105-759: The Nintendo 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 . As a sixth-generation console , the GameCube primarily competed with Sony 's PlayStation 2 , Sega 's Dreamcast and Microsoft 's Xbox . Nintendo began developing
210-763: A Player's Choice re-release), Donkey Konga by Namco , and Wario World from Treasure . Capcom had announced 5 games for the system dubbed the Capcom Five in November 2002, Viewtiful Joe and Resident Evil 4 were later ported to other systems. Third-party GameCube support was some of the most extensive of any Nintendo console predating the Wii. Some third-party developers, such as Midway , Namco , Activision , Konami , Ubisoft , THQ , Disney Interactive Studios , Humongous Entertainment , Electronic Arts , and EA Sports , continued to release GameCube games into 2007. One of
315-492: A cooperative RPG, Homeland and a baseball game with downloadable content, Jikkyō Powerful Pro Yakyū 10 . Lastly, three racing games have LAN multiplayer modes: 1080° Avalanche , Kirby Air Ride , and Mario Kart: Double Dash . Those can be forced over the Internet with third-party PC software capable of tunneling the GameCube's network traffic. Online play requires an official broadband or modem adapter because
420-411: A television , and an external power source as to play video games . While initial consoles were dedicated units with only a few games fixed into the electronic circuits of the system, most consoles since support the use of swappable game media, either through game cartridges , optical discs , or through digital distribution to internal storage. There have been numerous home video game consoles since
525-586: A 32% share of the hardware market in Europe. Due to price drops, which saved it in the American markets, and high-quality games from various developers, such as Pokémon Colosseum and Resident Evil 4 , the GameCube improved to put Xbox down to third place. The top three European countries for GameCube success included the United Kingdom , France , and Germany , and modestly in Spain and Italy . Though falling behind
630-546: 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 and scheduled for release in 2005. The GameCube was launched in Japan on September 14, 2001. Approximately 500,000 units were shipped in time to retailers. The console
735-422: A battery or battery pack. Earlier home consoles were typically built from a selection of standard and highly customized integrated computer chips, packaged onto circuit boards and cases. Over time, home console design has converged to a degree with personal computers , using similar component and system design, including standardization with main computer chip architecture. Consoles remain as fixed systems, lacking
840-552: A carrying handle like the GameCube. Announced by Panasonic on October 19, 2001, it was released exclusively in Japan on December 14 at a suggested retail price of ¥39,800; however, low sales resulted in Panasonic announcing the discontinuation of the Q on December 18, 2003. The Q supports CDs, DVDs, and GameCube discs but there is virtually no integration between the GameCube and DVD player modes. In its lifespan from 2001 to 2007, Nintendo licensed over 600 GameCube games. Nintendo bolstered
945-461: A few features offered by its competition, it is relatively inexpensive, has a great controller design, and launched a decent lineup of games. In later reviews, criticism mounted against the console often centering on its overall look and feel, describing it as "toy-ish". With poor sales figures and the associated financial harm to Nintendo, a Time International article called the GameCube an "unmitigated disaster". Retrospectively, Joystiq compared
1050-663: A peak of 10.5 GFLOPS. Described as "an extension of the IBM PowerPC architecture", the Gekko CPU is based on the PowerPC 750CXe with IBM's 0.18 μm CMOS technology, which features copper interconnects . Codenamed Flipper , the GPU runs at 162 MHz, and in addition to graphics manages other tasks through its audio and input/output (I/O) processors. The GameCube is Nintendo's first console to not use primarily cartridge media, following
1155-449: A presence in the game development and licensing space. Nintendo remains the only competitor having taken a blue ocean strategy by offering more original console concepts such as motion sensing in the Wii and the hybrid design of the Nintendo Switch . Within the home video game console market, the leading consoles have often been grouped into generations, consoles that were major competitors in
SECTION 10
#17328449376781260-522: A series of home video game consoles begins in a generation and lasts to another generation, it is listed in the generation the series began. This list does not claim to be complete. This list does not include other types of video game consoles such as handheld game consoles , which are usually of lower computational power than home consoles due to their smaller size; microconsoles , which are usually low-cost Android-based devices that rely on downloading; retro style consoles ; or dedicated consoles past
1365-450: A single dedicated game, such as home Pong consoles. Documented consoles of this generation can be found at list of first generation home video game consoles . 128-bit (SIMD) 128-bit (SIMD) 128-bit extensions Retro Studios Retro Studios, Inc. is an American video game developer and subsidiary of Nintendo based in Austin, Texas . The studio is best known for its work on
