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The Birth of N2000
It was mid-1998. With six months to go until the launch of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time, the Nintendo 64 was having the time of its life. But the N64 couldn't last forever, and whispers of a next-generation console began.
The team behind 1080 Snowboarding was diverted to "research new hardware". Nintendo dumped MIPS, the chip maker who'd designed the N64's graphics chip, and recruited the newly-formed ArtX to build...something. Before long, the term 'N2000' was coined to describe the next-generation console that was now The Big N's worst kept secret.
In December, Nintendo of America's president Mr Arakawa confirmed that 'N2000' was indeed a reality. The good news was that Nintendo was ready to move on from expensive carts to inexpensive game discs. The bad news? Gamers would have to wait and shouldn't expect the console much before 2000 or 2001. "It's going to take some time to produce," Arakawa chuckled.
That was a painful confesion. But a few days later, when Sigeru Miyamoto decided that maybe he'd make the long-rumoured Super Mario 64 2 for "a completely different system" to the N64, the wait for N2000 suddenly seemed longer.
Dolphin Makes A Splash
On the 1st March 1999, Sony Computer Entertainment announced the PlayStation 2, the ultimate of games consoles. With visual demos of cars screaming around racetracks and faces contorting with astonishing realisim, Sony stunned the world. The future of videogames had arrived. For Now.
Meanwhile, sulky Nintendo offered a simple statement. "We are developing a more advanced videogame system. We are not providing any specifics at this time."
Two months later, the specifics began to be provided. The day before the E3 games expo in the US, NoA chairman Howard Lincoln informed a rapt audience that Nintendo had managed to secure industry-shaking deals with some of the biggest electronics companies- IBM, Panasonic, Nec-to create what they'd codenamed 'project Dolphin'.
400MHz Gekko processor, 0.18 micron technology, high-speed DRAM-plenty of statistics were thrown around Lincoln, but the message was clear. Dolphin would be fast, powerful and cheap enough to run PS2 into the ground. "I think Nintendo is very well positioned to take on Sony," a bullish Lincoln said, we can hardly wait."
N2000 Or N2001
Minoru Arakawa, 2nd Febuary 2000:" We still have a plan for the end of the year." This was important. The PS2 would hit Japan in less than a month, and Microsoft were rumoured to be ready to announce their own next generation competitor, the X-Box. Nintendo had to be ready with Dolphin to stay alive.
One month later, the bombshell. "Nintendo's Dolphin will launch in the first half of 2001"ran the US and European line. Worse, Nintendo of Japn's Hiroshi Imanishi couldn't even guarantee the Japanese a Dolphin before 2001.
It was clear, too, that despite interest from countless developers - Ubisoft, THQ, Titus, 3DO, Eidos, Crave, Midway, Climax- proper developers weren't even near completion. Online plans were not revealed and Dolphin's inner working were a secret. So what if, as Nintendo of Europe's Axel Herr claimed, Dolphin was apparently 33% more powerful than PS2? With Sony off to a flyer and Microsoft ready to play catch-up, Nintendo's stubborn secrecy wasn't doing them any favours.
Box Clever
Nintendo remained utterly silent about Dolphin for much of 2000. Rumours flew about stunning visuals, tiny 3" discs, bizarre double-analouge joypads, games such as Ridge Racer V, Resident Evil Zero, Perfct Dark 2-but The Big N were confirming and denying nothing. Even the rumoured name-Starcube-was blanked.
"Internally, gamecube is ready," moaned imanishi. "But, as always, Miyamoto says,'Oh we're not ready yet.'" Whatever the delay, they couldn't stave off the world's media much longer-financial analysts agreed that unless Nintendo pulled something special out of their cap come August 2000's Spaceworld show, It'd be curtains.
On 23rd August, Nintendo delivered. the Gamecube was officially unveiled-a super small cube with a pleasingly chunky joypad and 3" discs. And with it came footage of Gamcube's potential-gobsmacking demos of Nintendo icons-Mario, Luigi, Samus Aran, Pokemon-dancing around in eye-popping detail. As Sigeru made 128 Marios run, roll and yell their way around the screen in the world's first real-time Gamecube demo, Sony's humdrum rubber duckies and old men's faces were instantly forgotten.
The one fly in the ointment? Another delay, this time March 2001 in Japan and July in the US and Europe. This time, few cared-at last they had their proof that the Big N were back in a big way.
It was mid-1998. With six months to go until the launch of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time, the Nintendo 64 was having the time of its life. But the N64 couldn't last forever, and whispers of a next-generation console began.
The team behind 1080 Snowboarding was diverted to "research new hardware". Nintendo dumped MIPS, the chip maker who'd designed the N64's graphics chip, and recruited the newly-formed ArtX to build...something. Before long, the term 'N2000' was coined to describe the next-generation console that was now The Big N's worst kept secret.
