Hollywood Reviews: A Quick Review of the New Game Consoles, but Mostly The Nintendo Gamecube
By hollywood | Posted in • Gaming
I was one of the lucky few to receive a new Nintendo Gamecube under the tree this past Christmas. My fancy new jet-black box is not only a feat in visual design, but also in sheer fun.
Okay, this is a quick review of the GCN. First of all, I’d love to know who decided to initialize the Gamecube as “GCN”. Anyway… The GameCube is Nintendo’s successor to the N64. It is a faster, more powerful system and Nintendo’s first entry into disc (3 inch mini-DVD) based gaming.
The GCN’s use of disc’s is important because it was one of the factors that led to the N64’s difficulties in getting 3rd party (non-Nintendo) game development. The cost to produce ROM cartridges is very expensive and it is difficult to squish a lot of data onto a cartridge. The system uses two high-speed processors codenamed Gekko and Flipper. The Gekko processor is the main CPU based on the popular PowerPC line that powers Macintosh computers. It has been enhanced to add certain functions that give it a little extra ‘oomph’ to push the pixels. The Flipper chip is based on a core that ArtX/ATI developed that enables the GCN to do its fancy graphical effects. The graphics power of the machine is noticeably faster than the Sony Playstation 2 which was released over a year ago, however it isn’t quite up to par with Microsoft Xbox that was released 2 weeks before the GCN. This will become more important, and apparent later on as each platform ages and developers need to ‘eek’ more power out of each system.
The GCN comes standard with 4 controller inputs (with a single controller packed in) to enable party gameplay. Unlike the PS2, you don’t have to purchase a multitap to accomplish this. Launch titles like Super Smash Brothers Melee and Super Monkey Ball are great examples of Nintendo’s strength in the multiplayer/party game world. It is arguable that they don’t have much competition in this area.
The GCN’s library of games at launch time was small and increased to about 20 games by the end of 2001 with many new games being launched each month. Nintendo expects to have at least 70 titles by the end of 2002. Developer support was something Nintendo lost in a big way with the N64. Sure they had great titles like Mario 64, Perfect Dark, Goldeneye: James Bond 007 and who could forget Wrestlemania 2000? Most of the topselling titles were developed by Nintendo or Rare (their 2nd party developer, Nintendo controlled), which either means they are kickass developers (and they are) or that developers didn’t put a whole lot of faith in the N64. This is changing with the new system as it uses discs and is very easy to program (probably one of the most widely criticized points of the N64 was that it was a bitch to program). Take a look at the various links at the bottom of this article to see release schedules.
Nintendo designed the Gamecube to be a great gaming system period. They decided not to go the route that Microsoft and Sony took and add DVD playback capability to the system instead using mini-DVD’s. This in turn protects their investments by making it more difficult to pirate their games, makes a smaller unit that produces less heat, and allows them to sell the machine for less money. While some might argue that it would have been a good thing if they added DVD support, Sony has had problems with their DVD support (which is available out of the box) and it is yet to be seen how the XBox (which requires a $30 DVD kit to enable the feature) fares. By and large, a real DVD player will offer better support for a larger range of DVD’s and will offer more features as well. So I don’t think this is an issue. However, Nintendo is licensing the GCN platform to Matsushita, mother of such companies as Panasonic, Technics, and JVC. Panasonic is currently shipping a machine in Japan called “Q” that is a Gamecube, fancied up with some really nice DVD playback features (unlike anything on the PS2 or Xbox) as they actually crammed a real DVD player in the box with the game system. It’s going for about $320 in Japan, and it is currently unknown whether or not we’ll see it in the US. You can buy a mod’d (so it can play any region DVD’s) Q from Lik-Sang, but it’ll cost you about $500 (that’s the cost of their modification, and their surcharge on the import) so you’ll have to save your pennies.
