"Nintendo--Nothing but the best!"

After all these years, Nintendo never stops amazing me. The great games, great systems, and reliability always keep me hooked. After the N64, the stage was set. The Dolphin was ready to change the face of gaming. When the Gamecube was revealed, I couldn't think of anything but it. When it was released, my life changed. The Nintendo Difference convinced me.

Graphics-UNBELIEVABLE. Much better than any of the other new consoles in this war. Luigi's Mansion was incredible, and of course, Nintendo was only getting started. Soon to come were Zelda and Resident Evil. The Spaceworld Zelda demo showed just what this little machine could do. Real-time lighting effects, unbelievable amounts of simultaneous on-screen action and much more did nothing less than take the breaths away of the eager fans. The clips of Resident Evil were above and beyond anything in the gaming world, calling the in-game graphics heartstopping would be an understatement. Super Smash Bros. Melee even managed to contain the classic 2D worlds with astounding detail to every little object. Go see some footage of just about ANY Gamecube game. Compare it to its fellow competitors, Playstation 2 and Xbox. See the difference? That's the Nintendo Difference! Xbox graphics match Dreamcast, PS2 comes very close to GCN, but of course GCN triumphs in graphics. 10/10

Controller-Easily the best controller for any system to ever exist. As soon as you touch it, it melts(not literally, we're not talking about PS2 hardware here)in your hands and feels great. The handles are nicely crafted to fit just about anybody's hand perfectly. The buttons are in perfect place. The R and L buttons are analog, something that really doesn't seem important at first but slowly begins to come into the big picture. The A button is big, but the X, Y, and B buttons around the button all fit together so tht anybody can make quick, precise movements with ease. This is useful on fast-paced games like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. Even though buttons are close together, there is no possibility of collision or accidentally pressing a wrong button. The analog stick feels nice, and there is even a small obscure Z button in front of the R button, much like the Mode button on the Sega Genesis. It's there for fine adjustments in games. The D-pad is really very small, but it has never posed a problem to me or anyone I know. The C-stick is the Camera Stick, used mainly for--you guessed it--controlling the camera! It's yellow like the N64 C buttons and also feels nice when used. The controller looks slightly like a Playstation One(or Two)controller as it has 4 main buttons, shoulder buttons, and two circular parts in the front for additional buttons(in the Gamecube's case, the C-stick and the D-pad). The start button is small and could have been made just a little bigger, but I'm happy with the way it is now. 10/10

Memory Cards-59 blocks of memory for saving game data. Most games use anywhere between 3 and 10 blocks, but particularly big games(like Super Smash Brothers Melee)take a couple more. Only two memory card slots on the console, something that could've been dealt with, so one point off for two slots instead of four. I haven't had any problems with my memory card yet, and I've put it to all sorts of torture, inserting it during gameplay and taking it out. The reliability convinces me that it's one of the best memory cards available for a console. 9/10

Console look and features-The original was a purple cube, but other colors have been introduced. It's a very small cube, about as tall as a Game Boy Advance. It's by far the smallest of the three new consoles. If you still don't believe how small it is, go see one at a store that's on display. You will be truly amazed. And since the unit is so small, you don't think Nintendo would be predictable and use regular sized CDs, do you? Actually, the GCN uses 1.5 Gigabyte mini-CDs. For some reason, they come in DVD cases(?!?!). There are many advantages to mini-CDs, explained in the next section. The console has no DVD player and obviously no CD player, but it's a video game console, it's not a DVD player! And the GCN and Game Boy Advance can even hook up together via a special link cable to enhance gameplay on games like Sonic Adventure 2 Battle! The GBA can also be used as an extra controller in some games! 10/10

System Reliability and Loading Time-The system is well-crafted. Nothing is loose or extremely fragile and the system for no reason refuses to work and doesn't possibly come broken BRAND NEW in the box like some other well-known systems... Anyway, It has not once frozen on me, which I can't say for some others. Plus, the mini-CDs allow for lightning fast loading time, 6 seconds at the most for booting up and during gameplay. The booting up screen features the 3D GCN logo being drawn out by a block which when the logo is complete, spins into the middle to finish the entire loading up screen. As a secret bonus, there is even an alternate sound opening which can be accessed by holding Z when starting up the console. The entire process is very fast and doesn't get old and repetitive after a while like other loading screens on some other game systems. 10/10

Library-Like other Nintendo consoles, things start off slow. Then they get faster and better and faster and better, and BAM! there's a rush to get some of the hottest games around! The hit series Zelda has already found a place on the the Gamecube, as well as Metroid, Pokemon, Resident Evil, Mario, and many others. These games are going to be instant classics, as we have seen from earlier games from earlier consoles that people waited for so eagerly and got more than they ever expected(Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a great example). The mega hit Super Smash Brothers Melee was basically the first of the major games available for Gamecube, and with more constantly on the way, it's easy to see that by the time Gamecube is all done and a new Nintendo miracle is in production(most consoles take 5 to 7 years before games are no longer produced and a new console from the same company is introduced), there will be hundreds of popular games in all categories. With support from Sega and other well-known companies, sports, action, puzzle, adventure, RPG, and many more unique games and genres will find a place on Gamecube by the time all is over. As for the kiddy-games argument, these people who believe GCN is for kids have obviously not seen games like Resident Evil, Eternal Darkness, and Turok: Evolution. That's all there is to it. Case closed. 10/10

Menu-When no game is inserted, or A is held during boot-up period, you are brought to the menu. It has four features for four different directions on a mini-cube. The music is quiet and relaxing, and it is a very nice looking and well-designed menu screen. 10/10

Overall-Console is great, controller is great, games are great, graphics are great, Nintendo is great. This clearly is the best choice you could make in the console war. In every way, it outshines Playstation 2 and Xbox. And if you still don't believe me, go and pick one up or rent it somewhere. If you're not having fun or being amazed in the first 5 minutes of turning it on, you forgot to plug it in.

With Xbox being ''quite the personal computer,'' and Playstation 2 working nothing more than SOME of the time, it's quite obvious that Nintendo Gamecube is the best pick. So here's what I want YOU to do: Go outside RIGHT NOW, somehow get to your nearest video game store, and shell out 200 dollars(that's right, 100 dollars LESS than BOTH Playstation 2 and Xbox at launch and better in all ways!) and buy a game, more than one if necessary, and a memory card. If you plan on getting Super Smash Bros. Melee, then don't forget to pick up 3 extra controllers. Just make sure you have friends! Buying a Gamecube over Xbox and Playstation 2 is the best choice you can make, and I guarantee, you will be glad you did!!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/05/02, Updated 02/05/02