In December, Nintendo of America's president Mr Arakawa confirmed that 'N2000' was indeed a reality. The good news was that Nintendo was ready to move on from expensive carts to inexpensive game discs. The bad news? Gamers would have to wait and shouldn't expect the console much before 2000 or 2001. "It's going to take some time to produce," Arakawa chuckled.
That was a painful confesion. But a few days later, when Sigeru Miyamoto decided that maybe he'd make the long-rumoured Super Mario 64 2 for "a completely different system" to the N64, the wait for N2000 suddenly seemed longer.
Dolphin Makes A Splash
On the 1st March 1999, Sony Computer Entertainment announced the PlayStation 2, the ultimate of games consoles. With visual demos of cars screaming around racetracks and faces contorting with astonishing realisim, Sony stunned the world. The future of videogames had arrived. For Now.
Meanwhile, sulky Nintendo offered a simple statement. "We are developing a more advanced videogame system. We are not providing any specifics at this time."
Two months later, the specifics began to be provided. The day before the E3 games expo in the US, NoA chairman Howard Lincoln informed a rapt audience that Nintendo had managed to secure industry-shaking deals with some of the biggest electronics companies- IBM, Panasonic, Nec-to create what they'd codenamed 'project Dolphin'.
400MHz Gekko processor, 0.18 micron technology, high-speed DRAM-plenty of statistics were thrown around Lincoln, but the message was clear. Dolphin would be fast, powerful and cheap enough to run PS2 into the ground. "I think Nintendo is very well positioned to take on Sony," a bullish Lincoln said, we can hardly wait."
N2000 Or N2001
Minoru Arakawa, 2nd Febuary 2000:" We still have a plan for the end of the year." This was important. The PS2 would hit Japan in less than a month, and Microsoft were rumoured to be ready to announce their own next generation competitor, the X-Box. Nintendo had to be ready with Dolphin to stay alive.
One month later, the bombshell. "Nintendo's Dolphin will launch in the first half of 2001"ran the US and European line. Worse, Nintendo of Japn's Hiroshi Imanishi couldn't even guarantee the Japanese a Dolphin before 2001.
It was clear, too, that despite interest from countless developers - Ubisoft, THQ, Titus, 3DO, Eidos, Crave, Midway, Climax- proper developers weren't even near completion. Online plans were not revealed and Dolphin's inner working were a secret. So what if, as Nintendo of Europe's Axel Herr claimed, Dolphin was apparently 33% more powerful than PS2? With Sony off to a flyer and Microsoft ready to play catch-up, Nintendo's stubborn secrecy wasn't doing them any favours.
Box Clever
Nintendo remained utterly silent about Dolphin for much of 2000. Rumours flew about stunning visuals, tiny 3" discs, bizarre double-analouge joypads, games such as Ridge Racer V, Resident Evil Zero, Perfct Dark 2-but The Big N were confirming and denying nothing. Even the rumoured name-Starcube-was blanked.
"Internally, gamecube is ready," moaned imanishi. "But, as always, Miyamoto says,'Oh we're not ready yet.'" Whatever the delay, they couldn't stave off the world's media much longer-financial analysts agreed that unless Nintendo pulled something special out of their cap come August 2000's Spaceworld show, It'd be curtains.
On 23rd August, Nintendo delivered. the Gamecube was officially unveiled-a super small cube with a pleasingly chunky joypad and 3" discs. And with it came footage of Gamcube's potential-gobsmacking demos of Nintendo icons-Mario, Luigi, Samus Aran, Pokemon-dancing around in eye-popping detail. As Sigeru made 128 Marios run, roll and yell their way around the screen in the world's first real-time Gamecube demo, Sony's humdrum rubber duckies and old men's faces were instantly forgotten.
The one fly in the ointment? Another delay, this time March 2001 in Japan and July in the US and Europe. This time, few cared-at last they had their proof that the Big N were back in a big way.
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I remeber them. My brother had a big problem pronouncing the name. Ebok. Mrewok. Erock. I was laughing quite a lot but now that ain't funny. I have lost my use of laughter.
Ewoks I think they were called.
Mathewetta, is your name supposed to sound like those funny bears in Return of the Jedi? :-)
BAN HIM!
All of this was copied from NGC's free giveaway book for their September eddition of the mag.
Pro Evo wrote:
> Yeah, lol, he really should get a prize for that!! And the best thing is, its
> true!
;)
not a prize.
Maby a pat on the back
or a kick up the a**e.
or a cocktail stick
> Yeah, lol, he really should get a prize for that!! And the best thing is, its
> true!
;)
not a prize.
Maby a pat on the back
or a kick up the a**e.
or a cocktail stick
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