1470-505: A smaller red "B" button to the left, an "X" button to the right, and a "Y" button at the top. Below and to the inside is a yellow "C" analog stick, which often serves a variety of in-game functions, such as controlling the camera angle. The Start/Pause button is located in the middle, and the rumble motor is encased within the center of the controller. On the top are two "pressure-sensitive" trigger buttons marked "L" and "R". Each essentially provides two functions: one analog and one digital. As
1575-499: A studio that could develop a new Donkey Kong game, and Tanabe recommended Retro. Kelbaugh had worked on the Donkey Kong Country series during his years at Nintendo of America, and had interest in continuing with the franchise. Retro accepted the task, and thus started development of Donkey Kong Country Returns . Similar to New Super Mario Bros. , the game was developed with the intention to invoke nostalgic feelings in
1680-587: A third-party developer, porting Dreamcast games such as Crazy Taxi and Sonic Adventure 2 , and developing new franchises, such as Super Monkey Ball . Longtime Nintendo partner Rare , which had developed GoldenEye 007 , Perfect Dark , Banjo-Kazooie , Conker's Bad Fur Day , and the Donkey Kong Country series, released Star Fox Adventures for GameCube, its final Nintendo game before acquisition by Microsoft in 2002. Several third-party developers were contracted to work on new games for Nintendo franchises, including Star Fox: Assault (which became
1785-739: A version of Echoes modified for the Wii and shown at the Tokyo Game Show in 2005. Originally envisioned as a launch game for the Wii in November 2006, Corruption suffered many delays, but eventually being released in August 2007 generally positive reviews, and over 1.60 million copies sold worldwide. While Retro was busy with the Prime sequels, they had to pass on the Nintendo DS game Metroid Prime Hunters . The eventual developer, Nintendo Software Technology (NST), worked closely with Retro to design
1890-408: Is a predesigned piece of electronic hardware that is meant to be placed at a fixed location at one's home, connected to a display like a television screen or computer monitor, and to an external power source, to play video games on using one or more video game controllers . This differs from a handheld game console which will have a built-in screen, controller buttons/features, and a power supply like
1995-680: 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
2100-529: 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
2205-507: Is sufficient for most games, although a few multi-platform games require an extra disc, higher video compression, or removal of content. By comparison, the PlayStation 2 and Xbox use CDs and DVDs up to 8.5 GB . Like its predecessor, the Nintendo 64, GameCube models were produced in several different color motifs. The system launched in "Indigo", the primary color shown in advertising and on
SECTION 20
#17328449376782310-529: The Metroid Prime and Donkey Kong series and has contributed to several other Nintendo-developed projects, such as Mario Kart 7 . Retro was founded on September 21, 1998, as an alliance between Nintendo and Iguana Entertainment founder Jeff Spangenberg , hoping to create games for the upcoming GameCube aiming at an older demographic. The company began work on four games, all of which were canceled once Retro focused their resources on Metroid Prime ,
2415-677: The Donkey Kong -themed levels, but the number evolved to the stage design of sixteen tracks in the late stages of development, as the Nintendo EAD crew started working on other projects and the game would not be finished before the December 2011 deadline. In 2012, it was revealed that Retro Studios had received a Wii U development kit, and was reportedly working on a Wii U game. Miyamoto has said he would like to work with Retro Studios in an installment for The Legend of Zelda ; however, he says that
2520-569: The Famicom Data Recorder , Famicom Disk System , SNES-CD , and 64DD which represent past explorations of complementary storage technologies. The GameCube introduced a proprietary miniDVD optical disc format for up to 1.5 GB of data. It was designed by Matsushita Electric Industrial (now Panasonic Corporation) with a proprietary copy-protection scheme unlike the Content Scramble System (CSS) in standard DVDs . The size
2625-634: The Game Boy Player accessory runs Game Pak cartridges for the Game Boy , Game Boy Color , and Game Boy Advance . The original version of the GameCube's successor, the Wii , supports backward compatibility with GameCube controllers, memory cards, and games but not the Game Boy Player or other hardware attachments. However, later revisions of the Wii—including the "Family Edition" released in 2011 and
2730-482: The Wii Mini released in 2012—do not support any GameCube hardware or software. The Panasonic Q is a hybrid version of the GameCube with a standard DVD player, developed by Panasonic in a strategic alliance with Nintendo to develop the optical drive for the original GameCube hardware. Its stainless steel case is completely revised with a DVD-sized front-loading tray, a backlit LCD screen with playback controls, and
2835-545: 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
2940-483: The WiiConnect24 feature to provide additional content for the game that would be accessible from the Internet. Retro announced that Corruption would be the final chapter of the Prime series and would have a plot "about closure, told against the backdrop of an epic struggle". After the Wii Remote was revealed, Nintendo demonstrated how Metroid Prime 3 would take advantage of the controller's special abilities with
