GameCube
The is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64. As a sixth-generation console, the GameCube primarily competed with Sony's PlayStation 2, Sega's Dreamcast, and Microsoft's Xbox.
Nintendo began developing the GameCube in 1998 after entering a partnership with ArtX to design a graphics processing unit. The console was formally announced under the codename "Dolphin" the following year and was released in 2001 as the GameCube. It is based on PowerPC. It is Nintendo's first console to use its own optical discs instead of ROM cartridges, supplemented by writable memory cards for saved games. Unlike its competitors, it is solely focused on gaming and does not play mass media like DVD or CD. The console supports limited online gaming for a few games via a GameCube broadband or modem adapter and can connect to a Game Boy Advance with a link cable for exclusive in-game features using the handheld as a second screen and controller. The GameCube supports e-Reader cards to unlock special features in a few games. The Game Boy Player add-on runs Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance cartridge games.
Reception of the GameCube was generally positive. It was praised for its controller and high quality games library, but was criticized for its lack of multimedia features and lack of third party support compared to its competitors. Its top-selling games include Super Mario Sunshine, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Star Fox Adventures, Metroid Prime, Mario Kart: Double Dash, Pikmin, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Animal Crossing, and Luigi's Mansion. Nintendo sold GameCube units worldwide, much fewer than anticipated, and discontinued the GameCube worldwide in February 2007. It was succeeded by the Wii in late 2006.
History
Background
In 1997, graphics hardware design company ArtX was launched with twenty engineers who had previously worked at SGI. ArtX was led by Wei Yen, who had been SGI's head of Nintendo Operations and of Project Reality, which from 1993 to 1996 had scaled down SGI's supercomputer design to become the Nintendo 64.Development
In May 1998, ArtX entered into a partnership with Nintendo to undertake the complete design of the system logic and graphics processor, codenamed "Flipper," for Nintendo's sixth-generation video game console. The console went through a series of codenames, including N2000, Star Cube, and Nintendo Advance. On May 12, 1999, Nintendo publicly announced the console during a press conference, giving it the codename "Dolphin" and positioning it as the successor to the Nintendo 64. This announcement also revealed strategic partnerships with IBM for the creation of Dolphin's PowerPC-based CPU, codenamed "Gekko," and with Panasonic for the development of its DVD drive and other Dolphin-based devices. Following this announcement, Nintendo began providing development kits to game developers, including Rare and Retro Studios.In April 2000, ArtX was acquired by ATI, whereupon the Flipper graphics processor design had already been mostly completed by ArtX and was not overtly influenced by ATI. In total, ArtX cofounder Greg Buchner recalled that their portion of the console's hardware design timeline had arced from inception in 1998 to completion in 2000. Of the ArtX acquisition, an ATI spokesperson said, "ATI now becomes a major supplier to the game console market via Nintendo. The Dolphin platform is reputed to be king of the hill in terms of graphics and video performance with 128-bit architecture."
The console was announced as the GameCube at a press conference in Japan on August 25, 2000, abbreviated as both "NGC" and "GC" in Japan and "GCN" in Europe and North America. Nintendo unveiled its software lineup for the console at E3 2001, focusing on fifteen launch games, including Luigi's Mansion and Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader. Several games originally scheduled to launch with the console were delayed. It is also the first Nintendo home console since the Famicom not to have a Mario launch game.
Long before the console's launch, Nintendo had developed and patented an early prototype of motion controls for the GameCube, with which developer Factor 5 had experimented for its launch games. Greg Thomas, Sega of America's VP of Development said, "What does worry me is Dolphin's sensory controllers because there's an example of someone thinking about something different." These motion control concepts would not be deployed to consumers for several years, until the Wii Remote.
Prior to the GameCube's release, Nintendo focused resources on the launch of the Game Boy Advance, a handheld game console and successor to the original Game Boy and Game Boy Color. As a result, several games originally destined for the Nintendo 64 console were postponed to become early releases on the GameCube. Concurrently, Nintendo was developing GameCube software provisioning future connectivity with the Game Boy Advance. Certain games, such as The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, can use the handheld as a secondary screen and controller when connected to the console via a link cable.
Nintendo began its marketing campaign with the catchphrase "The Nintendo Difference" at its E3 2001 reveal. The goal was to distinguish itself from the competition as an entertainment company. Later advertisements have the slogan, "Born to Play", and game ads feature a rotating cube animation that morphs into a GameCube logo and end with a voice whispering, "GameCube". On May 21, 2001, the console's launch price of was announced, lower than that of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Nintendo spent $76 million marketing the GameCube.
In September 2020, leaked documents included Nintendo's plans for a GameCube model that would be both portable with a built-in display and dockable to a TV, similar to its later console the Nintendo Switch. Other leaks suggest plans for a GameCube successor, codenamed Tako, with HD graphics and slots for SD and memory cards, apparently resulting from a partnership with ATI and scheduled for release in 2005. Ultimately, Tako was abandoned for Revolution which was a non-HD console with motion controls, although Nintendo would later work on Project Cafe which was an HD console that would become the Wii U, released later in 2012.
Release
The GameCube was launched in Japan on September 14, 2001. Approximately 500,000 units were shipped in time to retailers. The console was scheduled to launch two months later in North America on November 5, 2001, but the date was pushed back in an effort to increase the number of available units. The console eventually launched in North America on November 18, 2001, with over 700,000 units shipped to the region. Other regions followed suit the following year beginning with Europe in the second quarter of 2002.On April 22, 2002, veteran third-party Nintendo console developer Factor 5 announced its 3D audio software development kit titled MusyX. In collaboration with Dolby Laboratories, MusyX provides motion-based surround sound encoded as Dolby Pro Logic II.
Market share
Throughout the mid-2000s, GameCube hardware sales remained far behind its direct competitor, the PlayStation 2, and slightly behind the Xbox, though there were brief periods when the console would outsell both. The console's family-friendly appeal and lack of support from certain third-party developers skewed the GameCube toward a younger market, which was a minority of the gaming population during the sixth-generation. Many third-party games popular with teenagers or adults, such as the blockbuster Grand Theft Auto series and several key first-person shooters, skipped the GameCube entirely in favor of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. However, many gaming journalists and analysts noted that Nintendo's primary focus on younger audiences, and its family-friendly image, was the biggest advantage and disadvantage at a time when video games were aimed at more mature audiences. Nintendo was successful with games aimed at a more mature audience., the GameCube had a 13% market share, tying with the Xbox in sales but far below the 60% of the PlayStation 2. However, despite slow sales and tough competition, Nintendo's position improved by 2003 and 2004. The American market share for the GameCube had gone up from 19% to 37% in one year alone due to price cuts and high-quality games. One article stated that by early 2004, the GameCube had 39% market share in America. By Christmas of 2003, Nintendo of America's president, George Harrison, reported that the company's price cuts down to just under $100 quadrupled sales in the American market. GameCube's profitability never reached that of the PlayStation 2 or Game Boy Advance. However, it was more profitable than the Xbox.
GameCube's first two years had slow sales and struggles, and by 2004 and 2005 vastly improved to a 32% share of the hardware market in Europe. Due to price drops, which saved it in the American markets, and high-quality games from various developers, such as Pokémon Colosseum and Resident Evil 4, the GameCube improved to put Xbox down to third place. The top three European countries for GameCube success included the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, and modestly in Spain and Italy. Though falling behind the PlayStation 2 in Europe, the GameCube was successful and profitable there.