Nintendo GameCube

The Nintendo GameCube (Japanese: ゲームキューブ; originally code-named "Dolphin" during development; abbreviated as GCN) is Nintendo's fourth home video game console, belonging to the Sixth generation era; the same generation as Sega's Dreamcast, Sony's PlayStation 2, and Microsoft's Xbox. The GameCube itself is the most compact and inexpensive of the sixth generation era consoles. The GameCube was released on:

• September 14, 2001 (Japan)
• November 18, 2001 (North America)
• May 3, 2002 (Europe)
• May 17, 2002 (Australia)

The GameCube was first introduced in volume #145 of Nintendo Power magazine. Luigi's Mansion was the first cover game (volume #150).

Launch titles

The GameCube launched in North America with the following twelve games:

Overview

Unveiled during Spaceworld 2000, the Nintendo GameCube was widely anticipated by many who were shocked by Nintendo's decision to design the Nintendo 64 as a cartridge-based system. Physically shaped similar to a geometric cube, the outside casing of the Nintendo GameCube comes in a variety of colors, such as indigo, platinum, and black (also a limited edition Resident Evil 4 platinum and black game console). In Japan, the system is also available in orange, or in limited edition colors like Crystal White, Mint Green, Copper, and White with black pinstripes.

The Nintendo GameCube uses a unique storage medium, the GameCube Optical Disc, a proprietary format based on Matsushita's optical-disc technology; the discs are approximately 8 centimeters (3 1/8 inches) in diameter (considerably smaller than the 12cm CDs or DVDs used in competitors' consoles), and the discs have a capacity of approximately 1.5 gigabytes. Contrary to popular belief, GameCube discs are not physically read any differently from a standard DVD disc, but are encrypted and contain a 'barcode' unreadable by most DVD-ROM drives. This move was mainly intended to prevent piracy of GCN titles, but like most anti-piracy technology, it was eventually cracked. By exploiting a flaw in Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II, users were able to connect their GameCubes to their PC's and run homebrew programming on the console. [1]. Later, a special debug mode in the GameCube drive was discovered which allowed the console to read and play from standard mini dvdrs.

The Nintendo GameCube does not have any DVD-movie support. Common reasons cited by Nintendo for using this format are to lower piracy, provide faster loading times, and to make the system cheaper (to avoid DVD-licensing fees) and more compact. The lack of DVD movie support was also a double-edged sword; it did not appeal to the mass audience that turned to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox due to their built-in DVD support. Despite the protection of a non-standard disc format (essentially a miniature DVD-ROM with non-standard sectors and filesystem formatting), a number of modchips such as the Qoob and ViperGC have been released that, when used in conjunction with a modified bios, allow the use of a standard or 8 cm DVD-ROM to load backed-up, homebrew, boot-leg or pirate software. There was also a DVD-capable variant released by Panasonic in Japan, under license from Nintendo. Called the Q, it was a modified GameCube that could also hold standard-sized DVD discs and play back both formats. However, it was never released outside Japan and production ceased in December 2003. The Q's different footprint also left it incompatible with the Game Boy Player.

The GameCube system also has the unique capability to connect to Nintendo's portable system Game Boy Advance and SP. The system does not link to the Micro due to the fact that its slot is too small. Such a connection between the two systems allows the transfer of game data. Examples of this functionality include the use of the Game Boy Advance as a controller for the game played. Subsequent information related to game play may be displayed on the Game Boy Advance's color screen for added convenience or to avoid the cluttering of the display on the television screen. This functionality has also been used to unlock "secrets" such as new levels or characters when two games, a Game Boy Advance game and its GameCube equivalent, are connected together. Up to four Game Boy Advance systems can be connected to the GameCube through the GameCube's four controller ports for multiplayer play. A special Nintendo GameCube to Game Boy Advance connection cable is required for each Game Boy Advance system that is to be connected to the GameCube. A fair variety of GameCube games implement this innovative functionality, while Nintendo encourages its continued use.

The GameCube was designed for ease of portability, with its small size complemented by a carrying handle. However, this feature over other consoles was minimal since its inexpensive production and selling price were its main advantages. Interestingly, with the addition of the Game Boy Player accessory, the GameCube becomes a nearly perfect geometric cube. Despite being more compact than the PlayStation 2 (being that it was released over a year after and kept the power supply separate from the console), the GameCube has superior graphics processing power and better ProLogic sound, but no optical output.

