160-789: The Nintendo GameCube is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo . It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 . As a sixth-generation console , the GameCube primarily competed with Sony 's PlayStation 2 , Sega 's Dreamcast and Microsoft 's Xbox . Nintendo began developing
320-777: A Player's Choice re-release), Donkey Konga by Namco , and Wario World from Treasure . Capcom had announced 5 games for the system dubbed the Capcom Five in November 2002, Viewtiful Joe and Resident Evil 4 were later ported to other systems. Third-party GameCube support was some of the most extensive of any Nintendo console predating the Wii. Some third-party developers, such as Midway , Namco , Activision , Konami , Ubisoft , THQ , Disney Interactive Studios , Humongous Entertainment , Electronic Arts , and EA Sports , continued to release GameCube games into 2007. One of
480-466: A bidding war for ownership of Rare. Rare expressed interest in Activision's offer, but Microsoft offered more money. On 24 September 2002, Microsoft purchased Rare for $ 375 million (~$ 607 million in 2023). Rare became a first-party developer for Microsoft's Xbox . Character trademarks from games developed by Rare for Nintendo consoles, such as Conker of Conker's Bad Fur Day and Banjo of
640-497: A cooperative RPG, Homeland and a baseball game with downloadable content, Jikkyō Powerful Pro Yakyū 10 . Lastly, three racing games have LAN multiplayer modes: 1080° Avalanche , Kirby Air Ride , and Mario Kart: Double Dash . Those can be forced over the Internet with third-party PC software capable of tunneling the GameCube's network traffic. Online play requires an official broadband or modem adapter because
800-453: A real-time strategy game involving cavemen, the game was re-imagined into a racing game prior to its release in 1997. It was one of the fastest selling games at the time, as recorded by The Guinness Book of Records . Diddy Kong Racing also features protagonists from some future Rare games, including Banjo and Conker . At the time, Rare was still working on the large-scale platform game. Originally codenamed Dream: Land of Giants , it
960-411: A television , and an external power source as to play video games . While initial consoles were dedicated units with only a few games fixed into the electronic circuits of the system, most consoles since support the use of swappable game media, either through game cartridges , optical discs , or through digital distribution to internal storage. There have been numerous home video game consoles since
1120-602: A 32% share of the hardware market in Europe. Due to price drops, which saved it in the American markets, and high-quality games from various developers, such as Pokémon Colosseum and Resident Evil 4 , the GameCube improved to put Xbox down to third place. The top three European countries for GameCube success included the United Kingdom , France , and Germany , and modestly in Spain and Italy . Though falling behind
1280-553: A GameCube model that would be both portable with a built-in display and dockable to a TV, similar to its later console the Nintendo Switch . Other leaks suggest plans for a GameCube successor, codenamed Tako, with HD graphics and slots for SD and memory cards , apparently resulting from a partnership with ATI and scheduled for release in 2005. The GameCube was launched in Japan on September 14, 2001. Approximately 500,000 units were shipped in time to retailers. The console
1440-424: A Kinect-based game; Kinect equivalents of Wii Fit and Professor Layton , a sequel to Diddy Kong Racing , and a sequel to Kameo: Elements of Power . Rare received numerous awards, including BAFTA award for "Best UK Developer" for its work on GoldenEye 007 . In 1997, Electronic Gaming Monthly named Rare "Most Promising Game Company", citing their high rate of success in putting out killer apps for
1600-422: A battery or battery pack. Earlier home consoles were typically built from a selection of standard and highly customized integrated computer chips, packaged onto circuit boards and cases. Over time, home console design has converged to a degree with personal computers , using similar component and system design, including standardization with main computer chip architecture. Consoles remain as fixed systems, lacking
1760-557: A carrying handle like the GameCube. Announced by Panasonic on October 19, 2001, it was released exclusively in Japan on December 14 at a suggested retail price of ¥39,800; however, low sales resulted in Panasonic announcing the discontinuation of the Q on December 18, 2003. The Q supports CDs, DVDs, and GameCube discs but there is virtually no integration between the GameCube and DVD player modes. In its lifespan from 2001 to 2007, Nintendo licensed over 600 GameCube games. Nintendo bolstered
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#17327717302331920-408: A consistent pace for five years. On October 14, 2024, Microsoft announced that Duncan will be promoted to head of Xbox Game Studios in November to succeed the outgoing Alan Hartman, with Joe Neate and Jim Horth to succeed him as studio heads. According to Mark Betteridge, one of Rare's main goals is to create games people will find enjoyable rather than just to earn profit. The Stamper brothers gave
