Nintendo GameCube

Nintendo reported that as of January 2006 they have sold a total of 20.61 million Nintendo Gamecube units worldwide. Plate crystals generally cause pillars only when the sun is within 6 degrees of the horizon, or below it; column crystals can cause a pillar when the sun is as high as 20 degrees above the horizon. One example is the advertisement campaign for Square Enix's GameCube-exclusive Final Fantasy game, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles. Hexagonal plate- and column-shaped ice crystals cause the phenomenon. 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. A sun pillar appears most often as a vertical pillar or column of light rising from the sun near sunset or sunrise, though it can appear below the sun, particularly if the observer is at a high elevation or altitude. The "Who Are You" logo is similar to graffiti lettering. When the sun dog phenomenon is seen around the Moon rather than the Sun, it is called a mock moon, moon dog, or by the proper name paraselene.

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 crystals are hexagonal cylinders, and they have to be oriented vertically. Subsequent ad campaigns had Nintendo advertising with a "Who Are You" tangent, essentially marketing the wide range of games Nintendo offers. The orientation of the ice crystals involved in this process is important. The lettering would begin as a wave, only to settle on the top of the pictured console. Sun dogs are uncommon and typically appear only when a low sun shines through loose cirrus clouds, e.g., in a milky-white winter afternoon sky. It basically rotated around what appeared to be the top of a GameCube console, with the lettering being slightly 3D. Sun dogs, also known as parhelia (single parhelion), appear as near-horizontal colored spots or bars on both sides of the sun, at nearly a 22 degree angle.

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. This sign is supposed to have prompted him to become a Christian. This was usually after the normal commercial for a GameCube game. Emperor Constantine I of the Roman Empire is said to have seen such a halo in 313 near Trier. A voice whispered "GameCube". Halos can also have unusual shapes, for example a cross. The earliest commercials displayed a rotating cube video, which would quickly morph into the GameCube logo. Atmospheric phenomena such as halos were used as an empirical means of weather forecasting before meteorology was developed.

Nintendo has used several advertising strategies and techniques for the GameCube. The crystals behave like jewels, refracting and reflecting sunlight between their faces, sending shafts of light in particular directions.
. Sometimes in very cold weather optical halos are formed by crystals close to ground level, called diamond dust. 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. A more Christian interpretation, less dualistic in its assumptions, is that the halo represents the light of divine grace suffusing the soul, which is perfectly united and in harmony with the physical body. Holding down X, Y and start/pause for three seconds will recalibrate the controller at any time. Some think the halo symbolizes the saint's consciousness as 'radiating' beyond the physical body, and that it serves as a pictorial reminder to the saint's devotees of the saint's transcendence of the physical body.

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. Tibetan Buddhism uses halos extensively in the Thangka paintings of Buddhist saints such as Milarepa and Padmasambhava. Various games use this structure to varying levels of success. In Pure Land Buddhism the halo is used in depicting the image of Amida Buddha. This serves as two additional buttons on the controller without the need to actually add physical buttons. In Zen Buddhism, ink brush paintings also commonly use the halo in depictions of saints such as Bodhidharma. The L and R analog shoulder buttons, the main innovation, have when fully depressed an additional 'click' if the buttons are depressed further. Halos are found in Buddhist sculpture and painting from the Gandharan period, influenced by Greek artists brought to India with the army of Alexander the Great.

The controller is a standard wing grip design, and was designed to fit well in human hands. The halo has been widely used in Buddhist iconography as well since at least the 1st century AD. Some unofficial controllers also have "turbo" or "macro" buttons, but these only modify the actions performed by other buttons. This form of halo is still used in many popular depictions of angels and of blessed souls in heaven. Originally, Nintendo was not going to include it, but game developers asked for it to be put in. During the Renaissance, when rigorous perspective came to be considered essential, the halo was changed from an aura surrounding the head to a golden ring that appeared in perspective, mysteriously floating above the heads of the saints. In a late design change, the "Z" button was oddly positioned above the "R" trigger. The term "glory" may also refer to a glowing effusion —used in art to cover up depictions of genitalia.

