The 15th Anniversary of Nintendo's Underdog Console
On this day, September 14th back in 2001, the Nintendo GameCube was launched.
Before the Wii U arrived, this console was considered the red-headed bastard child of Nintendo's console line-up. It had no DVD support, was limited by the wildly-incompetent decision to use smaller discs, and was marketed terribly to its prime consumerbase.
So why is it my favorite console? Well, simply put, my favorite gaming experiences happened here, on this console.
It has, in my opinion, the best offerings of every franchise that materialized on this console.
But above all, Nintendo tried this generation above all others to win 3rd-party support. LucasArts put both Rogue Squadrons on it exclusively, got Capcom to port every prominent Resident Evil title, as well as the remake, prequel, and wildly-popular 4th Entry. It got Soul Calibur II, easily my favorite fighting game of all time, and has the best controller for it to boot. It has my favorite Sonic game, and again, is made the best version of it because of how awesome the controller is. This was also the console where Nintendo strove harder to have outside parties work on their OWN franchises.
The GameCube helped build my transcedence from casual to hardcore gaming enthusiast. It became my incentive to buy strategy guides, to start importing. To use cheat codes, to research things like game development and programming.
It's not perfect, but I still treasure this console with an undying passion, and have bought multiple versions of it, including its ultra-elusive Panasonic version. To me, it represents Nintendo in their prime: not pursuing casuals or gimmicks, not trying egrigously-hard to be kid-friendly, not xenophobic towards outside developers or pursuing online multiplayer that would be redundant after a generation had gone by.
This was the generation where they had one, un-distracted goal: make games, and make them damn good. That philosophy is what the GameCube was and is to me.
On this day, September 14th back in 2001, the Nintendo GameCube was launched.
Before the Wii U arrived, this console was considered the red-headed bastard child of Nintendo's console line-up. It had no DVD support, was limited by the wildly-incompetent decision to use smaller discs, and was marketed terribly to its prime consumerbase.
So why is it my favorite console? Well, simply put, my favorite gaming experiences happened here, on this console.
It has, in my opinion, the best offerings of every franchise that materialized on this console.
It has my favorite Mario game.
Arguably the best Smash Bros.
Arguably the best Mario Kart.
Easily my favorite Zelda.
Possibly my favorite RPG of all time.
Arguably the best Smash Bros.
Arguably the best Mario Kart.
Easily my favorite Zelda.
Possibly my favorite RPG of all time.
But above all, Nintendo tried this generation above all others to win 3rd-party support. LucasArts put both Rogue Squadrons on it exclusively, got Capcom to port every prominent Resident Evil title, as well as the remake, prequel, and wildly-popular 4th Entry. It got Soul Calibur II, easily my favorite fighting game of all time, and has the best controller for it to boot. It has my favorite Sonic game, and again, is made the best version of it because of how awesome the controller is. This was also the console where Nintendo strove harder to have outside parties work on their OWN franchises.
SEGA cranked out hands down, the single greatest F-Zero game ever made.
Retro Studios made what some consider to be the ultimate 3D realization of the Metroid series.
Namco made
my single
favorite
Star Fox game
of all time.
Retro Studios made what some consider to be the ultimate 3D realization of the Metroid series.
Namco made
my single
favorite
Star Fox game
of all time.
The GameCube helped build my transcedence from casual to hardcore gaming enthusiast. It became my incentive to buy strategy guides, to start importing. To use cheat codes, to research things like game development and programming.
It's not perfect, but I still treasure this console with an undying passion, and have bought multiple versions of it, including its ultra-elusive Panasonic version. To me, it represents Nintendo in their prime: not pursuing casuals or gimmicks, not trying egrigously-hard to be kid-friendly, not xenophobic towards outside developers or pursuing online multiplayer that would be redundant after a generation had gone by.
This was the generation where they had one, un-distracted goal: make games, and make them damn good. That philosophy is what the GameCube was and is to me.
