Nintendo GameCube

The Nintendo GameCube (ニンテンドーゲームキューブ, Nintendō Gēmukyūbu^?), often abbreviated as GCN, is Nintendo's fourth home video game console and is part of the sixth generation console era. The hardware system is the most compact, and second-cheapest after Sega's Dreamcast, of the sixth generation. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 and predecessor to Nintendo's Wii. The console was released on September 14, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia. The GameCube sold 21.74 million units worldwide.^[1]

Marketing

Nintendo GameCube

Nintendo has used several advertising strategies and techniques for the GameCube. The earliest commercials displayed a rotating cube video, which would morph into the GameCube logo. A female voice whispered "GameCube." This was usually after the normal commercial for a GameCube game.^[2]

Subsequent ad campaigns had Nintendo advertising with a "Who Are You?" tangent to market 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 paid Nintendo to promote their games, using Nintendo's marketing and advertising resources.

Hardware

Like its predecessor, the Nintendo 64, the Nintendo GameCube was available in a variety of colors. The two most common colors, made available during the system's launch, were "Indigo" (the "default" color) and "Jet Black". Later, Nintendo released GameCubes with a "Platinum" color scheme, marketed as limited edition. "Orange Spice" GameCubes were also manufactured, but were primarily available only in Japan.

The GameCube's model numbers, DOL-001 and 101, are a reference to its Dolphin codename.^[3] The official accessories and peripherals have model numbers beginning with DOL as well. Also, other types of Nintendo hardware before and after the GameCube has its developer's codename as a model number. Another Dolphin reference, "Flipper" is the name of the GPU for the GameCube.^[4] Panasonic made a licensed version of the GameCube with DVD playback, called the Panasonic Q.

Benchmarks provided by third-party testing facilities indicate that Nintendo's official specifications, especially those relating to performance, may be conservative. One of Nintendo's primary objectives in designing the GameCube hardware was to overcome the perceived limitations and difficulties of programming for the Nintendo 64 architecture; thus creating an affordable, well-balanced, developer-friendly console that still performs competitively against its rivals.^[5]. The development hardware kit was called the GameCube NR Reader. Model numbers for these units begin with DOT. These units allow developers to debug beta versions of games and hardware. These units were sold to developers by Nintendo at a premium price and many developers modified regular GameCubes for game beta testing because of this. The NR reader will not play regular GameCube games but only special NR discs burned by a Nintendo NR writer.

Memory and storage

Like its competitor, the PlayStation 2, the GameCube uses memory cards for saving game data (unlike the Xbox which has a built-in hard drive). The GameCube Memory Card comes in multiple sizes: 59 blocks (grey card), 251 blocks (black), and 1019 blocks (white). Cheaper third-party memory cards are also available.

Technical specifications

The Nintendo GameCube Game Disc is the medium for the Nintendo GameCube, created by Matsushita. Chosen to prevent unauthorized copying and to avoid licensing fees to the DVD Consortium, it is Nintendo's first non-cartridge storage method for systems released in North America and Europe (the Famicom Disk System and Nintendo 64DD were only released in Japan). Some games which contain large amounts of voice acting or pre-rendered video (for example, Tales of Symphonia) have been released on two discs; however, only twenty five titles have been released on two discs, and no games require more than two discs.

The MultiAV port was identical to and compatible with the one used in Nintendo's earlier SNES and Nintendo 64 systems.

Nintendo found that the digital AV port was used by less than one percent of users, causing the port to be removed from systems manufactured after May 2004.^[6] This was made noticeable on the "Pearl White" Mario Strikers pak in Europe released in October 2005 also on GameCube paks still in production at this time namely the Mario Kart Pak.

