| Product: |
GameCube in General |
| Date: |
02/09/00 (248 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Simple but powerful hardware, support from huge companies like Matsushita (Panasonic), ATI, IBM, NEC and Factor 5, great controller, the best games developers in the world work solely for Nintendo, it will be cheap
Disadvantages: It doesn't play DVD movies
Anyone who is familiar with the opinions I have written for Dooyoo (and I know a lot of you like to study my work) will be aware that I am a big fan of the Nintendo 64. I have had one since 1996 and top-rate games like 'Super Mario 64', 'Wave Race 64', 'ISS 64', 'GoldenEye 007' and 'Perfect Dark' have kept me coming back for more four years later, despite my subsequent purchase of both a Sony PlayStation and a Sega Dreamcast. Naturally, I have been following the saga of the Nintendo Dolphin (now renamed Gamecube on account of its shape) ever since rumours surrounding a successor to the N64 started circulating around two years ago. What I have written here is not a review of the machine - something that would be impossible seeing as no one outside Nintendo HQ has even been allowed to breathe near one - but my thoughts on what it will be like and how it will fare against the competition.
All the problems that the N64 had stemmed from one thing - the choice of cartridges as the proprietary format. Although a good choice in some respects (carts virtually eliminate loading times and are much more sturdy than CDs), the high price and lack of storage space discouraged third-party developers from making N64 games, thus limiting the choice of software available. On top of this, the software that did come from third-party developers was in the most part poor and made Nintendo's promise of 'quality over quantity' seem empty.
However, a company of the success and experience of Nintendo does not tend to make the same mistake twice and they seem to be making it a priority to ensure Gamecube doesn't have the same problems N64 did. For a start, the format that has been chosen for the 'Cube is a Matsushita-developed proprietary 8cm mini-DVD-ROM that holds 1.5Gb of data. Whilst this disc lacks the storage space of a PlayStation2 or X-Box DVD-ROM (they're both up around the 4Gb mark), it holds a lot more
data than a Dreamcast GD-ROM and is more than enough to store even the largest of today's games (a Gamecube mini-DVD could store nearly three times the installed size of 'Championship Manager Season 99/00'). Also, the disc will be a lot cheaper than cartridges (and standard DVDs for that matter) meaning that third-party publishers will make more games than they did for the N64 because they can make more profit. The size of the mini-DVD is another advantage. As well as keeping the dimensions of the Gamecube down to a minimum (it only measures W=150mm, H=110mm, D=161mm), the use of this format leaves options open for Nintendo to make a portable Gamecube, perhaps as a successor to Game Boy Advance.
Although with hindsight it seems obvious that the decision to go with cartridges wasn't the right one, Nintendo did do a lot of things right with N64 and, sensibly, they seem to be building on these strengths for Gamecube.
The N64 controller was the best game controller I have ever used, not even Sega's official Dreamcast controller beats it and Sony's PlayStation controller was laughable in comparison. In fact, the only complaint I have is that you couldn't reach all the buttons without moving your hands (not that the D-pad or 'L' key were used much). The Gamecube controller fixes this by switching to a two prong design with two analogue sticks, two analogue buttons and five digital buttons. Of course, being a Nintendo controller, it couldn't escape the R&D department without at least a few unique features. The main difference to any other game controller is the shape and positioning of the buttons. Apparently (I haven't tried it so I'll have to rely on Miyamoto-san), each button is exactly where your fingers fall when you pick the thing up and each one has it's own distinct feel and shape meaning that you'll never have to look at your hands to see which button you're pressing. This sounds to me
like another Nintendo controller innovation that everyone else will copy (just like D-pads, shoulder buttons, trigger buttons and analogue sticks).
Another thing that the N64 did best, that everyone but the most ignorant PlayStation fan acknowledges, is games development. For sheer innovation (there's that word again), originality and gameplay, Nintendo and its subsidiary Rare can't be beaten. Sure, Sega do some excellent pick-up-and-play games ('Crazy Taxi', 'ChuChu Rocket', 'Virtua Tennis', etc.) and the PlayStation has two fantastic developers in Codemasters and Polyphony Digital but no one but Nintendo could create a game so fresh, original and, most importantly, playable as 'Super Mario 64'. And nothing on the games side of things has changed since Mario's first 3D outing, the people are still there but this time they have a lot more power to work with. What with major players like Konami, Capcom and Namco also likely to sign up to the Nintendo cause soon, I don't think there's much to worry about games-wise.
I am a self confessed Nintendo fan but, even if I wasn't, I don't think I could deny that the Gamecube is looking good. The new DVD format caters well for the massmarket, the controller looks excellent (would you expect anything less from Nintendo?) and the games will undoubtedly be incredible. I can't wait for Gamecube sequels to 'Super Mario 64', 'Perfect Dark', 'Wave Race 64' and 'Metroid' and I daren't think what original material might be in the pipeline. As well as the major stuff talked about in the bulk of this opinion, Gamecube also features a lot of little things that make the whole deal sweeter. Like the integration of the Game Boy Advance and Gamecube systems, the US price said to be set around $150-$200 (approximately £94-£125 but expect it to be higher in this country), the fact that it is games machine and not an overly-compl
icated 'set-top box', the optional 64Mb memory cards, the infrared controllers, the 56Kbps modem with optional upgrade to broadband, the list goes on.
Purely on the basis of hardware and software and doing away with brand recognition, hype and such, the next generation console war should be fought between Nintendo and Sega or, more probably, Nintendo and Microsoft. It's just a shame that PlayStation2, with its badly-designed, complicated hardware and awful games (Sony seem to be more concerned with USB ports and DVD movie playback than games), will almost certainly be up there simply because it has that magic name, while genuinely good machines fall by the wayside. Don't let it happen, make a decision as to what console to buy on each machine's merits and not the logo or whether it can stand on its side or not.
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