The controller has the traditional directional pad, two thumbsticks, and eight buttons: A, B, X, Y, Z, L, R, and start/pause. Keeping up with the Nintendo 64, it features no select button, but the C buttons have been replaced by an analog C stick, instead. The thumbsticks do not have added "clickable" button functionality—unlike other such consoles of the era—but both L and R shoulder buttons are analog, being able to detect pressure applied to them before "clicking," essentially doubling their functionality.

The GameCube also had a network adapter released during the holiday season of 2002, but Nintendo did not promote or support online gaming anywhere as heavily as Sony or Microsoft. The only high profile title that required the adapter was Sega's Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II. Instead, Nintendo focused more on Game Boy connectivity. Two separate adaptors were made, one for dial-up phone lines and one for broadband connections.

A unique feature of the Gamecube are a few Easter Eggs included in its startup sequence. Tap the "A" Button repeatedly to spin the Gamecube logo. Also, holding the "Z" Button while the system boots will replace the normal xylophone musical sequence with squeaks, followed at the end by a child laughing.

Software library

The GameCube currently has over 550 games available in its library. In addition, over 25 titles are currently in development.

The GameCube features games with the following ratings:

• Early Childhood: 1
• Everyone: 287
• Everyone (E10+): 18
• Teen: 204
• Mature: 45
• Adults Only: 0

Source: ESRB

Key first-party titles

The Nintendo GameCube software library contains such traditional Nintendo series as Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid. Some of the more popular first-party titles include:

One of the defining aspects of the Nintendo GameCube is the rejuvenated relationship between Nintendo and its licensees. Unlike previous generations in which Nintendo was seen by some as bullying its third-party game developers, Nintendo openly sought game-development aid on the Nintendo GameCube. Sometimes, Nintendo would merely request that a third-party developer produce a game based on the third-party's own game franchises; other times, Nintendo would request that the third-party developer produce a game based on Nintendo's own game franchises. Nintendo often took an active role in cooperating with a developer. This policy from Nintendo resulted in many exclusive third-party games for the Nintendo GameCube, and the arrival of multiformat titles on the platform. Because of these efforts, GameCube owners tend to support first-party games more heavily than third party games, whereas the reverse is true for PlayStation 2 and Xbox owners.

Market share

Despite Nintendo's efforts, the GameCube was unsuccessful in recapturing the preceding Nintendo 64's market share, and the sixth generation was taken over by the PlayStation 2. Nintendo's family-friendly franchises such as Pokémon gave the GameCube the reputation of being a "kiddie" console that failed to appeal to the teenage and adult market[2]. Many third-party games popular with teenagers or adults such as first-person shooters and the controversial Grand Theft Auto series skipped a GameCube port in favour of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

Also, due to Nintendo's lack of support for the online capabilities of the GameCube, as opposed to Microsoft and later Sony who actively promoted online gaming by releasing first-party online titles and soliciting developers, many multiplatform games with online functionality were released offline-only on the GameCube. Although online support was added in late 2002 and both Sony and Nintendo followed a similar decentralized online model (in contrast to the centralized Xbox Live), lower sales of the GameCube versions of games during its launch year precluded developers from including online support. The 1.5 gigabyte proprietary disc format may have also been a limiting factor since Nintendo's rivals used the 4.7 gigabyte DVD. However, the Nintendo disc still had sufficient room for most games, although it had less extras than other versions (for example, the Spider-Man Xbox release featured extra levels not in the Gamecube port).

The strong preference of GameCube owners for first-party titles has also put the system at odds with major third party developers. Cross-platform games—such as sports franchises released by Electronic Arts—sold far below their PlayStation 2 and Xbox counterparts, prompting developers to scale back or completely cease support for the GameCube. After several years of losing money from developing for Nintendo's system, Eidos Interactive announced that it would end support for the GameCube, cancelling several titles that had been in development including Hitman 2 [3]. Since then, however, Eidos has resumed development [4] of GameCube titles. Also 2K Sports, who have not supported the Gamecube, will release Major League Baseball 2K6 in spring 2006 [5]. During the second half of 2003, due to sagging sales, Nintendo had to cut GameCube production in order to sell off surpluses and issue a profit warning [6]. Since then, sales have rebounded due to a price drop to $99 USD and the release of the The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition bundle, which spurred sales. GameCube sales have continued to be steady, particularly in Japan, but the Gamecube is still in third place in worldwide sales [7].