2080-507: A critical success for the company while less creativity and innovation were shown in them. When the Super Nintendo Entertainment System was conceived, Rare was not yet ready for the change. Rare limited their releases to some Battletoads games and decided to invest their significant NES profit in purchasing expensive Silicon Graphics workstations to make three-dimensional models. This move made Rare
2240-900: A crossover game between the two franchises. Rare released three Battletoads games in 1993, including Battletoads / Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team , Battletoads in Ragnarok's World and Battletoads in Battlemaniacs . The last Battletoads game from that era was released for the arcade in 1994. Several Battletoads games were also ported to some Sega 's systems like the Mega Drive/Genesis . Rare worked on licensed properties such as A Nightmare on Elm Street and Hollywood Squares , and ports including Marble Madness , Narc , and Sid Meier's Pirates! . The development of four of Rare's games were outsourced to Zippo Games, including Wizards & Warriors and
2400-569: A documentary about their studios at MundoRare's expense. The film, to celebrate Rare's 25th anniversary, would have been distributed on the internet and Xbox Live . Rare refused permission to shoot the film, saying that it was not "on message". MundoRare was shut down, and stated that the site could not support the company's new corporate direction. Rare's secrecy was criticised by Hardcore Gamer ' s Alex Carlson, as they thought that it made them "disconnected", and prompted them to develop games that "their fans don't want". When Duncan took over as
2560-461: A few features offered by its competition, it is relatively inexpensive, has a great controller design, and launched a decent lineup of games. In later reviews, criticism mounted against the console often centering on its overall look and feel, describing it as "toy-ish". With poor sales figures and the associated financial harm to Nintendo, a Time International article called the GameCube an "unmitigated disaster". Retrospectively, Joystiq compared
2720-527: A few specific video-game genres. They have also developed action-adventure games , including Star Fox Adventures and Kameo: Elements of Power ; fighting games , such as the Killer Instinct series; racing games , such as R.C. Pro-Am and Diddy Kong Racing , and beat 'em up - shoot 'em up games such as Battletoads and Captain Skyhawk . Since Rare has usually been associated with
2880-412: A focus on Xbox Live avatars. Rare also shifted their focus to Kinect. According to Henson, "Kinect will be the main focus for Rare going forwards as it's a very rich canvas. This is just the beginning of an experience that will touch millions of people". Rare's first Kinect project, Kinect Sports , was released in November 2010. Originally titled Sports Star , a more-complex sports simulation game ,
3040-596: A generic game with their intellectual properties. Everybody likes to create this narrative that Microsoft are evil, but that's not the case – they were very supportive. I guess there were a few people who have since left who thought: 'I wanted to be working on this game or my pet project, and I didn't get to.' And they've kind of painted a picture that it's all Microsoft's fault. — Gavin Price, former Rare employee and founder of Playtonic Games , about Microsoft. Ed Fries , head of Microsoft Studios' publishing division at
3200-625: A larger, more casual audience. The game received mixed reviews from critics, and was considered Rare's worst and least-popular game. At E3 2004 , Microsoft's Ken Lobb said that Rare had obtained Nintendo DS development kits and was working on two games for the Nintendo DS. Shortly afterwards, Microsoft issued a statement that the company and its studios had no plans for Nintendo DS development. However, in July 2005, Rare posted job openings for Nintendo DS development on its website and said that it
3360-568: A mobile game company founded by Tim's son, Joe Stamper. Their first game is That Bouncy Thing! The Rubbishiest Game Ever for Android . Rare has developed a number of video games since its founding, with sales nearing 90 million copies by 2002. The company is best known for its platform games , which include the Donkey Kong Country , Banjo-Kazooie , and Conker series, and for its Nintendo 64 first-person shooters GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark . Rare does not adhere to
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#17327717302333520-565: A mobile-game studio, Flippin Pixels. Former Rare employee Lee Schuneman headed Lift London , a Microsoft studio. Phil Tossell and Jennifer Schneidereit founded Nyamyam and released Tengami . Playtonic Games was founded by several former Rare employees in 2014. They are best known for the Yooka-Laylee series, with the first game being a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie . Rare founders Chris and Tim Stamper joined FortuneFish,
