An Overlooked Gaming System

While a lot of people think PlayStation 2 was the dominant console of the last generation, I think Gamecube kept up where it mattered.  Nintendo Gamecube consoles never sold as well as PS2, but they definitely had some great games. I recently purchased Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance for Gamecube, and I expected it to be a solid strategy RPG, but after playing it, I’ve concluded that it’s probably the best strategy RPG I’ve played since Ogre Battle: Person of Lordly Caliber for the Nintendo 64. Fire Emblem, like most strategy RPGs, doesn’t have much in the way of branching storylines or different paths, but it’s a heck of a lot of fun. It also has some great CG animation and the plot is excellent.

The Gamecube has a ton of great RPG games in numbers that never appeared on the Nintendo 64 including Baten Kaitos, Skies of Arcadia: Legends, and Phantasy Star Online.  Overall, I think the quality of games for the Gamecube matches that of the PlayStation 2, though the amount of quality games is less. So if your console is out of commission, get some Gamecube repairs and pick the controller back up.

Consolation for My Console Issue

When I was growing up, my friend Brad was the only one in our immediate circle of buddies who had an N64. That meant that his house was our gaming destination by default. We would log long hours playing GoldenEye in his parents’ basement, surviving on snacks and soda into the wee hours of the night. The multiplayer function meant that four of us could be playing the game constantly.

Eventually Nintendo announced its next generation console, the GameCube, and I began eagerly anticipating the release of the GoldenEye follow-up. In 2004, it finally arrived, but I barely got a chance to play for a few hours before my console crashed. It might have overheated; I couldn’t really be sure. If the problem had occurred today, I could have simply looked up Nintendo GameCube console repairs online and found a trustworthy source for all my repair needs.

Giving in to Nostalgia

Every now and then, I get the itch to revisit a classic game that I played to death when it first came out. Sometimes this means dusting off old consoles that haven’t seen much use in a while. Just a year ago, I plowed through my old Super Nintendo library, playing Diddy Kong Racing and Mortal Kombat. More recently, I’d been craving a return to Mario Sunshine and a few of my other Gamecube favorites.

Unfortunately, something had happened to the trusty old system during my three-year break from playing it. The system was on the fritz, big time. Desperate to restore it to its former glory, I began searching online for Nintendo Gamecube repairs experts. In almost no time at all, I had shipped my system to a helpful repair operation that fixed the problem in just a few days.

Repairing a Nintendo Gamecube

While a hardier console in comparison to the Xbox and PlayStation 2, the Gamecube still had a few known issues and it’s not uncommon for a model to break down after extended use. There are several common ailments with CD based game consoles, the most common being the CD lens wearing down over time. If the console is three or four years old and has seen extended use, a worn out lens could be the cause. One simple solution for this is to turn the console on its side or on its front (depending on how it was most often used before). For example, with a Gamecube that normally sits upright, turn it on its side (be mindful it’s not the side with the cooling fan). This causes the laser from the console to read the disc through a different angle of the lens, and can often be a temporary fix for disc read problems.

However, in the long term it’s most efficient to get the Gamecube fixed through a professional repair service. Gamecube console repairs aren’t all that expensive, and by replacing the lens, the console will last for another several years with proper care.

Don’t Let Link Get Lost

 

Even though it’s been almost six years, I still have beat Zelda on the Gamecube. It takes me a while to finish games, what can I say? But my cats being the awesome little creatures they are, knocked over a potted plant onto my Gamecube and now there’s dirt in the crevasses. 

Luckily, I went online and found a Gamecube repair site that helped me remove all the soot and dirty from the system. Now I can go back and hopefully beat the game before Nintendo adds something else to the Wii.