Game Cube

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003399" TEXT="#080000" background="040c8c00erkjxk.jpg"> <div> <B>Game Cube vital stats:</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Release:</U></B><B>  Nov. 18  2001</B></div> <div> <B><U>Price: </U></B><B>  $199.99</B></div> <div> <B><U>Builder</U></B><B>: Nintendo</B></div> <div> <B><U>Country of Origin: </U></B><B> Japan</B></div> <div> <B><U>Weight:</U></B><B>  2 lbs. 16 oz.</B></div> <div> <B><U>Dimensions:</U></B></div> <div> <B>Width:  6"</B></div> <div> <B>Height:  4  1/4"</B></div> <div> <B>Depth:  6"</B></div> <div> <I><B>Other information:</B></I></div> <div> <B><U>Can it play DVD movies?: </U></B><B>NO</B></div> <div> <B><U>Can ti play music CDs?: </U></B><B>No</B></div> <div> <B><U>Progressive scan support?</U></B></div> <div> <B>Only in some games</B></div> <div> <B><U>Surround sound options?</U></B></div> <div> <B>None</B></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#0066CC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#99CCFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Next-Gen Console Wars</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFF99" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#CC0000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>  |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="NextGen Console Wars"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Current Situation"><U>The Current Situation</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="NEWS"><U>NEWS</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Playstation 2"><U>Playstation 2</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="X Box"><U>X Box</U></A>   |   <B>Game Cube</B>   |   <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" The Terms AM"><U> The Terms-   A-M</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Terms NZ"><U>The Terms -  N-Z</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Information/Contact me"><U>Information/Contact me</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Thanx!"><U>Thanx!</U></A></div> <div> Game Cube</div> <div> Nintendo, the morons of the video game business.  I think they have intentionally tried to keep them sleves from being a great game company.  On the N64 they used cartridge based format for the games, and now, when every one else (X Box & PS2) is using DVD's which hold 4.7GB, Nintendo had the great idea of using mini disks, which is 1.5GB.  I think that they just like to be a pain in the side of every game developer, just because they are Nintendo.  I really think that they should realize that just because your company's name is well known, you still have to work to put out something good, and something that will last.  Just look at their last system the N64, it must have had the shortest life span of any console in the history of gaming.  It was born, then it died, and in between, SOMEHOW WE GOT STUCK WITH POKEMON!  This poor, poor franchise has been raped by Nintendo, so they could milk more money out of it everyday.  It really makes me sad.  The really sad thing is that the Game Cube has no extra's; like DVD support, OR movie capability, no hard drives, no modems, or anything.  And this is what keeps the price So So low, ($199.99)  But these things will eventually come out, and Nintendo is hoping that they can trick you into buying a GameCube now for really Cheap, but later when the additions come out for it they will be expensive, because they didn't come in the package at launch, so every single piece of hardware that comes out after is going to have it's own launches, ad-campaigns, packaging and so on.  So it's actually going to end up being more expensive down the road, unless you want to sit with a system in your house that does nothing, while everyone else is play games on the net, with people from all around the world.  Also watching the latest DVD's with their friends, while GameCube can't do a thing?  Another problem that I see with GameCube is the fact that it is the only console that does not support the DVD format(4.7GB) . Nintendo has opted to go with the mini-disk, which holds only 1.5 GB.  I just don't understand Nintendo, with the N64, they went with cartridges instead of a CD based format for their games, and that was below the times and standards.  Now they once again use the smallest possible format they can get away with, and they chose mini-disks.  Do they really think that this (the mini-disk) is going to be the next big thing, or that someday it is going to be widely used?  I just don't get it, why?  All they are doing is making things harder once again.  For example, if a 3rd party wanted to port a game over to GameCube, from Playstation 2 that was more then 1.5 gig, (which alot of games are bigger then) They would have to bring it over on like 2-3 disks.  Is that worth it?  </div> <div>    The controller issue is always important, the super size A button, is great for some games where it gets used alot for commands and stuff, but what about fighting games, and combo intensive games where multiple button presses in succession are needed?  The Z button is so out of the way it is almost useless,  and the digital pad is very small.  And unlike the PS2 or X Box, the Nintendo controller has no analog buttons, except the shoulder triggers, which accounts for very little of the actual controller.</div> <div>      The GameCubes online plan is murkey at best, while Nintendo says it's because online gaming is unpopular or whatever or, there isn't enough money to be made.  