Nintendo GameCube

Nintendo GameCube
Manufacturer	Nintendo
Type	Video game console
Generation	Sixth generation
First available	September 14, 2001 November 18, 2001 May 3, 2002 May 17, 2002
CPU	IBM PowerPC "Gekko", 486 MHz
GPU	ATI "Flipper", 162 MHz
Media	3.5" optical disc
System storage	Nintendo GameCube Memory Card
Controller input	Nintendo Gamecube controller
Predecessor	Nintendo 64
Successor	Wii
Article on Nintendo Wiki	Nintendo GameCube

The Nintendo GameCube (ニンテンドーゲームキューブ, Nintendō GēmuKyūbu), often abbreviated GCN, is the fourth gaming console released by Nintendo in 2001. Super Smash Bros. Melee is one of its games, and its top-seller. Its successor, the Wii, is backward compatible with the Nintendo GameCube; capable of playing all of its games and accepting its controllers and Memory Cards. Various Wii games have allowed use of a Nintendo GameCube controller as a way to have a more traditional way to play, including Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The control scheme in Super Smash Bros. Brawl works much like it did in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

General Information

The Nintendo GameCube is unique in that its disks are smaller than any other game disk, utilizing a proprietary variant of the 8 cm MiniDVD. The controller is somewhat similar to the Nintendo 64's controller albeit with a different layout; C-buttons are replaced with a C-Stick which is identical in function, its shoulder buttons are pressure-sensitive, and sports a new binary wing grip design as opposed to the Nintendo 64 controller's ternary wing grip design, along with many other differences. It is the first Nintendo console to introduce online play, although in an extremely limited, decentralized manner. The system sold 21.74 million units worldwide.

In the Super Smash Bros. series

Cameo

The Nintendo GameCube appears within Super Smash Bros. Melee as a trophy, with its description breaking the fourth wall. It is also the only platform in Luigi's Target Test

Trophy description

Nintendo's latest bundle of joy arrived in North America on November 18, 2001*, and video-game fans rejoiced. This little beauty is sleek, compact and full of cutting-edge technology. Incorporating optical media for the first time, the Nintendo GameCube was truly born to play. Rumor has it that Super Smash Bros. Melee is a software title for this wondrous device.

* "Europe on May 3, 2002" in the PAL version