looking for advice: Nintendo Gamecube
 

Let me preface this by saying that I am just about totally clueless when it comes to gaming consoles. I've never owned one, unless you count the Intellivision as a gaming console ;) and because of that was never really attracted to follow the gaming scene all that much.

Here's my story. While thinking about Christmas gift for Andrew, our 8 and a half year old, and after seeing a Toys R' Us flyer, the price for the Nintendo Gamecube struck me as kind of cheap: on sale at $120 cdn, or about $105 US. In fact I just saw the platinum edition at Wal-Mart for $97 cdn, or about $85 US.

Being that I'm cheap (and that we're on a budget) I'm thinking this could be a console that could do the trick for a 8 year old. My question to people who either own one, or follow the console scene is this: am I thinking right? Would my son have fun with the kind of games available for the Gamecube?

Then, looking at some game selling sites, I'm seeing that there are versions of Madden 2006, NHL 2006, and other big names, available on the Gamecube. Are these good version, or does the fact that they're for the Gamecube makes them kind of low quality? If they're half decent, then I'm thinking that the Gamecube could make a toy for son and daddy as well ;)

Price is very important in that decision. We have a computer, as you would expect ;), but it's coming to a point that while it can do the important stuff (i.e. run FM2006 :D and surf the net) I'd have ton upgrade a couple little things in order for it to run the newest games for the kid. I tried running the demo for Lego Star Wars and got the message that my graphics card was unable to run the game. (Add to the story above that my son is really into Star Wars and there is a version of said Lego game for the Gamecube.) As I said, the PC is doing everything it needs to do and I don't plan on changing it in the next 6 months to a year, and I don't want to go spend about $500 cdn for the new XBox that is coming out in a couple of weeks...

Anyway, any input is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

FM

What is your son into? Nintendo does make the best "kid-friendly" games out the three systems. As for the sport games, never played them on the Cube.

Paging SI.... :D

Sorry FM, I don't own a GameCube nor have I played one, so I'm really not much use to you. :)

/tk

don't know what you mean by into though he loves sports, soccer in particular. As I said, Star Wars is big with him right now as are his Legos, making the SW Lego game an incredible fit. Spider-Man and superheros in general are also a big hit...

FM

FM, you have my AIM address (or can easily see it underneath my name on the board). Unfortunately with this whole car thing at the moment, I don't have a lot of time to type out a giant mess of reviews of what games you might like, etc. But I can answer pretty much any question you have, if you send me an instant message.

SI

Sorry, should of been more clearer. I meant what type of games would he enjoy. Sounds like you cleared that up.

well, what kind of game he'd like is a bit unclear to me since as I said, we've never had a console in the house, and he's only 8, so just about any game looks cool to him right now ;)

FM

Color me stupid for not fully reading the first post more carefully. Long day. :D

the EA games are fine and are of no less quality, its just that the controller isnt as friendly as ps2. thats not to say its not playable, its just that its a little different.

if he likes soccer, super mario strikers just came out (i think) and im willing to bet that its atleast pretty entertaining for an 8yr old. all of the other mario games (save mario baseball which was kinda lame) are really fun too.

Good, thanks for the tips, especially the EA games comments...

FM

I think there are very few brand specific games for the gamecube that you can go wrong with. Any of the zelda, mario, metroid, other games, are all pretty appealing. If the gamecube has came down that much in price, I might have to pick on up, just so I can play all of those games now.

Personally, I dislike EA sports games on the Gamecube, mainly because the controller, but also some other minor things. That being said, if I had never played them on the Xbox or PS2, I probably wouldn't mind playing them on the Gamecube. I do know that my 9 year old step-brother has a blast playing his Gamecube and there are a nice number of kid friendly games for the system.

Also, with the Revolution coming out in the next year or so, the price of Gamecube games should theoretically drop at least a bit.

Ive always had a soft spot for nintendo, since my first real console was the NES. and I also had a super NES. Didn't own a n64, but my friend had one, and I borrowed it for a few months.

You're coming to the same 2 conclusions as me. (1) I've never played any console, so how bad can Madden be on the Gamecube, lousy controllers or not? (2) my son isn't really a connoisseur of console either, so about anything will be cool for him at least for a little while...

