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

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.