You might know of Shiraz Malik - he's the longtime commenter Spoony Bard here, and he was also our comment ombudsman last year. He's currently pursuing his MBA at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, and he and his wife are expecting a baby soon.

Although a committed gamer for life, Shiraz is facing some mature decisions on the road to fatherhood, a path that has less time for games, in a household with not much space for them, either. He's written about his decision to sell his video game collection, the nostalgia he feels saying goodbye to those old friends, but knowing there will be new ones as soon, when his son arrives and embarks on his boyhood.

When I was four years old, my dad brought home an Atari 7800. In retrospect, that was his first mistake. I became hopelessly addicted to the wonderful world of video games. I made time for Mario, hung out with Alex Kidd in Miracle World, dreamed about Mega Man while doodling in class, and I soared through the sky with Starfox.

Twenty-six years later, I'm juggling graduate school, married life and a job search, and I still have managed to find the time to get my game on. Somehow I was even able to do some comment moderating for Kotaku in that time, too. Through it all, I've made sure to keep my love of video games alive in some way. But now, we have a new situation.

You see, the day my wife told me that she was pregnant, everything changed. All of a sudden, we're spending our free time taking classes and picking out baby names. Try as I might, the wisdom of hanging on to all of my video games seems to make less sense as time goes by. And in this tough job market, with the mountain of debt school has forced us to carry, we have looked for ways to scrounge up a baby fund.

So after lengthy debate, we decided on my extensive video game collection. I was hoping to hold on to some of my vintage game systems for my future kids, but we simply don't have the space anymore. My wife reminds me that I can play a lot of these games on a virtual console ... but she doesn't understand what game collecting is about. We hardcore gamers take pride in our amassed collections of gaming systems and games; there's just something special about that bygone era when you stayed up all night playing Mega Man II with a friend while your parents were asleep.

Now I look around at the game systems I must sell ... here's my green Xbox Halo Edition along with all my Bioware RPGs ... it has to go. Hey, there's my old N64 ... in college, we played it until the sun came up, and then we played some more. To date, I've never been as good at a single game since Goldeneye. And there goes my silver Gamecube that entertained me and my friends at parties.

I must console (no pun intended) myself with the fact that whatever I make will go towards making sure we can buy my son (yep, it's a boy!) of what he will need, and I certainly hope that one day I can share my love of video games with him along with my other passions. In fact, I've already planned how we're going to watch the Star Wars movies - starting with New Hope and ending with Revenge of the Sith, the only way they should be watched!

But most importantly, I hope he has fond memories of growing up like I did, and if that requires me to expunge some of the things that gave me joy, so be it. In a way, I'm cleaning out my past to make way for his future.

- Shiraz Malik (Spoony Bard)

You are reading Kotaku's once-weekly (sort of) journey back to yesteryear.

So, yes, E3 2001 was the debut event for Disney's latest shock gaming production, the Square-Enix-developed Kingdom Hearts. That one was arguably a stranger project than a Mickey Mouse game made by the creator of Deus Ex.

But E3 2001 was also the first time reporters, myself included, could play GameCube games. I remember being blown away, but I don't think even I was so impressed as to suggest Star Fox Adventures was an adequate stand-in for a new Zelda. You know, Star Fox, the series we've also been discussing this week?

Here's Nintendo at E3 2001, according to Robert Evatt, writing in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, in May of 2001.

And the games! Everything they displayed was astounding. Leading the pack was Luigi's Mansion, in which Mario's timid brother does some low-tech ghostbusting with a vacuum cleaner. The lighting and mist effects were incredible, but the real kickers were the mirrors that reflected everything back perfectly. As beautiful as it was, it also managed to be extremely fun.

Rogue Squadron 2 also blew audiences away, as it was the first game to create the ships from Star Wars with perfect accuracy while keeping amazingly fluid animation. Wave Race Blue sported water effects that looked absolutely real, with water droplets even splattering on the camera.

Super Smash Brothers Melee had the Nintendo mascots beating the stuffing out of each other, while the odd Picmin [sic] allowed players to control more than 100 little creatures at once. There was no Zelda game on display, but Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet should keep adventure enthusiasts more than happy.

Any Star Fox Adventures acolytes out there?