3680-682: A peak of 10.5 GFLOPS. Described as "an extension of the IBM PowerPC architecture", the Gekko CPU is based on the PowerPC 750CXe with IBM's 0.18 μm CMOS technology, which features copper interconnects . Codenamed Flipper , the GPU runs at 162 MHz, and in addition to graphics manages other tasks through its audio and input/output (I/O) processors. The GameCube is Nintendo's first console to not use primarily cartridge media, following
3840-452: A presence in the game development and licensing space. Nintendo remains the only competitor having taken a blue ocean strategy by offering more original console concepts such as motion sensing in the Wii and the hybrid design of the Nintendo Switch . Within the home video game console market, the leading consoles have often been grouped into generations, consoles that were major competitors in
4000-793: A prominent second-party developer for Nintendo, which came to own a large minority stake in the company, with the release of Donkey Kong Country (1994). Throughout the 1990s, Rare started selling their games under the trademark name "Rareware" and received international recognition and critical acclaim for games such as the Donkey Kong Country series, Killer Instinct (1994), GoldenEye 007 , Banjo-Kazooie (1998), Perfect Dark (2000), and Conker's Bad Fur Day (2001). In 2002, Microsoft acquired Rare, which retained its original brand, logo, and most intellectual properties . Rare has since focused on developing games exclusively for Microsoft's video game consoles , including Grabbed by
4160-613: A racing game with vehicular combat elements, and Snake Rattle 'n' Roll , an action platform game with Tim Stamper developing the game's graphics. Rare also developed Battletoads , a beat'em up inspired by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. The game became known for its extreme difficulty, and upon seeing success, publisher Tradewest published multiple ports for the game, and tasked Rare to develop sequels. Tradewest also gave their own Double Dragon licence to Rare, allowing them to develop
4320-413: A remake of Conker's Bad Fur Day , in 2005 with updated graphics and a reworked multiplayer option. The game received generally favourable reviews but, similar to Bad Fur Day , was a commercial failure. Xbox successor Xbox 360 was released in 2005, and two of its launch games were developed by Rare: Perfect Dark Zero and Kameo: Elements of Power . Zero , a prequel to the first Perfect Dark ,
4480-522: A series of home video game consoles begins in a generation and lasts to another generation, it is listed in the generation the series began. This list does not claim to be complete. This list does not include other types of video game consoles such as handheld game consoles , which are usually of lower computational power than home consoles due to their smaller size; microconsoles , which are usually low-cost Android-based devices that rely on downloading; retro style consoles ; or dedicated consoles past
4640-570: A single dedicated game, such as home Pong consoles. Documented consoles of this generation can be found at list of first generation home video game consoles . 128-bit (SIMD) 128-bit (SIMD) 128-bit extensions Rare (company) Rare Limited is a British video game developer and a studio of Xbox Game Studios based in Twycross , Leicestershire . Rare's games span the platform , first-person shooter , action-adventure , fighting , and racing genres. Its most popular games include
4800-505: A smaller red "B" button to the left, an "X" button to the right, and a "Y" button at the top. Below and to the inside is a yellow "C" analog stick, which often serves a variety of in-game functions, such as controlling the camera angle. The Start/Pause button is located in the middle, and the rumble motor is encased within the center of the controller. On the top are two "pressure-sensitive" trigger buttons marked "L" and "R". Each essentially provides two functions: one analog and one digital. As
4960-542: A studio specialising in developing iOS games. Chris Seavor, director of Conker's Bad Fur Day , founded the Gory Detail studio along with Rare employee Shawn Pile. They released Parashoot Stan for mobile devices, as well as The Unlikely Legend of Rusty Pup on Steam. Starfire Studios were founded by four former Rare employees and released Fusion Genesis , an Xbox Live Arcade game published by Microsoft Game Studios. Another group of former Rare employees formed
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5120-587: A third-party developer, porting Dreamcast games such as Crazy Taxi and Sonic Adventure 2 , and developing new franchises, such as Super Monkey Ball . Longtime Nintendo partner Rare , which had developed GoldenEye 007 , Perfect Dark , Banjo-Kazooie , Conker's Bad Fur Day , and the Donkey Kong Country series, released Star Fox Adventures for GameCube, its final Nintendo game before acquisition by Microsoft in 2002. Several third-party developers were contracted to work on new games for Nintendo franchises, including Star Fox: Assault (which became
