Gamecube

The Gamecube saw its release in Japan and North America in 2001 and in the PAL region in 2002. It was Nintendo’s entry in the sixth generation of video game consoles, competing with Sony’s PlayStation 2 and Microsoft’s Xbox. It is their first system to use optical discs instead of cartridges, but unlike the PS2 and Xbox, used miniDVD format. The console’s design is very different from N64 with a cube shape. It saw a major upgrade in graphics and composers were not limited by audio hardware anymore. Even though the system did not do well with its competitors, it was praised by critics for overall hardware design, extensive library of quality games and its controller. The controller had a less awkward shape than N64’s and brought back the X and Y buttons, as well as an additional control stick on the right.