GameCube

After having lost the lead in the industry to Sony, where the Nintendo 64 was to compete with the PlayStation, Nintendo tried to conquer back lost lands with the launch of the GameCube. This was to happen by appealing more to older gamers, and in part to make sure this would happen, an exclusive agreement concerning the Resident Evil series was set up. Nintendo wanted to make sure that they were not again branded as having a 'console for kids', but even though the backing from the larger third party developers such as Capcom, EA, Namco, Sega and Square Enix was much stronger than in the previous generation, the GameCube did not manage to compete with the PlayStation 2 or seriously change the image of Nintendo. In stead, the GameCube struggles to be in second place with newcomer to the industry, the Microsoft Xbox.

Technically the GameCube is built around the 'Gekko' - a 485 MHz IBM PowerPC-based CPU - and the graphics chip 'Flipper', created in co-operation with ATI. The console has 40 MB RAM and should be able to realistically deliver 6-12 million polygons. Nintendo chose not to go with the industry standard cd/dvd size media, but developed their own 3" discs, capable of containing up to 1,5 GB data. Superficially the GameCube is able to compete hardware wise with the Xbox, but is still last in the generation on several key features. As an example, the choice of a new media means that it cannot play regular DVDs, and it does not support digital audio output.

Games wise it has - as the tradition foretold - been Nintendo doing most of the work. Among the high points of the platform are the Miyamoto-produced Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Metroid Prime, while Super Mario Sunshine did not live up to previous titles in the series. Apart from the obvious franchises, the GameCube has also been blessed with an abundance of funny and 'off titles' such as Animal Crossing, Viewtiful Joe, Pikmin and Super Monkey Ball.