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I still remember when I got my N64 all those years ago. My brother and I went down to the local Dixons before they opened (though our parents laughed at us for doing something like that, as they KNEW it wouldn’t sell out.)
As it happened, there weren’t too many people waiting outside Dixons that day, but when they opened, we entered along with another man and his son. We enquired about the N64 and the Dixons employee said that they had only got 2 N64s in for the launch day and 2 copies of Mario 64, 1 Pilotwings 64 and 1 Shadows of the Empire.
Well, the other man only wanted an N64 with Mario 64 for him and his son, so we were able to snap up all the remaining N64 stock and run home (after handing over a huge wad of cash of course.)
Many years of great gaming past with our beloved Nintendo machine.
Now the wait for the Gamecube is nearly over, hopefully an equally great amount of gaming pleasure is to be had, and here is my ideal launch day for this machine…
May 2nd: Feels like Christmas Eve.
Even though as a 22 year old I shouldn’t be getting this excited about a small cube of purple plastic and electrical components, but what the heck.
I go to bed on May 2nd and dream of Luigi in his creepy mansion, flying an X-Wing in a dog fight over the Death Star, having wet fun in a jet ski (with great water effects), scoring sweet goals in ISS2 and find myself stuck in a large plastic ball collecting bananas like in Super Monkey Ball.
May 3rd: I wake up.
Todays just like any other day to most people, but to us gamers (well, ones with good taste anyway), today is the day of the cube.
I don’t actually know what time of the day I’m buying it, but when I do, my gaming life will change forever.
HOPEFULLY, the Gameaday prizes I claimed from Special Reserve (Luigi’s Mansion and soon to claim Monkey Ball and ISS2) will arrive on the day….I’m sure they will ;)
Having visited Special Reserve to collect my cube, I buy 3 more controllers for multi player Wave Race, Monkey Ball and ISS2 (and an all important memory card of course).
I also purchase Star Wars: Rogue Leader and Wave Race Blue Storm.
After breaking the land speed record and the law (not really—fast driving costs lives) I arrive home with my bundle of Nintendo goodies.
I DON’T rip open the packaging, as I like to keep all my stuff in pristine condition, and after carefully unwrapping the equipment; I quickly scan through the instructions....
“Never sit to close to the television”
“Take a 10 to 15 minute break every hour to avoid repetitive strain injury, Tendonitis, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or skin irritation etc”
“Play in a well lit room…. to spoil the atmosphere of Resident Evil”
“Do not eat any of the Gamecube components”
“If you are a bit fragile and experience dizziness, motion sickness or nausea whilst playing take up a less dangerous hobby like knitting”
“Blah, blah, blah…does anyone actually read these precautions I wonder???”
Which game do I play first? If all goes to plan I should have Rogue Leader, Wave Race, Luigi’s Mansion, ISS2 and Monkey Ball...
After flipping a lot of coins and playing a lot of ‘Paper, scissors, rock’, I finally decide to play Rogue Leader first.
I power up the console, and the famous Star Wars music begins.
I start playing the game and my eyeballs start to water and the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention…I’M IN THE STAR WARS UNIVERSE, FLYING A FLIPPIN SNOW SPEEDER IN THE BATTLE OF HOTH!!! Cruise around Tatooine, shoot down Tie fighters and AT-Ats....SWEET.
You wont find that kind of entertainment on any other console.
Then Wave Race.
WOW, that water looks pretty wet.
Then there’s multi player, thrashing my siblings as they drink my salty seawater spray I leave behind.
Luigi’s Mansion.
Hey, it’s no Resident Evil, but it’s great fun exploring the creepy mansion and it’s definitely the most fun you can have armed with a torch and a vacuum cleaner…I think ;)
ISS2, having great multi player matches and scoring amazing goals, but is it better than Pro Evolution Soccer?? We’ll have to wait and see...
Super Monkey Ball, well, there’s probably not enough hours in the day to accommodate all this games playing, but Multi player monkey puzzles, bowling, pool, golf etc will be a riot.
THANK YOU NINTENDO.
Eventually I sleep.