Thanks everyone. Also great thanks to SI who helped me a great deal over AIM...

FM

Funny, I have a gamecube with a handful of games that is sitting around collecting dust. Got it new for xmas 2 years ago. played super mario sunshine and 2 splinter cells to death. don't use it now.

pm me if you would like to discuss a transaction.

You can't go wrong with the GC, especially for an 8 year old that has never owned a console. He'll love it, and likely so will you!

FM, the Gamecube is perfect for an 8 yr old.

Super Mario Kart is a fun game.

Super Monkey Ball (I think that is a title) is also a fun game for the Gamecube.

I pointed him towards Mario Kart, Smash Bros, and Super Monkey Ball (1&2) when chatting on AIM as those are perfect games for the situation.

SI

I find more of the "fun, play it for a bit" games on the Cube. The MegaMan Anniversary Collection is awesome. :) And I play NCAA 2004 on my Cube, and enjoy it as well.

thanks for the help guys, the wife is about to agree with another computer thingie kind of new toy for son (and daddy ;)).

The comments from Fidatelo and vexroid were about what I was looking for.

Hurst2112, thanks but I'll pass, as it will be for a Christmas preesent for the kiddo.

EF27, as SI said, he pointed me toward the Super Monkey Ball game and that was pretty funny, since that game was the first I took in my hand from the bargain bin at Wal-Mart last night. Looked interesting enough that I thought I could have fun with Andrew with it :)

Thanks again!

Now if you know more interesting games, even from and maybe mostly from the bargain bins, let me know...

FM

Make sure that you pick up Eternal Darkness far a little daddy time after the kid goes to bed. Don't buy the strategy guide or read any walkthroughs for at least a week or two. :)

Just wanna echo what someone else said, get mario kart. The one game my parents actually enjoyed playing with me...

The Mario Party games are fun for the whole family, it's like a board game with all sorts of little easy to pick up mini-games thrown in around the board. You should be able to get Mario Party 4 or 5 pretty cheap, as they are up to #7 now but time doesn't hurt the old ones at all.

Super Monkey Ball was a great suggestion.

And SuperSmash Brothers is great for multiple people to play, lot of fun.

I had fun playing Super Monkey Ball with my brother-in-law, so I think you'll enjoy it some, and the kiddo will most likely love it :)

I'll also second Eternal Darkness as a great Daddy game. My wife's father bought it and I played it for a few hours when visiting him once. Definitely not a game for the kiddo, but it is a fun game ;)

Is the gamecube making a comeback? It's nice to see this thread emerge, I'd like for people to share fun game playing experiences that are less than the $60 alternative (360).

Funny you mention Mario Party #7, the local wal-mart has a bundled kit with the console, MP#7, 2 controllers and some sort of microphone for $130cdn. Compared to $100cdn for the console alone, that's not a bad deal I think, since i it's got an extra controller and the game for $30cdn...

Thanks for the suggestion.

FM

Don't know about a comeback, to me it'd be making an entry into our household ;)

Sharing fun games that could be found in the bargain is my aim for now though :)

For example, I could be tempted to get some of the 2005 version of some of the EA games unless there are outrageous advantages at getting the latest version...

FM

got another question for you all: is a memory card a must or not? What is its purpose? Is it simply to save your games to replay later?

FM

Yeah, a memory card is a must. For instance, as you play though Mario Kart and beat levels, you unlock more levels and more racers. Same with Smash Bros- you unlock more fighters as you play along. This is the type of data saved. If it's anything like here, the little 59 cars run ~$20 while the 1019 cards run ~$30. Pay the extra few bucks and get the big one. If you play any sports games or any other large save games, you'll need it.

SI

SI, I saw the 1019 for $39cdn in the Wal-Mart flyer we got this week. I'm taking your word for it and would get the bigger one, but what's the difference between the two? Simply more space? In what proportion (1.5 times, twice, more)?

Thanks again.

FM

17 times more. :)

59 means 59 blocks, while 1019 means 1019 blocks.

is that right or are you pulling my leg? :confused:

Seriously, this is pretty big in terms of difference between the two...

FM

This thread makes me want to get a cube, I'm 25, will these games keep me entertained?