Slightly above the "R" button is the "Z" button. This whole-body image of radiance is sometimes called the 'aureole', a lemon-drop-shaped item that appears to radiate from the entire body of the saints' being. On the top of the controller there are two analog shoulder buttons marked "L" and "R" which are moulded to fit index fingers. Of the many stories about saints, some reports claimed that a saint was literally glowing. The start/pause button is in the middle of the controller. Some faithful believe the halo to be equivalent to the Eastern religion aura, and as with the latter, believe that halos are visible to those with perception. Below those, there is a yellow "C" stick, which has a similar function to the right stick on a PlayStation. In popular piety, this practice has led to the literal belief that saints' have visible halos around their heads, rather than it be understood as a metaphorical representation.

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. Especially noteworthy in this respect is Michelangelo Buonarroti's statue of Moses in San Pietro in Vincoli. The primary analog stick is on the left, with the D-pad below it. This description was taken literally by Medieval and Renaissance artists, who depicted Moses with small horns growing from his forehead. The standard GameCube Controller totals eight buttons, two analog sticks and a D-pad. Jerome avoided this by translating the phrase into Latin as "cornuta esset facies sua" (his face was horned). Games with large amounts of voice acting or pre-rendered video often need to be put on two discs. However, this would have implied a halo, which was reserved for Christian-era saints.

The capacity of the disc is 1.5 GB. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai carrying the tablets of the law, he is said in the Hebrew text (Exodus 34,29) to have a glowing or radiant face. The disc is a proprietary version of the eight cm DVD (MiniDVD) format. The use of halos to designate Christian saints presented a problem in the translation of the Hebrew Bible. The GameCube Optical Disc is the media format used by the Nintendo GameCube. Square halos are used to depict unusually saintly living personages. (Even though DDR-SDRAM is significantly faster, since the PowerPC 750CXe can not address DDR-SDRAM, it is not used.). Triangular halos are used for representations of the Trinity.

Some benchmarks provided by third-party testing facilities do indicate, however, that some of these specifications, especially those relating to performance, may be conservative. A cross within a halo is used to represent Jesus. The following are hardware specifications provided by Nintendo of America. people considered as spiritually gifted.
. Round halos are typically used to signify saints —ie. 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]. It first appeared culture in the art of ancient Greece and Rome, and was incorporated into Christian art sometime in the 4th century.

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. The halo represents an aura or glow of sanctity which was most prominent around the head and was conventionally drawn as a circle. 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. The halo has become an object of religious iconography in both Christian and Buddhist traditions. The GameCube had a strong hold on the children's market and its low price compared to the PS2 and Xbox kept it competitive. . 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. Light is reflected and refracted by the ice crystals and may split up into colors because of dispersion, similarly to the rainbow.

The GameCube has not performed to expectations due to being unable to match the sales and market share of its Nintendo 64 predecessor. The particular shape and orientation of the crystals is responsible for the type of halo observed. GameCube sales have continued to be steady, particularly in Japan, but the Gamecube is still in third place in worldwide sales [7]. There are many types of optical halos, but they are mostly caused by ice crystals in cold cirrus clouds located high (5-10 km, or 3-6 miles) in the upper troposphere. 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. Halos, also known as icebows, are also optical phenomena that appear near or around the Sun or Moon, and sometimes near other strong light sources such as street lights. 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]. In Christian sacred art (Eastern and Western churches), holy persons (saints) are depicted with a halo, a golden, yellow or white circular glow, around the head.

Also 2K Sports, who have not supported the Gamecube, will release Major League Baseball 2K6 in spring 2006 [5]. They are often used in religious works to depict holy or sacred figures. Since then, however, Eidos has resumed development [4] of GameCube titles. A halo (also known as a nimbus or Gloriole) is a ring of light that surrounds an object. 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]. 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.

The strong preference of GameCube owners for first-party titles has also put the system at odds with major third party developers. 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 1.5 gigabyte proprietary disc format may have also been a limiting factor since Nintendo's rivals used the 4.7 gigabyte DVD. 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.

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. 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. 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]. 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.

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. This policy from Nintendo resulted in many exclusive third-party games for the Nintendo GameCube, and the arrival of multiformat titles on the platform. Nintendo often took an active role in cooperating with a developer. 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.

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. One of the defining aspects of the Nintendo GameCube is the rejuvenated relationship between Nintendo and its licensees. Some of the more popular first-party titles include:. The Nintendo GameCube software library contains such traditional Nintendo series as Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid.

Source: ESRB. The GameCube features games with the following ratings:. In addition, over 25 titles are currently in development. The GameCube currently has over 550 games available in its library.