Central processing unit: Main article: Gekko (microprocessor) 485 MHz IBM "Gekko" PowerPC CPU. PowerPC 750CXe based core.[7] 180 nm IBM copper-wire process. 43 mm² die. 4.9 W dissipation.[7] Roughly 50 new vector instructions.[7] 32-bit ALU. 64-bit FPU, usable as 2x32-bit SIMD[7] FPU:1.9Gflops 64-bit enhanced PowerPC 60x front side bus to GPU/chipset. 162 MHz clock. 1.3 GB/s peak bandwidth.[7] 64 KiB L1 cache (32 KiB I/32 KiB D). 8-way associative. 256 KiB on-die L2 cache. 2-way associative.[7] 1125 DMIPS (dhrystone 2.1) System memory: 43 MB total non-unified RAM 24 MB MoSys 1T-SRAM (codenamed "Splash") main system RAM. 324 MHz, 64-bit bus. 2.7 GB/s bandwidth.[7] 3 MB embedded 1T-SRAM within "Flipper"". [8] Split into 1 MB texture buffer and 2 MB frame buffer.[8] 10.4 GB/s texture bandwidth (peak). 7.6 GB/s framebuffer bandwidth (peak). ~6.2 ns latency.[7] 16 MB DRAM used as buffer for DVD drive and audio. 81 MHz, 8-bit bus. 81 MB/s bandwidth.[7] Connectivity: 4 controller ports, 2 memory card slots MultiAV analog audiovisual port: interlaced YPbPr (composite, Y/C) and RGB video, stereophonic analog audio. Digital audiovisual port: digital interlaced or progressive scan YCBCR video, stereophonic I²S sound. Resolutions: 480i, 576i, 480p High-speed Serial Ports: 2 High-speed Parallel Ports: 1 Power supply output: DC12 volts x 3.25 amperes Physical Measurements: 110 mm (H) × 150 mm (W) × 161 mm (D); [4.3"(H) × 5.9"(W) × 6.3"(D)]

IBM PowerPC "Gekko" processor Graphics processing unit: 162 MHz "Flipper" LSI. 180 nm NEC eDRAM-compatible process. Co-developed by Nintendo and ArtX. 8Gflops 4 pixel pipelines with 1 texture unit each[7] TEV "Texture EnVironment" engine (similar to Nvidia's GeForce256 "register combiners") Fixed-function hardware transform and lighting (T&L). 12+ million polygons/s in-game.[9] 648 megapixels/second (162 MHz x 4 pipelines), 648 megatexels/second (648 MP x 1 texture units) (peak) Peak triangle performance: 20,250,000 32pixel triangles/sec raw and with 1 texture and lit 337,500 triangles a frame at 60fps 675,000 triangles a frame at 30fps 8 texture layers per pass, texture compression, full scene anti-aliasing[9] 8 simultaneous hardware light Bilinear, trilinear, and anisotropic texture filtering Multi-texturing, bump mapping, reflection mapping, 24-bit z-buffer 24-bit RGB / 32-bit RGBA color depth. Hardware limitations sometimes require a 6r+6g+6b+6a mode (18-bit color), resulting in color banding. 720×480 interlaced or progressive scan Integrated audio processor: Custom 81 MHz Macronix DSP Instruction Memory: 8 KiB RAM, 8 KiB ROM Data Memory: 8 KiB RAM, 4 KiB ROM 64 channels 16-bit 48 kHz ADPCM[9] Dolby Pro Logic II encoded within stereophonic output Storage media: For more details on this topic, see Nintendo optical discs. Matsushita (2.000 MB/s–3.125 MB/s) CAV mini-DVD-like 8 cm optical disk. Average access time: 128 ms; Capacity: 1.5 GB. Memory cards of varying sizes for saved game storage.

Controller

Black Nintendo GameCube controller

The standard GameCube controller has a wing grip design, and is designed to fit well in the player's hands. It includes a total of 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 center, 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 often serves different functions, from controlling the camera, to one similar to that of the right analog stick on a PlayStation 2 DualShock 2 controller. 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", as well as one digital one marked "Z". The "L" and "R" shoulder buttons have both digital and analog capabilities. In analog mode, the shoulder buttons have an additional "click" when fully depressed. In digital mode, it will register it as digital only when fully depressed. This difference, in effect, serves as two additional buttons on the controller without the need to actually add physical buttons. This works by means of a dual-sensor system inside the controller, a slider piece, which is moved by pressing down on the shoulder button and a separate button press pad at the base.

The GameCube controller comes in four major colors: "Jet Black", "Indigo", "Platinum" (silver), and "Orange Spice", all of which matching available colours of GameCube consoles. They were later sold in "Red", "Hot Pink", and all of the colors above but with a clear bottom. In April 2008, Nintendo released a white controller exclusively in Japan, possibly as a result of owners of the Wii game Super Smash Bros. Brawl preferring the controller as the primary method of control.^[10] There was also a pink controller released for a short time. A wireless controller was later released. Called the WaveBird, it works on radio frequency and as such is battery powered.