[PIC]

It's IGN's Michael Thomsen that makes that argument, saying that the "dark and lonely world" of Welles' film is comparable to the environments presented in the Metroid Prime series. It's also the game's emphasis on exploration over combat and its reflection of Samus Aran's visage that helps to humanize the experience.

Maybe he's right. Metroid Prime is arguably the best GameCube game ever made. But is it as nearly universally praised by fans and critics of the medium, as Citizen Kane is in film? Does that even matter?

Where we might disagree—and not to take away from Retro Studios and Nintendo's work on the series—is on Metroid Prime's comparable technical and cinematographic accomplishments. Sure, Morph Balling in 3D works like a charm, but are they on par with Welles' and his crew's work? And does that matter?

And do we benefit in any way from the comparison?

Nintendo's Video Game Masterpiece [ABC via GoNintendo]

See for yourself in the above comparison, uploaded yesterday by YouTube user ThunderChaosStudios. The cleanup didn't affect the rating process at all. All three games in the trilogy were originally rated teen, and so is the trilogy. One wonders why someone went to the trouble of eliminating the only(?) swear word in the game, one you hear on television daily.

I've contacted a Nintendo public relations rep for comment. If we hear back, we'll update the post here.

Metroid Prime: Corruptions Admiral Dane Drops the Curse Word [GoNintendo via Joystiq]

The rating says "multiplatform," which further vagues up whatever Sega's plans are here. That Gaming Site, which saw the listing earlier today, figures it could be a new control scheme on the Wii, an XBLA release, or part of some new compilation.

Sonic Adventure DX debuted on the Dreamcast in 1998; the Director's Cut was the version brought to GameCube and PC in 2003.

Sonic Adventure DX to be Remade Again? [That Gaming Site]

Researchers Nielsen have conducted their latest study on people's gaming habits, and have found that compared to this time last year, console usage is up a whopping 21%.

Also released were figures showing the percentage of "active" users; as in, those who are actually using their consoles. At the top of the list are the 360 and PS3, unsurprisingly, but take a look at the bottom of the chart. Way down at the bottom. Beneath the GameCube.

Yeah, that's the Wii, with only 6% of users actually playing the thing regularly. The other 94%? They're either using the Wii infrequently, or not using it at all.

Wii Has Fewest Percentage of Active Users, says Nielsen [Industrygamers]

1987 Nintendo financial earnings report...

Nintendo of America Inc. is the U.S. marketing and sales arm of Kyoto, Japan-based Nintendo Co. Ltd., the world's leading manufacturer of electronic games.

1990 Press release announcing EA becoming a Nintendo-licensed developer...
(Note: "electronic games" has become "video games"... hooray!)

Nintendo of America Inc. is based in Redmond, Wash., and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nintendo Co. Ltd. of Kyoto, Japan, the world's largest manufacturer and marketer of video games.

1995 Killer Instinct press release...

Nintendo Co. Ltd. of Kyoto, Japan, is the leader in the worldwide $ 15 billion retail video game industry. As a wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere, where more than 40 percent of American homes own a Nintendo system.

2000 Press Release Announcing Pokemon Gold and Silver Strategy Guides
(Note: PlayStation has passed Nintendo in the market at this point, just as Nintendo becomes much more descriptive of what it has accomplished.):

Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, is the acknowledged worldwide leader in the creation of interactive entertainment. To date, Nintendo has sold more than one billion video games worldwide, has created such industry icons as Mario and Donkey Kong and launched franchises like The Legend of Zelda and Pokemon. Nintendo manufactures and markets hardware and software for its popular home video game systems, including the Nintendo 64, Game Boy and Game Boy Color - the world's best selling handheld video game systems. As a wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Washington, serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in North America.

2005 Press Release Hyping Animal Crossing Wild World
(Note: Nintendo puts its home console as third-fiddle to its two handheld platforms and adds Metroid to the list of characters it name-checks. Nintendo also dubs itself an "innovator.")...