3045-475: The 2000 Nintendo Space World conference, Nintendo granted Retro the license to create Metroid Prime , and Retro shifted all development resources from MetaForce to the new game. Retro eventually canceled development of their other projects to focus solely on Metroid Prime . In February 2001, the company ended development of both NFL Retro Football and Thunder Rally , laying off about 20 employees. Although Retro demonstrated Raven Blade at E3 in 2001,
3150-522: 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
3255-550: The GameCube had 39% market share in America. By Christmas of 2003, Nintendo of America's president, George Harrison, reported that the company's price cuts down to just under $ 100 quadrupled sales in the American market. GameCube's profitability never reached that of the PlayStation 2 or Game Boy Advance. However, it was more profitable than the Xbox. GameCube's first two years had slow sales and struggles, and by 2004 and 2005 vastly improved to
GameCube - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-404: 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 its own optical discs instead of ROM cartridges , supplemented by writable memory cards for saved games . Unlike its competitors, it
3465-416: The GameCube lacks out of the box network capabilities. Nintendo never commissioned any Internet services for GameCube, but allowed other publishers to manage custom online experiences. The GameCube received mixed reviews following its launch. PC Magazine praised the overall hardware design and quality of games available at launch. CNET gave an average review rating, noting that though the console lacks
3570-474: The GameCube sold 26 million consoles worldwide. Its sales exceeded that of the Xbox 360 in Japan. The GameCube's predecessor, the Nintendo 64, also outperformed it at nearly 33 million units. It also exceeded the Dreamcast , which yielded 9.13 million units. In September 2009, IGN ranked the GameCube 16th in its list of best gaming consoles of all time, placing it behind all three of its sixth-generation competitors:
3675-576: 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
3780-487: The GameCube's design in 1998, Nintendo partnered with ArtX (then acquired by ATI Technologies during development) for the system logic and the GPU, and with IBM for the CPU. IBM designed a 32-bit PowerPC -based processor with custom architectural extensions for the next-generation console, known as Gekko , which runs at 486 MHz and features a floating point unit (FPU) capable of a total throughput of 1.9 GFLOPS and
3885-409: The GameCube's launch window to its successor, the Wii, noting that the GameCube's "lack of games" resulted in a subpar launch, and the console's limited selection of online games damaged its market share in the long run. Time International concluded that the system had low sales figures, because it lacked "technical innovations". In Japan, between 280,000 and 300,000 GameCube consoles were sold during
3990-672: The GameCube, as the publisher was losing money from developing for Nintendo's console. This led to several games in development being canceled for the system. Eidos's CEO Mike McGravey would say that the GameCube was a "declining business". However, after the company's purchase by the SCi Entertainment Group in 2005, Eidos resumed development for the system and released Lego Star Wars: The Video Game and Tomb Raider: Legend . In March 2003, British retailer Dixons removed all GameCube consoles, accessories and games from its stores. That same month, another British retailer Argos , cut
4095-445: The Nintendo 64's three-handled controller design and chose a two-handled, "handlebar" design for the GameCube. The shape was popularized by Sony's PlayStation controller released in 1994 and its follow-up DualShock series in 1997 with vibration feedback and two analog sticks to improve the 3D experience. Nintendo and Microsoft designed similar features in the controllers for their sixth-generation consoles, but instead of having
4200-514: The PlayStation 2 (3rd), the Dreamcast (8th), and the Xbox (11th). As of March 31, 2003, 9.55 million GameCube units had been sold worldwide, behind Nintendo's initial goal of 10 million consoles. Many of Nintendo's own first-party games, such as Super Smash Bros. Melee , Pokémon Colosseum , and Mario Kart: Double Dash , had strong sales, though this did not typically benefit third-party developers or directly drive sales of their games. However, at
4305-683: The PlayStation 2 and Xbox during the early 2000s. Some games aimed at older audiences were critically and financially successful—more than on Dreamcast, and less than on PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Such examples include The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess , Super Smash Bros. Melee , Resident Evil 4 , Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes , Killer7 , Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader , Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles , Resident Evil (2002), Metroid Prime , Metroid Prime II: Echoes , Soul Calibur II , Resident Evil Zero , F-Zero GX , Star Fox Adventures , and Star Fox Assault . One of
GameCube - Misplaced Pages Continue
4410-437: The PlayStation 2 in Europe, the GameCube was successful and profitable there. Nintendo launched the Wii , the home console successor to the GameCube, on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 in other regions. In February 2007, Nintendo announced that it had ceased first-party support for the GameCube and that the console had been discontinued, as it was shifting its manufacturing and development efforts towards