Probably too late for this thread, but I have a GC - I bought it so I could play games like NCAA Football without buying a modified console. Sadly, it seems as though Gamecubes are on their way out (at least, they are over here), but I've had fun with mine. The controller's a bit weird at first, but you soon get used to it.

Yeah, it's true. The 1019 came out not too long ago I believe... when I first got my Cube, only the 59 and 251 were available.

can't really speak for him, but SI is 25 and the way he spoke about it on AIM, I'd say you can become quite passionate about it... Guess it depends on what you are looking for. Try hitting SI on AIM if you can see him online...

FM

That's cool. Don't know how much the 59 is going for around here, but if the difference in price is really as small as what SI was hinting, then the 1019 really is the one to get...

FM
PS: just checked on amazon.ca and they have the 251 for 21.99 and the 1019 for 39.99, still much better to shell out the 10 extra bucks to quadruple the memory, imo...

edit: and they have the 59 for 14.99, would be crazy to go for the really small one at that price....

never too late, that's good input you're giving. Thanks for sharing.

FM

got another silly question for you: what about racing games, are they any good?

I'm not looking for anything super realistic in terms of physics, simply something enjoyable and maybe a bit more realistic than Mario Karts (which I'm sure would be tons of fun with my son). I see that Need for Speed is available on the Cube, is it any fun?

FM

The 251 might do just fine for you but it depends on what games you end up playing.

Here's a couple of sample lists:
hxxp://www.tendofire.com/home1.html
hxxp://www.planetgamecube.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=10&threadid=704

So, for instance, Super Monkey Ball takes less than 10 while Smash Bros takes just over 10. You can fit 25 games on that 251 card at that rate. However, for instance, a Madden or All Star Baseball franchise can take over 100. Not many non-sports games take nearly that much. The only couple of things I can think of are Animal Crossing (59) and Sims 2 (147).

SI

Well, this really is what it all comes down to. If you like the nicest looking sports games and FPSs, you're going to be disappointed with anything that's not the big black paperweight. If you want the Sony exclusives like R&C or Jak or stuff by Square, get a PS2. If you like Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Pokemon, and other Nintendo-exclusive stuff like Animal Crossing, Pikmin, F-Zero, Tales of Symphonia, etc- then get a Cube. In the end it's all about the games you like to play.

SI

thanks for the info. I had a brain fart comparing the prices of the 251 and 1019 (21.99 vs 39 is NOT 10 bucks, duh) so I may go with the 251 for now.

Another stupid question (I'm good with stupid nintendo questions, I've found ;)): Are these memory cards like flash memory stick for the PC? I mean, could I have many of them?

I'm asking in case we discover in a year from now that the son is really having tons of fun with the cube and we need more storage, then would it be possible to get a second one and have two of them that we swap in and out...

Thanks again!

FM

Also, anybody has any answer to this one:


Any good racing game you've enjoyed in your nintendo gaming?

FM

Not sure if they have it for the GC, but SSX is pretty good.

There are two slots for memory cards and you pull them in and out and you can have as many as you want.

I have the GC and its perfect for an 8 year old kid. There is no question in my mind that you should buy that.

I'm not into racing games, so I have no frame of reference but Mario Kart is a blast. :)

Thanks, exactly what I wanted to be sure of.


We're pretty much set to go that way. Until last xmas, we really didn't think he was ready to understand us limiting him on the playing time and because of that, we had shunned him on the nintendo request. While he's talked about getting a Gamecube from time to time (at first calling it a Gamecute, we're French speaking ;)), he's not bugged us about it for xmas this year. I do know that he's having a very sweet time every time he goes to my sister's and play with her on her N64 on which she's picked up a ton and a half of bargain bin games, so I thought he'd enjoy the Cube. Now with everybody's comments, I know he'll enjoy it, and probably I will too :D Now the trick will be to keep it a secret and not have him get way too excited about the Lego catalog he just received, from which he's making a list to aask about everybody in the family for outrageously overpriced new trend legos. He's already got tons of legos which are all taking a lot of space floor in his playroom. The Cube will serve two bill: (1) have parents and aunts give him games and not space taking new toys, and (2) free the computer a little so daddy can have it a bit more ;)

Then if I can play with him with some of these games, this could be very cool. I'm a big kid too :)


Mario Karts is almost a given that we'll have to get at some point. He's played it on my sister's N64 and he had a blast...