The worldwide leader and innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its popular home and portable video game systems. Each year, hundreds of all-new titles for the best-selling Game Boy Advance SP, DS and Nintendo GameCube systems extend Nintendo's vast game library and continue the tradition of delivering a rich, diverse mix of quality video games for players of all ages. Since the release of its first home video game system in 1983, Nintendo has sold more than 2 billion video games and more than 360 million hardware units globally, creating enduring industry icons such as Mario and Donkey Kong and launching popular culture franchise phenomena such as Metroid, Zelda and Pokemon. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere.

2009 Press Release Announcing New Starfy Game
(Note: Now Nintendo is a "pioneer," one proud to name-check all of its major systems except the NES and Virtual Boy.)...

The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo has sold more than 2.9 billion video games and more than 496 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi, as well as the Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Super NES, Nintendo 64 and Nintendo GameCube. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario, Donkey Kong, Metroid, Zelda and Pokémon. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere.

I could now ask you readers how you would describe Nintendo, but that might be asking for trouble.

Ambition is what drew me to Factor 5.

As a gamer I came to the studio's work a little late. I missed their Turrican days, their era of making games for the Super Nintendo and Genesis. I came upon them as an N64 gamer, spotting their logo at the intro to Star Wars: Rogue Squadron. That 1999 shooter was one of the first games to utilize the N64's RAM expansion pack for improved graphics resolution. That was the first hint to me that Factor 5 was a studio interested in pushing technology.

The next game Factor 5 game I played — still before I had become a reporter — was the one that forever charmed me to the studio. It was Star Wars: Battle for Naboo, a new-Trilogy sequel to Rogue Squadron. A hidden feature is what won me over: stuffed into its N64 cart was audio developer commentary for each of the game's levels. I'd never heard such a thing before.

This was a studio of developers with whom I wanted to speak. And I would.

At the start of the GameCube era, in 2001, I was just beginning to cover games. I played Factor 5 GameCube launch title Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader as a novice reporter at my first E3. It is, to this day, among the best-looking games developed for a Nintendo platform. I don't remember talking to Factor 5's U.S. president Julian Eggebrecht then, nor for its 2003 sequel, Rebel Strike. But it was by that second GameCube game that I was writing a freebie column for IGN about the GameCube.

What I wrote about Rebel Strike highlighted the second defining characteristic of Factor 5 for me: they bit off mouthfuls at a time. Rebel Strike was not just a full new game. It housed the entirety of its predecessor, re-crafted for split-screen co-op. It contained not just audio commentary but making-of documentaries. But there were signs of rough edges: peculiar dips to black between gameplay and in-engine cutscenes; a group of on-foot side-scrolling levels that played poorly and curiously lacked audio commentary.

In 2006, I finally got paid for something I wrote about Factor 5. I was at MTV and covered the topic of developers using audio commentary. I referenced Factor 5 as a pioneer.

Factor 5 disappeared from my radar after that until I finally met Eggebrecht in person at a Sony event in 2006. He was showing, for the first of several times, the dragon-combat game Lair. He was a champion of PS3 motion control, a booster for the system's technical prowess and ambitious as ever. He wanted a game with air combat, ground combat, allusions to the ethics of modern war, hooks to the PS3's web browser, elaborate cutscenes and so much more. There were those two signatures of Factor 5 again, summed up in one word: ambition.

But Lair was rougher than Rebel Strike. Factor 5 barely attempted to hide this. In one of the more open displays of developer frustration with their own game, the studio included commentary in Lair that alluded to the game suffering from what was described as a curse of the dragon games, a problem that they said extended to personal problems among some of the staff. Following up in an e-mail, Eggebrecht said to me in 2007: "I am not a believer in ghosts, but this one was haunted."

Factor 5 faded away again, rumored over the next two years to have canceled its deal with Sony, possibly returned to working with Nintendo. Then came the news reported in Variety that Factor 5 was one of the studios suffering from having made a deal with the collapsed publisher Brash. I reached out to Eggebrecht again, who all but confirmed that the studio had been making a Superman adventure and expressing hope that the game would still come together.

"With that said," he wrote to me in November, "Things are obviously in flux and we hope that the game proves to be as indestructible as our hero…"

And then? Today's news. Factor 5 in the U.S. is no more. I've not heard back from Eggebrecht about this turn of events. The statement on the company's official website indicates that its German parent company still has projects coming.

