's 3DS. The new portable won't play GameCube discs and it won't include a port to plug in an old Cube controller. But the 3DS could very well play host to revisited Cube software designs once again, just as the Wii has been doing for four years now. Through more remakes, ports, and sequels, we could see a sizeable chunk of the 3DS portable library stem straight from those titles we first saw on the last generation's console.
Adding further support to that point is the fact that several developers are already suggesting exactly that, bringing up their favorite GameCube projects in interviews about their 3DS development intentions and implying that ports could be done relatively easily.
more here
I should let my gamecube eat my brain, I bought to get a bunch of games and yet I barely used it.
And the 3DS may be this zombie's next meal.
Now, the GameCube hardware itself has certainly slipped out of sight. Our purple lunch boxes have been packed away, traded in for GameStop credit or hidden in closets to collect dust for eternity. But it's undeniable that, in nearly every other way, Nintendo's GameCube has kept a subtle pulse pumping ever since 2006.
The first piece of life support came through the Wii's backwards compatibility with Cube software – to this day everyone who buys a Wii is also getting a hidden Cube inside, as that disc slot dutifully boots up every miniature optical disc placed within. The second is that the Cube's controller has lived on, still utilized by Nintendo with new Wii releases that require more complicated input that the lone Wii Remote can provide – Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Sin & Punishment: Star Successor, and every single Virtual Console title retain compatibility with the pad.
But it's the GameCube's library of software that has continued on to be the most prominent memory of the previous hardware generation here in the current era. Through ports, remakes, and play control overhauls, many of Nintendo's Wii releases have simply been updated editions of games we first played back in the earlier half of the '00 decade. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess launched the Wii this way, as a GameCube swan song shoehorned into motion-control form at the last minute – and titles like Metroid Prime Trilogy, Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, and the New Play Control! releases of Pikmin, Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, and Mario Power Tennis have kept the trend going.
And it's that trend that I think may continue on to infect Nintendo's 3DS. The new portable won't play GameCube discs and it won't include a port to plug in an old Cube controller. But the 3DS could very well play host to revisited Cube software designs once again, just as the Wii has been doing for four years now. Through more remakes, ports, and sequels, we could see a sizeable chunk of the 3DS portable library stem straight from those titles we first saw on the last generation's console.
Adding further support to that point is the fact that several developers are already suggesting exactly that, bringing up their favorite GameCube projects in interviews about their 3DS development intentions and implying that ports could be done relatively easily.
more here
I should let my gamecube eat my brain, I bought to get a bunch of games and yet I barely used it.