FM

Yeah, unfortunately, I don't really know much about racing games. I know there are a couple of Need For Speed games released for Gamecube. Obviously there's Mario Kart but it's not a pure racing game. I have F-Zero GX which is really fun with great level design but it's tremendously hard and is futuristic racing- again, not typical racing game. I also have Wave Race, but same thing- not a race car game but water ski racing- pretty fun but it was pretty difficult.

SI

The F-zero GX is one I saw and found it interesting. I'm not really looking for real racing (not in the Nascar vein if you know what I mean) and maybe that F-zero could be worth a try. I'm asking about racing games more for me than for kiddo, so the difficulty aspect, I think I could deal with. :)

Thanks for the tip.

FM

By hard, I mean hard for adults. It has a really wicked degree of difficulty in that I still have yet to beat any but the first cup on expert difficulty. That said, the lower ones are beatable and I just love the track design- some are evil, but they're very good.

SI

didn't think about difficulty levels. If you set it to the easiest, would a kid be able to play it? Just took another look at the box cover and it looks like a bunch of superheros, falling in Andrew's style ;)

FM

I'm not entirely sure about how "kid difficulty" rates these days, but I have no problems beating the lowest levels at this point despite not having picked up the game in a couple of months.

SI

that's a surfing/skiing game, right?

looks kinda cool, would have to see... thanks for the suggestion!

FM

yeah, you with no problem with probably mean a nice challenge for him, but probably playable. Thanks, that gives me a feel for it...

FM

This "project" is taking an interesting turn. Last night when my parents were at our place, I talked to my mom about xmas gifts for Andrew, knowing she usually likes to get that out of the way early and that he'd already started bugging them with requests. I asked her if she and my sister (Andrew's godmother) knew what to give to Andrew and she said that no they didn't but were about to ask us, especially since he'd started asking for stuff :)

I told her we'd thought a Gamecube could fit the bill as a sort of group purchase (I don't want my parents to buy too much since they're paying for great parts of the finishing of our basement, and my sister's got their expenses of their own) to which she almost immediately replied that my sister was ready to buy him one last year when we subtly hinted that he was probably too young to enjoy it :)

Anyway, I had found a pretty good deal on the Gamecube at a Canadian subsidy of Best Buy called Future Shop. They have a bundle that includes the console with an extra controller and Mario Party 7 going for $120 cdn so I pointed this out to my mom (fyi, bestbuy.com has the same at $99us). We'll probably pay part of it and have my sister give it to Andrew while we'll buy the Star Wars Lego game and give it on our side. Giving is so much better than receiving at Christmas, especially as a kid grows a tad older. He doesn't believe in Santa anymore, yet can appreciate when he's recieving something nice. I can't wait to see his face when he'll tear the wrapping paper and he'll see the gamecube logo inside :) Then again when he'll see the Star Wars logo on the other game :)

I kept shopping and found this memory card from MadCatz. They seem to say it's the same as a 1019 but only selling at the price of a 251. Another question: is a MadCatz card as good as a Nintendo brand card?

I also read a little about the Revolution and saw that it should be fully backward compatible. Kinda cool...

Anyway, thanks everyone for all the help. I now have a list with a bunch of games I'll be looking for in the next few weeks ;)

FM

I would just like to state that the Star Wars Lego game is the best Star Wars game ever made. Its fantastic.

I used to buy Madcatz controllers in college for the lack of $ I had. They were awful, I don't know if it translates to memory cards but I'd avoid them like the plague.

The trailers looked pretty sweet and funny with semi-bloopers inserted in there (like anakin having trouble getting his light saber to light up ;))


Okay, note taken for the controllers and I can understand how they could be awkward/plain bad to use, but what anybody else knows about their memory cards? I mean, it's not as if we'll be handling it all the time.

I used to have a racing wheel from MadCatz on my old pc and while it was the cheapest available, it ran kinda well...