4515-521: The U.S. market. The NES helped to revive the console market and gave Nintendo dominance during the late 1980s. Sega took advantage of the newfound U.S. growth to market its Sega Genesis against the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in the early 1990s in the so-called "console wars" and emphasized the notion of " bits " as a major selling point for consumers. The consumer adoption of optical discs with larger storage capacity in
4620-563: The US. Nintendo predicted 50 million GameCube units by 2005, but only sold 22 million GameCube units worldwide during its lifespan, placing it slightly behind the Xbox 's 24 million, though it did manage to outsell the Xbox in Japan, and well behind the PlayStation 2's 155 million. Ars Technica articles from 2006 showed and a 2020 book show that Nintendo had officially sold 24 million GameCube consoles worldwide, and one article from Seeking Alpha shows that
4725-477: The Wii and Nintendo DS . GameCube controllers, game discs, and certain accessories continued to be supported via the Wii's backward compatibility, although this feature was removed in later iterations of the Wii console. The final game officially released on the GameCube was Madden NFL 08 , on August 14, 2007. Several games originally developed for the GameCube were either reworked for a Wii release, such as Super Paper Mario , or released on both consoles, such as
4830-402: The Wii launch game The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess . GameCube controllers continued to be supported via backward compatibility on Nintendo's next consoles, the Wii U , and Nintendo Switch , with the GameCube controller adapter in 2014's Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 2018's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate . Howard Cheng, technical director of Nintendo technology development, said
4935-466: The ability to connect and interface with a particular handheld game system, which certain games can leverage to provide alternate control schemes, second screen gameplay elements, exclusive unlockable content or the ability to transfer certain game data. The first commercial video game console was the Magnavox Odyssey , developed by a team led by Ralph H. Baer and released commercially in 1972. It
5040-407: The analog sticks in parallel, they are staggered by swapping the positions of the directional pad (d-pad) and left analog stick. The GameCube controller features a total of eight buttons, two analog sticks, a d-pad, and a rumble motor. The primary analog stick is on the left with the d-pad located below and closer to the center. On the right are four buttons: a large, green "A" button in the center,
5145-602: The biggest third-party GameCube developers was Sega , which had quit the console hardware market to become a third-party game developer after the failure of the Dreamcast . It partnered with long-time rival Nintendo, and with Microsoft and Sony, to recuperate profits lost from the Dreamcast. Sega was a successful third-party developer since the early 2000s, mostly those for the family market, such as Super Monkey Ball , Phantasy Star Online , Sonic Adventure , Sonic Adventure 2: Battle , and Sonic Heroes . Nintendo's GameCube did not put heavy focus on online games earlier in
5250-405: The blockbuster Grand Theft Auto series and several key first-person shooters , skipped the GameCube entirely in favor of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. However, many gaming journalists and analysts noted that Nintendo's primary focus on younger audiences, and its family-friendly image, was the biggest advantage and disadvantage at a time when video games were aimed at more mature audiences. Nintendo
5355-488: The challenges, needs, and problems they face. First among these is the rising cost of development. The GameCube can see high performance without too much trouble; it isn't a quirky design, but a very clean one. It was important we didn't require jumping through hoops for high performance to be achieved. On top of that, it is rich in features, and we worked to include a dream group of technical features that developers requested. Greg Buchner, ArtX's Vice President Initiating
SECTION 50
#17328449376785460-530: The cheaper, higher-capacity optical discs on PlayStation. With the GameCube, Nintendo intended to reverse the trend as evidenced by the number of third-party games available at launch. The new optical disc format increased game storage capacity significantly and reduced production costs. Successful exclusives include Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader from Factor 5 , Resident Evil 4 from Capcom , and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes from Konami . Sega discontinued its Dreamcast console to become
5565-558: The company had achieved considerable success with third-party developer support on the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super NES . Competition from the Sega Genesis and Sony PlayStation in the 1990s changed the market's landscape and reduced Nintendo's ability to obtain exclusive, third-party support on the Nintendo 64. The Nintendo 64 Game Pak cartridge format increased the cost to manufacture software, as opposed to
5670-478: The company's games on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. In June 2003, Acclaim Entertainment CEO Rod Cousens said that the company would no longer support the GameCube, and criticized it as a system "that don't deliver profits". Acclaim would later rescind his claims, by saying the company would elevate support for the system. This decision was made unclear after the company filed for bankruptcy in August 2004. In September 2003, Eidos Interactive announced to end support for
5775-479: The company's goal was to select a "simple RISC architecture" to help speed the development of games by making it easier on software developers. IGN reported that the system was "designed from the get-go to attract third-party developers by offering more power at a cheaper price. Nintendo's design document for the console specifies that cost is of utmost importance, followed by space." Hardware partner ArtX's Vice President Greg Buchner stated that their guiding thought on
5880-480: 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
5985-463: The console's hardware design was to target the developers rather than the players, and to "look into a crystal ball" and discern "what's going to allow the Miyamoto-sans of the world to develop the best games". We thought about the developers as our main customers. In particular, for GameCube, we spent three years working with Nintendo of America and with all sorts of developers, trying to understand
6090-678: The console's life. Only eight GameCube games support network connectivity, five with Internet support and three with local area network (LAN) support. The only Internet capable games released in western territories are three role-playing games (RPGs) in Sega 's Phantasy Star series: Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II , Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Plus , and Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution . The official servers were decommissioned in 2007, but players can still connect to fan maintained private servers . Japan received two additional games with Internet capabilities,
6195-714: The console's popularity by creating new franchises, such as Pikmin and Animal Crossing , and renewing some that had skipped the Nintendo 64, such as with Metroid Prime . Longer standing franchises include the critically acclaimed The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Super Mario Sunshine , and the GameCube's best-selling game, Super Smash Bros. Melee , at 7 million copies worldwide. Other Nintendo games are successors to Nintendo 64 games, such as F-Zero GX ; Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour ; Mario Kart: Double Dash ; Mario Party 4 , 5 , 6 , and 7 ; Mario Power Tennis ; and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door . Though committed to its software library, Nintendo
6300-513: 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
6405-455: The critical and commercial success of Metroid Prime , Nintendo asked Retro Studios to produce a sequel. The developers decided against recycling the features of the first game while creating Metroid Prime 2: Echoes , and instead used new sound models, weapon effects, and art designs. A multiplayer component was also added to the game. In April 2003, Steve Barcia left the company. Michael Kelbaugh, who had worked with Nintendo for over 15 years,
SECTION 60
#17328449376786510-454: The current game Retro Studios was working on is not related to Zelda . At E3 2012 , Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé told IGN in an interview that Retro is currently "hard at work" on an untitled project for the Wii U. On February 28, 2014, Kensuke Tanabe announced that Retro Studios was working on a new game, which CEO Michael Kelbaugh declared had been in development for a few months since Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
6615-562: The customization options that personal computer components have, and most consoles include customized components to maximize space and reduce power consumption to provide the best performance for game playing, while lowering costs with reduced storage and memory configurations. Home video game consoles typically can play a multitude of games, offered either as game cartridges (or ROM cartridges), on optical media like CD-ROM or DVD, or obtained by digital distribution . Early consoles, also considered dedicated consoles, had games that were fixed in
6720-453: The development team was plagued by technical setbacks. In July 2001, Retro canceled the project, retaining only nine team members to work on Metroid Prime . Notably, artist Android Jones served as lead concept artist on the development of Metroid Prime . On May 2, 2002, Nintendo secured $ 1 million worth of Retro Studios stock from Spangenberg, and reclassified the company as a first party developer and division of Nintendo. Steve Barcia ,
6825-511: The dominant console type of the era, though not all consoles of those eras are of the same type. Some eras are referred to based on how many bits a major console could process. The "128-bit era" ( sixth generation ) was the final era in which this practice was widespread. This list only counts the first iteration of each console's hardware, because several systems have had slim, enhanced or other hardware revisions, but they are not individually listed here. The list also includes unreleased systems. If
6930-480: The electronic circuitry of the hardware. Some facets may be controlled by switching external controls on the console but the games could not be changed themselves. Most home consoles require a separate game controller, and may support multiple controllers for multiplayer games. Some console games can only be played with special, unconventional game controllers, such as light guns for rail shooters and guitar controllers for music games . Some consoles also possess