The GameCube has not performed to expectations due to being unable to match the sales and market share of its Nintendo 64 predecessor. However, this has been offset by the growing size of the video game console market which has allowed Nintendo to carve out a loyal following even though its market share decreased. The GameCube had a strong hold on the children's market and its low price compared to the PS2 and Xbox kept it competitive. Nintendo also reassured nervous investors by stating that they would "only exit the software business at the same time they would exit the hardware business"; in other words, that they would not discontinue their console business to focus on developing games like Sega had done after the failure of the Dreamcast. Unlike Sega, Nintendo has strong cash reserves so it could afford to match price wars whenever Sony or Microsoft lowered the price of their console. Also before the price wars, it was estimated that Nintendo lost the least amount of money or even made a small profit on each sale of a GameCube, compared to its rivals who sold their consoles at a loss[8].

Major second and third-party titles

• EA Sports games (Electronic Arts)
• Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (Silicon Knights)
• F-Zero GX (from Sega, based on Nintendo's own game properties)
• Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles (Square Enix)
• Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, a collaborative enhanced remake between Konami and then-second-party to Nintendo, Silicon Knights
• Resident Evil series (Capcom)
  • Resident Evil Zero
  • Resident Evil (enhanced remake)
  • Resident Evil 4
• Soul Calibur 2 (Namco)
• Sonic the Hedgehog series (Sega and Sonic Team)
  • Sonic Adventure 2 Battle (Sega and Sonic Team)
  • Sonic Mega Collection (Sega) and (Sonic Team)
• Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series (Factor 5)
• Star Fox series (from Namco, based on Nintendo's own game properties)
• Super Monkey Ball series (Sega)
• Tales of Symphonia (Namco)
• Viewtiful Joe series (Capcom)
• Wario World (from Treasure Co. Ltd, based on Nintendo's own game properties)

Screenshots

Gamecube Logo Easter Eggs

• Tap the A button repeatedly to make the logo spin. Holding the A button will spin the logo completely, and enter the console main menu regardless of whether there is a disk inserted.
• Hold the Z button before and while the logo starts to hear squeaking and children laughing.
• Hold the Z buttons on four controllers (one in each port) for another set of sounds.

Hardware specifications

The following are hardware specifications provided by Nintendo of America. Some benchmarks provided by third-party testing facilities do indicate, however, that some of these specifications, especially those relating to performance, may be conservative.

Central processing unit

• Name: "Gekko"
• Producer: IBM
• Core Base: PowerPC 750CXe, 43-mm² die (modified PowerPC 750 RISC with 50 new instructions)
• Manufacturing Process: 0.18 micrometre IBM copper-wire technology
• Clock Frequency: 485 MHz
• CPU Capacity: 1125 Dmips (Dhrystone 2.1)
• Internal Data Precision:
  • 32-bit Integer
  • 64-bit Floating-point, usable as 2x32-bit SIMD
• External Bus:
  • 1.3 gigabyte/second peak bandwidth
  • 32-bit address space
  • 64-bit data bus; 162 MHz clock
• Internal Cache:
  • L1: instruction 32KB, data 32KB (8 way)
  • L2: 256KB (2 way)

Graphics processing unit

• Name: "Flipper"
• Producer: ArtX/Nintendo (ArtX was acquired by ATi Technologies in 2000 and is now a part of ATi)
• Manufacturing Process: 0.18 micrometre NEC embedded DRAM process
• Clock Frequency: 162 MHz
• Embedded Frame Buffer:
  • Approximately 2 megabytes in capacity
  • Sustainable latency of 6.2 nanoseconds
  • RAM type is 1T-SRAM
• Embedded Texture Cache:
  • Approximately 1 megabyte in capacity
  • Sustainable latency of 6.2 nanoseconds
  • RAM type is 1T-SRAM
• Texture Read Bandwidth: 10.4 gigabytes/second (at peak)
• Main Memory Bandwidth: 2.6 gigabytes/second (at peak)
• Fill Rate: 648 megapixels/second
• Pixel Depth:
  • 24-bit RGB / RGBA
  • 24-bit Z-buffer
• Image Processing Functions:
  • Fog
  • Subpixel anti-aliasing
  • 8 hardware lights
  • 4 pixel pipelines (4 x 162 MHz = 648 MPixels)
  • hardware nurbs
  • Alpha blending
  • Virtual texture design
  • Multi-texturing, bump mapping
  • Environment mapping
  • MIP mapping
  • Bilinear filtering
  • Trilinear filtering
  • Anisotropic filtering
  • Real-time hardware texture decompression (S3TC)
  • Real-time decompression of display list
  • Hardware 3-line flicker filter

