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Video Game Gazette |
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| Nintendo GameCube Archive | |
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Over the years Nintendo has released a wide range of consoles. Sometimes they have been on the forefront of technology as they were with the N.E.S., and othertimes they have waited to release a system as they did with the S.N.E.S. The case of the GameCube was rather unusual. Nintendo finally had conquered their long term rival Sega. One factor in this may have been that Nintendo never released a 32-bit system. They followed up the S.N.E.S. with the Nintendo 64, while Sega went from the Genesis, to the 32X, to the Saturn, and then the Dreamcast. However, the gap left by Sega was taken up by Sony, which had great success with its PlayStation. In fact, Nintendo was deceidedly behind the times in that it had resisted the adoption of CD-ROM technology. Rather than release a state of the art system and try to eliminate this new competitor, they chose another route. This was a mistake, as Sony continuted its dominance of the video game market with the PS2 (as it was a mistake not to partner with Sony to produce a CD-Rom drive for the S.N.E.S.). The GameCube was less powerful than the PS2 or the X-Box. However, it was very small and somewhat portable. It even had a handle. It also used small discs, which again makes one think that Nintendo was concerned with portability. Like the Nintendo 64, it had four joystick ports, a feature that the PS2 lacked. It also had a redesigned controller. Unfortunately, these things did not change the game playing experience enough to compete effectively with the PS2 and its superb graphics. |
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