There may be a future yet for Factor 5. There definitely was a past worth appreciating.

This year, Nintendo seems content with release Wii-controls versions of previously released GameCube games. On the horizon, we can see the already-released-in-Japan Rhythm Heaven and the eagerly awaited Punch Out! and...

Nintendo's thinking is apparently that the company needs to open up its platforms, which are traditionally dominated by Nintendo games, to outside game developers and give them a chance.

"Until now there have been complaints that Nintendo makes too many games or Nintendo dictates too much leadership," Nintendo's Japanese PR stated. "Complaining that Nintendo makes too few games is a first, isn't it?"

A true, but rather tangy, response from Nintendo. Perhaps it's just the development cycle, and all of Nintendo's best and brights are busy making something spectacular. Perhaps.

「Wii」向けの新作ゲーム　「任天堂なぜ作らぬ」とネットで不満 [J-Cast]

Miyamoto says in a new Famitsu interview, by way of 1UP, that during the Nintendo 64 and GameCube lifespans, Nintendo was following in the path of other, more successful competitors.

"I was endlessly fascinated with 3D worlds, but what with all the issues I had to tinker with in terms of rendering and processing speed, it got to the point where I didn't know who was making the games any longer," Miyamoto said.

That Nintendo had failed to capture the imagination of the gaming public the way that Sony had during the post-Super Nintendo era made for one unhappy Miyamoto.

"If Nintendo's games fail to stand out as games that aren't made that way proliferate, then it shows that the creation process is for nothing, which made me very sad," Miyamoto explained. "That was especially obvious during the GameCube era; Nintendo titles were hardly even discussed by the [non-gaming] general public back then."

It was the GameCube's cooler reception that led Nintendo's engineers to think about "starting over from scratch," revisiting NES titles for the Game Boy Advance and designing the Nintendo DS with two (initially confounding) screens. Then, well, you know what happened.

Hey, Shigeru, I think we all felt a little bad during the GameCube era. I mean, I paid full price for Luigi's Mansion. Try going through that sometime.

Miyamoto "Very Sad" During GameCube Era [1UP]

Think back to the years between, oh, around 2000-2006. A lucky few among you would have owned all three gaming consoles, but for the majority, a lot of great systems, and great games, will have passed you by.

Maybe you owned a PS2 but not an Xbox. Maybe it was the other way around. Maybe you were at college, stuck on an old PC and an N64 and lacking the cash to try out the "latest" consoles. Maybe you were never aware the GameCube even existed.

Maybe it was all of those, maybe it was none of them. Doesn't matter! Thanks to a happy coincidence of an econcomic crisis, generational timing and the continued availability of games for these machines, there's never been a better time to try some of yesterday's best games. Catch up on what you may have missed out on. And catch up on it on the cheap.

In this guide, we'll be presenting you with everything you need to know about buying into an outdated console generation. Which console best suits you, how much you'll pay for it, where you can still buy it, what you'll need to buy for it, and most importantly, what games you should get for it.

Before we get right into it, though, let's establish a few things first, cover some general basics.

The HD Generation - While much has been made of the 360 and PS3 being the first "High Definition" gaming consoles, that doesn't mean the previous generation of machines will look like crap on your new 50" LCD. All three enable the use of component cables and progressive scan, while the PS2 and Xbox also output (if the game supports it) in true 5.1 surround sound.

So you’ll want to get your hands on both component and optical audio cables if you want to get the most out of the older machines on newer television sets & sound systems. Just be careful if you’re picking up a GameCube, as machines manufactured after May 2004 dropped component video out after Nintendo figured nobody was using it. So check the date before buying.

Nintendo no longer sell component cables for the GameCube, so you’ll have to track those down online (try eBay). Sony still sell PS2 cables through their online store (though you’ll find them cheaper elsewhere), while for the Xbox, you’ll want an Advanced AV Pack, which enables both component video and optical audio out (again, try eBay first)

Get Digging - There's a reason we're posting this guide now, and that's because we're at the perfect point between accessibility and affordability when it comes to the last generation's games. They're cheap enough to buy in bulk, but you'll still be able to find them on store shelves.

