Nintendo ruled the console market back in the 80s and early 90s. The Famicon(NES) and Super Famicon(Super NES) were basically unstoppable with all the games that backed them up. Super Mario Brothers(1, 2, 3), Legend of Zelda, Metroid(Super Metroid), Contra, and so much more that pretty much glued Nintendo to the number one spot for that era.

Then Sony and Nintendo get together to plan an add-on to the Super NES. But Nintendo decides to stick with cartridge base games so Sony says screw it and sticks with the CD based games and creates the Playstation. I'm actually glad Nintendo didn't combine with Sony, could you think of what video games would be like now? They'd be unstoppable, no console released could compare.

Anyway, in 1996 the N64 was released. In the N64's 1996-late 2001 life span, there were a few good games, although the potential for some of these games were kept low because of the limited space on the cartridges.

Any how, on November 18, 2001(pushed back two weeks from its original release date, November 5th)... Nintendo released their new system called the Gamecube to redeem their selves from the N64 “failure” as some people say(I’m not one of them, HELL no).

Little Cube, Enough Power to Rule Them All
Nintendo has done a lot of things right with the Gamecube; not that it has more power, but they went with CD based games now. However, Nintendo being Nintendo(don’t know whether that’s good or bad), they go with 3 inch mini-DVD discs that hold 1.5 gb of space. That’s uh, almost half of the PS2 games, and 3 times less than what X-Box DVDs can hold.

Is this bad though? HELL NO! So anyway, since the Gamecube uses discs now(which sadly means no backward compatibility), the top of the Cube opens with the press of a button and you stick the game in(like Dreamcast, Sega Saturn, Playstation). Now when you pull discs out, and you don’t just grab the outside edges and pull anymore(well you can, if...), you press a button in to pop the CD out easily. This was used as to keep discs intact as long as they can. Course, I think it would be cool if Nintendo used disc trays and a little mini tray would pop out, you stick the disc in, and it returns back inside, boy I love technology.

Anyway, I don’t want to bore you with boring dimensions that you probably won’t care about, so lets just say the Gamecube is a small system. how small? Well first you can just look at the picture atop the page to get a memory image of the size, but if you don't have a Gamecube and you want to see the size, just take 7 or 8 regular CD cases and stack them up to get the general idea of how big the cube is. I think I bored you more with what I just said than what I thought you would have with the 6 x 5½ x 4½ dimensions(that’s 6 inches long, 5½ inches wide, and 4½ inches tall). Whoops, basically this whole paragraph was useless because I gave you the size anyway, d’oh!

Hardy, hardy, hardy... the Gamecube is a sleek little console that can fit in rather tight spaces because of its small size so if you’re worried about taking up more space, think again. Anyway, the Gamecube is an open top console, so on top of the cube you have the “open” button in the bottom right corner, the infamous “reset” button on the lower left, and of course the “power” button in the top left. On front of the console there are four controller ports, and two places for memory cards. Once again, more multi-player fun with four friends(countless hours of Mario Party and Super Smash Bros brings back memories). Also the addition of memory card slots on the console itself, means that you don’t have to hook them up into the controller anymore.

On the sides of the Gamecube is an Intake vent and an exhaust vent. These keep the Gamecube cool as you play for long hours at a time. Also underneath the Gamecube are ports for a possible hard drive in the future, and the 56k and Broadband adapters for internet play. And on the back of the Gamecube you’ve got a handle; convenient yes, but who wants to mess with hooking and unhooking the cords all the time(definitely not me) and carry it everywhere(which is not what the handle is meant for but people still do it).

Big, Medium, Small Hands - Whatever Size Hands
In my opinion, the Gamecube controller is the best feeling controller on the market. The controller went sort of in the direction of the PS2 controller, only not so blocky and is a bit bigger also(see a trend here? X-Box controller resembles Dreamcast controller and the GC controller resembles the PS2 controller). A lot of people accustomed to the N64’s weirdly(but comfortable) shaped controller might scoff at the new controller, but it really is awesome.

The controller fits in my hands almost perfectly. The way it’s shaped, it’ll basically mold to your hands and will provide the uttermost comfort while playing, whether it be for 10 minutes or 10 hours. On the right side of the controller is where the main buttons are. The big green “A” button is surrounded by the bean shaped “X” and “Y” buttons, while the “B” button is easily accessible diagonally below the “A” button. Then there’s the “Z” button atop the controller, along with the pressure sensitive click “R” trigger. Then below all the main action buttons like “A” and “B”, you’ve got the C-Stick.

Then where your left hand will be holding, you’ve got the main analog stick and the ludicrously small D-Pad. Now instead of having to pay an extra 10 or 15 bucks to get a rumble pak, the GC controller already has rumble sensitivity in it. The cord isn’t as long as I would liked it to have been, but you can buy an extension cable for almost $5 so you can play farther back.

