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, however, are often missing. And when they appear, their prices might give you pause. What is going on here? Well, as you might expect, it all comes down to supply and demand.
The GameCube has one of Nintendo’s most extensive and beloved first-party libraries, with classics like Metroid Prime, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker And Super Smash Bros. Melee. Even Super Mario Sunarguably the weakest mainline Mario title, still has many fans.
Elsewhere, Luigi’s Mansion finally gave Mario’s brother his own ghost-hunting spin-off. The console also had the classic RPG Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Doorthe first two Pikmin games and horror classic Eternal darkness: the requiem of reason. There have been many cross-platform highlights, including Resident Evil 4 And Beyond good and evil. It was also a golden age for local multiplayer, with games like Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and four (!) Mario Party entries.
On top of that, kids of the GameCube era are now between 25 and 40 years old, a time ripe for nostalgia. Add to that the “Nintendo tax,” the tendency of the company’s games to retain their value, and you have a recipe for high demand.
But you could make similar demand arguments for any classic Nintendo console. After all, the NES, SNES, N64, and Wii each had a gallery of legendary content. What really sets the GameCube apart is the offering side.
The scarcity factor
The GameCube’s 21.74 million units sold may seem like a lot, especially considering how small the gaming market was at the time. But he significantly underperformed compared to his predecessor and immediate successor. The Nintendo 64 has sold 32.93 million units. This represents a 34% decline for the GameCube, although the home console market was about 75% larger at launch (after adjusting for inflation). Meanwhile, its successor, the Wii, sold 101.63 million units, almost five times as many as the GameCube.
Why these declining sales? First, unlike the PS2 and Xbox, the GameCube didn’t play DVDs. (It’s hard to believe today, but it was a console sales feature in the pre-streaming world.) Second, Sony and Microsoft consoles were aimed more at teens and adults, pushing Nintendo further into the “family” niche while weakening its third-party support.
The sales figures for flagship GameCube titles reflect this. Super Smash Bros. Melee sold 7.41 million copies, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! moved 6.88 million copies and Super Mario Sun sold 5.91 million. These are significantly lower than the best-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 extend the lifespan of GameCube games. Early versions of the Wii were backwards compatible with GameCube discs, giving its library new life on the second-hand market (without putting new copies into circulation). And platform drives are more prone to damage than cartridges.
A relative dearth of modern GameCube re-releases hasn’t helped either. For many years, the only (legal) way to play his catalog was to use the original discs. In 2025, Nintendo finally began adding some GameCube titles to Switch Online for the Switch 2. But so far, that availability hasn’t translated into a significant drop in resale prices.
Some GameCube games are worth more than others
To be honest, not all GameCube games are very expensive. A used copy of Metroid Prime can be had for less than $30. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is only a little more expensive, usually between $30 and $50. (Its Switch remake likely contributed to its relatively low price.) Super Mario Sun costs on average about $40.
But other top titles will cost you more. Super Smash Bros. Melee, Luigi’s Mansion And Eternal darkness can cost you between $50 and $70 each. Mario Kart: Double Dash!! costs around $60-$70. Some even swell into three figures, with Pokémon Colosseum Or Pokémon XD: Dark Galley often cost $150 or more each. What if bizarre adventure game Chibi Robo! is more your speed, expect to pay between $160 and $200.
So the next time you stop by your local retro game store, know that the staff probably isn’t stocking their GameCube games backstage. They also don’t necessarily raise prices much beyond market value. It’s more about Econ 101: Limited supply and enduring demand have made GameCube collecting a more expensive hobby.