7035-938: The feature never reached production. 3D televisions were not widespread, and it was deemed that compatible displays and crystals for the add-on accessories would be too cost-prohibitive for the consumer. Two audio Easter eggs can be invoked when the power is activated with the "Z" button on the Player 1 controller held down, or with four controllers connected and holding down the "Z" buttons. The GameCube features two memory card ports for saving game data . Nintendo released three memory card options: Memory Card 59 in gray (512 KB), Memory Card 251 in black (2 MB), and Memory Card 1019 in white (8 MB). These are often advertised in megabits instead: 4 Mb, 16 Mb, and 64 Mb, respectively. Memory cards with larger capacities were released by third-party manufacturers. Nintendo learned from its experiences—both positive and negative—with
7140-545: The first Metroid game developed outside Japan. The success of Metroid Prime led Retro to work on three sequels and later to become involved with reviving the Donkey Kong series with Donkey Kong Country Returns . Retro Studios was founded on September 21, 1998, as an alliance between Nintendo and industry veteran Jeff Spangenberg . Spangenberg subsequently launched the company from his home on October 1, using funds he generated with his previous ventures, including Iguana Entertainment . Nintendo saw an opportunity for
7245-519: The first commercial unit, the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972. Historically these consoles have been grouped into generations lasting each about six years based on common technical specifications. As of 2024, there have been nine console generations, with the current leading manufacturers being Sony , Microsoft , and Nintendo , colloquially known as the "Big 3." Past console manufacturers have included Atari , Fairchild , Mattel , Coleco , Sega , NEC , 3DO , Fujitsu and SNK . A home video game console
7350-399: The first generation, which have games built in and do not use any form of physical media. Consoles have been redesigned from time to time to improve their market appeal. Redesigned models are not listed on their own. The list omits the more than 900 home video game consoles known to have been released in the first generation of video game consoles , those that were generally game consoles for
7455-505: The first nine months of 2003 to reduce surplus units. Sales rebounded slightly after a price drop to US$ 99.99 on September 24, 2003 and the release of The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition bundle. A demo disc, the GameCube Preview Disc , was also released in a bundle in 2003. Beginning with this period, GameCube sales continued to be steady, particularly in Japan, but the GameCube remained in third place in worldwide sales during
7560-600: The first three days of its sale, out of an initial shipment of 450,000 units. During its launch weekend, $ 100 million worth of GameCube products were sold in North America. The console was sold out in several stores, faster than initial sales of both of its competitors, the Xbox and the PlayStation 2. Nintendo reported that the most popular launch game is Luigi's Mansion , with more sales at its launch than Super Mario 64 had. Other popular games include Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader and Wave Race: Blue Storm . By early December 2001, 600,000 units had been sold in
7665-456: The founder of Simtex , replaced Spangenberg as president of the company. During the final nine months of Metroid Prime' s development, Retro's staff worked 80- to 100-hour weeks to reach their final milestone. Despite its troubled production cycle and initial skepticism from fans, the game was released on November 17, 2002, in North America to universal critical acclaim and commercial success, selling over two million units worldwide. After
7770-403: The game's art and characters to make sure that they fit into the overall Metroid series. In April 2008, Retro saw the departure of three key developers, designer Mark Pacini, art director Todd Keller, and principal technology engineer Jack Mathews, who went on to form their own company, Armature Studio . Around the same time, Shigeru Miyamoto asked fellow producer Kensuke Tanabe to recommend
7875-443: The logo, and in "Jet Black". One year later, Nintendo released a "Platinum" limited-edition GameCube, which uses a silver color scheme for both the console and controller. A "Spice" orange-colored console was eventually released only in Japan, though that scheme is only on controllers released in other countries. Nintendo developed stereoscopic 3D technology for the GameCube, supported by one launch game, Luigi's Mansion . However,
7980-460: The marketplace. There have been nine generations of consoles since the 1970s, with a new generation appearing about every five years. There are more than 1000 home video game consoles known to exist, the vast majority of which were released during the first generation: only 103 home video game consoles were released between the second and current generation, 15 were canceled. This list is divided into console generations which are named based on