A lot has been made of the various machines controllers. Microsoft introduced the Cadillac of controllers with the Xbox. I say this not because it necessarily has the quality of a Cadillac, but because it is almost the size of one. They were designed to fit the hands of the older (teen to adult) gamer. The Playstation 2 uses the old, but highly functional Dual Shock controller that they released late into the PS1’s run. The Dual Shock is just about right for most people’s hands and is a favorite for players of sporting games. When Nintendo went to the drawing board for a new controller they examined the simplicity of the Dual Shock and the snagged the best parts of the N64’s (huge) controller and put them into one. What resulted is a simple and very comfortable controller that is a joy to use. You can play Rogue Leader for hours on this thing without your hands aching or looking down to try to find the damn trigger button or the joystick (ala N64). Nintendo has clearly learned from past mistakes.
The Gamecube has some nifty future accessories that are planned, like a modem and an Ethernet port. No word yet on when those will be available. I predict this year we will see some very interesting competition in online console gaming. Phantasy Star Online and a version of Final Fantasy are going to be available later on in 2002. Microsoft threw an ethernet port on the back of the Xbox so that you can get online and start playing games ASAP. While they haven’t officially launched a gaming network, people are already playing with a nifty hack that was created, requiring you to hook your Internet equipped PC up to the Xbox. Sony is talking about their online gaming, but haven’t officially announced anything either. Nintendo (as usual) is being silent about their plans for online gaming until they are ready to squeal. Perhaps they will use Sega’s old SegaNet, if that even exists anymore?
Something that sets the Xbox apart from the PS2 and GCN is that it includes a hard disk drive that can be used for saving games, ripping CD’s and for speedier access to various gaming features that would take longer to grab from the disc. While the PS2 can use a laptop style hard drive, their is still no known built-in game support for such an upgrade, and the GCN could have an HDD, but it would require a proprietary Nintendo style drive (and also has no known built-in game support). All three systems can use memory cards to store saved games, statistics and settings.
Of course, as the cliché goes, and we at MvsR love cliché‘s, “It’s not the hardware, it’s the games.” Well I have to take a slight exception to that… Mostly because if it weren’t for new hardware, we wouldn’t see a lot of exciting new games being produced. Fancy hardware enables developers to create fancy games. If we weren’t interested in fancy games, we would all still be playing on our Atari 2600. While Defender was a great game, it wasn’t pretty. Game developers, like fanboy gamers have preferences as to what systems they like to use. The hardware has to be “cool” enough for them to deem it worthy to work on. Unfortunately Nintendo got a little bigheaded with their much more powerful N64 a few years back, and didn’t watch what they were doing as they alienated developers who moved to the less powerful but easier to program, Sony Playstation. So now here we are years later in a gaming world dominated by Sony’s Playstation systems, which is a much different world than in the mid to late 80’s when Nintendo was rocking the gaming world with the NES. Another cliché states that there is only room for 2 systems in the market at the same time. The next few years will be interesting to watch to say the least.
The Games… Sony, as I mentioned above, currently dominates the market, claiming to have 700 some titles that will run on the PS2. Well, that is certainly impressive (aside from the fact that many of them are essentially the same game, with a different title), however it is widely reported to be a royal pain (ala N64) to program. Microsoft, the newbie to the console market has a fair share of games out as well, and fairly strong developer support. This is largely due to the fact that the Xbox is very similar to a PC, so porting games between the PC and the Xbox is pretty easy and that Microsoft is eager to sign developers up to make a dent in the market. The Gamecube is also based on PC hardware (of a sort) and is easy to program, which should mean that games should be available faster. The big hope is that developers will come back from, as Nintendo fanboys would say, “The Dark Side”, that is Sony. Nintendo is playing catch-up now, and is eager to win back the developers they alienated. Will we see SquareSoft come back to Nintendo (Nintendo banned them when Square didn’t play nice on a deal the big N and them had) so that we can see Final Fantasy X on the GCN? Perhaps. It is rumored that the old FF series will be making there way to the GCN in a “Chronicles” format. Nintendo also has a bad rap for having a lot of ‘kiddy’ and ‘family’ games. While this is partially true, they have defined their audience as young kids, and adults. Teenagers sometimes feel a little slighted with Nintendo’s releases. This may also change with the GCN as Nintendo is getting a lot of developers that are known for their more mature titles. What it all comes down to is the fact that Nintendo badly needs some real killer 3rd party gamers back. [All in all, and this is for all systems, I’m tired of all of these Japanese games with weird stories about alien ghosts with laser eyes who stole the secret to the perfect flushing toilet (SquareSoft… look for new writers, and please, let us skip the monotonous animations!). It’s getting old, and weird.]