Audio specifications

• Processor: Custom Macronix DSP
• DSP Clock Frequency: 81 MHz
• Instruction Memory:
  • 8 kilobytes of RAM
  • 8 kilobytes of ROM
• Data Memory:
  • 8 kilobytes of RAM
  • 4 kilobytes of ROM
• Simultaneous Channels: 64 channels
• Encoding: ADPCM
• Digital Signal : 16 Bit
• Sampling Frequency: 48 kHz
• "Dolby Pro Logic II" in analog audio out
• AC3 signal through "digital out" with D-Terminal cable

Other system specifications

• System Floating-point Arithmetic Capability: 10.5 GFLOPS (at peak) (MPU, Geometry Engine, HW Lighting Total)
• Real-world Polygon Performance: 6 million to 12 million polygons/second (at peak) (assuming actual game conditions with complex models, fully textured, fully lit, etc.)* Although it is known that some games have gone well beyond 12 million polygons such as Rogue Squadron II and Resident Evil 4
• Main RAM:
  • Approximately 24 megabytes in capacity
  • Sustainable latency of 10 nanoseconds
  • RAM type is 1T-SRAM

(Even though DDR-SDRAM is significantly faster, since the PowerPC 750CXe can not address DDR-SDRAM, it is not used.)

• Auxiliary RAM:
  • Approximately 16 megabytes in capacity
  • 81 MHz in speed
  • RAM type is DRAM
• Disc Drive:
  • Drive type is Constant Angular Velocity (CAV)
  • Average access time is 128 milliseconds
  • Data transfer speed is between 2 megabytes per second and 3.125 megabytes per second
• Disc Media:
  • Based on DVD technology
  • Diameter is 3 inches in length
  • Producer is Matsushita (Also known as Panasonic)
  • Approximately 1.5 gigabytes in capacity
• Controller Ports: 4
• Memory Card Slots: 2
• Analog Audio/Video Outputs: 1
• Digital Video Outputs: 1 *
• High-speed Serial Ports: 2
• High-speed Parallel Ports: 1
• Power Supply: AC Adapter DC12 volts x 3.25 amperes
• Physical Measurements of Entire System: 110 mm (H) x 150 mm (W) x 161 mm (D). [4.3"(H) x 5.9"(W) x 6.3"(D)]

Media

The GameCube Optical Disc is the media format used by the Nintendo GameCube. The disc is a proprietary version of the eight cm DVD (MiniDVD) format. The capacity of the disc is 1.5 GB. Games with large amounts of voice acting or pre-rendered video often need to be put on two discs.

Controller

The standard GameCube Controller totals eight buttons, two analog sticks and a D-pad. The primary analog stick is on the left, with the D-pad below it. On the right are four buttons; a large green "A" button in the centre, a smaller red "B" button to the left, an "X" button to the right and a "Y" button to the top. Below those, there is a yellow "C" stick, which has a similar function to the right stick on a PlayStation. The start/pause button is in the middle of the controller. On the top of the controller there are two analog shoulder buttons marked "L" and "R" which are moulded to fit index fingers. Slightly above the "R" button is the "Z" button. In a late design change, the "Z" button was oddly positioned above the "R" trigger. Originally, Nintendo was not going to include it, but game developers asked for it to be put in. Some unofficial controllers also have "turbo" or "macro" buttons, but these only modify the actions performed by other buttons.

The controller is a standard wing grip design, and was designed to fit well in human hands. The L and R analog shoulder buttons, the main innovation, have when fully depressed an additional 'click' if the buttons are depressed further. This serves as two additional buttons on the controller without the need to actually add physical buttons. Various games use this structure to varying levels of success.