They like to hand out excuses like candy.  Really what it is, is the fact that they don't have the 1st idea on what the hell to do in the online market, so they try to make it sound as if no one else does either.  It is another sad moment for Nintendo, once again, they are falling behind the times.</div> <div>     Nintendo decided to go for fast not powerful when designing the chipsets for GameCube.  The GameCube has the smallest  Main memory of all the Next Gen consoles.  They are using relatively new technology which allows for fast data transfer, so they wouldn't have use a large transistor ( because more transistors make for a more expensive chip; ie, they are cutting edges again.)  The Flipper ( name of the GameCubes Graphics Processor), handles all texture management automatically.  And while it can render 8 texture layers in one render pass it doesn't come for free.  Every texture stage eats into the the GameCubes fill rate, a measure of how quickly the graphics chip can draw into the frame buffer, which is a special area of memory that is used like a canvas for the graphics.  While the number 8 may sound high, all that's happening is that your losing out on other effects, for more textures.</div> <div>   GameCubes Launch Line up is a joke, all they have is old games but with "new" "updated" graphics.  Where is all the innovation?  Where is a Mario title?  This is the 1st system launch or Nintendo that doesn't include a Mario game in the line up.  It seems as though they are getting lazy.</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gamecube pics"><U>Gamecube pics</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="GameCube Games"><U>GameCube Games</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>System Specs</U></B></div> <bR> <div> Nintendo GameCube</div> <bR> <div> MPU ("Micro Processing Unit") </div> <div>  Custom IBM Power PC "Gekko" </div> <div>  </div> <div> Manufacturing Process </div> <div>  0.18 micron IBM Copper Wire Technology </div> <div>  </div> <div> Clock Frequency </div> <div>  485 MHz </div> <div>  </div> <div> CPU Capacity </div> <div>  1125 Dmips (Dhrystone 2.1) </div> <div>  </div> <div> Internal Data Precision </div> <div>  32-bit Integer & 64-bit Floating-point </div> <div>  </div> <div> External Bus </div> <div>  1.3 GB/second peak bandwidth</div> <bR> <div> 32-bit address space</div> <bR> <div> 64-bit data bus</div> <bR> <div> 162 MHz clock </div> <div>  </div> <div> Internal Cache </div> <div>  L1: Instruction 32KB, Data 32KB (8 way)</div> <bR> <div> L2: 256KB (2 way) </div> <bR> <div> System LSI </div> <div>  Custom ATI/Nintendo "Flipper" </div> <div>  </div> <div> Manufacturing Process </div> <div>  0.18 micron NEC Embedded DRAM Process </div> <div>  </div> <div> Clock Frequency </div> <div>  162 MHz </div> <div>  </div> <div> Embedded Frame Buffer </div> <div>  Approx. 2 MB </div> <bR> <div>  Sustainable Latency: 6.2ns (1T-SRAM) </div> <div>  </div> <div> Embedded Texture Cache </div> <div>  Approx. 1 MB </div> <bR> <div>  Sustainable Latency: 6.2 ns (1T-SRAM) </div> <div>  </div> <div> Texture Read Bandwidth </div> <div>  10.4 GB/second (Peak) </div> <div>  </div> <div> Main Memory Bandwidth </div> <div>  2.6 GB/second (Peak) </div> <div>  </div> <div> Pixel Depth </div> <div>  24-bit Color, 24-bit Z Buffer </div> <div>  </div> <div> Audio Processing </div> <div>  (Incorporated into the System LSI) </div> <div>  </div> <div> Sound Processor </div> <div>  Custom Macronix 16-bit DSP </div> <div>  </div> <div> Instruction Memory </div> <div>  8KB RAM + 8KB ROM </div> <div>  </div> <div> Data Memory </div> <div>  8KB RAM + 4KB ROM </div> <div>  </div> <div> Clock Frequency </div> <div>  81 MHz </div> <div>  </div> <div> Performance </div> <div>  64 simultaneous channels, ADPCM & PCM encoding </div> <div>  </div> <div> Sampling Frequency </div> <div>  48KHz </div> <bR> <div> Performance </div> <div>  </div> <div> Floating-point Arithmetic Capability </div> <div>  10.5 GFLOPS (Peak)</div> <bR> <div> (MPU, Geometry Engine, HW Lighting Total) </div> <div>  </div> <div> Real-world polygon </div> <div>  6 to 12 million polygons/second (Peak) </div> <bR> <div> (Assuming actual game conditions with complex models, fully textured, fully lit, etc.) </div> <div>  </div> <div> System Memory "Splash" </div> <div>  40 MB </div> <div>  </div> <div> Main Memory </div> <div>  24 MB MoSys 1T-SRAM</div> <bR> <div> Approximately 10ns Sustainable Latency </div> <div>  </div> <div> A-Memory </div> <div>  16 MB 81 MHz DRAM </div> <div>  </div> <div> Disc Drive </div> <div>  CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) System </div> <div>  </div> <div> Average Access Time </div> <div>  128ms </div> <div>  </div> <div> Data Transfer Speed </div> <div>  16Mbps to 25Mbps </div> <div>  </div> <div> Media </div> <div>  3 inch Nintendo GameCube Disc based on Matsushita's Optical Disc Technology </div> <div>  </div> <div> Capacity </div> <div>  Approx. 1.5GB </div> <div>  </div> <div> Input/Output </div> <div>  4 Controller Ports </div> <div>  </div> <div>  2 Memory Card Slots </div> <div>  </div> <div>  Analog AV Output </div> <div>  </div> <div>  Digital AV Output </div> <div>  </div> <div>  2 High-Speed Serial Ports </div> <div>  </div> <div>  High-speed Parallel Port </div> <div>  </div> <div> Power Supply </div> <div>  AC Adapter DC12V x 3.5A </div> <div>  </div> <div>  </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>