Nintendo Gamecube Vs. Microsoft Xbox

by Michael Fontanini

        Have you ever wondered whether the GameCube is better than the Xbox or vice versa? If you are not an avid video gamer, this can be a hard decision for you to make. In this debate, like many others, there is no definitive right or wrong answer. While making your decision, watch out for those people who are almost religious about their stance in this debate because they will likely try to make you believe that they are right rather than give you unbiased information about both sides . Both console gaming systems have their pros and cons, but the Nintendo GameCube is the better of the two.
        One of the great things about the Nintendo GameCube is its small size. It takes up a very small amount of space, which is good if you have a small cabinet under your TV. The GameCube's small size allows you to have space in your cabinet for other things, like a VCR or maybe an older console gaming system like the Nintendo64. You could put the GameCube on top of the VCR and put the Nintendo64 or something else beside it.
        Comparatively, length and width wise, the Xbox is about 4 times the size of the GameCube, and it has a height that is a little greater than the height of a VCR. Overall, the Xbox is a little bigger than a VCR. So as you can see, the Xbox was not made to be small.
        The Gamecube's small size has another big advantage. The Gamecube is extremely portable. It even has a handle built right onto it for convenience. You can carry it by the handle, or stick it in a bag and it won't fill the whole bag. Even when you put the controllers and the games into the bag with it, you should still have some room to spare, depending on how many controllers and games you take with you on your trip, whether it be a trip to a friend's house, or a longer trip.
        The Xbox, on the other hand, is not nearly so portable. It will, all by itself, fill up your bag. Where will you put the controllers and games then? The Xbox also weighs a great deal more than the Gamecube, making it less than fun to lug around. The controllers for the Xbox are quite large as well. Representative of public opinion of the Xbox controllers, an article appeared in the December 2001 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine; it compared the two systems. In this article, the author says that one of the editors of Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine described the Xbox controller as being like a loaf of bread with two joysticks poking out of it.
        Some Xbox supporters will note the fact that games for the Nintendo Gamecube are on mini discs as a bad thing. They may say the use of these smaller discs limits the maximum possible size of the games. However, this is not the case, as the games can have more than one disc. Also, the fact that games for the Gamecube are on mini discs makes piracy of the games more difficult. Piracy is making copies of a game and giving it to others. Despite Microsoft's anti-piracy schemes and precautions, some xbox games have already been pirated, so game developers will feel a little less secure developing for the Xbox.
        Many Xbox backers will also tell you that the Xbox is better because it has a hard drive built in. It is a fairly large hard drive which gives you plenty of room for saving your progress in games. However, it is not used only for that. The Xbox creates a partial install of each of your games on its hard drive. This is so that it doesn't have to access its CD drive as often and so the games run a bit better.
        On the other hand, the GameCube has far more memory than the Xbox. This is because it preloads information off the disc and then reads it from its memory. This is faster than trying to constantly read everything from the CD drive as it is needed. This solution should also be a bit faster than the Xbox's solution of a built-in hard drive and partial installs of games on it because RAM is faster than a hard drive. RAM stands for random access memory.
        Another thing some Xbox supporters may tell you, is that Xbox's have the ability to be networked together. But when you think about it, how often do lots of people get together in one place with their console systems? Not very often. So the ability to network Xbox's together is useless in most cases and is therefore something extra you're paying for that you'll likely never use. It's just another computer trait that the Xbox doesn't need. The Xbox is actually more like a desktop computer than a console system.
        If you are looking for a console gaming system to suit the whole family, the Gamecube is the better choice. The Nintendo Gamecube is more family oriented than is the Xbox. The Xbox is targeted more towards older gamers, whereas the Nintendo Gamecube is targeted towards all ages. Some Xbox supporters will say Nintendo is too kiddy. While it is true that Nintendo targets kids more than Microsoft does, Nintendo itself is not overly kiddy in its image. Some of the games may be kiddy, but those games are obviously the ones that are made for younger kids. There are games out for the Nintendo Gamecube that are targeted at teens and up. Examples are Metroid Prime and Resident Evil 0. In fact, Peter MacDougall, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Nintendo of America Inc., was quoted in an article that appeared on Nintendo.com around the time Metroid Prime came out. In this article about the release of Metroid Prime and Resident Evil 0, he was quoted as saying "Both of these games are selling through at rates well beyond any game launched this year for Microsoft Xbox, which is skewed almost exclusively at older players." In fact, this article stated that Metroid Prime had sold over a quarter of a million copies in just its first 10 days of being available in stores.
        Another advantage that the Nintendo Gamecube has over Microsoft's Xbox, is that the newest games in such classic game franchises as Super Mario are exclusive to the Nintendo, meaning that they are available only for the Gamecube and future Nintendo console systems. A game franchise is a series of games, like the Super Mario series. Other examples include The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Starfox, all of which are Nintendo exclusives just like Super Mario. Older gamers will remember the classic original games in each of these franchises that they grew up with, and so the new games in these franchises have a bit of nostalgia for them.
        Reliability is another concern. You don't want to buy something that doesn't work or works for a while and then breaks before you get your money's worth of usage out of it. The Gamecube is more reliable than the Xbox. In fact, Travis Sailsbury, an avid video gamer, says that he has seen seven Xboxes break and/or get taken back, and only one gamecube get sent in for repairs.
        The Nintendo Gamecube will be around for several years to come before Nintendo comes out with its next console system. This is good. It allows game developers time to learn to develop for the system and put out many games for it. It also allows gamers a chance to get all the games they want for the system well before the next console system comes out, so they don't get left behind.
        On the other hand, Xbox2 could be released before the Playstation 3. If the Xbox2 does not support games for the Xbox, then those who purchased the original will be screwed out of some money and have to keep both systems if they want to be able to play games they have for either system. It's not a good sign when a company puts out a new console a little over a year after the original. That's a possible indication that something was wrong with the original, or they are perhaps crazy? Nintendo, Sega, and Sony wait several years before putting out a new console system. It would be silly to put out a new console every year. Putting out a new console system every year would be a waste of money to design and produce a new one every single year. Game developers would not have time to develop for one system before they would have to learn to develop for another, and gamers would have to constantly buy new console systems to keep up. That would not really be cheap for anyone. In any case, we'll have to wait and see just what Microsoft does.
        In conclusion, you've now seen many advantages that the Gamecube has over the Xbox. It is small, light weight, and extremely portable. It also has the newest games in such classic game franchises as Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Starfox. Also, there are games out for the Gamecube that are targeted at all age groups. Now you should have a good idea of which console system is right for you.

