Why GameCube games are so expensive (and why they're rarely sold at retro stores)

Why GameCube games are so expensive (and why they're rarely sold at retro stores) Some titles can cost over $150. Walk into a retro game store, and decades of Nintendo history will greet you on the shelves. GameCube games, though, are often missing. And when they do turn up, their prices might give you pause. What's going on here? Well, as you might expect, it comes down to supply and demand. The GameCube has one of Nintendo's deepest and most beloved first-party libraries, with classics like Metroid Prime, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Super Smash Bros. Melee. Even Super Mario Sunshine, arguably the weakest mainline Mario title, still has a strong following. Elsewhere, Luigi's Mansion finally gave Mario's brother his own ghost-hunting spinoff. The console also had the classic RPG Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, the first two Pikmin games and horror classic Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. There were plenty of cross-platform highlights, including Resident Evil 4 and Beyond Good & Evil. It was a golden era for local multiplayer, too, with games like Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and four(!) Mario Party entries. On top of that, the children of the GameCube era are now in their mid-20s to early 40s, a period ripe for nostalgia. Add the "Nintendo tax," the tendency for the company's games to hold their value, and you have a recipe for high demand. But you could make similar demand arguments for any of Nintendo's classic consoles. After all, the NES, SNES, N64 and Wii each had a rogue's gallery of legendary content. What truly separates the GameCube is the supply side. The scarcity factor The GameCube's 21.74 million units sold may sound like a lot, especially considering how much smaller the gaming market was then. But it dramatically underperformed compared to its immediate predecessor and successor. The Nintendo 64 sold 32.93 million units. That's a 34 percent dip for the GameCube — despite the home console market being about 75 percent bigger at its launch (after adjusting for inflation). Meanwhile, its successor, the Wii, sold a staggering 101.63 million units, nearly five times as many as the GameCube. Why the lower sales? First, unlike the PS2 and Xbox, the GameCube didn't play DVDs. (It's hard to believe today, but that was a console-selling feature in the pre-streaming world.) Second, Sony and Microsoft consoles catered more to teens and adults, pushing Nintendo further into the "family-friendly" niche while weakening its third-party support. Sales figures for the GameCube's tentpole titles reflect that. Super Smash Bros. Melee sold 7.41 million copies, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! moved 6.88 million copies and Super Mario Sunshine sold 5.91 million. Those are significantly lower than the top-selling N64 games, and they absolutely pale in comparison to the most popular Wii titles. (Wii Sports sold nearly 83 million copies!) The Wii also helped to extend the lifespan of GameCube games. Early versions of the…