But you won't for long. Indeed, many of the best Xbox and GameCube games won't have seen a retail shelf for years now, and PS2 shelf spaces surely don't have much time left either, meaning that if your local GameStop doesn't have a decent pre-owned section, you're going to need to get off your butts and do a little digging. For big business lovers, GameStop's online store and Amazon are a good place to start, while importers like Play-Asia also stock a lot of older US-compatible games.

If you're a little braver, however, or are looking for something a little harder to find, you'll of course want to go dust off that eBay account.

OK! Now that’s out of the way, this is how we’re going to do this. Each of the three systems will be broken down like this:

Why: The best reasons to buy the console.

Why Not: The best reasons not to buy the console (weigh both up, see how it fits for you)

Price: A rough guide to how much you can expect to pay for a working console in good condition.

Peripherals: Any peripherals and/or accessories that you either need to buy or really, really should buy.

Games: Eight games to get you started. They’re not necessarily the best games on the console, but they strike a nice balance between being brilliant games and being reasonably easy to get hold of. We’ll also only list games that are either console exclusive (ie you can only get them for that console) or had a game come out on that console first (in the case of games like GTA and Resident Evil 4).

Got all that? OK, let's get into it!

The undisputed king of the last generation of hardware. Sold more consoles than the Xbox and GameCube combined, has more games available than the other two combined and, incredibly, is still being produced new and is still for sale over eight years after it was first released.

Why: It’s still “new”, available and stocked at every game store on Earth, so it’s easy to get hold of under warranty. It’s got by far the biggest library of games amongst the old three. The Slim version of the hardware is also the smallest of these old consoles, so it’ll take up the least amount of room on your shelf.

Why Not: There’s a high crap-to-quality ratio on most of those games, especially those available new these days. Because all but the earliest PS3s lack backwards-compatibility, if you move to a PS3 later down the line, you won’t be able to play these discs on your new system (whereas the Wii will play GameCube games, and the 360 will play most Xbox games).

Price: There are two models of the PS2, the original, blocky, grilled version and the more recent “slim”. The slim is $130 (new), $50-100 (used), and we’d recommend you avoid the older model if possible, because it’s nowhere near as reliable.

Peripherals: At least one memory card, though you’ll probably want two if you’ve got roommates or kids around. You’ll also want a second DualShock 2 controller, though Logitech’s wireless PS2 pad ($10-$30) is a great, if more expensive, alternative.

Games
Ico – Lonely, desolate platformer is as packed with atmosphere and ingenuity as it’s lacking in bells and whistles.

Final Fantasy XII – Forget your nostalgic attachment to Final Fantasy VII. This is the best Final Fantasy game ever made. Guaranteed to steal at least 100 hours of your time.

Shadow of the Colossus – By the same guys who made Ico. But instead of platforming, it focuses on naught but boss battles. Brilliant.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City – Other GTAs are bigger, and perhaps badder, but none manage to recreate an entire world as well as Vice’s take on 1986 Miami.

Metal Gear Solid 2 – The better of the two Metal Gear titles on the PS2, even if it does pull a cheap shot or two.

Okami – Zelda for the PS2, albeit with unskippable cutscenes. Little rough around the edges, but will repay your diligence with a magic, 40 hours + experience.

Guitar Hero – The original. Developed by Harmonix. They’re all covers, they’re a mixed bag of songs, but playing Texas Flood and Helmet’s Unsung back-to-back is an experience not even Rock Band can match.

Gran Turismo 4 – The laziest update to the Gran Turismo franchise yet, but that’s not the point. This is still the best in the series, making it the best driving game on the PS2 (though if you hate GT’s realism, try Burnout 2 for its crash mode instead).

Also Recommended

You may also want to look into...Devil May Cry, God of War, Odin Sphere, Persona 4, Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, Gregory Horror Show.

The Xbox was Microsoft’s first attempt at a gaming console, and was met at launch with a mixture of both fear and bewilderment. It was big, it was ugly, it was a console. From Microsoft. But then came Halo. And people realised that in-built HDD was useful. And nobody was laughing anymore.

Why: It’s reliable, and is a decent DVD player. A surprising number of quality games relative to the number released. Can be easily modified to become a great home media server.

