The Nintendo GameCube (ニンテンドーゲームキューブ) is the fourth home console made by Nintendo.
Overview[]
Released in late 2001 in Japan and North America and in Europe and Australia in 2002, the GameCube was the first Nintendo platform to use an optical disc format instead of cartridges. It was also the first Nintendo platform to feature a controller with two analog sticks, as well as pressure-sensitive trigger buttons.
Among the titles available for the GameCube at the platform's launch was Super Smash Bros. Melee, which included two Fire Emblem characters on its roster in Marth and Roy. Following the release of Melee, Nintendo began localizing Fire Emblem titles for release outside of Japan. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, released in 2005, was both the only Fire Emblem title released for the GameCube, as well as the first home console entry in the series released internationally.
Additional GameCube titles developed by Intelligent Systems include Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$ and Nintendo Puzzle Collection.
The Wii, Nintendo's home console successor to the GameCube, features full GameCube backward compatibility. Path of Radiance save data on a GameCube memory card could be imported into the game's Wii sequel, Radiant Dawn.
Trivia[]
- All Nintendo home consoles from the GameCube through the Nintendo Switch have offered officially supported compatibility with the Nintendo GameCube controller, either through a GameCube controller port on the console itself, or through a USB controller port adapter. Nintendo has also continued to manufacture GameCube controllers in limited quantities since the discontinuation of the GameCube console, largely marketed toward the Super Smash Bros. audience.