5280-504: A video-game console manufacturer (such as Nintendo and Microsoft ), most of their games have been developed as exclusives for a particular platform . In 2018, Rare released Sea of Thieves , a pirate-themed open world sandbox game for Xbox One and Windows 10 . At Microsoft's X019 event, a fantasy action-adventure title called Everwild was announced. The company's cancelled projects include Dream: Land of Giants , which became Banjo-Kazooie ; Perfect Dark Core , originally
5440-408: Is a predesigned piece of electronic hardware that is meant to be placed at a fixed location at one's home, connected to a display like a television screen or computer monitor, and to an external power source, to play video games on using one or more video game controllers . This differs from a handheld game console which will have a built-in screen, controller buttons/features, and a power supply like
5600-685: Is also the first Nintendo home console since the Famicom not to have a Mario launch game. Long before the console's launch, Nintendo had developed and patented an early prototype of motion controls for the GameCube, with which developer Factor 5 had experimented for its launch games. Greg Thomas, Sega of America's VP of Development said, "What does worry me is Dolphin's sensory controllers [which are rumored to include microphones and headphone jacks] because there's an example of someone thinking about something different." These motion control concepts would not be deployed to consumers for several years, until
5760-529: Is solely focused on gaming and does not play mass media like DVD or CD . The console supports limited online gaming for a few games via a GameCube broadband or modem adapter and can connect to a Game Boy Advance with a link cable for exclusive in-game features using the handheld as a second screen and controller. The GameCube supports e-Reader cards to unlock special features in a few games. The Game Boy Player add-on runs Game Boy , Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance cartridge games. Reception of
5920-518: Is sufficient for most games, although a few multi-platform games require an extra disc, higher video compression, or removal of content. By comparison, the PlayStation 2 and Xbox use CDs and DVDs up to 8.5 GB . Like its predecessor, the Nintendo 64, GameCube models were produced in several different color motifs. The system launched in "Indigo", the primary color shown in advertising and on
6080-505: Is very important to the company, thus they focus on trying out new technology, such as Xbox 360's Kinect. Historically the company has developed only for video game consoles, never for personal computers , with the Stamper brothers citing a preference for working on a stable standard format which is specifically designed for playing games. According to Duncan in 2014, Rare would only develop games that had unique ideas, and will never develop
6240-500: The Banjo-Kazooie series, were retained by Rare; intellectual property created by Nintendo, such as Donkey Kong and Star Fox , were retained by Nintendo. This left Donkey Kong Racing , due for release for the GameCube, unreleased. 30 employees left Rare during the transition. Since Microsoft was not part of the handheld video-game console market, Rare continued to develop games for Nintendo handheld consoles after
6400-737: The Battletoads , Donkey Kong , and Banjo-Kazooie series, as well as games like GoldenEye 007 (1997), Perfect Dark (2000), Conker's Bad Fur Day (2001), Viva Piñata (2006), and Sea of Thieves (2018). Tim and Chris Stamper , who also founded Ultimate Play the Game , established Rare in 1985. During its early years, Rare was backed by a generous budget from Nintendo , primarily concentrated on Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) games. During this time, Rare created successful games such as Wizards & Warriors (1987), R.C. Pro-Am (1988), and Battletoads (1991). Rare became
6560-544: The Donkey Kong Land series. Nintendo's stake purchase allowed Rare to expand significantly. The number of staff members increased from 84 to 250, and Rare moved out from their headquarters at the Manor Farmhouse. Rare also developed a CGI arcade fighting game , Killer Instinct , on their own custom-built arcade machine . Killer Instinct was set to be released for Nintendo's own 64-bit system,
GameCube - Misplaced Pages Continue
6720-464: The TimeSplitters series. The studio would be acquired by Crytek and renamed Crytek UK before its 2014 closure, with most of its staff moving to Deep Silver Dambuster Studios . Deep Silver briefly reestablished Free Radical Design from 2021 to 2023, with original founding members Steve Ellis and David Doak heading up the studio. Other former Free Radical and Rare staff formed Crash Labs,
6880-588: The Famicom Data Recorder , Famicom Disk System , SNES-CD , and 64DD which represent past explorations of complementary storage technologies. The GameCube introduced a proprietary miniDVD optical disc format for up to 1.5 GB of data. It was designed by Matsushita Electric Industrial (now Panasonic Corporation) with a proprietary copy-protection scheme unlike the Content Scramble System (CSS) in standard DVDs . The size
7040-653: The Game Boy Player accessory runs Game Pak cartridges for the Game Boy , Game Boy Color , and Game Boy Advance . The original version of the GameCube's successor, the Wii , supports backward compatibility with GameCube controllers, memory cards, and games but not the Game Boy Player or other hardware attachments. However, later revisions of the Wii—including the "Family Edition" released in 2011 and
7200-406: The Nintendo 64 in 1995, but was forced to release the game for the 16-bit SNES system, and had to downgrade the game's graphics. Killer Instinct sold 3.2 million copies, and was followed by a sequel, Killer Instinct 2 . Killer Instinct Gold , the console version of Killer Instinct 2 , suffered from a graphical downgrade due to the compression technology used to fit the arcade version onto
7360-487: The Wii Mini released in 2012—do not support any GameCube hardware or software. The Panasonic Q is a hybrid version of the GameCube with a standard DVD player, developed by Panasonic in a strategic alliance with Nintendo to develop the optical drive for the original GameCube hardware. Its stainless steel case is completely revised with a DVD-sized front-loading tray, a backlit LCD screen with playback controls, and
7520-559: The Wii Remote . Prior to the GameCube's release, Nintendo focused resources on the launch of the Game Boy Advance , a handheld game console and successor to the original Game Boy and Game Boy Color . As a result, several games originally destined for the Nintendo 64 console were postponed to become early releases on the GameCube. Concurrently, Nintendo was developing GameCube software provisioning future connectivity with
7680-479: The trademark name "Rareware". The company was considered one of Nintendo's key developers and had enough recognition that Nintendo offered Rare the Nintendo catalogue of characters to create a 3D CGI game. The Stampers asked for Donkey Kong . The resulting game was Donkey Kong Country , which was developed by a total of 20 people and enjoyed an 18-month development cycle . Rare staff also visited Twycross Zoo , observing and videotaping real gorillas. The game
7840-530: The Game Boy Advance. Certain games, such as The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles , can use the handheld as a secondary screen and controller when connected to the console via a link cable . Nintendo began its marketing campaign with the catchphrase "The Nintendo Difference" at its E3 2001 reveal. The goal was to distinguish itself from the competition as an entertainment company. Later advertisements have
8000-536: The Game team an unlimited budget for them to work on games for the Famicom platform. After they returned to England, they moved from Ashby-de-la-Zouch to Twycross , and established a new studio through Rare. They set their headquarters in a Manor Farmhouse. Rare also set up another company known as Rare, Inc., in Miami, Florida . Headed by Joel Hochberg, the American company was involved in maintaining Rare's operation in
8160-559: The GameCube had 39% market share in America. By Christmas of 2003, Nintendo of America's president, George Harrison, reported that the company's price cuts down to just under $ 100 quadrupled sales in the American market. GameCube's profitability never reached that of the PlayStation 2 or Game Boy Advance. However, it was more profitable than the Xbox. GameCube's first two years had slow sales and struggles, and by 2004 and 2005 vastly improved to
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#17327717302338320-404: The GameCube in 1998 after entering a partnership with ArtX to design a graphics processing unit . The console was formally announced under the codename "Dolphin" the following year, and was released in 2001 as the GameCube. It is Nintendo's first console to use its own optical discs instead of ROM cartridges , supplemented by writable memory cards for saved games . Unlike its competitors, it
8480-416: The GameCube lacks out of the box network capabilities. Nintendo never commissioned any Internet services for GameCube, but allowed other publishers to manage custom online experiences. The GameCube received mixed reviews following its launch. PC Magazine praised the overall hardware design and quality of games available at launch. CNET gave an average review rating, noting that though the console lacks
8640-479: The GameCube sold 26 million consoles worldwide. Its sales exceeded that of the Xbox 360 in Japan. The GameCube's predecessor, the Nintendo 64, also outperformed it at nearly 33 million units. It also exceeded the Dreamcast , which yielded 9.13 million units. In September 2009, IGN ranked the GameCube 16th in its list of best gaming consoles of all time, placing it behind all three of its sixth-generation competitors:
8800-576: The GameCube was mixed. It was praised for its controller and high quality games library , but was criticized for its lack of multimedia features and lack of third party support compared to its competitors. Premier games include Super Mario Sunshine , Super Smash Bros. Melee , Star Fox Adventures , Metroid Prime , Mario Kart: Double Dash , Pikmin , The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker , Animal Crossing and Luigi's Mansion . Nintendo sold 21.74 million GameCube units worldwide, much fewer than anticipated, and discontinued it in 2007. It