8085-476: The mid 2000s, GameCube hardware sales remained far behind its direct competitor the PlayStation 2, and slightly behind the Xbox, though there were brief periods when the console would outsell both. The console's family-friendly appeal and lack of support from certain third-party developers skewed the GameCube toward a younger market, which was a minority of the gaming population during the sixth-generation. Many third-party games popular with teenagers or adults, such as
8190-475: The mid-1995 led many console manufactures to move away from cartridges to CD-ROMs and later to DVDs and other formats, with Sony's PlayStation line introducing even more features that gave it an advantage in the market; the PlayStation 2 , released in 2000, remains the best-selling console to date with over 155 million units sold. Microsoft, fearing that the PlayStation 2 was threatening the competitive edge of
8295-406: The most well-known GameCube games for mature audiences is Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem , which underperformed financially, but garnered critical acclaim and is now regarded as a cult classic. The GameCube is Nintendo's first home console with a system menu , activated by powering on without a valid game disc or by holding down the A button while one is loaded. Early in Nintendo's history,
8400-411: The new studio to create games for the upcoming GameCube targeting an older demographic, in the same vein as Iguana Entertainment's successful Turok series for the Nintendo 64 . Retro began with 4 key people in late 1998 and opened an office in Austin, Texas in early 1999 with a staff of 25 people, including several former Iguana employees. Despite not having access to GameCube development kits ,
8505-528: The overall button orientation, addresses " Nintendo thumb " pain. In 2002, Nintendo introduced the WaveBird Wireless Controller , the first wireless gamepad developed by a first-party console manufacturer. The RF -based wireless controller is similar in design to the standard controller. It communicates with the GameCube with a wireless receiver dongle. Powered by two AA batteries, it lacks vibration. The GameCube uses GameCube Game Discs , and
8610-403: The personal computer, entered the console space with its Xbox line in 2001. Internet connectivity had become commonplace by the mid-2000s, and nearly all home consoles supported digital distribution and online service offerings by the 2010s. With Sony and Microsoft's dominance in hardware capabilities, most other major manufacturers have since dropped out of the hardware business, but maintain
8715-401: The player with its art style and sound, while trying to provide them with new gameplay experiences. Returns employs fully polygonal 3D graphics with three times the amount of textures and polygons that Corruption offered, and over the course of six months, two thirds of the game's tools and engine had to be rewritten by the programmers. Development accelerated at the outset of 2010, and
8820-476: The price of the GameCube in their stores to £78.99, which was more than £50 cheaper than Nintendo's SRP for the console at the time. However, in October of that year, they did eventually restock their supply of consoles after a price drop was ordered which caused the console sales to outpace the PlayStation 2 for a week. With sales sagging and millions of unsold consoles in stock, Nintendo halted GameCube production for
8925-465: The project was just "beginning to cohere as a game" around the time of E3 , when it was officially announced to the press. Although the game was set for release in autumn that year, the team still had 70 levels to create or refine. At E3 2011 , it was announced during Nintendo's Developer Roundtable that Retro Studios would be involved in the development of Mario Kart 7 for Nintendo 3DS . At first, Retro would contribute assets to developing one of
9030-479: The rising popularity of the personal computer and the economic recession of the early 1980s, led to the video game crash of 1983 in the U.S. market. Nintendo , which had released its Family Computer console in Japan that year, took several cautionary steps to limit game production to only licensed games, and was able to introduce it, rebranded as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985 into
9135-504: The same time, these first-party games, and second-party and third-party games, elevated the GameCube. Sales of many cross-platform games—such as sports franchises released by Electronic Arts —were far below their PlayStation 2 and Xbox counterparts, eventually prompting some developers to scale back or completely cease support for the GameCube. Exceptions include Sega 's family friendly Sonic Adventure 2 and Super Monkey Ball , which reportedly yielded more sales on GameCube than most of
9240-527: The second generation and led to a second boom in the video game industry in the United States and around the globe. During this time, Atari Inc. had been sold to Warner Communications , and several programmers left the company and founded Activision , becoming the first third-party developer. Activision's success led to a rush of new developers creating games without any publishing controls for these systems. The market became flooded with games, and combined with
9345-403: The sixth-generation era because of weaker sales performance elsewhere, though its fortunes would change for the better in America and Europe. Iwata forecasted to investors that the company would sell 50 million GameCube units worldwide by March 2005, but by the end of 2006, it had only sold 21.74 million—fewer than half. However, it had the highest attach rate of any Nintendo console at 9.59 and
9450-402: 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
