Nintendo stops Cube production

By Robert Purchese Published 22 February, 2007

American boss spills beans.

We were recently fondly reminded of an E3 where grown men screamed over a solitary purple plastic box, the very same hardware Nintendo of America has confirmed it is no longer supporting.

No new GameCubes will be produced it said, and first party game production has also been stopped - which isn't outrageously surprising, but does bring a little fanboy-tear to our eyes.

"Are we producing any more GameCubes? No," Perrin Kaplan, vice president of Nintendo America told GameDaily.

When asked if the gaming-giant was no longer supporting the platform by not releasing any new games, Kaplan ominously replied, "Right, that's correct".

Unfortunately Nintendo UK was unavailable for comment at the time of writing, but we expect there's little to deny in these words of wounding. Sob.

However, don't despair, you can still buy the console in some reaches of the world for not very much money at all, and there are plenty of stonking games on the platform to keep you entertained.

We suggest you keep a sharp eye on the prices as we get closer to an official announcement, as they're likely to plummet.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (52) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • AcidSnake #1 5 years ago

    What about software prices though?

    There are still a few games I would like to play before they disappear...

    Killer 7
    Ikaruga....Errr...I'm sure there are others I'm slightly forgetting...

  • JackyB #2 5 years ago

    :-*(

  • Aretak #3 5 years ago

    "What about software prices though?"

    No chance of those going down, thanks to all the Wii owners buying up Cube games as well now.

  • jonsaan #4 5 years ago

    plenty of stonking games on the platform to keep you entertained.

    If you can find somewhere that sells the bastard things that is. Gamestations collection of Casper/bionicle games doesn't count btw.

  • bdc #5 5 years ago

    Go away you rubbish little console.

  • bushwod #6 5 years ago

    I picked up Metroid 2 from GAME the other day before it disappears into oblivion. I hope to play it on my wii before number 3 is out.
    Edited by 1 at 22/02/07 @ 16:31

  • Killerbee #7 5 years ago

    /sheds tear

    Even though my little black box is pretty much in retirement since I got my Wii, I'll still hold onto it - not least because I want to keep the controller as a spare to my Wavebird and I'd probably struggle to sell it without...

    Maybe now would be a good time for a retrospective article on the Cube's comparatively short life and a run down of games we may have missed and should now be scouring the second hand bins for? (hint, hint!)

  • Darren #8 5 years ago

    For me the GameCube died over a year ago as that's the last time I bought a game for it. Yes, it did get the new Zelda: Twilight Princess game but I bought that on the Wii instead.

    R.I.P.

  • lambtron #9 5 years ago

    Goodbye old friend.

  • dryfish #10 5 years ago

    Chibi-Robo!

  • X201 #11 5 years ago

    A re-issue of Resi 4 would be nice.
    I've just had to buy a US import because everyone on Ebay wants full price for their second hand UK copy :(

  • Freelancepolice #12 5 years ago

    go away you rubbish little troll

    anyway plenty of cube action with the wii

  • quantumsheep #13 5 years ago

    They're Dead. They're all Dead.

    =(

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #14 5 years ago

    /salutes with tear in eye

  • playgen #15 5 years ago

    A re-print of Zelda would be most welcome, cube copies of the game are fetching silly money on ebay, money nintendo is missing out on the silly fools

  • X201 #16 5 years ago

    "go away you rubbish little troll"

    Who?

  • AcidSnake #17 5 years ago

    Chibi-robo!
    Almost forgot about that one...Need...

    Resi 4....Already got that one...But just the mention of it is enough to make me play it one of these days in glorious Wii-O-Vision...

  • Xexyz #18 5 years ago

    No new Gamecube's *what* are being produced?

  • dadrester #19 5 years ago

    poor dreamcast... oh wrong thread

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #20 5 years ago

    No new Gamecube's *what* are being produced?

    Arrgh god, just when I think I'm error-free. Thanks for being sharper than me!

  • Xerx3s #21 5 years ago

    For me the GC died after I finished RE4. I didn't buy a game for it after that.

  • Freelancepolice #22 5 years ago

    X201, it was aimed at bdc in jest i might add

  • in5ane #23 5 years ago

    Yes they still are producing new cubes, it's just they have slimmer white cases now :D
    badum-tish

  • peterfll #24 5 years ago

    @bdc

    Go away you rubbish little forumite

  • Royal Fool #25 5 years ago

    *sob*

  • wizbob #26 5 years ago

    That headline caused me to breathe in sharply, if this Cube breaks I won't be able to get a new one to play F-Zero GX NTSC + Freeloader anymore. Luckily the backwards compatibility is rock solid so it's not an issue for the rest of my games.

    I still want to track down Pikmin, Chibi-Robo and a few others but I'm worried that even mentioning them here will cause the eBay prices to shoot up.

  • JuanKerr #27 5 years ago

    Yes, it looked silly and yes, there were many games droughts, but I loved my little Gamecube - it gave me so many hours of fun and it will continue to sit proudly next to my Wii at home.

    RIP Gamecube.

  • the_sas_man #28 5 years ago

    Erm - can't you play all the gamecube game on the wii anyway?

    So what is the big deal?

  • MARKIV #29 5 years ago

    I'd of thought they'd of stopped production of the Cube way back around last September in order to start ramping up the Wii production. If they didn't, is it no suprise there's a Wii shortage right now!

    Anyway, I'm still waiting for my Black Wii, to go with my Black Cube, plus a few more AAA 1st party Wii only games too !! :)

  • GamesConnoisseur #30 5 years ago

    I got a huge library of NTSC Gamecube games, I tried freeloader on Wii, doesnt work! So holding onto my Gamecube. I think it is the most failed of Nintendo platform in a sense as N64 was more distinct and whilst too many developers initially supported GC only to drop it and thus sinking even faster.

    However the GC games itself should not die unforgotten, should new Wii owners never sampled the delights of Metroid Prime 1,2, Res Evil remake and so on on Wii. So would hope Ninty push these kind of classic range as budget titles, especially when Wii is selling like hot potatoes!

    EDIT: Got new Freeloader 1.0E today and sure enough it worked fine with my NTSC titles
    Edited by 1 at 24/02/07 @ 19:13

  • Beano #31 5 years ago

    "Nintendo stops Cube production"

    Nonsense!

    GameCube is still being produced... it's just called "Wii" and is bundled with a fancy controller ;)

  • #32 5 years ago

    Maybe now would be a good time for a retrospective article on the Cube's comparatively short life...

    Perhaps not quite what you had in mind but a good article to give the Cube a good send-off.

    http://ar stechnica.com/staff/fatbits.ars...
    Edited by 1 at 22/02/07 @ 17:53

  • tiddles #33 5 years ago

    I got a huge library of NTSC Gamecube games, I tried freeloader on Wii, doesnt work!

    You need to get the latest version of Freeloader... most NTSC games will play fine on a PAL Wii with it.

  • lefizz #34 5 years ago

    I for one aren't remotely sadden by the news. The cueb was probably the worst console ninty ever produced in terms of classic game produced ont he sytem. I bought one quite early on and apart from a few stand out titles i never really enjoyed the syste. It only real strength was as a counter point to PS and Xbox machismo and as such probably helped certain games such a Ico and Pysconaughts get green lighted.

    If you want to get dewy eye about ninty systems at least choose decent ones such as the NES, SNES and N64. N64 now that WAS a system

  • playgen #35 5 years ago

    Nintendo seemed to give up on Gamecube early on - too many simple updates to franchise games that didnt make enough improvements, and they didnt bother paying out to get exclusive games, or make sure games like GTA III got ported.

    Still at least Resident Evil 4 did come out on cube, and for that reason alone its one of the best systems ever.

  • quantumsheep #36 5 years ago

    "You need to get the latest version of Freeloader... most NTSC games will play fine on a PAL Wii with it."

    Which version is that? Play are doing version 1.06b for £12.99 - will that work?

    Cheers,

    G ;)

  • coderkind #37 5 years ago

    I'm definately keeping hold of my cube. Got a GBA Player stuck in the bottom of it for retro GB Color action, and Freeloader doesn't work in my Wii.

    The Freeloader situation is worrying; even if the latest version does apparently work, nothing's stopping Nintendo from blocking newer versions via software updates.

  • spongebob #38 5 years ago

    Since there are some very good mod chips for Wii already, I am wondering if it's even wise to buy a GC second hand. The mod chips allegedly do what FreeLoader does for both, Wii and GC games. Maybe I could buy a GameCube if I saw it for dirt cheap. Otherwise I think I am going to buy a Wii somewhere in the future, when there's some interesting games for it.

  • SeesThroughAll #39 5 years ago

    The Cube had a few fab games (RE4, probably the best version of MGS1), a shame it didn't get more support.

  • Kengro #40 5 years ago

    Well
    Here my Nintendo time stops... I'm not getting the wii, i'm always looking for driving games and i don't think the wii can deliver in this genre

  • smelly #41 5 years ago

    Mario kart?

    But I dont understand driving games.. surely its a case of play one, played them all?

  • Geowolf #42 5 years ago

    Actually, more important here. And I'm sure that Eurogamer will get round to investigating a point as obvious as that which I'm about to make. With the Wii not allowing Backwards compatibility via the classic remote but requiring original controllers, will Nintendo still be making their original controllers or are they relegating one of the Wii's biggest features onto the decay heap?

  • taucias #43 5 years ago

    They stopped supporting the GC when Super Paper Mario was quietly shifted to a Wii project. I personally get sick and tired of the way they treat their userbase.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #44 5 years ago

    Well
    Here my Nintendo time stops... I'm not getting the wii, i'm always looking for driving games and i don't think the wii can deliver in this genre

    Probably not the type of racing game you mean but Excite Truck is awesome. I understand your worries though. I still cannot quite picture playing Mario Kart with the wiimote but I could not picture Excite Truck with the wiimote too. But playing it for a mere 5 minutes it just felt right and it works incredibly well. The wiimote cannot deliver force feedback but I doubt that there will never be a serious racing game for the wii. Not as much as for the 360 and PS3 possibly because racing games like to show off their graphics.

    taucias: They stopped supporting the GC when Super Paper Mario was quietly shifted to a Wii project. I personally get sick and tired of the way they treat their userbase.

    The cube is definetly the console that got dropped by Nintendo the earliest after a new console arrived. But I think you cannot really be mad at Nintendo now - you should have been a year ago when the cube had already one or even both feet in the grave. Nintendo has limited resources concerning home consoles, they cannot really afford to support old consoles for much longer. Especially not consoles like the cube and partially the N64 (but not as much as the cube) which were both dead before their successors were released. You can look however for the ongoing support of the GBA although the DS has already it's second revision out.

  • tiddles #45 5 years ago

    Which version is that? Play are doing version 1.06b for £12.99 - will that work?

    The version that works is the very last one made for the Cube (works on the PAL Platinum Cube)... not certain, something like 1.06F I think.

    The packaging currently looks like this
    Edited by 1 at 22/02/07 @ 21:48

  • tiddles #46 5 years ago

    The Freeloader situation is worrying; even if the latest version does apparently work, nothing's stopping Nintendo from blocking newer versions via software updates.

    That is worrying; I hadn't thought about that before. Hopefully they won't bother now that the Cube is history, and well, Nintendo are always good to Europe, right?

    Oh shit.

  • smelly #47 5 years ago

    Why would they ban freeloader? Bear in mind they had to approve the freeloader for release on their hardware in the first place!

  • Daikon #48 5 years ago

    ...they had to approve the freeloader for release on their hardware in the first place!

    Hardly.

  • Psi #49 5 years ago

    [link url=http://www .vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=220
    ]http://www .vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=220
    [/link]

    I love my little cube, it's a shame he didn't have more games, but the amount i get through nowerdays there's still loads i never got the chance to play.

  • Waldo #50 5 years ago

    It's been dead for years; this announcement just made the plug-pulling official.

  • GamesConnoisseur #51 5 years ago

    Just confirming that Datel is promoting their new Gamecube Freeloader version 1.0E as the Wii compatible version. It even have the logo on front of the DVD cover.

    So will runs NTSC games, I ordered it on Friday and got it today! Ran my Metroid Prime 1 and Resident Evil Remake with no difficulties, havent tested rest of my NTSC titles but confident should all work. So before I get rid of purple box will check all NTSC titles.

  • SaturnVengeance #52 1 year ago

    This sucks! GameCube is the best console ever.