Nintendo GameCube

The Nintendo GameCube (Japanese: ゲームキューブ; originally code-named "Dolphin" during development; abbreviated as GCN) is Nintendo's fourth home video game console, belonging to the 128-bit era; the same generation as Sega's Dreamcast, Sony's PlayStation 2, and Microsoft's Xbox. The GameCube was released on:

Software library

The GameCube currently has over 540 games available in its library. In addition, over 100 titles are currently in development.

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The GameCube features games with the following ratings:

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• Early Childhood: 0
• Everyone: 263
• Everyone (E10+): 1
• Teen: 198
• Mature: 44
• Adults Only: 0

Source: ESRB

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Key first-party titles

The Nintendo GameCube software library contains such traditional Nintendo series as Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid.

Related Topics:
Super Mario - The Legend of Zelda - Metroid

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Some of the more popular first-party titles include:

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Approach to third-party developers

One of the defining aspects of the Nintendo GameCube is the rejuvenated relationship between Nintendo and its licensees. Unlike previous generations in which Nintendo was seen by some as bullying its third-party game developers, Nintendo openly sought game-development aid on the Nintendo GameCube. Alternatively, Nintendo was no longer in a position to push around developers since its last console Nintendo 64 lost the dominating position and bullying ended up driving developers towards Nintendo's rival Sony. Sometimes, Nintendo would merely request that a third-party developer produce a game based on the third-party's own game franchises; other times, Nintendo would request that the third-party developer produce a game based on Nintendo's own game franchises. This effort from Nintendo resulted in many exclusive third-party games for the Nintendo GameCube, and the arrival of multiformat titles on the platform.

Related Topics:
Third-party game developers - Nintendo 64 - Sony

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Despite Nintendo's efforts, the GameCube survived due to its low price and the "age-10 and under" niche market. Many games popular with more mature audiences such as first-person shooters and the controversial Grand Theft Auto series had overlooked the GameCube in favour of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. This and Nintendo's own franchises such as Pokémon gave the GameCube the reputation of being a "kiddie" console. Cross-platform games such as sports franchises released by Electronic Arts sold far below their PlayStation 2 and Xbox counterparts and those games certainly would not have been released on the GameCube if the cost of porting the title was high. This perception was confirmed in 2003 when Eidos Interactive and THQ announced that they would cancel GameCube support. Around that time, several European retailers stopped selling the console, forcing Nintendo to cut GameCube production in order to sell off surpluses. What further hurt the GameCube was its minimal online support, a growing trend that its rivals embraced.

Related Topics:
Grand Theft Auto series - PlayStation 2 - Xbox - Pokémon - Electronic Arts - Eidos Interactive - THQ

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The GameCube has often been considered a failure due to being unable to match the sales and market share of its Nintendo 64 predecessor. However, it has been offset by the growing size of the video game console market which has allowed Nintendo to carve out a loyal following even as its market share decreased. Nintendo also reassured nervous investors by stating that they would "only exit the software business at the same time they would exit the hardware business"; Nintendo signalled that they would not discontinue their console business to focus on developing games like Sega had done after the failure of the Dreamcast. Nintendo also had strong cash reserves so it could afford to match price wars whenever Sony or Microsoft lowered the price of their console. In addition, commentators estimate that before resorting to price cuts to stay competitive Nintendo loses the least money on each sale of a GameCube compared to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

Related Topics:
Nintendo 64 - Sega - Dreamcast

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Major second & third-party titles

• EA Sports games (Electronic Arts)
• ' (Silicon Knights)
• F-Zero GX (from Sega, based on Nintendo's own game properties)
• ' (Square Enix)
• ', a collaborative enhanced remake between Konami and then-second-party to Nintendo, Silicon Knights
• Resident Evil series (Capcom)
• Resident Evil Zero, Resident Evil (enhanced remake), Resident Evil 4
• ' series (Factor 5)
• Star Fox series
• Super Monkey Ball series (Sega)
• Tales of Symphonia (Namco)
• Viewtiful Joe series (Capcom)
• Wario World (from Treasure Co. Ltd, based on Nintendo's own game properties)