Editing Nintendo GameCube (section)

== Reception ==
The GameCube received generally positive reviews following its launch. ''PC Magazine'' praised the overall hardware design and quality of games available at launch. CNET gave an average review rating, noting that though the console lacks a few features offered by its competition, it is relatively inexpensive, has a great controller design, and launched a decent lineup of games. In later reviews, criticism mounted against the console often centering on its overall look and feel, describing it as "toy-ish". With poor sales figures and the associated financial harm to Nintendo, a ''Time International'' article called the GameCube an "unmitigated disaster".

Retrospectively, Joystiq compared the GameCube's launch window to its successor, the Wii, noting that the GameCube's "lack of games" resulted in a subpar launch, and the console's limited selection of online games damaged its market share in the long run. ''Time International'' concluded that the system had low sales figures, because it lacked "technical innovations".

=== Sales ===
In Japan, between 280,000 and 300,000 GameCube consoles were sold during the first three days of its sale, out of an initial shipment of 450,000 units. During its launch weekend, $100 million worth of GameCube products were sold in North America. The console was sold out in several stores, faster than initial sales of both of its competitors, the Xbox and the PlayStation 2. Nintendo reported that the most popular launch game is ''Luigi's Mansion'', with more sales at its launch than ''Super Mario 64'' had. Other popular games include ''Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader'' and ''Wave Race: Blue Storm''. By early December 2001, 600,000 units had been sold in the US.

Nintendo predicted 50 million GameCube units by 2005, but only sold 22 million GameCube units worldwide during its lifespan, placing it slightly behind the Xbox's 24 million (though it did manage to outsell the Xbox in Japan), and well behind the PlayStation 2's 155 million. ''Ars Technica'' articles from 2006 showed and a 2020 book state that Nintendo officially sold 24 million GameCube consoles worldwide, and one article from ''Seeking Alpha'' states that the GameCube sold 26 million consoles worldwide.  Its sales exceeded that of the Xbox 360 in Japan. The GameCube's predecessor, the Nintendo 64, also outperformed it at nearly 33 million units. It also exceeded the Dreamcast, which yielded 9.13 million units. In September 2009, IGN ranked the GameCube 16th in its list of best gaming consoles of all time, placing it behind all three of its sixth-generation competitors: the PlayStation 2 (3rd), the Dreamcast (8th), and the Xbox (11th). As of March 31, 2003, 9.55 million GameCube units had been sold worldwide, behind Nintendo's initial goal of 10 million consoles. Many of Nintendo's own first-party games, such as ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'', ''Pokémon Colosseum'', and ''Mario Kart: Double Dash'', had strong sales, though this did not typically benefit third-party developers or directly drive sales of their games. However, at the same time, these first-party games, and second-party and third-party games, elevated the GameCube.

Sales of many cross-platform games—such as sports franchises released by Electronic Arts—were far below their PlayStation 2 and Xbox counterparts, eventually prompting some developers to scale back or completely cease support for the GameCube. Exceptions include Sega's family friendly ''Sonic Adventure 2'' and ''Super Monkey Ball'', which reportedly yielded more sales on GameCube than most of the company's games on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. In June 2003, Acclaim Entertainment CEO Rod Cousens said that the company would no longer support the GameCube, and criticized it as a system "that don't deliver profits". Acclaim would later rescind his claims, by saying the company would elevate support for the system. This decision was made unclear after the company filed for bankruptcy in August 2004. In September 2003, Eidos Interactive announced to end support for the GameCube, as the publisher was losing money from developing for Nintendo's console. This led to several games in development being canceled for the system. Eidos's CEO Mike McGravey would say that the GameCube was a "declining business". However, after the company's purchase by the SCi Entertainment Group in 2005, Eidos resumed development for the system and released ''Lego Star Wars: The Video Game'' and ''Tomb Raider: Legend''.

In March 2003, British retailer Dixons removed all GameCube consoles, accessories and games from its stores. That same month, another British retailer Argos, cut the price of the GameCube in their stores to £78.99, which was more than £50 cheaper than Nintendo's SRP for the console at the time. However, in October of that year, they did eventually restock their supply of consoles after a price drop was ordered which caused the console sales to outpace the PlayStation 2 for a week.

With sales sagging and millions of unsold consoles in stock, Nintendo halted GameCube production for the first nine months of 2003 to reduce surplus units. Sales rebounded slightly after a price drop to US$99.99 on September 24, 2003 and the release of ''The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition'' bundle. A demo disc, the ''GameCube Preview Disc'', was also released in a bundle in 2003. Beginning with this period, GameCube sales continued to be steady, particularly in Japan, but the GameCube remained in third place in worldwide sales during the sixth-generation era because of weaker sales performance elsewhere, though its fortunes would change for the better in America and Europe.

Iwata forecasted to investors that the company would sell 50 million GameCube units worldwide by March 2005, but by the end of 2006, it had only sold 21.74 million—fewer than half. However, it had the highest attach rate of any Nintendo console at 9.59 and was profitable, even more than Xbox with higher sales rates.

=== Legacy ===
Many games that debuted on the GameCube, including the ''Pikmin'' series, ''Chibi-Robo!'', ''Metroid Prime'', and ''Luigi's Mansion'' became popular and profitable Nintendo franchises or subseries.

GameCube controllers have limited support on Wii U and Switch, to play ''Super Smash Bros. for Wii U'', and ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' respectively, via a USB adapter. While on the Wii U the controller was only allowed to be used in ''Super Smash Bros.'', the Nintendo Switch recognizes it as a Pro Controller. Thus, the GameCube Controller can be used in any game where the Pro Controller is recognized. However, due to the GameCube controller lacking motion controls and some buttons, it may not be fully playable in some Switch games.

Regarding concerns about the correlation between violence and video games, a 2009 study by Iowa State University found that certain games like ''Super Mario Sunshine'' and ''Chibi-Robo!'', which were GameCube exclusives, would help players learn positive skills about helping others, empathy, and cooperation. The game ''Super Monkey Ball'', which was a GameCube exclusive, could help surgeons perform laparoscopic surgery better than surgeons who do not play video games.

''GamesRadar+'' ranked it 11th on their list of The 20 best video game consoles and hardware of all time in 2021. ''Den of Geek'' placed it at number 12 on their list of The 25 Best Video Game Consoles Ever, Ranked, in 2023.

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* McCracken, Harry. "Play Hard. (Cover Story)." Time International (Atlantic Edition) 180.23 (2012): 48-49. Business Source Complete.
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