Nintendo Gamecube - A Box of Delights (Nintendo N64)

Member Name: collingwood21

Product:	Nintendo N64
Date:	06/02/03 (352 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stylish design, Competitive prices, Online gaming potential

Disadvantages: No CD or DVD capability, Some peole may find the controller too small

(I can't believe there is no category for the Nintendo Gamecube anywhere here. But hey, there you go. This is the nearest available category, and as always I promise to have the review moved once the relevant one becomes available. Apologies for doing this!)

In the corner of my flat - sitting between the hulking great beastie that is our N64 and our newest addition to the family, my Playstation2 - there lies our Gamecube. You see, we like gaming in this household and appreciate having access to a considerable range of games. I have already reviewed my PS2, so I think it is time I turned my attention to the cube (before it gets jealous).

The Gamecube is the latest console offering of Japanese gaming giants Nintendo. The illustrious dynasty began with the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System), which started out as the dreadfully-named Famicom (family computer, though you may be forgiven for thinking it sounds like a form on feminine contraception) in Japan, but went on to revolutionise the world of console gaming as millions were sold across the globe. Following on from this promising beginning came the Gameboy (1989), the Super Nintendo (1993), the Nintendo 64 (mid 1990s), Gameboy Colour (late 1990s), Gameboy Advance (2001) and now the Gamecube. The cube is currently competing on the gaming market with the Playstation 2 (Sony) and the X Box (Microsoft - which is why it is the only up to date console that we don't own), and falls between the two in terms of technical capability.


- The Console
The Gamecube, for those of you unfamiliar with such matters, is, well, a cube that you play games on. The smallest of the three consoles currently in our shops, it is just a 15cm cube and is available is either purple or black (we have the black as BF was buying and claimed that the purple one was "too girly"). It is a very simple and uncluttered piece of technology in appearance, having just a lid on top where you ins
ert your games (similar in style to what you get on the PS1) and a front with 4 controller ports and two memory card slots. This simplicity is extended to the set up process, which took less than 10 minutes as I recall. The Gamecube is the first of the Nintendo dynasty to use games on disc, rather than cartridges - the discs themselves look like mini CDs, being just 8cm in diameter. Despite this cute appearance, each one of these discs can hold up to 1.5 gigs of data and supply it to the console far faster than the old cartridge system could, making for smoother gameplay, better graphics and bigger games.

For the technically minded amongst you, the Gamecube has the following technical specifications:
- 485 MHz custom IBM microprocessor
- 182 MHz custom ATI/Nintendo graphics processor
- 24 bit colour display
- 40 MB system memory
- CD quality sound
- Can be connected to the Gameboy Advance to swap data and unlock new levels

The basic Gamecube pack (costing around £130) comes with the console, connecting leads and one controller - I would recommend looking at bundles in various stores (where you get games and sometimes other accessories included at a cost lower than buying them separately). Packages can cost anything from £150 upwards, and it really is worth your while shopping around to get the best deal for you, as accessories can be expensive to buy on their own. Additional controllers and 16MB memory cards cost around £25 each, the Gamecube screen and car adaptor set costs around £120 (but makes your cube mobile) while games come in at £40 to £45 apiece.


- The controller
Personally, I believe that the controller system for any console is a very important point when you are considering which one to buy - the console may have the best games and the fastest speed, but this will be no good to you if you find that you are struggling to control the gameplay. This, in my opinion was the biggest let down of
the N64. The gaming was revolutionary and it had fantastic titles such as the now legendary Goldeneye, but the controllers were ghastly, huge clumsy things. They were awkward to hold, and I found the buttons to be arranged in a way that made me have to stretch my fingers uncomfortably far to use them. As a consequence, I never got the full potential out of the console.

Thankfully though, Nintendo has solved this problem for the Gamecube. The new controller (which Nintendo think is revolutionary, but bears an uncanny resemblance to the PS2 controller...) is smaller, neater and altogether more comfortable to hold and use. It has an ergonomic design with two analogue control sticks, shoulder buttons and a built-in rumble (the same as the N64 rumble pack or the PS2 vibration function). The boffins at Nintendo have also now brought out a wireless version of the controller, although I have not yet had the pleasure of trying one out! The only downside to the controller is that those gamers with bigger hands may find it a little too small and have difficulty in hitting the right button as the ones on the main body of the controller (not the shoulders) are rather close together. I suppose the only way around this would be to bring out two differently sized controllers, although that would no doubt hike prices up.


- My Opinion
The Gamecube is an admirable addition to our gaming family and the perfect complement to the PS2. It is competitively priced and looks stylish (although some may say the controllers have too much of a "cutesy" look about them), and unlike the other consoles has four controller ports for real multiplayer gaming (the other just have 2). The controllers are comfortable to use and the sound and video quality I have seen has been superb all around. While it may not have the DVD capabilities of the PS2, the Gamecube has tried to future-proof itself by way of another port built into the console that will hopeful

ly offer online gaming sometime soon. Nintendo plans to launch a 56k modem and broadband adaptor in the future, although there is no release date as yet and the full capabilities are still in the planning stage. It does offer some intriguing possibilities though!

As for the games themselves, a lot are generic console games that are available on the PS2 and X Box as well (such as Agent Under Fire and Fellowship of the Ring), but some are exclusive to the cube (Starfox Adventures being one example). The games vary in quality as they do with any console, but overall I have had some great fun in both single and multiplayer gaming. We are just sat tight now waiting for the release of the next Zelda game!


www.nintendo.co.uk
www.gamefaqs.com/gamecube

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