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. Tap the "A" Button repeatedly to spin the Gamecube logo. A unique feature of the Gamecube are a few Easter Eggs included in its startup sequence. Two separate adaptors were made, one for dial-up phone lines and one for broadband connections.

Instead, Nintendo focused more on Game Boy connectivity. The only high profile title that required the adapter was Sega's Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II. 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 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.

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 controller has the traditional directional pad, two thumbsticks, and eight buttons: A, B, X, Y, Z, L, R, and start/pause. 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. Interestingly, with the addition of the Game Boy Player accessory, the GameCube becomes a nearly perfect geometric cube.

However, this feature over other consoles was minimal since its inexpensive production and selling price were its main advantages. The GameCube was designed for ease of portability, with its small size complemented by a carrying handle. A fair variety of GameCube games implement this innovative functionality, while Nintendo encourages its continued use. 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.

Up to four Game Boy Advance systems can be connected to the GameCube through the GameCube's four controller ports for multiplayer play. 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. 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. Examples of this functionality include the use of the Game Boy Advance as a controller for the game played.

Such a connection between the two systems allows the transfer of game data. The system does not link to the Micro due to the fact that its slot is too small. The GameCube system also has the unique capability to connect to Nintendo's portable system Game Boy Advance and SP. The Q's different footprint also left it incompatible with the Game Boy Player.

However, it was never released outside Japan and production ceased in December 2003. Called the Q, it was a modified GameCube that could also hold standard-sized DVD discs and play back both formats. There was also a DVD-capable variant released by Panasonic in Japan, under license from Nintendo. 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.

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. 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 Nintendo GameCube does not have any DVD-movie support. Later, a special debug mode in the GameCube drive was discovered which allowed the console to read and play from standard mini dvdrs.

[1]. 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. This move was mainly intended to prevent piracy of GCN titles, but like most anti-piracy technology, it was eventually cracked. 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.

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. 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. 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). 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.

The GameCube launched in North America with the following twelve games:. . Luigi's Mansion was the first cover game (volume #150). The GameCube was first introduced in volume #145 of Nintendo Power magazine.

The GameCube was released on:. The GameCube itself is the most compact and inexpensive of the sixth generation era consoles. 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. It is considered particularly useful for Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II and is difficult, though not impossible, to acquire outside of Japan.

The keyboard requires the use of two controller ports, and contains both Roman and Japanese hiragana characters. An ASCII keyboard controller, resembling a standard GameCube controller pad stretched to accommodate an alphanumeric keyboard in the center. A dance pad, included with Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix. This official Nintendo accessory is currently sold in Japan only.

SD Card Adapter, for games exhibiting the SD Card logo like Animal Forest e+. Commands are issued when you hold the X button on the controller. Odama also includes a microphone clip to clip on to the controller. Microphone, which plugs into memory card slot, for use with Mario Party 6, Mario Party 7, and Karaoke Revolution Party.

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. In PAL regions, an RF cable for connection to older televisions, and an RGB SCART cable for high-quality connections. 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. Allows GameCube play on a standard computer monitor.

VGA Adapter. See System Specifications above and Official Information.). 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. Component video cable (for progressive scan (480p) support) which requires a GameCube with Digital Video Output.

Game Boy Player (to play Game Boy games on the television, using either a GameCube controller or a connected Game Boy Advance). Modem or Broadband adapter (for internet or LAN play). Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Advance cable (for games that support connectivity between the GameCube and the Game Boy Advance). A maximum of 127 files can be stored on a memory card).

Memory Card (59, 251 or 1019 blocks. Wavebird (RF wireless controller). There are also specially shaped controllers, such as a blood-spattered chainsaw released to coincide with Resident Evil 4.). 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.

Controller (Standard colours include Indigo, Black, Spice (Orange), Platinum and Indigo-clear. [4.3"(H) x 5.9"(W) x 6.3"(D)]. Physical Measurements of Entire System: 110 mm (H) x 150 mm (W) x 161 mm (D). Power Supply: AC Adapter DC12 volts x 3.25 amperes.

High-speed Parallel Ports: 1. High-speed Serial Ports: 2. Digital Video Outputs: 1 *. Analog Audio/Video Outputs: 1.

Memory Card Slots: 2. Controller Ports: 4. Approximately 1.5 gigabytes in capacity. Producer is Matsushita (Also known as Panasonic).

Diameter is 3 inches in length. Based on DVD technology. Disc Media: