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 As this hobby of ours levels off and the initial rush of collectors begins weeding out those who aren't as dedicated, have grown bored or can no longer afford it, we begin to read deeper into the trends that are developed by those who have stuck it out for several years. You begin to notice these trends when chatting about certain systems or about one's progress towards their personal goals or reading about a huge score. One trend in particular that I have found both interesting and somewhat disguised is for someone to have in their collection, a system or several systems that they don't particularly care for or play, but insist it's a worthy investment and have no wish to part with. No one seems to talk about it openly but you can read between the lines on what they honestly think of it. I call this trend " system pity". System pity is owning a system you don't play, and buying games you care nothing for or only have a minor interest in, because you think it should sit on your shelf to complete your collection. Maybe you feel you've missed out on something by not having one. Maybe you can't understand why it was popular but every once in a while, you pop in a game and try to figure it out for yourself. Not to be confused with buying an obscure system or a rare one, system pity is directed more towards a system you have experience with, yet have no real love for. My personal object of system pity is the Nintendo Gamecube, and on a lesser scale, the Nintendo 64. Now I'm not going to turn this into a bashing article, as that is not my intent. Not every video game system made appeals to every gamer ever born. That's a simple truth we can all appreciate. I had a Gamecube early in it's lifecycle. It had some good games I honestly enjoyed like Star Wars Rogue Squadron II and Wave Race: Blue Storm. What it didn't have was enough games to warrant keeping one in my living room, prompting me to get rid of it later on. Much of my distaste for it came from how the games were being made and it's reliance on 1st party games to keep it afloat. Games similar in philosophy and style to the N64 library, which also has a few great games but not a well rounded library. Of course the horrible controller didn't help matters much either, especially if you have large hands. Later on when the Wii came out several friends who knew I collected offered their Gamecubes to me, some with games, accessories etc. I didn't accept any of them because I honestly had no idea what I'd do with them. Free is free sure but if all it would do is sit in the closet untouched, well there's not much point in having it now is there? Then at some point later on, a large assortment of Gamecubes, memory cards, controllers, games etc just seemed to be falling into my lap. Brand new stuff, top rated games etc. were finding their way into my hands and it quickly gathered into a decent collection of titles and hardware one could be proud of. I started reading about other gamers and collector's experiences with the Gamecube and why they enjoyed it so much. I talked with friends and family who have fond memories of that system and hoped the Wii would provide the same enjoyment for them. Although for the most part I didn't share in these opinions of these games, I decided then and there that having a Gamecube collection could be a shameless indulgence of mine. I still look at the little toyish looking system with the dinky fisher price controllers and wonder how it even accomplished what it did. Oddly enough it was the one and only mainstream game system I didn't own. That's where the pity started. So now as I type this, 7 feet away from a Gamecube that has been hooked into my AV hub for who knows how long, I don't question having it anymore. Sure it gets less usage than my R-Zone, gathers more dust than my TRS-80, but the pity I feel for Nintendo's 3rd and decidedly weakest machine, cements it's place in my collection. And someday, with patience and an open mind, I just may figure out what all the fuss was about. So, have you got a system you own just to own? Something you have just for the sake of having and to round out your collection? Maybe something you keep hooked up because it seems popular with your friends and guests who enjoy playing it at your house? What's your object of system pity?
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I guess I have a few, mostly the Intellivision, TI-99/4A,and Colecovision. I only bought them because they were dirt cheap, I really had no intention of ever playing them. In fact, the only one I've ever hooked up was the TI.
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Man gamecube really wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. The only thing it lacked was a plethora of games, particularly 3rd party games. The first and second party games are pretty much all fantastic and even has some of the best games ever made such as Metroid Prime, Windwaker, F-zero and Melee. Also there's a decent amount of other solid first party and second party games such as Pikmin 2, Mario Kart and Sunshine. Also, though the 3rd party support was limited, there were some undoubtebly fantastic exclusives such as Twin Snakes (my personal favorite MGS as of now), the generally considered superior version of RE4, Skies of Arcadia Legends which is highly praised by everyone who has played it, Tales of Symphonia which is highly regarded as the best Tales of game, Baten Kaitos which is the only game the Chrono Trigger team worked on besides Cross, and I'm sure there are some other games that I haven't listed.
But yeah, I agree the Gamecube did have a bit of a poor showing. But think about it, the Xbox could be considered exactly the same if you don't like FPSs or Western RPGs. The only truly spectacular system last year was the PS2 imo.
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Gamecube had a much better game selection than Xbox.
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The only reason I bought a Genesis or a 32X was because my fiance' grew up with those and I thought she'd enjoy playing themm again.
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Personally I really like the Gamecube, it's the only last generation system i still have. It has damn load of great exclusives like paper mario, mario kart dd, warioware, ikaruga (for the west), baten kaitos and many more. Which makes it extra great is the gb palyer with special controler which converts it over into the ultimate 16-bit retro system with loads of extra great games.
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The Gamecube's lifecycle and success is reflected in it's "vast popularity" and "legendary legacy/". So much so Nintendo had to practically re-invent themselves to distance themselves from it.
In any case I'm not bashing the Gamecube like I said, I just don't "get it". Yet I've begun collecting for it regardless, to fill that gap in.