For those who don’t like messing with short controller cords or controller cords at all, the Wave Bird is out. It’s cordless, and instead of using a laser beam, you plug in a radio receiver in one of the controller ports that emits radio signals to the controller. Which means you could go out of the room with it, looking the opposite way, and it would still work. However, there is no rumble, nor an indication that batteries are low, so you could be playing a game and POOF!, the batteries are dead. The Wave Bird is a tad more heavy than the regular controllers, but that’s due to the battery weight inside.

In conclusion, the Gamecube controller is the better of the other two consoles. The layout is simple, and other than the “Z” button, they’re all easy to reach and push. The only thing I can say is that the C-Stick feels a little plasticy, like it’s about to break, but maybe it’s just me.

Those who have the new Gameboy Player, or just want some some old-school game playing, there's a new controller shaped along the way of the SNES controller only with the GCN button layout, and a full sized D-Pad instead of the joystick. Whether it gets released here in North America, who knows, but it's in Japan right now and can be found at import sites like Playasia.com and Liksang.com. It's not that expensive, and is perfect for playing with the Gameboy Player or GC fighter that's unbearable with the tiny little GC controller D-Pad.

Super Fun Games For A Super Cool System
Aside from my Nintendo loyalty, this is the reason why I bought a Gamecube, the games. One of the major flaws of the N64 was the major lack of third-party support. Sure Nintendo and their second-parties released some good games, but a system can only go so far with first party games. Now the Gamecube has tripled the amount of third-party support as the N64 had with Sega, Namco, Capcom, Activision’s, EA(which are mainly ports) and many others, but the developer that would be the least likely to join, Squaresoft, has even signed on with Nintendo through a branching development team because of the stock that Sony owns.

The Gamecube launched with about 13 or 14 games, which is about 7 times more than the N64 launch which launched only TWO games; Pilotwings 64 and Super Mario 64. Out of the Gamecube launch, about four titles stood above the rest, including Super Monkey Ball, Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II, Luigi’s Mansion, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3. I think the launch was better than the X-box, but other people see it differently.

The really good games started to arrive a month later with Pikmin and Super Smash Bros Melee. Then we had a dry spell with hardly any new games, and 90% of them were ports from the PS2 and X-Box, mainly sports titles though.

Nintendo's got a really strong library games at this point, what with Metroid Prime, Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and Super Mario Sunshine, those 3 titles alone are enough reason to own a Gamecube as it is. Capcom's remake and Resident Evil and the new Resident Evil 0 have sure turned some heads, though third party support hasn't been all that great lately, and is reminiscent of how Nintendo were the only ones keeping the N64 alive.

Super Cool Games Soon To Be Released
2003 started out as a good year for Nintendo, and it looks as though it could be another good year, with tons of promising titles coming out before year's end.

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
Solid Snake finally comes to the Gamcube in a move similar to Capcom by a remake of the original Metal Gear Solid. The best part is, Silicon Knights it the team remaking the game, so expect some tight things to be done to this game.

Soul Calibur 2
Although SC2 will be multi-platform, the best console to get it for is definitely the Gamecube, due to Link being a playable character in his Spaceworld 2001 image.

Mario Kart: Double Dash
More than just a next generation sequel, Double Dash adds a little bit more depth to gameplay, including the Karts that resemble different cartoonish looking wagons. You also race with a partner.

F-Zero GX
I haven't played any of the F-Zero games spanning the SNES, N64, and GBA, but I'm definitely not going to miss the newest game in the F-Zero series. In order to take some stress of of Nintendo, Sega is the developer for F-Zero, and even from the basic E3 build LAST year, has looked awesome. Definitely contender for racer of the year, and best game on Gamecube.

1080: White Storm/Avalanche
The original 1080 on the N64 was a blast to play, and I can recount many sleepless nights where my cousin and I would be at it constantly either in Trick mode or time attack trying to best each other. The same fun looks like it's going to continue in White Storm/Avalanche, with a new twist to the gameplay.

Hittin' Da Net
Now for Nintendo’s approach to the online community. Right now, online is the last thing on Nintendo's mind, but SEGA’S Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 & 2 is the only online title for the Gamecube at the moment. Titles I hope to be online are Mario Party 5, Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, Mario Kart: Double Dash, and other titles. Right now Nintendo themselves is acting like they don’t really want to get into online gaming, but if they’d open their eyes a little, they’ve got at least 10 titles that would definitely be worth the online addition like the games I mentioned for example.

Overall
The Gamecube is my favorite console right now, and as soon as Nintendo's big guns, along with the third-party games come out, Nintendo will surely pull out ahead of the competition not necessarily in sales, but the quality of games.

happy gaming

Recommended: Yes