The GameCube controller in both its original wired version and the wireless WaveBird version is compatible with the Wii. Virtual Console games and certain Wii and WiiWare games like Mario Kart Wii, Sonic Unleashed and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King can be played with a GameCube controller.

Anascape Ltd, a Texas-based firm, filed a lawsuit against Nintendo for patent infringements regarding Nintendo's controllers.^[11] A July 2008 verdict found that a ban would be issued preventing Nintendo from selling the regular GameCube and WaveBird controllers in the United States. Nintendo is free to continue selling the controllers pending an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.^[12]

Technical issues

Some earlier and later revisions of the GameCube consoles developed disc read problems with the optical pickup becoming thermally sensitive over time, causing read errors when the console reached normal operating temperature. Failures of this sort require replacement of the optical pickup. Affected consoles have sometimes been serviced free of charge by Nintendo even after the expiration of the warranty period.^[13]

Software library

See also: List of Nintendo GameCube games, Chronology of GameCube games, and Player's Choice

Launch titles

The GameCube launched in North America with the following 12 games:

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. In both cases, Nintendo often took an active role in cooperating with the developer. This policy on Nintendo's part resulted in exclusive third-party games for the Nintendo GameCube, and the arrival of multi-format 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, as fewer first-party titles exist on those platforms.

Market share

Despite Nintendo's efforts, the GameCube failed to reclaim the market share lost by its predecessor, the Nintendo 64. It was in third place compared to its competitors, Sony's PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox (the latter was discontinued in 2006). The console's "family-friendly" appeal and lack of third-party support skewed the GameCube toward a younger market (see chart), which represents a minority of the gaming population. Some 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 favor of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The GameCube does, however, have over forty M (for Mature) rated games, a considerably larger amount than Nintendo's previous consoles.

Also, due to Nintendo's lack of support for the online capabilities of the GameCube, as opposed to Microsoft, Sega, and later Sony, who actively promoted online gaming by releasing first-party online titles and soliciting developers, multi-platform 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 also have been a limiting factor since the Xbox and PS2 used the 8.5GB Dual-Layer DVD. However, the Nintendo disc still has sufficient room for most games, although a few require an extra disc or, more rarely, have less content than other versions, and video compression for some games is slightly more apparent.

The strong preference of GameCube owners for first-party titles also put the system at odds with independent 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 in September 2003 that it would end support for the GameCube, canceling several titles that had been in development.^[14] Since then, however, Eidos has resumed development^[15] of GameCube titles, releasing hit games such as Lego Star Wars: The Video Game and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend. Due to sagging sales, Nintendo was forced to cut GameCube production for a limited time in order to sell off surpluses. In October 2002, Nintendo issued a profit warning.^[16] Sales rebounded slightly after a price drop to US$99 on September 24, 2003^[17] and the release of the The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition bundle. A demo disc called the Nintendo GameCube Preview Disc was also released in a bundle in 2003. Since this period, GameCube sales continued to be steady, particularly in Japan, but the GameCube was still in third place in worldwide sales during the sixth generation era.

Some third-party companies, such as Ubisoft, THQ, Disney Interactive Studios, Humongous Entertainment, and EA Sports, continued to release GameCube games in 2007.^{[18][19][20][21]} These titles include TMNT, Meet the Robinsons, Surf's Up, Ratatouille, and Madden NFL 08.

Online play

The GameCube was at one point online compatible by using a GameCube Modem Adapter or Broadband Adapter, though the only four games that had an online component were Homeland, Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II, Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Plus, and Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution. This online play was ended as of April 2007, but LAN gameplay is still available for the three titles that originally supported it: Mario Kart Double Dash!!, 1080° Avalanche and Kirby Air Ride. A third-party PC application called Warp Pipe allows online play of these three titles by tunneling the network traffic through a computer and across the internet, though this is not supported by Nintendo.

Reception and sales

While the GameCube sold nearly 22 million units during its lifecycle,^[1] it lagged far behind the installed base of over 140 million^[22]PlayStation 2 consoles sold. The GameCube also finished its generation slightly behind the Xbox, which sold 24 million units before being discontinued.

The overall number of titles released on the system exceeds 600, with 208.56 million GameCube games sold as of June 30, 2008.^[1]

See also

• Nintendo GameCube accessories
• Nintendo GameCube Linux

References

External links

• Nintendo GameCube Official webpage by Nintendo of America
• Nintendo GameCube at Nintendo.com (archived versions at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
• GameCube at the Open Directory Project