Works Cited
(2001, December). Xbox vs. Gamecube. Electronic Gaming Monthly, 149, 212-221

"Metroid Prime Sales Hit Quarter Million Mark" Nintendo. 27 Nov. 2002. Nintendo of America Inc. 30 Nov. 2002. <www.nintendo.com>.

Sailsbury, Travis. Personal Interview. 3 Dec. 2002.

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	Nintendo Gamecube Vs. Microsoft Xbox by Michael Fontanini
	Have you ever wondered whether the GameCube is better than the Xbox or vice versa? If you are not an avid video gamer, this can be a hard decision for you to make. In this debate, like many others, there is no definitive right or wrong answer. While making your decision, watch out for those people who are almost religious about their stance in this debate because they will likely try to make you believe that they are right rather than give you unbiased information about both sides . Both console gaming systems have their pros and cons, but the Nintendo GameCube is the better of the two. One of the great things about the Nintendo GameCube is its small size. It takes up a very small amount of space, which is good if you have a small cabinet under your TV. The GameCube's small size allows you to have space in your cabinet for other things, like a VCR or maybe an older console gaming system like the Nintendo64. You could put the GameCube on top of the VCR and put the Nintendo64 or something else beside it. Comparatively, length and width wise, the Xbox is about 4 times the size of the GameCube, and it has a height that is a little greater than the height of a VCR. Overall, the Xbox is a little bigger than a VCR. So as you can see, the Xbox was not made to be small. The Gamecube's small size has another big advantage. The Gamecube is extremely portable. It even has a handle built right onto it for convenience. You can carry it by the handle, or stick it in a bag and it won't fill the whole bag. Even when you put the controllers and the games into the bag with it, you should still have some room to spare, depending on how many controllers and games you take with you on your trip, whether it be a trip to a friend's house, or a longer trip. The Xbox, on the other hand, is not nearly so portable. It will, all by itself, fill up your bag. Where will you put the controllers and games then? The Xbox also weighs a great deal more than the Gamecube, making it less than fun to lug around. The controllers for the Xbox are quite large as well. Representative of public opinion of the Xbox controllers, an article appeared in the December 2001 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine; it compared the two systems. In this article, the author says that one of the editors of Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine described the Xbox controller as being like a loaf of bread with two joysticks poking out of it. Some Xbox supporters will note the fact that games for the Nintendo Gamecube are on mini discs as a bad thing. They may say the use of these smaller discs limits the maximum possible size of the games. However, this is not the case, as the games can have more than one disc. Also, the fact that games for the Gamecube are on mini discs makes piracy of the games more difficult. Piracy is making copies of a game and giving it to others. Despite Microsoft's anti-piracy schemes and precautions, some xbox games have already been pirated, so game developers will feel a little less secure developing for the Xbox. Many Xbox backers will also tell you that the Xbox is better because it has a hard drive built in. It is a fairly large hard drive which gives you plenty of room for saving your progress in games. However, it is not used only for that. The Xbox creates a partial install of each of your games on its hard drive. This is so that it doesn't have to access its CD drive as often and so the games run a bit better. On the other hand, the GameCube has far more memory than the Xbox. This is because it preloads information off the disc and then reads it from its memory. This is faster than trying to constantly read everything from the CD drive as it is needed. This solution should also be a bit faster than the Xbox's solution of a built-in hard drive and partial installs of games on it because RAM is faster than a hard drive. RAM stands for random access memory. Another thing some Xbox supporters may tell you, is that Xbox's have the ability to be networked together. But when you think about it, how often do lots of people get together in one place with their console systems? Not very often. So the ability to network Xbox's together is useless in most cases and is therefore something extra