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Should Wii Sell The Gamecube?
One dire question facing Nintendo gamers all over the land is "Should they sell their trusty beloved Gamecube when they get a Nintendo Wii"?
Nintendo has a proven track record on backwards compatibility with the Gameboy Advance playing the Gameboy games and the Nintendo DS playing Gameboy Advance games. Since the Wii has a 100% backwards compatible Power PC CPU and ATI graphics chip as the Gamecube, has two Gamecube memory card slots and four Gamecube controller ports on the top of the console it has been designed to be 100% compatible with Gamecube games and controllers. This will enable a super smooth transition to playing Gamecube games on the Wii without having to start your games over or worry if your old games will work. Unlike playing PS2 games on the PS3 and Xbox games on the Xbox 360 this should work flawlessly.
So this begs the question should I trade in my Gamecube for credit on Wii games and accessories? Gamecrazy is offering $50 in credit for my Gamecube and Gameboy Player and I could save my Gamecube games, memory card and extra controllers for my Wii.
Reasons to trade it in
1. You can play all your games on the Wii.
2. It will save space on my game table and free up an AV hookup for the Wii.
3. I could get a second Wii Controller for the trade in credit
4. You can get a used Gameboy color for dirt cheap if you really want to play Gameboy games.
Reasons to keep it around.
1. Can't play Gameboy and Gameboy Advance games on the Wii. They might announce a Gameboy player for the Wii or support for Gameboy games on the Wii Virtual Console but the Gameboy Player for Gamecube is probably the biggest reason why I might want to keep onto my Gamecube. I only have five Gameboy regular and Gameboy Color games that I can't play in my Nintendo DS Lite but three of those are the Legend of Zelda games and one is Metroid 2 for Gameboy.
2. Nostalgia. I loved the Gamecube and it was one of my favorite game systems.
3. Import games You can play Japanese Gamecube games on a US system using a boot disk. That is not going to work on the Wii but it is unknown if it will be needed since no one actually has a Wii yet. I don't have any import Gamecube games so it is not a factor for me.
4. If you have any younger kids in your family your old Gamecube would make a freaking awesome give this holiday season.
So what are you planning to do with your Gamecube once the Wii hits the store shelves?
Update: I traded in my Gamecube and my Gameboy Player for store credit at Game Crazy. I got enough to get a Wiimote and a Nunchuck. I kept all of my controllers, memory cards and Gamecube games.
Jake at October 19, 2006
Games
Comments
If you do decide to get rid of it, I will mail you a money order for $50 cash just to keep the evil empire from getting it. And I've been with you on this site since way back so you can trust me.
Posted by: Boyd at October 19, 2006 2:14 PM
Woah since when did Gamecrazy and Gamestop become evil?
Posted by: Jacob Metcalf
at October 19, 2006 2:51 PM
I don't really have anything against Gamecrazy, but I detest the lowdown ways of EB/Gamestop. Also, I have 1 platinum and 1 black cube, so I'd love to have an indigo one to complete the hat trick:)
Posted by: Boyd at October 19, 2006 3:38 PM
I will definately keep my Gamecube. For one i upgraded it to play imports only a year ago, also own the GameboyPlayer and it's pretty cool for playing the Final Fantasy GBA games on the big screen. Plus i'm a collector. I would only feel dirty afterwards to have "exchanged" a perfectly fine running console system for like, a second controller or one game. That's just wrong ;)
You can still take the Gamecube over to friends&family for some MarioParty action, or hook it up somehwere else. I for one would store it in my beedrom where i keep my Dreamcast to play some Shenmue or SonicAdventure <3.
But in the end, one's gotta decide for him/herself if he/she has no more use for the system afterall.
You'd better sell it to Boyd though if you're gonna get rid of it. You know, keep it in the family ;)
Posted by: mordred at October 20, 2006 2:00 AM
Keep it. Maybe move it to another room or something- I know that's what I'll do. My wife can maintain her Animal Crossing obsession and I'll shoot things with Red Steel.
Plus, there's something about having a dozen consoles on display that I just plain like...
Posted by: james @ hohocognitive at October 20, 2006 3:49 AM
I have a box under my bed that I put my old modded PSone and all the games (over 400 so I can't just get rid of them...) I also keep my GBA (which I never play), my PSP (which I never play) and my extra controllers and game cases in. I'm jut gonna throw the cube in there. I could never sell the thing, I loved it too much. It's such a solid piece of hardware, I dont think it will ever corrode or die like the NES, and $50 isn't worth my memories of the thing. I'm just gonna hang on to it.
And besides, I wouldn't get rid of it until I have the Wii and tried it, and once the Wii comes out, the Cube trade in is going to drop to like $10 bucks. I have EB/Gamestop for trading it. It's pointless. Just eBay it and get 2-3X the value.
Posted by: Shawn L at October 20, 2006 9:24 AM
Well I got rid of my PSOne when I got a PS2 but I kept all my games.
I am not a big eBay kind of guy and I would rather take a quicker deal from a local game store than going through the hassle of eBay.
Posted by: Jacob Metcalf
at October 20, 2006 11:26 AM
it's true, eBay can be a hassle, but you will get more out of it. Though maybe not if you calculate your time and effort. That's what made me want to sell my PS2 to someone my mom knows, and I got $80 for it too, which was fine at the time. It was the big ugly one. Now I have a small slim beauty.
Posted by: Shawn L at October 21, 2006 5:47 AM
If I would have seen this earlier, I would've told you NOT to trade in the Gameboy Player. These things are going like hotcakes on ebay and Amazon!
I traded in my Gamecube for the $50, sold my Gameboy Player for $54 on Amazon, and sold the LAN adapter on Amazon for another $20!
I literally put the Gameboy player up at 2pm EST and by 5pm (Sameday) it sold!
The $50 deal for the Cube is great though!
Posted by: Xunan at October 23, 2006 6:33 AM
Hey thanks!
Posted by: Boyd at October 23, 2006 11:05 AM
I'm not really a true gamer, well I was a gamer back during the NES days, but I did fall in love with the Gamecube and three games:
Animal Crossing, Intellivision Lives, and
Wind Waker.
I plan to keep my Gamecube for Nostalgia reasons.
Although innovative, there would be no point for me in getting the Wii because I'm really content in the Gamecube and my three games. The Nintendo Gamecube was really the last Nintendo "Traditional Console" ever made that directly competed with Microsoft & Sony. Also the Gamecube was the last Nintendo console or modern console that never depended on "Online".
I still love 2-Players, especially Super Mario Bros. inside Animal Crossing. Just like the
Good O'l Days.
There are retro consoles out there right now and I think the Gamecube in 10-20 or even 30 years will still be played, if not forgotten.
I guess I'm an old freak that cannot keep up anymore. The Gamecube is cute, quaint, and quiet; which is something I love about the console, it did its own thing, while others mocked it. The Gamecube was a beautful failure. In my book, that failure is a succession.
Posted by: Animal Crossing for Gamecube at November 6, 2006 9:12 PM
one thing you forgot about is the wavebird won't work on the wii because the wii ports are flat!
Posted by: Anonymous at November 14, 2006 9:41 AM
It looks like the Wii will support the Wavebird
http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2006/09/29/nintendo-confirms-wii-wavebird-support/
I don't have a Wavebird but I am getting my Wii on Sunday!
Posted by: Jacob Metcalf
at November 14, 2006 11:49 AM
The wavebird does work on the Wii for sure. I have a Wii and my controllers, including the wavebird works fine
Posted by: Anonymous at February 16, 2007 6:18 AM

