Gamecube is the most underrated console while it was in circulation.
No shit. I mean what console has survived as long as those OG Gamecubes. I have had mine for 20 years and the first issue came up this year. Turns out it's an easy fix I can do myself and nothing destroying the console itself I can still play while working on this fix.
Also the Gamecube had so many games that were moved from the N64 that and some of the rarest games exist on Gamecube. Sometimes I can't believe it was ever a flop for them because it was a childhood favorite. I'm so glad I kept mine and tried to take good care of it even when it was in storage for so long.
I don't think any console today or even back at the time in 99 or early 2000s would last 20 years with kids turning into adults and 5-6 moves without having a console breaking issue.
Ive had 2 PS2's go down, a PS3 Gen1 break, 3 Xbox 360, and very sadly an OG Xbox that did last from 2005 to 2015, an N64, and my PS4 Slim is getting there for sure. All (except the 64) gotten years (some a decade) after this Gamecube I still have today.
Thank my lucky stars my sister gave it back to me because it is my rock of a console. It should have done so much better than what articles and money say. It's a very sought after retro console and I'm glad I still have and take care of mine from 2003 when I was a youngin'
I got one for $5 at a garage sale. It didn't have controllers, the AC cord, or the video wires. It did however have a copy of smash in the disc drive which I consider a win, but I still haven't tested it out lol. I bought the AC cord (cost twice as much as the console lol). There's not really official cables that work for modern TVs. There's some janky Chinese ones on Amazon that need power to operate, and the fire danger of some random off brand AV cord sketches me out. I've also been too lazy to look for controllers. One day though, there will be smash.
I'm fairly certain Nintendo recently released new controllers that are compatible with Bluetooth and have the old cord input for the GC adapter\console they sold for WiiU\Switch. So controllers should be fairly available for you at least.
That's how I got mine and realized how wrong I was about refusing to buy Wind Waker because kid Link was the protagonist. Bought it because Twilight Princess was coming out and I got a used Wind Waker copy for like $20 too.