I think the last thing I want to discuss in this article is price. It’s one of the major factors of all American shoppers. America is the land of Wal-Mart’s and Costco’s. Quality? Bleh! Cheap? Yeah! I believe that is the American motto (with a possible addendum of “Osama is a big weenie”). Anyway, the price of each system: The Playstation 2 and Xbox go for $299 each and the Gamecube sells for $199. The Gamecube is at a real advantage here with a price point well below its competitors, especially in these financially challenged (look ma, I’m bein’ PC, daar!) times. Games for each system cost on average about $50.
As Criswell would say “We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember, my friends, future events such as these will affect you in the future.” Oh, the truth, is so… true. Anyway, who knows who’ll win the console wars? Sony is leading the race, Microsoft is new to the game, and Nintendo (a sleeping giant?) is playing catch-up. It will be interesting. But while the pundits sit around picking apart who’s winning and losing, I’ll be playing Super Monkey Ball with content. In the end, all that counts is that you have fun with whatever system (even if it is still an Atari 2600) you’ve got, right? Oops. I guess the article is a little larger than my standard quickie… =)
Bottom Line: 5 out of 5 Monkeys.
It’s a great gaming system and that’s all. What more do you want?!
What other MvsR staff members think:
Croc Hunter: Flibberin’ dunny! I can’t agree more about them weird Japanese games. I won’t play another one until they release a new version of Bayou Billy!
Captain Subtlety: I don’t know. What do you guys think is the best? I’ll agree with you guys.
Resources:
Nintendo
IGN Cube
Planet Gamecube
CoreMagazine.com
GameSpot: Gamecube
Anandtech Gamecube Hardware Review
up down up down left right
left right b a select start
Kurt the Future here, your esteemed video game connoisseur. Why am I qualified you ask? I wrote a video game column in my elementary school newspaper. It had great hints like “If you attack the old man who gives the sword he hurts you so don’t attack the old man. - Legend of Zelda.” See… Qualified.
Let’s take a closer look at the stupidity that Nintendo was drilling into our impressionable minds.
3. Mario The Ref. - Super Mario… what an overrated overexposed piece of shit. I wish you could knock him out. Go back to plumbing and saving Princess Toadstool you troglodyte. 
What Other Staff Members Think: 
Nintendo’s Banjo Tooie appears to be a classic. With its slick graphics and sound it is sure to win the kiddies over and delight adults as well. But is it worth the purchase? Let find out!
There are many aspects of the game I enjoyed, especially the music. It sounds similar to the classic 70’s “Ooga Shaka” song whose title I can’t remember and don’t care to research. Of interest in this game is the special abilities you have through your characters. Banjo (I’m assuming, that is his/her name) is a bearish/dog thing that carries a backpack with woody the woodpecker in it. The advantage this gives you is that you can peck your enemies to death. I suppose that is about what they deserve for existing. However I am not sure what Nintendo was really going for when they created bad guys that are Warm and FuzzyTM. I guess I don’t like killing things that look like pets. But that’s me. Your other character is a skeleton thing. I don’t know who he is, maybe Tooie, but I’m assuming that was another classic clever Nintendo name. The skeleton guy is much more interesting than the bear, because he has a cane that shoots pink stuff which is a selling point no matter how you look at it.
Controls appeared to be rather simple, but as I only played for 15 minutes I don’t remember too much about them. Replay value… Hmm… I suppose I would play it again after I beat it, but I don’t have the game so how would I know? I suppose it has replay value enough to go back to Wal- Mart again and play it. All in all, I think it is a game worth whatever price you have to play, unless it is more than you have in your wallet right now, in which case I would suggest you play it at Wal Mart too. Definitely a sequel worthy of the original (which I haven’t played at all, but I’d imagine it’s great if it is anything like this sequel)!
Shameless Plug:
