GameCube celebrates its 10th birthday in Europe
Published May 3 2012, 12:33 BST | By Matthew Reynolds
Ten years ago today - May 3, 2002 - saw the release of the Nintendo GameCube in stores across Europe, almost six months after the US and eight months after its debut in Japan.While it wasn't as well received by fans and critics compared to Nintendo's other systems, such as the NES, SNES and Nintendo 64, it was an unique console that generated a number of surprising releases.
The Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo let its hair down and experimented with familiar franchises; Super Mario Sunshine and Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker took new approaches to platforming and visual styles respectively, Metroid went first person with the incredible Metroid Prime series and Donkey Kong had a musical twist with the bongo-slapping Donkey Konga.
It also established Super Smash Bros. and Super Monkey Ball as must-have franchises, brought Animal Crossing to the West, and introduced a number of new and much-loved properties including Pikmin and Eternal Darkness.
While its lack of hardware innovations were glaring, the shift to optical discs was an essential one for Nintendo, while its connectivity with the Game Boy Advance could be regarded as a precursor to the Wii U. And who can forget that it came with its own carrying handle, eh?
Despite lagging behind in sales and popularity with the PS2 and Xbox, it had the last laugh when it became fully backwards compatible through the ground-breaking Wii, making it the easiest of the bunch to revisit and enjoy today.
> Retro Corner: Super Game Boy
What are your fond memories of the GameCube? Share them in the comments below!
What's interesting is that while it's common knowledge the PS3 was specifically designed have around 10 years of life before a new console replaces it, it's looking like it won't meet that target more and more every day. The Gamecube was never intended to have a really long life - it was after all designed predominantly to be the low cost console of it's generation, just like the WII - and while the Gamecube has long been surpassed, it's basic architecture lives on inside the WII. WII is basically an upgraded Gamecube and it's still popular. Maybe other console developers need to step into the slow lane instead of blazing ahead into uncharted territory with new machines far too difficult and expensive to program.
May 5th 2012 at 9:15pm
Loved the Gamecube! Gotta say though, the best game was Eternal Darkness. Could have turned into a decent series similar to the resident evil genre.
May 4th 2012 at 6:28pm
The most under-rated console of all time in my opinion. Superb games like Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, SSBM still are up there as the best games ever. I hope the Wii U brings them to Virtual Console!
May 4th 2012 at 1:11pm
Mankind is crawling ever so slowly out the pits of the past. 10 years is not a long time frame. When its been 100 years since GameCube was introduced then it will be revered upon as one of the earliest gaming devices made.
May 3rd 2012 at 8:19pm
Gamecube was a great console and still is. I'd get one again :)
May 3rd 2012 at 7:33pm