Like most analogue controllers, the GameCube pad self-calibrates when the console is switched on, setting the current analog stick and L and R buttons' positions as "neutral", which may cause problems if these controls are not actually in their neutral position at the time of calibration. Holding down X, Y and start/pause for three seconds will recalibrate the controller at any time. Unplugging and reconnecting the controller, and in the case of the wireless Wavebird controller, turning the controller off and back on, will also force a recalibration.

Accessories/peripherals

• Controller (Standard colours include Indigo, Black, Spice (Orange), Platinum and Indigo-clear. There are also many limited edition controllers available such as a split Platinum and Red, with the Mario "M" logo replacing the regular GameCube logo seen on standard controllers. There are also specially shaped controllers, such as a blood-spattered chainsaw released to coincide with Resident Evil 4.)
• Wavebird (RF wireless controller)
• Memory Card (59, 251 or 1019 blocks. A maximum of 127 files can be stored on a memory card)
• Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Advance cable (for games that support connectivity between the GameCube and the Game Boy Advance)
• Modem or Broadband adapter (for internet or LAN play)
• Game Boy Player (to play Game Boy games on the television, using either a GameCube controller or a connected Game Boy Advance)
• Component video cable (for progressive scan (480p) support) which requires a GameCube with Digital Video Output. Less than one percent of GameCube owners used 480p, therefore the digital output was eventually removed from the design to reduce the system's manufacturing costs. See System Specifications above and Official Information.)
• VGA Adapter. Allows GameCube play on a standard computer monitor. Several are available from Lik-Sang, however, a game supporting 480p combined with the Component Video cable above, and the VD-Z3 (which has a monitor pass-through) or this can give Progressive Scan display quality on a computer monitor.
• In PAL regions, an RF cable for connection to older televisions, and an RGB SCART cable for high-quality connections
• DK Bongos for use with the music games Donkey Konga, Donkey Konga 2 and Donkey Konga 3, and the Donkey Kong platform title Donkey Kong Jungle Beat.
• Microphone, which plugs into memory card slot, for use with Mario Party 6, Mario Party 7, and Karaoke Revolution Party. Odama also includes a microphone clip to clip on to the controller. Commands are issued when you hold the X button on the controller.
• SD Card Adapter, for games exhibiting the SD Card logo like Animal Forest e+. This official Nintendo accessory is currently sold in Japan only.
• A dance pad, included with Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix
• An ASCII keyboard controller, resembling a standard GameCube controller pad stretched to accommodate an alphanumeric keyboard in the center. The keyboard requires the use of two controller ports, and contains both Roman and Japanese hiragana characters. It is considered particularly useful for Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II and is difficult, though not impossible, to acquire outside of Japan.

Marketing

North America

Nintendo has used several advertising strategies and techniques for the GameCube. The earliest commercials displayed a rotating cube video, which would quickly morph into the GameCube logo. A voice whispered "GameCube". This was usually after the normal commercial for a GameCube game. Later on, Nintendo incorporated a video clip before the normal clip for the GameCube game would begin, similar to the brief PlayStation 2 logo before a commercial featuring the game. It basically rotated around what appeared to be the top of a GameCube console, with the lettering being slightly 3D. The lettering would begin as a wave, only to settle on the top of the pictured console.

Subsequent ad campaigns had Nintendo advertising with a "Who Are You" tangent, essentially marketing the wide range of games Nintendo offers. The idea behind the "Who Are You?" campaign is that "you are what you play"; the kind of game a gamer enjoys playing suggests a dominant trait in that gamer's personality. The "Who Are You" logo is similar to graffiti lettering. Most of the "Who Are You?" commercials advertised games developed or published by Nintendo, but some developers pay Nintendo to promote their games, using Nintendo's marketing and advertising resources. One example is the advertisement campaign for Square Enix's GameCube-exclusive Final Fantasy game, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles.

Sales

Nintendo reported that as of January 2006 they have sold a total of 20.61 million Nintendo Gamecube units worldwide.

The GameCube currently sells at USD $99. Several bundles are out which include games such as Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, Mario Party 7 and Super Smash Bros. Melee for America. There is a Mario Smash Football bundle for Europe and Super Mario Strikers bundle for Canada.