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Gamecube
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VGLN.com's hubpage may not be completed as of yet, however that didn't stop us from accepting Nintendo's invitation to their pre-show event. Hear about our exciting adventure.
The Nintendo pre-show, much like a tall blonde with a riding mini-skirt, left us with our mouths open and our eyes wide. Our commute from West Covina (40 minutes from the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles where the pre-show was being held) was rather uneventful. We were confronted by traffic as soon as we hit the highway, but a few lane switches later and the carpool lane was more than a savior, but the only route which would deliver us to the pre-show in due time.
The parking attendant, a friendly dominican man, was kind enough to teach us about parking a large vehicle into tight spaces. We were very greatful for his assistance. Our other option was to park our van in the loading zone and hope that L.A's finest would have bigger problems elsewhere.After walking half a block, we entered the Biltmore. The feeling in the air was one of excitement and anticipation. The first public unveiling of Nintendo's Gamecube was not just a simple press event, but a landmark in the companies long and decorated history. Only one month ago, Nintendo's President solemnly remarked that "The Gamecube would not see the light of day if it did not receive a positive response at E3." Indeed, the pressure fell upon the backs of General Manager Sataru Iwata, Shigeru Miyamoto, and VP of Marketing Peter Main to deliver an electrifying debut of Nintendo's next-generation console. To this extent, you could be hard pressed to find any in attendance that disagreed that this showing was anything but impressive.
Peter Main finally began the show by making formal introductions and commenting on the agenda of the day. Main made few comments besides the usual reaffirmation of Nintendo's dominance in creativity and historical leadership in the industry. "We know why you're all here today, and that's for the worldwide launch of Nintendo's Gamecube", Main said, stating the obvious. With that, Peter Main quickly turned over the microphone to Nintendo of Japan's General Manager, Satoru Iwata. Iwata, speaking without the aid of a translator, began the speech by addressing the overall strategy of Nintendo, and attacking the strategy of its competitors, primarily Microsoft who was having their own "pre-show" close by, and Sony.
"In our industry, games look [very much] the same. There are a couple of reasons for this. Developers need to spend millions of dollars making the best 3D graphics. Then, if they [suceed] in making a hit game, they try to repeat [their] success," Said Iwata. "How ? They make a sequel," continued Iwata, drawing laughter from the crowd. After 10 more minutes, it was time for the master to make an appearance, and appear he did. Shigeru Miyamoto took the stage, holding a Gamecube in one hand, and a Gameboy Advanced in the other, he looked charistically enthusiastic and raised the Gamecube to the crowd, almost like a symbolic sign of victory to come. Surprisingly Miyamoto even managed to speak in english for a tiny bit (likening the Gamecube to a baby because of its tiny size) before he called upon the aid of a translator. After the introductions, Miyamoto began to hype the crowd up for the upcoming surprises he had planned.
"Back at Nintendo, we had a long disccusion about which one of our most popular charaters should be ready to appear in our games when Gamecube comes to market. I think we have a great answer," said Miyamoto. With that, a tech demo began to run on all of the large monitors in the room of Super Smash Brothers: Melee, the 128-bit upgrade to Super Smash Brothers on the N64. The crowd was in awe as the 128-bit incarnations of Link, Zelda, Mario, and Bowser began wreaking havoc upon each other in combat form. Cheers erupted at many points throughout the tech demo, and even the most devout Xbox fan had to admit, this was an awesome display of graphical prowess by the purple cube.