FM

They are $15 off Nintendo's version. I'd go for it but don't be surprised if something evil happens :)

My thoughts exactly ;)

Wal-mart is the cheapest I've seen a 1019 go for and it's at $39cdn (bestbuy.ca has it at $40cdn), so that $20cdn is a good $19cdn off the price of a Nintendo brand.

As a comparison, the 251 is selling for $22cdn at amazon.ca, that MadCatz1019 is cheaper than a 251 from Nintendo...

FM

dola, just saw that futureshop.ca has the Nintendo1019 for $35cdn with an instant $5 rebate...

FM

I'd go with the Nintendo branded cards and controllers, if you can. I have 4 memory cards and 4 controllers (including the Wavebird) and and have had no problems at all. I know this is from a while ago, but I only had 3 memory cards for the PSX and one of mine was an off brand and it died but the two Sony ones were just fine so I've been skittish to go off brand ever since.

Lego Star Wars looks really fun :)

Oh, as an aside, if you see one on sale- get a Wavebird. They are easily worth the cost of a cheap game which is about how much they are ($20-$30). They're the Nintendo wireless controller and they have a range of about 100 miles or so :p Seriously, there is no place in my apartment that I can't play from. And the batteries last forever. I have a set of rechargeables that I rotate in and out and it takes at least 50 if not 100 hours for them to wear out.

SI

thanks for your input SI. I'll keep that in mind for the memory card... As I said, the deal looks incredible although I wouldn't want the thing to die on me a couple months from now...

Lego Star Wars does look fun. I'm sure I'll have fun with it too :)

I have seen the wavebird going for $39cdn at walmart and while it probably won't be for now (since he'll have 2 controllers from the start, better than only one), I thought it could be something to get him for his birthday which comes in March...

Thanks again for your input...

FM

That's a bit high. Retailers around here have been marking it down to $20 or sometimes less, which is on par with a "greatest hits" game and at that point, it'd be worth jumping on.

SI

greatest hits, or "player's choice" as they call it seem to be selling at $29.95cdn unless they do some real good sale. I talking about online sales, as I didn't check the price the last time I was at wal-mart (when I had Super Monkey Ball in my hands).

I just saw that amazon.ca has the wavebird at $33.96cdn and that's really the lowest I've seen it. At the same time, to compare, they have Smash Bros Melee also at $33.96cdn. I've some supersavers out there at $20cdn, but they're kinda rare...

FM

Well, it's a done deal although Andrew will only know about it on xmas day :) My sister bought the console a couple days ago, the day after I told my mom about it in fact. Kinda funny, she got to talk to some Nintendo enthusiast (my mom says it was a representative from Nintendo that was at a Wal-Mart although I doubt her memory ;)) that talked to her about the upcoming Revolution. My mom was all proud to tell me that any game we'd buy for this console will be completely playable on the new one when it comes out and that that person told her to sort of hold off on buying the more expensive games as price will be coming down with the coming of the new console (that's what makes me doubt him/her being a Nintendo representative ;))...

And yesterday, I picked up three games from the bargain bin they had at the local Wal-Mart. For $18.93cdn each, I got Super Monkey Ball 2, Sonic Megacollection, and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. Super Monkey Ball had been recommended by many in here and after looking carefully at the box, I was reminded why I though it looked cool. It's got some funky sports played by them monkeys like baseball, soccer, tennis, bowling and even billiards. Should be cool to play with the kid :)

The two Sonic game, well I thought would be good startup games. The Megacollection is what the name implies, a collection of about all the early Sonic games all crammed into one box. The Sonic Adventure 2, well I didn't know much about it but thought it looked interesting.

Sad thing though, they were out of the Lego Star Wars even though they had it on shelf last weekend. bummer. That's the one game I really want to get him and I'll be hunting it down in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks again everyone for your comments and suggestions. I know I sort of made it look like a big deal, but to us, it is a big deal. As much the "giving a console to a 8 year old" as the "we don't want to spend too much" part...

If you got any good game suggestions, please feel free to share them. I'm taking notes :)
FM

Awesome to hear! I'm sure you'll all have loads of fun!

You mention the sports in Super Monkey Ball, amazingly the one that I had the most fun with was the 'hang gliding' one where you run off a cliff, open the ball up like a little glider and then try to land on the landing zone. Not sure why, but that one is a blast!

Was that in the "2" or the first one? I'm sure we'll discover much stuff in that game as it seems loaded with a whole lot of stuff. The sports were simply what I saw first. Loads of fun, I'm sure :)

And you know what, I'm looking forward to butting head with my son on these games, actually excited. Almost feels like I'm the one who's the kid getting the toy :D

FM

Yeah, this gift is like the guy getting their wife a bowling ball for their birthday ;). Congrats on the purchase. I'm really considering getting a refurbished one since they are getting pretty cheap (around $60), just for Mario Karts and other Mario games that are out there.

hahaha, hey! I'm not Homer! :D

The one big difference is that my son will be excited about the gift too. Not sure I could say the same about my wife and a bowling ball ;)

FM

I think it was in both of them.

Good call in getting the GC - my sons had one for a year or so and loves it (although he enjoys stealing time on his big sisters Xbox also ... if only to wind her up ;) ).

I'd suggest one of the Mario Party versions as a game which the family can enjoy (its basically a board game with lots of small arcade games in it) - get one of the slightly older ones second hand and it'll be just as much fun as the 'newer' ones ..

thank Marc, always good to hear from a daddy "in the know" ;)

Everything you said is about what I'd pictured about the Gamecube. I'm sure we'll have tons of fun with it.

And don't worry, cutting edge, other than for sports sim ;), isn't really what I'm looking for. Easy entertainment will do it :)
FM

hrm, you edited your reply right as I was writing mine :)

The bundle he will get comes with Mario Party 7 and that too I'm sure will be lots of fun. Even more so that my sister and her husband have a N64 and enjoy playing it, so they'll be sure to stop by every once in a while to come play with me and Andrew :)

FM

The hang gliding one is in both but it's more refined in the 2nd. Basically, it's like Pilotwings and really fun. Had a lot of competition among us science and engineering dorks- trying to play with the physics of it all to get better. Btw, never play a pool or golf game against physics dorks. The four of us who got the most use on it are myself (comp sci), a theoretical physics grad student, an astronomy grad student, and a history major.

I have Sonic Collection. Loved playing particularly Sonic and Sonic 2 again. The Sonic Adventures are a little more iffy- Sonic team just hasn't been able to adapt that well to the new 3d world.

SI

Cool.

I don't have many physics dorks amongst my friend to be honest so we should be all right. :D I may be a geek, but not that big a geek :p

Good to know about the Sonic games. We'll see how much playing time they'll get :)

Thanks again!

FM

Yeah- the physics students are scary when playing those types of games. You just can't win very often against them.

Also, I have the Mega Man Anniversary Collection and it's got Mega Mans 1-7, I think. Those are a bit harder than Sonic, tho.

SI

I saw the Mega Man collection, if not in that bin, somewhere on the net. Harder, but are they fun/entertaining? As prices could drop and as Andrew picks up skills with the Cube, I may include it in my must have for the future...

Funny thing about that bargain bin yesterday. I went to wal-mart during Andrew's karate class that lasts an hour. Had a bunch of other stuff to get in the wal-mart plus had fill up the car prior to that, so I was running almost short on time when I got to that bin. Now, I'm sure you've seen bins like that, games for about every possible gaming console, at least I saw some xbox, PS2, and GBA games in there but at first I couldn't find the one I really wanted to get: Super Monkey Ball. I had seen it last Friday and it right on top. That copy probably got sold or something and the copy I bought yesterday was almost at the very bottom of the big bin. Got it, paid my stuff and got to the karate class with about a minute to spare, games well hidden under the front passenger seat :)

FM

Mega man is quite tough. I don't think I ever beat most of them. Probably one of the most difficult side scrollers around...

I really enjoyed playing the soccer, tennis, and billiards with my young brother-in-law. They should be great fun for you and your kid :)

Yeah, they're not quite as impossible as the original Ninja Turtles but they are hard and you kindof need to read up on them before you play (ie when you beat a boss you get their weapon and some are strong against other bosses and some of the bosses are impossible to beat unless you have one of the weapons that's strong against them). Beating Mega Man 3 is still one of my best gaming accomplishments to date.

As for getting both Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2- it's not all that necessary if you have 2 and he plays that first. It's almost always better to start with the older one and work your way up to subsequent ones because in good gaming series there are quite a few refinements that are added from one game to the next and the interface and gameplay for the older one almost always seems cumbersome by comparison.

SI

Ok, thanks for the info, I may have to think twice about getting that one then. Also thanks to Airhog, re: difficulty.


Yeah, once I got my hand on #2, I kind of thought we'd forget about #1. Will spend the money on other games instead ;)

FM

Thanks, I'm sure they will be great fun, especially in the holiday break, where I expect we will play quite a bit :)

FM

HEY! I resemble that remark! ;) :D :)

Meanwhile, sounds like you and Andrew are going to have a blast with the new toy, FM. :) Just don't be like my mom was with the original NES and Dr. Mario.

My mom and I are both very competitive. Well, she grew sort of addicted to Dr. Mario and wanted to play head-to-head against me all the time. Needless to say, I always won. At some point, she wanted to win so badly that she kept me up, playing against her until midnight or so (on a school night, when I was about 10), just so that I was tired enough that she finally beat me. :D

I don't think it harmed me in any way, but sure as heck is one of the things I'm not likely to forget--ever! ;)

/tk

Sorry tk, I forgot you in my physics major friends, but you're not close enough to come play with us :p


hehehe, funny story. Don't worry, I'm much more the dictator when it comes to screen time. Right now, Andrew is kind of kept to 30 minutes of computer time on school night and he usually gets them while we're getting dinner ready. On the weekends it's something like 30 minutes in the morning and another 30 minutes later on in the day, except if it's a bad rainy day... That was one other reason why we decided to hold off on getting him a console last year. He was asking to go to the computer all the time and was getting whiny/pissed off when we'd explain to him that he had this much computer/TV he could do in a day and he had all used it in the morning. We even had instituted this "coupon" system where every day was worth six 15 minutes coupons. Two of them were PC/TV while the last four were TV only. He got the picture after a week of using them or so. We ditched the coupons a couple months later and now, he doesn't even bother asking for more computer time once he's done with his 30 minutes in the day... For that reason, I thought it would be easier to reason with him about not spending ALL of his time in front of the Cube...

FM

You guys are making me want to run back out and buy a GameCube and every Zelda game available. Last year (two years ago, I don't know), I had one in my hand at WalMart, walked around with it, and just couldn't get myself to buy it. It was the console with the Zelda package for $90. I still have my NES, and a friend and I bought an N64 together when it came out (I sold my share to him later). The Zelda series is my favorite series of games ... period. Arcade, consoles, board, computers, anything.

Damn you. ;)

I don't suppose I should point out that there's Windwaker for Gamecube. Then there's Four swords which is kindof a co-op/competitive Link to the Past looking game (sort of, not quite). Then there's the two combo discs with Ocarina of Time/Master Quest and Zelda (NES)/Zelda 2 (NES)/Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask. And then there's the gameboy player and you could play the old SNES Link to the Past, or new offerings like Link's Awakening (GB), Oracle of Ages/Seasons (GBC), and Minish Cap (GBA). Plus there's the all new Twilight Princess that will be out sometime next year and will no doubt be one of the top three games for the Gamecube ever with Metroid Prime and Resident Evil 4. But that would just be wrong to bring up. ;)

SI

well, just heard from my mom who's gone to her local wal-mart. She bought two games at $18.93cdn a piece and was lucky enough to get two that I had not bought, without even talking to me beforehand! :D

Anyway, she bought "Sonic Heroes" which, from what I read on ign.com, looks like a fun 3D plateformer, and a "Spyro" game. Couldn't tell which one it was (there are two out for the Cube) but it seems like a kid oriented 3D plateformer that Andrew should fun playing...

After recommendation from my sister, she also got the "Namco Museum: 50th anniversary" game for $28cdn. My sister has a similar pack for her N64 and being the child of the late 80s/early 90s that she is, she likes :) Funny thing is, when I told my wife about the games included in that pack (Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Pole Position), she went like "oh wow, I used to play these all the time!". I'm sure she'll log in some Cube time with her son herself ;)

I still have not been able to get my hands on a copy of "Lego Star Wars" but I'm pretty sure we'll see some show up at one point. I just saw that it was released on the Cube much later than on the other two consoles, October 27 in fact, so it should still be on the reorder list of most stores. Even though Andrew's already set to start with many games in his collection (plus two more to talk about in a moment), that one is a must buy. I'll keep hunting for it until I find it. I could go online but when I saw it at Wal-Mart, it had a French title on the front of the box, something like "Lego Star Wars, The Video Game, Le Jeu Vidéo" and since it could turn out to be an adventure like kind of game, I'd rather try to find a game with a French track on it...

The other two games are ones that I ordered from futureshop.ca with a $10cdn rebate when you buy two Gamecube games. I bought Andrew "Spider-Man: The Movie" that even though I've read that the one for the second movie was better and the "Ultimate" one was even better, I know he will flip simpoly because it is Spider-Man :) The second game was the first "daddy" game I bought and I got "Need For Speed Underground". That's the first of the series. Read an interesting review at IGN and thought this could make for some fun. Spider-Man was selling for $20cdn and NFSU was going for $30cdn but with the $10cdn off, I got both of them for $40cdn total and free shipping...

Including the Mario Party bundled with the console, Andrew will have 10 games to choose from, should be plenty to keep him entertained for a while ;)

FM

FM, sounds like you a really hooking Andrew up :)

As far as the spyro game. I don't know which one my Brother-in-law was playing, but he loved it. However, he had difficulties with a lot of areas and needed to ask for fairly frequent help. Andrew might end up needing your help as well to get past certain parts.

If you read most of the thread carefully, you'll see I'm about as giddy as he would be shopping for these things :)

I'm sure I'll end up trying most of the games either before him, or with him watching me so I'll help him out I'm sure...

FM

Urge to kill: RISING!

I am getting a GC for the new Zelda, which is out next year.

I am pumped for that f'ing game.

Can you see the TV with the console from the toliet? Would certainly be an awesome thing if you could. :D

would be awesome until the day happens where you drop the controller in the bowl :D

FM

No, unfortunately there is a wall in the way. Same with the fridge

SI

The Museum and Anniversary collections can be fun. As I said, I have the Mega Man and Sonic ones. Tho both actually have 2 collections (there's a Mega Man X set and a second Sonic collection but all it has is Sonic CD and some junk). I also have the Zelda ones but those are somewhat unique.

SI

I did do that once, not with a controller, but a piece of medical equipment ,that is in my body and I CANNOT lose, flew out as I was flushing the toliet....

I don't think I ever reacted as quickly as that day.

Time for another stupid question... How's the Cube hooked up to the TV? Is it with the same kind of A/V cables as for a DVD?

I'm asking this after seeing this RF adapter over at toysrus.ca. They say that "The Nintendo GameCube RF Switch Set allows you to connect your Nintendo GameCube to an older television or VCR that does not have Audio/Video inputs." I'm thinking that either of the two TVs we currently have would qualify as older TV as one is about 20 years old (19", was used as my C64 monitor, I'm 35, had my C64 when I was 15, you do the math ;)) and the other is easily 15 years (a small 13" that my wife got about two years before we started going out together and in two weeks, it'll be 13 years, again you do the math ;)). In fact, I had to get a box like that to connect our DVD player, although our digital TV box connects to the 19" one through regular coaxial cable. Yeah, I know we're not getting super digital quality by connecting it that way but we're getting a new 27" flat screen JVC for Xmas (my gift, been saving money for a little while now :D).

Then, if I really need an RF adapter thingie, would any adapter of that sort do? As I said, we already have one to hook up the DVD player to the living room TV (the 19" one) and we won't need it once we change the TV, which should happen around xmas time. Could I take that one and hook the Cube through it. What it basically does is take the A/V input from the DVD and puts out a coaxial connection that I then connects to the TV. I'm thinking this should do the trick for the Cube too...

Thanks again for any help...

FM

I'm not entirely sure if the nuts and bolts of your current RF adapter will work but by the sounds of what you describe, it should. That said, I've never tried it so I can't be certain. In other words, I'm useless for knowing about this

BTW, if you know any place that has N64 stuff on clearance, the N64 RF adapter is identical to the Gamecube one so if you can pick up an N64 one for $5 on clearance, do that instead.

SI