It's 2024 and I'm Buying a Nintendo GameCube

Buying a new-to-you retro console is a lovely thing. A complete and well-appraised library ready to be experienced, an array of affordable games, and a wealth of written features, histories and buyer's guides to delve into. You're getting a new piece of hardware to explore, an unfamiliar startup screen to gawk at, and controllers to get to grips with.

A new medium via which you can experience, or relive, a time past. A new box to pour some of your passion into.

While the Nintendo GameCube isn't quite brand new to me, I've never owned one myself. However, I'm planning on changing that very soon. 

Aside from chasing the new-console high, the decision to buy a GameCube was partially inspired by talk of Eternal Darkness a few weeks ago on The Back Page pod. I'm a sucker for historical-timeline-switching, and being that it's only playable on GameCube, Eternal Darkness is the perfect excuse for a console purchase. I was semi-familiar with it beforehand, but not overly, and I find that that's the exact kind of game that will inspire hardware purchases, where a baseline comprehension can quickly develop into something much more when encouraged by the passion of others.

I also love the idea of having an orange console with four matching controllers, because I'm simple. An orange system, with a handle, that plays tiny discs - in an age of monstrously large, and monstrously ugly hardware, who wouldn't want that? Aesthetically, the GameCube is exceedingly pleasing, be it in Indigo, Jet Black or Pearl White. But especially when it's Spice Orange.

I suppose I could just buy a Wii, which is back-compatible with GC software and far cheaper. But it's not orange, is it. Also, by the time I've bought the controllers, there probably wouldn't be much in it, price-wise. Plus, I've got a Wii back in the UK, and no one needs two. So yeah, I'm buying a GameCube.

As with most of my retro purchases, nostalgia is at play here. I have very fond memories of TimeSplitters 2 on my friend's GameCube back in university. Also, when I first moved to Japan in the mid-2000s, one of my housemates and good friends had a purple GameCube. I remember Killer 7 getting a lot of attention at that time, as well as Mario Sunshine and maybe a Burnout; I played through three quarters of Resident Evil 4 before a change of job and address forced me to abandon it. Twenty years later, and the GameCube and I still have unfinished business.

I've already started making a to-play list, and I welcome all recommendations. Eternal Darkness aside, I've always been curious about Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, even if it is a little pricey. REmake, Resident Evil 0 and RE4 are available elsewhere, but there's something quite appealing about experiencing them where they first lived. Ditto for Mario Sunshine and Super Monkey Ball. I'd like to get to Viewtiful Joe, and while I know it's not great, P.N.0.3 appeals to my fondness for janky action games. NBA Street V3 is definitely getting bought so I can dunk on Mario. I love that series so much. 

In general, GC prices haven't ballooned in the way that prices for Xbox and PS2 games have, and I don't think there are any titles of interest that are prohibitively expensive. Also, I don't mind going disc-only, which will save me a lot of money and shelf space. Japanese cases are an absolute disaster - a clear plastic box with a cardboard sleeve that is guaranteed to be dog-eared - so I have no issue with doing away with the packaging and taking the cheaper route.

 

I've really been enjoying revisiting older platforms of late, having played more 6th and 7th gen titles than I have current-gen games over the last six weeks. Aside from the rush that comes with finding joy in older experiences, it's also rather satisfying ticking things off my to-play list. With my imminent GameCube purchase, that list is about to get significantly longer, and I'm feeling pretty good about it.