Wake up on May 4th, put the PS2 in the back of the cupboard and play my Gamecube again...
Then there’s Resident Evil: Biohazard, Super Smash Bros Melee, Star Fox Adventures, Eternal Darkness, Mario Sunshine, Zelda, Perfect Dark, Mario Kart/ Tennis/Golf and many more to come to come....
Roll on May 3rd.
This time next month I'll be, well, I'll be at work, but hey, I'll be thinking about my Gamecube.
There will be 21 games available on launch day, that's an incredible amount, and there's a fair amount of variety there too.
I'm really looking forward to Luigi's Mansion. There doesn't seem to be any hype about this game anymore. Apparently once it was released, people realised it was quite short, and that's all they seem to say about it.
So what if it won't take a great deal of time to finih? It took me 3 months to play through the 15hours that Conker's Bad Fur Day lasted!
The thing I like about Luigi's Mansion is that it's different. It's not just another platformer. It's possibly more of a puzzle based game, as each room will have ghosts that can only be captured in certain ways, so you'll try opening the curtains, or movign somethng else to get your ghost in the open. It's certainly different, and that's what we've all been crying out for, haven't we?
On launch day I'm also looking forward to Sonic Adventure 2. It hasn't recieved great reviews, but it's a Sonic game! The main reason I want this though is to try out the GBA - Gamecube interconnectivity. Which again, is something different.
Just to make sure that there's variety in my line up, Rogue Leader will also be there. I love Star Wars, but Battle For Naboo kind of put me off this title a little. In the end the force was too strong for me though, and I decided that I must have it! I liked Lylat Wars, and was good at it, but just couldn't get into Naboo. Maybe the classic Star Wars scenarios will help me out here!
Super Monkey Ball looks fun, and there's some decent multiplayer options too. It reminds me, in concept, of marble madness, and games of that ilk, which I always enjoyed. It also ends up being very difficult, and I do love a challenge.
I's also love to have a football game for launch. FIFA World Cup has now got a late April release date, so will be out before the console. They've changed the style of the game since the last version I played on the N64, so it's a possibility. ISS2 is more appealing, simply because I've enjoyed ISS games in the past. The problem is that it's not yet complete, and I wouldn't want it to slip from it's launch date, so I'll keep an eye on this situation until later!
I think those titles would be more than enough for a healthy launch day, though there are plenty of other games to satisfy a different appetite. Tony Hawk's 3 and Dave Mirra BMX for the extreme sports fans. Wave Race and Burnout for the racers, and a number of other games too.
But it's not just about the launch, is it? That's the thing that has kept me excited about the Gamecube, the line up for the next year is so promising.
Firstly, later in May, Super Smash Bros: Melee is released. A fun multiplayer game, like no other beat em up you've ever seen. With a wide range of classic Nintendo characters featured in the game, it's sure to be hugely popular.
Then in June we have Pikmin, Nintendo's take on the RTS genre. It's one of those games that you see, and just want to know more about it. It looks like Nintendo could have another popular franchise in their hands with Captain Olamar and the Pikmin.
Further into the future of the console (though still in it's first year!) we'll get Resident Evil. Though a remake of a Playstation game, the improved graphics add a great deal to the creepy atmosphere, plus there's a lot of new stuff in there too, making it worthwhile if you have the original.
Eternal Darkness is similar, in that it involves zombies, but that should be where the similarities stop, as this title is apparently mature not because of gore, but mature as you have to be a certain age to keep up with the story. This game sounds more promising by the day!
Super Mario Sunshine is the proper sequel to Super Mario 64, though the level of changes is said to mirror the differences between Super Mario Bros 3, and Super Mario World, which was quite a large scale change!
Mario fans will also see him feature in Mario Tennis and Mario Golf, Mario Party 4 (A definite must-have for me!) and Mario Kart, which promises to revolutionise the kart racer.
But maybe Rare will beat Nintendo to it, with Donkey Kong Racing, which involves racers with multiple routes, and training aspects too!
