"You Say You Want a Revolution? Make Mine Cubed..."

(Brief Historical Facts)
Nintendo is a storied company with many accomplishments and very few failures under its belt. Now that the 'Third Pillar' Nintendo DS is nearly here, I figured now would be a perfect time to review the GameCube console. This flagship machine is the successor of many wonderful machines built before the Cube was ever even imagined. It all started when Nintendo made the decision to say "shove it!" to Atari and go ahead and build their own video game console to compete with the ancient and archaic-like Atari branded machines of the time. The original 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System wiped Atari off the charts, and set up the introduction of an even more powerful system, the Super NES. 16-bit graphics, bright, vivid colors, smooth, detailed textures, and huge sprites began to creep into our bedrooms, one home at a time. Yet another generation passes and the Nintendo 64, which was cartridge-based, surfaced boasting a speedy central processor and beautiful 64-bit 3D graphics. Generations go by, a major rival to Nintendo loses its cash flow and ceases to develop its own gaming platforms and instead opts to simply build games for all consoles. Nintendo has an epiphany and cancels the cartridge order, and instead installs a mini-DVD optical disc player as the standard media format for their newest baby, the Nintendo GameCube. With a small footprint and highly advanced technological circuitry on-board, the system is released to an unsuspecting world. So what has happened to this tiny little cube-shaped machine since its conception and development? One thing we know is it failed to put Nintendo back on the video game throne of kings... but it has proven to be a valiant performer in an exceedingly more competitive and difficult market dominated by two of the wealthiest companies in existence today.

(Analytical System Overview)
Technically Nintendo lags behind in the video games race based on user installed base per house, the PS2 and Microsoft X-Box machines have sold more total systems than Nintendo has. However the GameCube proves to be a heavy-hitting, multi-dimensional, power-packed box that does everything the other systems can do, except for one snag, on-line games. Despite the GameCube's built-in hi-speed expansion slot, with a broadband modem adapter, not many games have taken advantage of this option, and Nintendo has left the on-line gaming to the competing systems. For such a tiny system, the system itself measures 150mm(width) x 110mm(height) x 161mm(depth), this machine packs a powerful punch. In fact when you look at the specs sheet you'll see that the Cube is vastly more powerful than a Sony Playstation 2, and only trails the X-Box in overall CPU speed, as this tiny little machine features a wealth of technologically-advanced and enhanced circuitry. Starting with the processor, we find an IBM-manufactured PowerPC 603 chip (similar to the Apple Macintosh G3 CPU) operating at 485 megahertz. This is a heavily-charged RISC processor that operates in a much-more efficient manner than the operational Pentium-made CISC chip used in the X-Box. The graphics-intensive processing unit is also clocked at a relatively high rate, with a 202.5 megahertz rate of speed, it is actually faster (remember this is simply the GPU) than the entire CPU (central processing unit) found within a Sega Dreamcast.

(Definitive Control)
An interesting aspect of any system is the controller, because it basically inputs exactly what you want to occur into the gaming environment, and the GameCube controllers are nothing short of spectacular. Starting out on the left-hand side you have an analog joystick and a directional-pad in the bottom left corner of the device, much like the Sega Dreamcast controller setup. A new yellow stick, dubbed the C-Stick is found on the bottom right-hand corner of the controller, and it controls various aspects of the game like camera angle, the direction in which you point your weapons, and the like. Four face buttons reside on the controller, a large green A button, a small red B button, and two bean-shaped X and Y buttons. A left and right analog button are found on the shoulders of the input device, while a small purple Z trigger button is tucked neatly away beneath the right analog button. This controller simply works, it is best for smaller hands, which I have. The amazing accuracy and fast-response for a chain of input commands make this controller one of the very best ever made. It is very comfortable, and truly is nothing short of perfect. I had a problem with the C buttons on the Nintendo 64 controller, but clearly Nintendo has perfected the hand-held input device with the GameCube controller, it is easily the most comfortable controller ever made, period.

(Mini Optical Discs)
The small DVD optical discs that serve as the proprietary media format are spacious and provide lightning-fast loading times, the only problem with them is they are so small that it is easy to drop them. Some games come on multiple discs, as they cannot hold as much data as the PS2 and X-Box discs, but clearly provide faster loading times, which certainly makes up for the lack of capaciousness.

(Games)
As with any system the most important part of a system are the games designed for it. With wonderful masterpieces like Luigi's Mansion, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, the Cube excels in this department. Old Nintendo franchise favorites, from Mario to Metroid have received updated GameCube versions, from Super Mario Sunshine to Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Even a new F-Zero has been created for the GameCube, it comes directly from Sega, as does the wonderful party game, Super Monkey Ball. SNK versus Capcom: EO brings hardcore 2D fighting fans the battle of the millenium between Street Fighters and SNK brawlers. Soul Caliber 2 brings 3D weapons-based combat to the GameCube in spectacular splendor. Of course old sports favorites like the Madden football and NBA Live series have been revamped specifically for the GameCube and look great. This game is loaded with top-notch games, from Mario Golf, to Mario Tennis, to World Cup Soccer, to the stealthy craftiness of Metal Gear. Even Sam Fisher has come to play on the GameCube, in Splinter Cell.

(The Bottom Line)
Having owned three GameCube consoles I have seen the price top out at two-hundred dollars, and bottom out at a cool one-hundred bucks. Throw in the wireless Wavebird controller, and you have the perfect gaming system, and that's just what this is, it won't play your favorite movies or musical CD's, but it will give you an arcade-quality gaming experience for a reasonable price. The Nintendo GameCube is the best video game system ever made, and it is really a shame that Nintendo hasn't sold more of these systems. I wouldn't change anything about the system, the controllers are flawless, the media format is sufficient, and the electronic wizardry is top of the line. Nintendo has ushered in a new age of gaming greatness for all Cube owners, and I highly recommend that you drop $100 on one ASAP.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/22/04