How it was shown to the world.
Nintendo have finally given the world its first glimpse of theGAMECUBE, the successor to the N64. The unveiling tookplace at the companys annual Spaceworld show in Tokyo,
where the big N also revealed the Game Boy Advance in
playable form, and a wealth of new N64 and Game Boy
Games.
GAMECUBE-the final name for the previously dubbed Project
Dolphin was presented in a packed Matsuri Messe exhibition
Hall in Tokyo, just prior to the Spaceworld show itself kicking
off. After introducing the machine, Nintendo showed a
one-minute video of GAMECUBE demos, including footage of
Zelda, Wave Race, Metroid and Luigis Mansion. Following
that, Shigeru (Shigsy) Miyamoto, the head of Nintendo, himself
demonstrated the consoles bewildering power with interactive
images of Pokémon parties belching ghosts and 128 Marios
running about, hauling boxes and waving at the camera.
The staggering visuals were greeted with rapturous applause
from the gobsmacked audience, but the warmest welcome was
saved for Nintendos assurance that the GAMECUBE was
created solely for the purpose of playing videogames. In a
speech carefully crafted to pour scorn on Sonys marketing of
PlayStation 2 as an all-purpose multimedia machine, Nintendo
promised. "The GAMECUBE is focuses on gameplay. I is the
ultimate TV games machine, and will give birth to a new kind of
entertainment.
Nintendo were also keen to stress how gently their new console
treats developers. "GAMECUBE is the first of its kind," they
proclaimed. "Instead of going for the highest possible
performance, which does not contribute to software
development, our aim has been to create a developer-friendly
machine that maintains above-standard capabilities. With
complex games demanding more money and time from
developers, and many coders suffering at the hands of the
stubborn PlayStation 2, Nintendo believe that the industry needs
an easy-to-use console to prevent "...the collapse of the game
buisness.