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So lets get this straight Nintendo...You want to keep us a fan, claim your not a kiddy toy and then debut with a purple barney box (they call it indigo)? Thank goodness you featured the more Dark Watcher friendly "jet black" color. Nintendo later debuted more colors (maybe it was best that spicy orange was Japan only). Nintendo’s design was refreshing for a 6th generation console. For an era of big behemoth units, the GameCube was a power package in a tiny box (in this case size does not matter). The small form factor was much appreciated and many reports and videos demonstrated the GameCube's durability (it survives some of the worst smashes and falls!). DW just did not get the built-in handle concept. Sure, the GameCube is nice and portable, and attachable 3rd Party LCD screens made it sort of an "On the go" game console, but you still had to lug around a power brick and controllers. Besides, in most neighborhoods walking around with a purple GameCube by the handle is likely to lead to a beat down and robbery.
The GameCube was big N's attempt to finally abandon the cart format and go optical. They elected to go with a proprietary 80 mm 1.4 GB disc. This contributed to the small form factor, but also had its downfalls (more on that later). This meant that the GameCube offered no other functionality outside of gaming (unlike their console rivals). They attempted to bridge the lack of multimedia functionality with a variety of connectivity options with their GameBoy Advance handheld. We took no value from it though. Although there were reports of internal "overheat"
disc read errors, we have never had any issues. Perhaps it is because we do not have the gaming habits of a preteen completionist cracked on
energy drinks. Our original model featured the digital-out port that was removed in later models (bad move N), a "High Speed" port which
allowed us to enjoy our Gameboy Player and 2 serial ports (Nintendo eventually removed 1 in later models). The serial ports could be used
with a dial-up or broadband adapter, but with only a handful of online games…we did not bother with it. Four (4) controller ports allowed for
multiplayer, but in house only.
The GameCube put out some amazing graphics with 2D and 3D sprites / textures with cell shading, pre-rendered video, bump mapping and even stereoscopic 3D. Visually, it falls just shy of the Xbox in terms of presentation and just shy of Playstation 2 in terms of on-screen animation. The maximum resolution was 480p / 576i at 16:9 (available in some games), but only fully available in older models that retained the digital-out port. In terms of sound, the GameCube uses analog stereo with "faked up" surround sound supported by Dolby Pro Logic II. So it cannot compete with its rivals in this area, but it was not designed with multimedia in mind. For games that truly took advantage, the GameCube could still put out good sound. The choice to finally go optical helped win back third-party developer support, but the limited size meant that some games had to be split up into several discs. The small discs do add to some level of portability though. Like most optical discs, they can be scratched and damaged, but the GameCube's error correction capabilities can handle minor scratches. Nintendo had a slow time gaining 3rd party support, but eventually received great titles. Their most successful titles were based on their own franchise characters and in house development. They even garnered successes with Sega ports from the Dreamcast console. They were slow in targeting every demographic. Sports titles were limited and mature rated games were trickled in over time. More emphasis was placed on younger party like games in the beginning, but eventually the GameCube would see quality titles. The GameCube was designed primarily for in-house
gaming. Its small size allowed for it to be easily transported and it produced a number of great game titles. Nintendo did well in achieving
attractive price points for the console which contributed to its value. It was a good little box that would eventually be rendered obsolete by
its successor. |
At an electronic show called E3 in 1999, Nintendo announced the initial specifications for its next-generation console, code-named Dolphin. The first thing that Nintendo made clear was that the new system would not use a cartridge medium. The Nintendo 64 had done decent with the format, but games were expensive and the format alienated some 3rd Party developers. As months past more specifics were released about the new console. Nintendo would have several companies involved in the project. IBM designed and manufactured the console processor called the "Gekko". The graphics processor called "Flipper" was designed by a small startup company called ArtX who was later bought out by ATI. The graphics chip was manufactured by NEC. Macronix and Factor 5 contributed the sound with MoSys providing the system memory. Lastly the console would use a proprietary 8cm optical disc game format capable of holding 1.5GB of data (twice the capacity of CD-ROMs). This disk was developed and manufactured by Matsushita (best known for the Panasonic brand name). It became clear that Nintendo was indeed developing something impressive. Nintendo's new console was revealed on August 24, 2000 at their Nintendo Spaceworld show. The console, which was now being called Starcube, was officially named the Nintendo GameCube. A fitting name for one of the smallest console system in recent history. The GameCube's power was demonstrated with a tech demo of a game simply called Mario 128. Displaying textures would be the GameCube's most potent asset. GameCube uses 6-to-1 texture compression, which will let texture data be shrunk to one-sixth its original size, with no appreciable hit on the hardware. This was clearly apparent as onlookers watched 128 rendered Mario character models running around the screen at once. Many questioned why Nintendo would not utilize the immense DVD storage format and movie playback that rival consoles were using. Nintendo would state that they have made a next-generation, powerful, easy to understand and easy to develop gaming system and that would be their only focus. Nintendo also unveiled new forms of connectivity between Nintendo GameCube and their popular handheld portable Game Boy Advance. By linking the two systems, the Game Boy Advance can be used as more than a controller. For instance, players can transfer a character trained on GameCube to Game Boy Advance to continue game play while away from home. Or, transport characters or items via Game Boy Advance to trade with friends. And, with innovative technology such as "tilt control" players can maneuver a character just by tilting a Game Boy Advance controller. Nintendo would reveal other linking concepts in later years. Nintendo launched the GameCube in Japan on September 14 2001. Although Nintendo would market the console in other colors, only the Indigo (purple) version was initially available. The decision to not use their proprietary format (rather then DVD) allowed Nintendo the ability to market the GameCube for around $100 less then the Playstation 2 and Xbox (Japan retailed at 25,000 yen). A lack of initial game titles, plus a subdued publicity campaign, may have hindered the Japanese GameCube launch. Nintendo released only three games (Luigi's Mansion, Super Monkey Ball and Wave Race: Blue Storm and managed to sell 300,000 of 450,000 shipped units. Clearly not the usual publicized launch that usually occurs abroad, but another contributing factor may have been the world’s focus on the September 11th Terrorist Attack on the US. The GameCube launch in the US was originally scheduled for November 5, 2001. Nintendo felt it wiser to delay the release in order to make more units and launch titles available. The GameCube was officially launched on November 18th, only a mere few days after the release of Microsoft's Xbox. Over 700,000 units and 8 launch titles were available at launch. Even with two other next generation consoles on the market, the GameCube still managed to sell out its initial shipment. The success followed with the European launch in May of 2002. As the other rival consoles went about unveiling their online gaming strategies, Nintendo merely announced the availability of a network adapter that could be used with Phantasy Star Online. It appeared as if online gaming was not part on Nintendo's overall strategy at that point. The main focus however was to release quality game titles which had slowed to a trickle since the console's debut. Toward the end of 2002 however, the GameCube saw the release of many quality "must have" exclusive games.
The GameCube had truly restored Nintendo's popularity with both gamers and developers. Its small unique shape and makeshift handle inspired developers to create an attaching LCD screen and battery pack for a somewhat portable game experience. Remakes and sequels to Nintendo's popular franchise characters has pushed software sales for the console even further. It seems Nintendo has done well to continue their console legacy.
FACT: In Japan it appeared as if the Playstation 2 was gaining many hardware sales by being a low costing DVD
player. Nintendo partner Matsushita saw an opportunity to also cash in. The result? The Panasonic Q. A machine that combines a
Nintendo
GameCube and Panasonic DVD player into one.. The Panasonic Q was only sold for retail in Japan, however it can be purchased through
import retailers. To help garner the attention of import consumers, establishments such as Upstate Games have gone the extra mile to make it
totally region friendly, enabling you to play all region DVDs in addition to Japanese and US GameCube software. However, importing this puppy
is an expensive endeavor.
Size comparison of a standard DVD with |
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Various picture\media for this console. Click pictures to enlarge. |
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For the hardware enthusiasts out there - all the detail you\we love. |
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Games, media format, emulators and screen shots for titles released on this system. |
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Select, top selling titles were re-released as Player's Choice editions. These games were sold at a reduced price and are designated as such with a yellow banner on the front cover. Replacing these cases can be a bit pricey due to their proprietary nature, especially for multi-disc games. |
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Nintendo GameCube Game Boxes
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Nintendo GameCube Game Screenshots (Pictures courtesy of Nintendo Life. Click images to enlarge) |
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1080 Avalanche
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Animal Crossing
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Baten Kaitos Origins
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Battalion Wars
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Beyond Good and Evil
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Conflict Desert Storm II: Back to Baghdad
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Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
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Eternal Darkness Sanity's Requiem
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F-Zero GX
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Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
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Fire Emblem Path of Radiance
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James Bond 007: From Russia with Love
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Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
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Mario Kart Double Dash
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Mario Party 4
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Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
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Metroid Prime 2
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Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
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Pikmin
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Resident Evil 2
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Space Raiders
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Star Fox Assault
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Super Mario Sunshine
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Super Monkey Ball Adventure
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Super Smash Bros. Melee
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Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble
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Wave Race Blue Storm
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Additional authorized releases for this console. |
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During the development of their GameCube gaming system, Nintendo partnered with Matsushita-owned Panasonic to manufacture the disc drive for their console. As part of this agreement, a license was issued to Panasonic to be able to utilize the base GameCube software technology for their own system. Released exclusively in Japan, the Panasonic Q was developed to address the fact that the GameCube's main competitors, the Sony Playstation 2 and shortly after the Microsoft Xbox, supported DVD movie playback out of the box while Nintendo did not incorporate this feature into its machine. Hoping to capitalize on this supposed oversight, the Panasonic Q was born. This is hands down the best looking GameCube system that has been released, and arguably one of the finest specimens for any system.
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Non-licensed releases (clones). |
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Highly recommended additional sites\resources for this system. |
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Copyright 2008-2011 The Video Game Console Library. This website and the information contained within it is protected by
copyright. Reproduction of part or all of the |
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HANDS ON REVIEW
