(this means you Big N)

General Hardcore to Nintendo: Make some original stuff ASAP!

I find it hard to believe that after just one commentary, I am already receiving tons of feedback, both written and verbal. While most of the comments I have been receiving have been positive, I also have received a mess of hate mail regarding my stand against IGN. Admittedly they are mostly from fanboys who think that IGN is the best thing to come out in gaming since the Virtual Boy (and yes, that is what they have said). As far as I'm concerned with those fanboys who don't like what I have to say, T.F.S! One of them even had the balls to say that I needed a life. Excuse me! I have a life. I own a house, have two jobs, I get some from a lovely lady whenever I'm in the mood, and I don't need to spend my entire life posting flame messages over the web!

Whether you all might like me or hate me, I stand by my opinions. And I will not stop complaining about IGN until they realize what they are doing is wrong or they end up killing themselves. Even if it means that I will have to settle this at E3, I will make sure they hear me. (anyone up for a deathmatch on Xbox?)

Anyway, I do notice another problem that has been building up lately, and it also needs to be resolved pretty quickly. It involves one of the new consoles that was released last fall, and before any anti-Microsoft heretics jump to conclusions and blame the XBox, I have a surprise for you"It's not the XBox I'm having troubles with"It's the GAMECUBE!!!!

That's right, the same GameCube that I was going gaga over back at E3 is now the subject of controversy. And it's not because of the system itself. The system by itself is a technical wonder, and from what I've seen so far, it plays real well despite its diminutive size. But maybe I should rephrase what I say, namely what I've seen "so far," because that's where the trouble comes in.

It turns out that these last few months the ‘Cube has been known for only rehashed titles from both the PS2 and the Xbox. In fact, since the launch, I have only counted three titles that would be considered AA-quality exclusives, and those are Rogue Leader, Smash Bros. Melee, and to a lesser extent, Pikmin. We could probably list NBA Courtside 2002 as a fourth, but after playing NBA 2K2, I can't really play another roundball title. I won't add Luigi's Mansion to the list either, because I don't find that to be a true Mario-esque game, and was bored with it in mere minutes.

Aside from those titles, what have we seen for the ‘Cube lately? As I said before, mostly rehashes: All Star Baseball 2003 (PS2 & Xbox), NBA Street (PS2), Sonic Adventure 2 (Dreamcast), Dark Summit (Xbox), Extreme G3 (PS2), Madden 2002 (PS2 & Xbox), Dave Mira 2 (PS2), SSX Tricky (PS2 & Xbox), and Tony Hawk 3 (PS1, PS2 & Xbox), to name a few. There isn't really much that this system can be proud to call their own.

As a result, my GameCube has been collecting dust on my workstation. I can always go back to Rogue Leader from time to time, but I want something new! I am tired of going to EB or Babbages and not seeing any new exclusive GameCube titles, and I am wondering if I wasted $200 on a system that is not getting any new, original material. I know that there are a lot of titles planned for E3 (Mario Sunshine, Zelda, Wrestlemania X8, etc.), but that's still 2 and a half months away! I'm not the only one who is upset about this, as even retailers from said stores are complaining about it as well.

Nintendo needs to realize this. Their business is hurting because they are not releasing anything worthy of a ‘Cube purchase. The whole "quality over quantity" B.S. didn't work during the Nintendo 64 days, and it sure as hell isn't going to work now, and someone needs to grab ol' Bug Eyes himself (Miyamoto) by the balls, make his eyes pop out even more, and realize that we want our games.

I do want to mention though that I know there are a few readers out there who want to pick a fight with me, and state that I do this every time a new console comes out. I admit I criticized the PlayStation2 last year when trickles of titles were coming out, but at least original titles were still being released, despite being few and far between.

And as for the Xbox, it still is in its infancy but unlike the GameCube, it has released unique titles on a regular basis. While we may have started with quality titles such as Halo and Project Gotham, it has also expanded to more original releases such as Wreckless, UFC Tapout, Jet Set Radio Future, and most recently the visually stunning and very enjoyable Rallisport Challenge.

I would also include lower quality exclusives are out for Xbox such as WWF Raw, just to show that titles ARE being released on a regular basis for Microsoft's big black box. And before any Nintendo fanboys and anti-Microsoft radicals accuse me of being a Gates fanboy (which I have already received tons of smack about), be aware that I speak the truth about this matter, and even Nintendo's other system, the Game Boy Advance, is releasing top quality titles at a regular basis. Super Mario Advance 2, anyone?

Honestly I do not want to see the GameCube falter. It's a darn good system, and has a lot of unforeseeable potential, but the lack of original titles is killing it. Therefore, I have no choice but to give Nintendo an ultimatum: release some high quality ORIGINAL titles for the GameCube before E3. If this is not met, then I will have no choice but to post my GameCube and everything I got with it on eBay.

I don't want to do it though because I do know of a few N64 titles I never got to play with because I dumped that system. Please Nintendo, don't force me to do something this drastic, release some new titles A.S.A.P.