I also like the look of CIB N64 games on the shelf, and in some ways I collect for that for no reason other than variety.
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Sigh, how many hours did we spend debating this Tan?
I did try to give ya GC stuff to ya near 2 years ago and nope he wouldn't take it.(allot of it to)
As always though I respect your opinion and still say its not to late to get your butt kicked in Smash Brothers ya bugger.
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@Tan:I disagree with this statement here.
Innovation is Nintendo's strength. Setting standards is something they just do.
Re-invention I say definitely not.
Now if you said Nintendo was pigheaded and ignores the obvious I would completely agree then.
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@Tri4ce1:
Absolutely agree here. They didn't try to reinvent themselves. They decided to make the DS while the GBA was selling like crazy.
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Wouldn't the Gamecube be Nintendo's 4th system?
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@Mezmoron:
Oh yeah, forgot about the NES. Happens a lot.
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@Shimra:
Blue Ocean strategy, no longer designing for hardware power, dramatically different control, usage of standard media format versus proprietary, game design philosophy, even the look of the machine itself, there's no Nintendo game system curves on that, it's cosmopolitan to say the least. Backwards compatibility? This is the same company who once said no one buys older games, now they sell their and seemingly everyone else's on VC.
Gamecube was all about traditional gaming machines with no extra functionality, the Wii all about becoming an entertainment hub you can surf, look at pictures, chat, vote, and oh yeah, play games on. Hell yeah they re-invented themselves, and they started this ball rolling with the DS. A good thing they did too, we all know the deathwatch being talked about in hushed tones with the Gamecube sliding into third place and 3rd parties abandoning ship, Nintendo jumped overboard before it sank as well. They even took the last great Cube games and exploited their new machine with them instead.
Now try and convince me that the business practices and direction under Iwata is anything similar to Yamauchi. This is a Wii Fit, Touch Generation, no tie, beatnik Nintendo, not the Iron handed, cut throat, board of businessmen catering to gamers only that it was.
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I agree with you Tan. You can see that their business plan is tailor made to be more affordable, less powerful and reliant of gimmicks. Not that it's a bad thing. I enjoy my Wii (it's the only current gen. console I own), and I have fallen in love with my DS. It would just be silly to think that they didn't take a look at the landscape of the industry, knowing full-well their standing, and decided to take a chance. Luckily for them, it looks like it's working.
And in response to your column, the system I keep around and don't play is definitely my Atari 2600 stuff. I haven't paid for any of it. and I've even gone as far as to give away stuff (a number of games, 2 7800 decks [oops!] and a 2600 deck), but I still have 3 consoles and nearly 100 games. I don't pity it, I just don't play it.
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@Bad Enough Dude:
You say Nintendo's offerings gimmicks... do they really view their offerings as a gimmick, or is it rather you that find their latest consoles gimmicks? Dual Screens are a gimmick. Touch Screens are gimmicks. Motion control is a gimmick. Damn Nintendo for trying to do something different. Turned out it worked out pretty damn well for them. Gimmick this, gimmick that. Bah, want a gimmick? Why don't you go buy BMX XXX? Now that game has gimmicks!
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I wasn't scoffing at it. They are gimmicks. I like what they are doing. I thought I made that clear when I said that the only new console I have is the Wii, and I love the DS. Gimmicks aren't a bad thing. It gives them a clear advantage versus other companies.
It's ingenious really, because they found a way to market less powerful hardware. If they offered a console like the Wii and made it just another basic console, it would have sold extremely poorly. I don't think anyone can argue that. Sure, Nintendo loyalists might have gotten it, but they'd be in the same position they were in when they released the GameCube.
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@Bad Enough Dude:
Apologies, but to me gimmick has very negative connotations. I would liken what Nintendo is doing hardware wise to innovation. Software wise, at least for the Wii, seems to be uncreative though, but I have faith that someone will blow open the realm of possibilities by taking a risk.
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I have to say the Game Cube too. It didn't grab me like other systems have. I found more enjoyment out of my JPN GC games than the US. The game I played the most? Animal Crossing.
Also the N64 is pretty low on my list. Maybe I've just never found the games that wow me. I have some of the good stuff and they are great, but it's still not be hooked up in years.
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@Mezmoron: Ditto
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I think I the GameCube as more play time for me then any other last gen system. I played PSO a ton. Granted that and Tony Hawk 3 are the only games I played on it. I tried a few other for maybe an hour but thats it. Hell I even got the Cube at launch.
System I have that I pity are the SMS and Intellivision. Granted the Intelli I have is the one I had since a kid. Seems like no one like the Intelli because the controller. But I dont rip on those people for that. The SMS because the NES gets so much love and the SMS gets none. Those are the only ones I pity.
I have lots of systems in my collection that I never play and probably never will but they don't have my pity.
Nice article Keith.
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I guess my pity stems mostly from the fact that Nintendo couldn't appeal to me during the Gamecube's life cycle. The hardware was well made and i can appreciate the polish it's 1st party games have, it just didn't offer much I was interested in.
I'd pity the SMS and Intelli too if I didn't love them so damn much. 
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I like Smash Bros.
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