If Animal Crossing (new name for Animal Forest), Animal Leader and Doshin the Giant all make it over here, it will do a great deal for Nintendo's reputation for inovation.
I haven't even mentioned Star Fox Adventures yet, and this is one of my most anticipated games! I loved the Star Fox shooters, and combining that with adventure elements akin to N64 era Zelda is sure to be a winner. Apperently the game is huge too.
Metroid is now looking really good after early development issues and Zelda will continue to shock people with it's cel-shaded look.
I've listed God know's how many games, many of which will be must-play titles, and there's so much I've decided to leave out. Other Resident Evil games, something from Square, Perfect Dark Zero, Wrestlemania, Sega Soccer Slam....
Also next month is E3, where Nintendo may announce further titles. The Gamecube looks like it will have more top class games in it's first year than the N64 did in it's life time, I just hope enough people realise this.
I've got Luigi's Mansion, SSB Melee and Monkey ball coming through GAD - but to make sure I have a game to play on May 3rd (Incase those 3 are delayed in the post), I might have to buy another launch game - Maybe Star Wars, although I still have a GAD outstanding.
Any ideas what I should get? I want a game that's out soonish... but not necessarily at launch - I was thinking PIKMIN, Star Wars or Maybe Wave Race...
Burnout sucks.
Maybe i'll get Crazy Taxi! If only Acclaim had improved the graphics for the GC version... it wouldn't have been so hard, they could even have added an extra Map in the time!
Oh well.... it still rules.
I suppose I could get Wrestlemania X8... that'd be good. Although I want to know what the game is like. The counter system sounds good for advanced gamers - but if it's too much of a sim and less of a beat 'em up, then i'll forget it and wait for Soul Calibur 2. On the other hand, i'll have Melee, so a sim might not be such a bad idea!
GameCube is so cute. It's tiny... like a frog.
LMAO
I intend to claim Wave Race or Burnout and i do not want two racers (i can only properly play 1 i've learnt in the past) and Super Monkey Ball would be very frustrating with my bad coordination and me getting frustrated causes loads of trouble...
some say Sonic Adventure 2 is brilliant aka Edgy, you and Sonic himself do not like it... well it will be fun to compare it with Luigi's Mansion...
so far my line up for launch includes:
Luigi's Mansion
Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3
Star Wars Rogue squadron 2: Rogue Leader
Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
and probably Wave Race: Blue Storm
I won't sleep may 2nd I'll be down my
> nearest store at 12 AM :D My first game i'll get will be bought and will be
> sonic, i'll play that for ages
You'll play that for a couple of hours more like, then the boredom will set in. Good game shame about the Knuckles and Tails levels, if the whole game was Sonic levels then it would have rocked.
If I was you i'd go for another game, there's many more games on the Cube that are far better than Sonic. The only reason I would say to get it is to check out what the GBA link up is like.
WOW, that water looks pretty wet.
Then there’s
> multi player, thrashing my siblings as they drink my salty seawater spray I
> leave behind.
Is that legal????
I won't sleep may 2nd I'll be down my nearest store at 12 AM :D My first game i'll get will be bought and will be sonic, i'll play that for ages until hopefully those brilliant GAD's pop through the door, Luigi's Mansion, Tony hawks Pro Skater 3 and Star Wars... and a 4th GAD prize not yet claimed...
Can't wait... This month is going to drag by...
When I order the Gamecube I'll probably only get Rogue Leader gameswise and use the rest of my money for 4 pads, a memory card and one of those cheap "make-do" sound stations for surround sound that's almost as good as the real thing...
> Well, i have Luigi's Mansion, Resident Evil and Smash Bros coming as GAD's.
I'm going to buy Wave Race and Rogue Leader on the day.
And maybe i'll claim Monkey
> Ball and ISS2 for 2 other GAD wins.
All that hard GAD work will be worth it
> come May 3rd and beyond :)
Then again, i'm sure you read all that in my initial post!
I'm going to buy Wave Race and Rogue Leader on the day.
And maybe i'll claim Monkey Ball and ISS2 for 2 other GAD wins.
All that hard GAD work will be worth it come May 3rd and beyond :)