you're paying for that you'll likely never use. It's just another computer trait that the Xbox doesn't need. The Xbox is actually more like a desktop computer than a console system. If you are looking for a console gaming system to suit the whole family, the Gamecube is the better choice. The Nintendo Gamecube is more family oriented than is the Xbox. The Xbox is targeted more towards older gamers, whereas the Nintendo Gamecube is targeted towards all ages. Some Xbox supporters will say Nintendo is too kiddy. While it is true that Nintendo targets kids more than Microsoft does, Nintendo itself is not overly kiddy in its image. Some of the games may be kiddy, but those games are obviously the ones that are made for younger kids. There are games out for the Nintendo Gamecube that are targeted at teens and up. Examples are Metroid Prime and Resident Evil 0. In fact, Peter MacDougall, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Nintendo of America Inc., was quoted in an article that appeared on Nintendo.com around the time Metroid Prime came out. In this article about the release of Metroid Prime and Resident Evil 0, he was quoted as saying "Both of these games are selling through at rates well beyond any game launched this year for Microsoft Xbox, which is skewed almost exclusively at older players." In fact, this article stated that Metroid Prime had sold over a quarter of a million copies in just its first 10 days of being available in stores. Another advantage that the Nintendo Gamecube has over Microsoft's Xbox, is that the newest games in such classic game franchises as Super Mario are exclusive to the Nintendo, meaning that they are available only for the Gamecube and future Nintendo console systems. A game franchise is a series of games, like the Super Mario series. Other examples include The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Starfox, all of which are Nintendo exclusives just like Super Mario. Older gamers will remember the classic original games in each of these franchises that they grew up with, and so the new games in these franchises have a bit of nostalgia for them. Reliability is another concern. You don't want to buy something that doesn't work or works for a while and then breaks before you get your money's worth of usage out of it. The Gamecube is more reliable than the Xbox. In fact, Travis Sailsbury, an avid video gamer, says that he has seen seven Xboxes break and/or get taken back, and only one gamecube get sent in for repairs. The Nintendo Gamecube will be around for several years to come before Nintendo comes out with its next console system. This is good. It allows game developers time to learn to develop for the system and put out many games for it. It also allows gamers a chance to get all the games they want for the system well before the next console system comes out, so they don't get left behind. On the other hand, Xbox2 could be released before the Playstation 3. If the Xbox2 does not support games for the Xbox, then those who purchased the original will be screwed out of some money and have to keep both systems if they want to be able to play games they have for either system. It's not a good sign when a company puts out a new console a little over a year after the original. That's a possible indication that something was wrong with the original, or they are perhaps crazy? Nintendo, Sega, and Sony wait several years before putting out a new console system. It would be silly to put out a new console every year. Putting out a new console system every year would be a waste of money to design and produce a new one every single year. Game developers would not have time to develop for one system before they would have to learn to develop for another, and gamers would have to constantly buy new console systems to keep up. That would not really be cheap for anyone. In any case, we'll have to wait and see just what Microsoft does. In conclusion, you've now seen many advantages that the Gamecube has over the Xbox. It is small, light weight, and extremely portable. It also has the newest games in such classic game franchises as Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Starfox. Also, there are games out for the Gamecube that are targeted at all age groups. Now you should have a good idea of which console system is right for you. Works Cited (2001, December). Xbox vs. Gamecube. Electronic Gaming Monthly, 149, 212-221 "Metroid Prime Sales Hit Quarter Million Mark" Nintendo. 27 Nov. 2002. Nintendo of America Inc. 30 Nov. 2002. <www.nintendo.com>. Sailsbury, Travis. Personal Interview. 3 Dec. 2002. Go Back to Writing Hompage