9555-562: The studio immediately began work on four projects for the GameCube: an action adventure game named MetaForce , a vehicular combat game with the working title Car Combat (also known as Thunder Rally ), an American football simulator named NFL Retro Football , and role-playing game Raven Blade . By the time development began, the studio had already grown in size to 120 employees. The company continued to grow during production, eventually peaking at over 200 employees. The working environment
9660-549: The studio that developed the previous Metroid Prime games, but would be produced by Kensuke Tanabe , the producer of the previous games. In 2018, Eurogamer reported that Prime 4 was being developed by Bandai Namco Studios in Singapore. However, in a video released on January 25, 2019, Nintendo EPD general manager Shinya Takahashi announced that Metroid Prime 4 had been delayed, and that development had been restarted with Retro Studios. Takahashi said that development under
9765-413: The trigger is depressed, it emits an increasing analog signal. Once fully depressed, the trigger "clicks" with a digital signal that a game can use for a separate function. There is also a purple, digital button on the right side marked "Z". The A button has a uniquely prominent size and placement, having been the primary action button in past Nintendo controller designs. The rubberized analog stick, within
9870-425: 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 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
9975-449: Was appointed president, a job he retains to this date. Retro tried to include some extras, such as a hidden version of Super Metroid , but were halted by the short development time. Producer Kensuke Tanabe later revealed in an interview that the game was just about thirty percent complete three months before the strict deadline Nintendo had set for a release in the 2004 holiday season. The critical reception for Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
10080-501: Was chaotic, with development getting behind schedule, and Nintendo executives complaining on how the games turned out. In 2000, producer Shigeru Miyamoto visited the studio. He was disappointed by the games except for their demonstration of the MetaForce game engine , which led Miyamoto to suggest that Retro could use the engine to develop a new game in the Metroid series. Shortly before
10185-515: Was finished. In August 2015 however, during an interview about Metroid Prime: Federation Force , Tanabe said that he was not quite sure about what Retro Studios was working on, leaving the impression that he was no longer involved with their unannounced project. Nintendo announced Metroid Prime 4 at E3 2017 , showing only the logo. Shortly after the announcement, Bill Trinen , Director of Product Marketing at Nintendo of America , confirmed that Prime 4 would not be developed by Retro Studios,
10290-511: 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
10395-459: Was profitable, even more than Xbox with higher sales rates. Many games that debuted on the GameCube, including the Pikmin series, Chibi-Robo! , Metroid Prime , and Luigi's Mansion became popular and profitable Nintendo franchises or subseries. Home video game console A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as
10500-716: 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 software development kit titled MusyX. In collaboration with Dolby Laboratories , MusyX provides motion-based surround sound encoded as Dolby Pro Logic II . Throughout
10605-492: Was shortly followed by the release of the home version of Pong by Atari Inc. in 1975 based on the arcade game. A number of clones of both systems rushed to fill the nascent home console market and the video game industry suffered a small recession in 1977 due to this. The Fairchild Channel F , released in 1976, was the first console to use game cartridges , which was then used by the Atari VCS and several other consoles of
10710-496: Was still criticized for not releasing enough launch window games and by the release of Luigi's Mansion instead of a 3D Mario game. Nintendo had struggled with its family-friendly image during the late 1990s and most of the 2000s. However, during this period, it released more video games for a mature audience with mostly successful results. While the video game industry was focusing on more mature audiences and online connections, Nintendo regained older players who had gravitated to
10815-428: Was succeeded by the Wii in late 2006. 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 . In May 1998, ArtX entered into a partnership with Nintendo to undertake
10920-460: Was successful with games aimed at a more mature audience. As of June 2003, the GameCube had a 13% market share, tying with the Xbox in sales but far below the 60% of the PlayStation 2. However, despite slow sales and tough competition, Nintendo's position improved by 2003 and 2004. The American market share for the GameCube had gone up from 19% to 37% in one year alone due to price cuts and high-quality games. One article stated that by early 2004,
11025-470: Was very positive, but earned some criticism on the game's high difficulty. Sales for Echoes were lower than the first Prime , with a total of 800,000 units. Retro Studios was then put to produce the next game in the Metroid Prime series, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption . Retro intended to give Metroid Prime 3: Corruption larger environments than Echoes . The developers were also interested in using
#677322