So rumor has it we'll be taking a stab at some original articles/editorials around here again. To start Richard Smith (known for his help with our dthread code and chatbear.com) was crazy enough to get a Nintendo GameCube imported from across the world. What follows is what I would call a GameCube diary detailing what the machine is like and some impressions of the launch titles. Richard plans to continue the article over the next couple of days with more in depth looks at the launch titles.

First up was Luigi's Mansion, which, although I didn't notice until much later, has zero loading time. There's no pauses, loading screens, nothing. [snip] Wave Race: Blue Storm, which again I'll have a full review of later this week. I always enjoyed this game on the N64, I wasn't it's biggest fan, but I'd had some fun with it. So far, it's more of the same. Perhaps it's too much of the same. [snip]

More stuff coming soon, thanks to Richard for kicking things off!

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The first official sales figures for the Nintendo GameCube just got announced by Nintendo. They've sold 300,000 units in the Japan launch which was called "disappointing" by analysts. I uh.. wont mention that this was already mentioned by Jason last night. update Jack - Well it seems like enough comments have warranted this to be a full-sized item. Some of the comments are also forcing me to make this addendum, since nearly everyone commenting has missed something. The GameCube launched in the middle of a worldwide tragedy. According to a friend of mine in Japan, nearly EVERY news station went to coverage of the event live. It was around 10pm Japanese time, so nearly everyone there was as glued to the events that weekend as we were. Please keep this in mind before talking about how "disappointing" these numbers are. And yes, I am biased, but I'm also pretty damn sure I'm right.

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The Nintendo GameCube just launched over in Japan and according to the story on ZDNet and CNN the initial rush wasnt all that huge. Seems the guys in Japan arent quite as excited over GameCube, in fact there were about as many foreign people in the lines as Japanese nationals. Of course, with only 3 launch titles right now and none of them involving Zelda, Metroid, or Mario...

The three launch titles for the new system are Luigi's Mansion, Wave Race: Blue Storm and Super Monkey Ball.

Still gonna just wait and see on this one, but should be kinda cool to see some of the reviews of full games showing up in the near future. You can grab stuff from CUBE.IGN and GameSpot already.

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Cube.IGN has posted a new movie featuring more gameplay footage from Metroid Prime (thanks JediBeavis). The movie is still fairly short, but its mere 15 seconds are still more than the four seconds that were previously released. Also of note is that this footage is almost entirely from a first person perspective.

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I'll be posting the rest of the Spaceworld news later on this evening, but to tide you over until then, here's a link to Cube.IGN, where they have posted the first in-game footage from Metroid Prime. It's woefully short (blink and you'll miss it) but it is direct-feed, and features some first person and third person action. Also of note is this progress update from Shigeru Miyamoto himself.

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Cube.IGN is reporting that the introduction of the GameCube in the US has been delayed until November 18, almost 2 weeks later than the original November 5 release date. This info was found in Nintendo's Spaceworld Press Kit. The delay means early November is all for Microsoft, since the Xbox is supposed to be released on the 8th of November. First-party GameCube games launching along with system are Luigi's Mansion and Wave Race: Blue Storm, and Pikmin will follow a day later (third party titles, like LucasArts' Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader will also be available). Smash Brothers and Eternal Darkness will follow in December. 700,000 GameCube units will be available on launch day.

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Woah.. looks like the new FPS Metroid game from Nintendo is the last game standing over at Retro Studios. Raven Blade, the 3D RPG that was being worked on has been canned entirely according to IGN. 26 employees lost their jobs after a joint decision was made by Nintendo and Retro to dissolve the project. A few "key members" from Raven Blade were sent over to work on Metroid Prime.

The termination of the project means that Retro Studios is now only working on one game -- Metroid. Asked why Raven Blade was killed, Nintendo commented: "It was a business decision and clearly based on the need to focus on Metroid and ensure it's a great game, and also on the resources that would have been needed to finish Raven Blade."

Our buddies Jack and Zoid are fine.

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I see on Voodoo Extreme that CNET has an interview with Nintendo America Executive VP Peter Main. Of course they talk about the upcoming console wars and the Gamecube system.

Why the closed lips for so long? We believe that gaming, not being one of life's necessities, tends to be an impulse purchase. You develop an interest in gaming and then decide you do want to spend the few hundred dollars for a console. We believe that decision is made in 60 to 90 days of making the purchase. In the interim--while Microsoft had nothing else to do and Sony had the PS2 to push--we had a lot of N64 (consoles) to sell and Game Boy Color to sell. For that reason, we strongly urged our retailers to not even start talking about Game Boy Advance until the week after Easter...in preparation for a launch in mid-June ...

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I wanted to post these for a while now and finally got a hold of them now that the E3 rush is slowing down. Screenshots of the Nintendo GameCube FPS Metroid game. Check these out straight from Nintendo and Jack approved:

[more screenshots]

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After the very strong showing at E3, Nintendo has announced that the GameCube will debut at $200, a full $100 below the price points of both the PlayStation 2 and the X-Box. Also, MSNBC says that Nintendo ruled the show, and that the X-Box failed to impress. That's about all I'll say, as I'm really quite biased :-)

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Nintendo has announced the release date for their GameCube console which they have been so quiet about. It is set to launch 3 days before X-Box. Talk about going head to head. Oh yeah check out this Metroid stuff, oooooh.

Industry analysts have expected Nintendo to price the GameCube at a discount to the Xbox. The Nintendo console will feature a slower processor than either the Sony Playstation 2 or the Xbox and will run games on smaller optical discs. Nintendo has said that separate modems and broadband adapters will allow gamers to play games online as well.

I'll get as many details and pictures etc on the console system as possible while at E3 tomorrow and over the weekend. Lots of stuff to see. Just remember guys.. hardware not make console system by itself, games important be also!

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More stuff from E3 is being released on the Nintendo E3 website. Of special notice is Metroid (Yay Jack!) which has some crazy looking screenshots and even a video to download (grabbing that now!)

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Cant say I've seen any GameCube footage before, just all those screengrabs. Well here is some footage of the new StarFox title which looks pretty damn good. update: Here is some DonkeyKong Racing footage too, Thanks Richard.

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Myself being one of the many people eager to see all the new Nintendo GameCube stuff (and GameBoy Advance!) this recent quote from the president of Nintendo is quite scary: (Thanks Nintendojo)

"If we are unable to see a positive response at E3, this will have a disasterous impact on Nintendo...and we may have to consider freezing the Gamecube business altogether."

Yikes! Holy bad translations batman! He's actually referring to the release and holding back the console until they can get a positive response. Nintendo is of course confident that wont be the case though:

We have high hopes for the show and are confident the games will impress and astound attendees."

From all the images we've seen of GameCube it's mostly just younger audience target games with the exception of a few. Keep in mind though a ton of games will be announced next month at E3 and we'll have a much more clear picture of what is going on. Should be fun to see Nintendo and Microsoft fighting for the console market.

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As was mentioned back in March the GameCube from Nintendo will be experiencing a delay in release over in Japan. the US release date remains unchanged though. Thanks Well-Rounded. Speaking of GameCube, here are some pics of one of the canne projects.

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