September 14 is a date the video gaming world, at least in Japan, has been aching to see. The next generation Nintendo GameCube console has debuted in Japan.
People began queuing outside stores in the Akihabara district the night before the release date, with more consumers joining the growing line as opening hours drew closer. But it is said that the atmosphere was relatively tranquil when compared to the scenes seen on the days prior to the Game Boy Advance and PlayStation 2 launches.
Evidently the breach of the Friday release date we reported by certain Japanese outlets was partially to blame. Also, many units have been dispatched overseas to import shops in the US and UK.
A pre-order scheme helped to shift the surprisingly organised and docile queues of Japanese gamers that little bit quicker.
Three games have made it in time for the launch of the console – Luigi’s Mansion and Wave Race: Blue Storm from Nintendo, and Super Monkey Ball from former rival Sega. The games, awarded above average scores by Japanese magazine Famitsu, may not have the same positive impact on the launch as Mario 64 did with Nintendo 64, but the GameCube’s future line-up is looking promising. Miyamoto’s pet project Pikmin will follow within a couple of weeks, as well as several games from second party, UK-based developer Rare, and further games from a variety of third parties.
The games come housed in miniature DVD-like cases complete with easy-wrinkle cardboard sleeves, for those of you who wanted to know.
Approximately 500,000 units have been made available for the launch of the 128-bit console, but a sell-out has yet to be confirmed.
We all want Nintendo to perform well, it deserves to, but at the end of the day, only you can decide the fate of the largest video game company in the world. So what’s it gonna be? GameCube or Xbox or PlayStation 2? We hope you make the right choice.
People began queuing outside stores in the Akihabara district the night before the release date, with more consumers joining the growing line as opening hours drew closer. But it is said that the atmosphere was relatively tranquil when compared to the scenes seen on the days prior to the Game Boy Advance and PlayStation 2 launches.
Evidently the breach of the Friday release date we reported by certain Japanese outlets was partially to blame. Also, many units have been dispatched overseas to import shops in the US and UK.
A pre-order scheme helped to shift the surprisingly organised and docile queues of Japanese gamers that little bit quicker.
Three games have made it in time for the launch of the console – Luigi’s Mansion and Wave Race: Blue Storm from Nintendo, and Super Monkey Ball from former rival Sega. The games, awarded above average scores by Japanese magazine Famitsu, may not have the same positive impact on the launch as Mario 64 did with Nintendo 64, but the GameCube’s future line-up is looking promising. Miyamoto’s pet project Pikmin will follow within a couple of weeks, as well as several games from second party, UK-based developer Rare, and further games from a variety of third parties.
The games come housed in miniature DVD-like cases complete with easy-wrinkle cardboard sleeves, for those of you who wanted to know.
Approximately 500,000 units have been made available for the launch of the 128-bit console, but a sell-out has yet to be confirmed.
We all want Nintendo to perform well, it deserves to, but at the end of the day, only you can decide the fate of the largest video game company in the world. So what’s it gonna be? GameCube or Xbox or PlayStation 2? We hope you make the right choice.
Companies:
Nintendo
People: Shigeru Miyamoto
Games: Luigi's Mansion Pikmin Super Monkey Ball Wave Race: Blue Storm
People: Shigeru Miyamoto
Games: Luigi's Mansion Pikmin Super Monkey Ball Wave Race: Blue Storm
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