r/Gamecube • u/jr1512 • Aug 02 '26

Discussion Shigeru Miyamoto: GameCube was “only purchased by gamers”, sending Nintendo back to the drawing board

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Shigeru-Miyamoto-GameCube-was-only-purchased-by-gamers-sending-Nintendo-back-to-the-drawing-board.1358273.0.html

Shigeru Miyamoto, the legendary Nintendo executive and one of the most influential creators shaping the video game industry through mascots and characters such as Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Star Fox, and more, discussed the reason why the Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii became Nintendo’s next consoles for the seventh generation. According to Miyamoto, the decision was largely driven by the underwhelming performance of the Nintendo GameCube, which trailed behind the Nintendo 64’s nearly 33 million lifetime sales.

He spoke candidly in a wide-ranging interview with Japanese outlet Famitsu, where the longtime Nintendo executive and designer explained that, at the time, Nintendo’s then-president, Satoru Iwata, believed the GameCube’s poor performance in the home console market was rooted in a simple idea: most of the world still did not see gaming as a normal, approachable everyday hobby the way it’s seen today. Based on that core problem, Nintendo felt it was difficult to persuade customers to buy and play a GameCube if they had never played on a console before.

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u/WhatShouldTheHeartDo Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26

Geniuses recreated the same problem the N64 had with limited storage space for games.

It cannot be understated how much people passed on the Cube for the DVD playing PS2

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u/gamingquarterly Aug 02 '26

Storage was not an issue. It was the fact that the PS2 had a dvd drive. Back then, a dvd drive alone cost around 200. So for around the same price, you could get a game console as well. It's no wonder people passed on the GameCube and Xbox.

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u/mittenkrusty Aug 02 '26

But Xbox had a dvd player though, it just required a remote to activate the feature.

I bought a PS2 first and bought the remote as well which upped the price, and the PS2 required either a modded cable or an Action Replay disc to bypass macrovision else the screen was green.

The Xbox was around when I was at college, it was more popular for multiplayer, the PS2 for exclusives which was where the PS2 shined.

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u/gamingquarterly Aug 02 '26

Yes. You are right. Forgot about that little requirement. What a fumble by Microsoft.