Smashing Magazine Luke Reimer Popular Books

Smashing Magazine Luke Reimer Biography & Facts

The GameCube is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (N64) and the predecessor to the Wii. As a sixth-generation console, the GameCube primarily competed with the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Nintendo began developing the GameCube in 1998 after entering a partnership with ArtX to design a graphics processing unit. The console was formally announced under the codename "Dolphin" the following year, and was released in 2001 as the GameCube. It is Nintendo's first console to use optical discs instead of ROM cartridges, supplemented by writable memory cards for saved games. Unlike its competitors, it is solely focused on gaming and does not play mass media like DVD or CD. The console supports limited online gaming for a few games via a GameCube broadband or modem adapter and can connect to a Game Boy Advance with a link cable for exclusive in-game features using the handheld as a second screen and controller. The GameCube supports e-Reader cards to unlock special features in a few games. The Game Boy Player add-on runs Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance cartridge games. Reception of the GameCube was mixed. It was praised for its controller and high quality games library, but was criticized for its lack of multimedia features and lack of third party support compared to its competitors. Premier games include Super Mario Sunshine, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Star Fox Adventures, Metroid Prime, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Pikmin, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Animal Crossing, and Luigi's Mansion. Nintendo sold 21.74 million GameCube units worldwide, much fewer than anticipated, and discontinued it in 2007. It was succeeded by the Wii in 2006. History Background In 1997, graphics hardware design company ArtX was launched with twenty engineers who had previously worked at SGI. ArtX was led by Wei Yen, who had been SGI's head of Nintendo Operations and of Project Reality, which from 1993 to 1996 had scaled down SGI's supercomputer design to become the Nintendo 64. Development In May 1998, ArtX entered into a partnership with Nintendo to undertake the complete design of the system logic and graphics processor, codenamed "Flipper)," for Nintendo's sixth-generation video game console. The console went through a series of codenames, including N2000, Star Cube, and Nintendo Advance. On May 12, 1999, Nintendo publicly announced the console during a press conference, giving it the codename "Dolphin" and positioning it as the successor to the Nintendo 64. This announcement also revealed strategic partnerships with IBM for the creation of Dolphin's PowerPC-based CPU, codenamed "Gekko," and with Panasonic (Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.) for the development of its DVD drive and other Dolphin-based devices. Following this announcement, Nintendo began providing development kits to game developers, including Rare and Retro Studios. In April 2000, ArtX was acquired by ATI, whereupon the Flipper graphics processor design had already been mostly completed by ArtX and was not overtly influenced by ATI. In total, ArtX cofounder Greg Buchner recalled that their portion of the console's hardware design timeline had arced from inception in 1998 to completion in 2000. Of the ArtX acquisition, an ATI spokesperson said, "ATI now becomes a major supplier to the game console market via Nintendo. The Dolphin platform is reputed to be king of the hill in terms of graphics and video performance with 128-bit architecture." The console was announced as the GameCube at a press conference in Japan on August 25, 2000, abbreviated as both "NGC" and "GC" in Japan and "GCN" in Europe and North America. Nintendo unveiled its software lineup for the sixth-generation console at E3 2001, focusing on fifteen launch games, including Luigi's Mansion and Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader. Several games originally scheduled to launch with the console were delayed. It is also the first Nintendo home console since the Famicom not to have a Mario launch game. Long before the console's launch, Nintendo had developed and patented an early prototype of motion controls for the GameCube, with which developer Factor 5 had experimented for its launch games. Greg Thomas, Sega of America's VP of Development said, "What does worry me is Dolphin's sensory controllers [which are rumored to include microphones and headphone jacks] because there's an example of someone thinking about something different." These motion control concepts would not be deployed to consumers for several years, until the Wii Remote. Prior to the GameCube's release, Nintendo focused resources on the launch of the Game Boy Advance, a handheld game console and successor to the original Game Boy and Game Boy Color. As a result, several games originally destined for the Nintendo 64 console were postponed to become early releases on the GameCube. Concurrently, Nintendo was developing GameCube software provisioning future connectivity with the Game Boy Advance. Certain games, such as The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, can use the handheld as a secondary screen and controller when connected to the console via a link cable. Nintendo began its marketing campaign with the catchphrase "The Nintendo Difference" at its E3 2001 reveal. The goal was to distinguish itself from the competition as an entertainment company. Later advertisements have the slogan, "Born to Play", and game ads feature a rotating cube animation that morphs into a GameCube logo and end with a voice whispering, "GameCube". On May 21, 2001, the console's launch price of US$199 was announced, $100 lower than that of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Nintendo spent $76 million marketing the GameCube. In September 2020, leaked documents included Nintendo's plans for a GameCube model that would be both portable with a built-in display and dockable to a TV, similar to its later console the Nintendo Switch. Other leaks suggest plans for a GameCube successor, codenamed Tako, with HD graphics and slots for SD and memory cards, apparently resulting from a partnership with ATI (now AMD) and scheduled for release in 2005. Release The GameCube was launched in Japan on September 14, 2001. Approximately 500,000 units were shipped in time to retailers. The console was scheduled to launch two months later in North America on November 5, 2001, but the date was pushed back in an effort to increase the number of available units. The console eventually launched in North America on November 18, 2001, with over 700,000 units shipped to the region. Other regions followed suit the following year beginning with Europe in the second quarter of 2002. On April 22, 2002, veteran third-party Nintendo console developer Factor 5 announced its 3D audio softw.... Discover the Smashing Magazine Luke Reimer popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Smashing Magazine Luke Reimer books.