Why Not: It’s big. Real big. Most of the best games aren’t available new anymore, making tracking them down a little harder and a little more expensive than they’re worth. The 360 now allows downloads of Xbox titles, which in a year or two may make owning an actual Xbox redundant.

Price: $110-140 (new), $30-80 (used)

Peripherals: It’s got a built-in HDD, so you won’t need a memory card. What you will need are three extra controllers (make sure they’re the smaller S-pads and not the older “Duke”), because the console supports four without the need of a multi-tap. And because you can’t play Halo with only three people.

Games

Fable – Peter Molyneux’s over-hyped RPG still oozes charm, even today, and unlike the sequel, its linearity can be overlooked on the older console.

Halo – You must buy Halo, you must buy three extra controllers, you must play Blood Gulch with friends over and over and over.

Jet Set Radio Future – More of a re-imagining than a port of the Dreamcast classic. It’s not as colourful, but it’s still an amazing piece of art.

Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath – You may have trouble finding this, but your search will be worth it. The best game in the Oddworld series, hands down, and a great shooter in its own right.

Knights of the Old Republic – Lucasarts’ X-Wing series aside, this RPG captures the “feel” of Star Wars better than any other game on the market.

Project Gotham Racing 2 – Still the best Project Gotham game, as it makes you earn a ride in those super-fast supercars. It’s a perfect blend of realism and arcade thrills.

Ninja Gaiden Black – Like Devil May Cry, if Devil May Cry was about nothing but kicking you in the balls every five minutes.

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay: The best-looking game of the last generation. No contest. Put this on and you’ll think you’re playing a 360 game.

Also Recommended

You may also want to look into...Halo 2, Forza, Jade Empire, Full Spectrum Warrior, Metal Arms.

By 2006, Nintendo’s GameCube was dead in the water. A clear loser in the battle for the last generation’s console crown. Yet the success of Nintendo’s follow-up machine, the Wii – which shares some of the GameCube’s peripherals and is able to play every single GameCube game – has brought the little box back from the dead.

Why: It’s cheap. It’s cute. Pound for pound, it has probably the strongest library of games of the three. You’ll be able to recycle its peripherals and memory cards on the Wii. Indeed, at less than half the price and with much better games, at the moment it’s probably a better investment than a Wii should you still be unable to get your hands on Nintendo’s latest console.

Why Not: If you have a Wii, you don’t need the GameCube console, just the games. The best games are hard to find. The console came in a number of colours: black and silver ones are nice, but most of the available ones are…purple.

Price: $110-$130 (new), $20-$80 (used)

Peripherals: Like the Xbox, you’ll want an extra three controllers, as the Cube supports four without assistance. At least one of those will have to be a wireless Wavebird ($15-$40), though, the first ever official wireless controller and perhaps the Cube’s greatest legacy. Buy at least two memory cards, as some games – like Animal Crossing – take up a whole card on their own. If you're feeling really adventurous, you can try tracking down a GameCube Broadband Adapter ($10-$15 used), which will allow for massive networked games of Mario Kart.

Games

F-Zero GX – A forgotten classic. The best futuristic racer since WipeOut 2097. The singleplayer race along a cliff’s edge - at breakneck speed – is worth the price alone.

Animal Crossing – You fish. You talk to animals. No bosses, no goals, no limits. Just cartoon town life. Oh, and it includes a ton of free NES games as well.

Resident Evil 4 – A total reimagining of the Resident Evil series. Less spooks, more gunplay, and after Riddick it’s the second best-looking game of the generation.

Metroid Prime – The best first-person shooter on the Wii. Converts a classic 2D platformer into a brooding, original first-person adventure.

Paper Mario & the Thousand Year Door – Cute Role-playing game that takes classic Mario characters and turns them into 2D paper cut-outs. Is a lot tougher than it looks.

Pikmin – Doesn't look it, but this is the best real-time strategy game on any console. You've a space pilot who has crashed on an alien planet and has to enlist the help of dozens of walking weeds to get you off.

Mario Kart: Double Dash - Mario Kart "purists" will tell you this is the worst game of the series. Don't listen to them. This is in fact the best game of the series (well...except for the DS one), at least in terms of multiplayer, with imaginative track design and an underrated co-op mode. Becomes simply amazing if you can find a broadband adapter and a ton of friends.

Eternal Darkness - You may read about Denis Dyack and wonder "why are people still talking about this guy if his games are so rubbish"? It's because he made this game, and people are still cutting him some slack. A horror game that hits you in the face with multiple time periods and some fourth-wall-smashing.

Also Recommended

You may also want to look into...Super Mario Sunshine, Luigi's Mansion, Viewtiful Joe, Rigue Squadron 2: Rogue Leader, Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Monkey Ball 2.

And The Rest...

Those 24 games up there are some of the best each console had to offer. There are of course plenty more exclusive (or near enough) titles, but those are a good place to start. Anyway. That's just a start.

There are even more games that appeared across two and even all three consoles. Once you've settled on which of the older machines you're going to buy, you can dip into these games.

Psychonauts (PS2, Xbox)- Great platformer, funny game. Little hard to find these days, but it's worth the elbow grease in tracking it down.

Beyond Good & Evil (PS2, Xbox, GC) - An overlooked masterpiece. If you want to know what a cartoony, sci-fi take on Zelda is like, get this.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (PS2, Xbox, GC) - Another platformer, yes, but it's beautiful. And original. And also cheap and easy to find.

Soul Calibur II (PS2, Xbox, GC) - Probably the best Soul Calibur game, making it probably the best fighter on a console that's not made by Capcom. As an added bonus, each version came with a platform-specific bonus character: Zelda's Link for the GameCube, Todd McFarlane's Spawn on Xbox and Tekken's Heihachi Mishima on PS2.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (PS2, Xbox, GC) - Forget the last five years of Tony Hawk games. The flying toilet seats, the Jackass cameos. Once was a time Tony Hawks' games were great, and none are better than THPS3.

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (PS2, Xbox, GC) - Sneaking is normally something to be avoided in games. Mostly because games do it wrong. But Splinter Cell does it right. And Chaos Theory is the best of the lot, because it's got great multiplayer game modes and was the last game before the series got a bit silly.

ESPN NFL 2K5 (PS2, Xbox) - The last great football game. Madden may know how to make a game look like an NFL broadcast, but only the 2K series really knew how to make a game play like an NFL game. Unavailable on GameCube, but NFL2K3 is, so prospective Cube owners can get that instead.

Pro Evolution Soccer 5 (PS2, Xbox) - Every year, Konami's once-great series continues its slow, lazy decline into mediocrity. This game, though? It was the series at its peak. A must-buy for football lovers.

And...that does it! That's all you need to know. If you're low on cash but heavy on spare time, take note of what you've just read and go get yourself an older console and an armful of games. But hey, if there's anything you think we left out, let us know.

UPDATE - No, there's no Dreamcast. This is an everyman's guide, and these days, the Dreamcast and its better games aren't the easiest things for an everyman to track down for a reasonable price.

A Wavebird-like adapter would be attached to the GameCube console, which would interface with the wand remote. There appears to be two separate sensors points on the television.

The wand remote in the patent drawings looks surprisingly similar to the finalized Wii-mote.

There is also a patent drawing for a tennis game — which includes a drawing of Mario. Early shades of Wii Tennis, no doubt. So somewhere along the line, Nintendo decided to turn this add-on into the impetus for the console we now call the Wii.

Update: Miyamoto has talked about the early incarnations of the Wii before. This newly released patent simply confirms earlier suspicions.

Nintendo Patent Reveals [Siliconera]

Okay, for Mario Power Tennis they are. It sounds like the regular GameCube controller scheme is going by the wayside in favor of two waggle-tastic options: one playable with just a Wii-mote, another with both Wii-mote and Nunchuk.

The "Play On Wii" version of Pikmin, however, adds something swell in addition to what we already know. You'll now be able to save day-to-day records of your progress, letting you pick up the action from any point in your journey. Mulligans? Not bad!

New Features for Wii Pikmin and Mario Tennis [IGN]

Famitsu writes that new level layouts and brand new stages will be added to the former GameCube-only Jungle Beat. The side scrolling platformer will use a more simplified control scheme, with A for jumps and waggling for attacks.

Adding new content to Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat makes sense, as the game was comparatively brief for a modern platformer, somewhat thankfully so, considering you had to smack a lot of bongo skin to progress. Without that particular gimmick, a straight port for the "Play On Wii" version would likely feel even more empty.

Famitsu also notes that the Pikmin Wii-make will use Wii Remote targeting to control the tiny titular characters, with mouse pointer-like controls likely to ease Pikmin management frustration. *Must resist urge to re-purchase games I own and didn't ever complete.*

New Elements for Play it on Wii Selection Titles [IGN]

A 16:9 Wind Waker with Wii Remote bow and grapple aiming would be great, Nintendo. Just sayin!

First Look: Wii de Asobu Pikmin [IGN]

Interview: Cammie Dunaway [IGN]

[Liveblogging the Nintendo Press Conference Liveblog]

Huntley has been asking for a Wii for months... When he moved to Frankland in February he was given a Nintendo Game Cube - but after only a few weeks he began complaining it was out of date... Management are desperate to stop him going though with threats he's made to kill himself and by giving him a Wii they believe they can take his mind away from harming himself in any way.

Huntley's private cell also boasts a television and a CD player. Keep in mind: This info comes from an unnamed source so it could very well be false.

WARDERS ORDERED: PLAY ON Wii WITH HUNTLEY [The People via WiiNintendo]

In theory, the idea that the game’s variable difficulty settings will make the game more accessible to someone like my mother is somewhat appealing. And then I think a bit and it’s not. When I toast Mom’s secondary for my sixth TD, I doubt I’ll get up, dance around, and mime like I’m teabagging her. But after nearly 20 years at this, beginning with Madden 93 on the Genesis, it’s almost an instinctive reaction.

I also seriously doubt guys’ girlfriends are going to be interested in one of the game’s great diversions — creating 6-11, 300 pound solid muscle running backs of all-99 ability, and giving them names like “Ass Raper.” My buddy David, from the Rocky Mountain News, and I did that on his Gamecube in 2003. (A.R.’s alma mater was Yale.) David brought him out against Jim’s Seahawks and paused every replay so Jim (another RMN pal) could read the guy’s name and number aloud. Jim responded the next week by creating his entire family as 99ers. His dog caught eight touchdowns.

In the new big-tent Madden community, you won’t see things like Spite Bowl, Late-Hit Bowl, and Halfback Option Pass Bowl, complete perversions of the game that can only be dreamed up by two guys, playing on the same couch, at equivalent levels of skill and sobriety. Spite Bowl pits two guys playing as their friend’s biggest rival teams. The object is more “do not lose to those overrated sons of bitches” rather than “I want my team to win.” The 49ers and Dolphins are a hideous matchup this year — unless they’re being led by Bills and Raiders fans.

Late-Hit Bowl, the object was to get flagged for as many late hits as possible and if the other guy ended up on the one yard line or scored on the drive, you got his points. Halfback Option Pass Bowl was a game invented with two other friends in Oneonta, N.Y., on the Playstation version of Madden 98. The only play you could run was the option pass and the only defense you could call was a prevent. Naturally, when you employed drinking-game rules this game became a lot more fun.

And while you might be able to have an online league with 31 of your closest friends, who the hell is going to buy the Taco Bell? There’s no league I could play that will top the Friday Madden League in 2004, with three other co-workers from the Rocky. Four-way, in-person cooperative play tells you just how strong your friendship is when your pal does stupid shit like whiff on three straight kickoffs. It forces you to invent your own hand signals and decoys. You dream up celebrations and end zone dances that didn’t depend on motion capture, quicktime, or moving to an endzone hotspot and pressing the right button.

None of this is to say I won’t enjoy Madden 09, and it's silly to resent others for enjoying it in different ways. But the tone of the game experience seems to be changing. Madden 09’s new AI is meant to tell gamers of all skill levels that there’s no wrong way to play the game. But my friends and I delighted in playing the game the wrong way, and I’m sure we weren't alone. Doing stupid things together online doesn’t have the same appeal, and it no longer provokes the same reaction from the game. It’s a little like your parents giving you permission to cuss all you want. After a few willful minutes on your own, you give up, and join polite company as a well-adjusted participant.