8960-490: The GameCube's design in 1998, Nintendo partnered with ArtX (then acquired by ATI Technologies during development) for the system logic and the GPU, and with IBM for the CPU. IBM designed a 32-bit PowerPC -based processor with custom architectural extensions for the next-generation console, known as Gekko , which runs at 486 MHz and features a floating point unit (FPU) capable of a total throughput of 1.9 GFLOPS and
9120-409: The GameCube's launch window to its successor, the Wii, noting that the GameCube's "lack of games" resulted in a subpar launch, and the console's limited selection of online games damaged its market share in the long run. Time International concluded that the system had low sales figures, because it lacked "technical innovations". In Japan, between 280,000 and 300,000 GameCube consoles were sold during
9280-682: The GameCube, as the publisher was losing money from developing for Nintendo's console. This led to several games in development being canceled for the system. Eidos's CEO Mike McGravey would say that the GameCube was a "declining business". However, after the company's purchase by the SCi Entertainment Group in 2005, Eidos resumed development for the system and released Lego Star Wars: The Video Game and Tomb Raider: Legend . In March 2003, British retailer Dixons removed all GameCube consoles, accessories and games from its stores. That same month, another British retailer Argos , cut
9440-480: The GameCube. Game development costs gradually increased, and Nintendo did not provide Rare with more capital nor did they purchase the company's remaining stake. The Stampers were surprised that Nintendo did not directly acquire the studio. Rare looked for potential buyers. In early 2000, workers from Activision and Microsoft began visiting Rare with purchase offers. According to Microsoft's Ed Fries , Nintendo, Activision, and Microsoft then became embroiled in
9600-643: The Ghoulies (2003), Kameo (2005), Perfect Dark Zero (2005), and Viva Piñata (2006). In 2007, the Stampers left Rare to pursue other opportunities and, in 2010, the company's focus shifted to the Xbox Live Avatar and Kinect , releasing three Kinect Sports games. In 2015, Rare developed Rare Replay , an Xbox One -exclusive compilation containing 30 of its games to celebrate its 30th anniversary. Rare's most recent game, Sea of Thieves ,
9760-445: The Nintendo 64's three-handled controller design and chose a two-handled, "handlebar" design for the GameCube. The shape was popularized by Sony's PlayStation controller released in 1994 and its follow-up DualShock series in 1997 with vibration feedback and two analog sticks to improve the 3D experience. Nintendo and Microsoft designed similar features in the controllers for their sixth-generation consoles, but instead of having
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#17327717302339920-537: The Nintendo 64. However, Nintendo Senior Managing Director Shigeru Miyamoto suggested the team redesign the game as part of the Star Fox series for Nintendo's new console, the GameCube . Unlike previous Star Fox games, Star Fox Adventures focuses on ground-based, open world exploration. The game received positive reviews upon its launch in 2002. Star Fox Adventures was the only game developed by Rare for
10080-526: The Nintendo 64. Rare was awarded the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Moving Images Award in 2000 for developing Perfect Dark . Tim and Chris Stamper were named as Development Legends in the 2015 Develop Industry Excellence Awards. Rare was included as Gamasutra 's Top 30 Developers of All Time, and was ranked as the 36th best video game maker by IGN . The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum curated
10240-519: The PlayStation 2 (3rd), the Dreamcast (8th), and the Xbox (11th). As of March 31, 2003, 9.55 million GameCube units had been sold worldwide, behind Nintendo's initial goal of 10 million consoles. Many of Nintendo's own first-party games, such as Super Smash Bros. Melee , Pokémon Colosseum , and Mario Kart: Double Dash , had strong sales, though this did not typically benefit third-party developers or directly drive sales of their games. However, at
10400-687: The PlayStation 2 and Xbox during the early 2000s. Some games aimed at older audiences were critically and financially successful—more than on Dreamcast, and less than on PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Such examples include The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess , Super Smash Bros. Melee , Resident Evil 4 , Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes , Killer7 , Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader , Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles , Resident Evil (2002), Metroid Prime , Metroid Prime II: Echoes , Soul Calibur II , Resident Evil Zero , F-Zero GX , Star Fox Adventures , and Star Fox Assault . One of
10560-493: The PlayStation 2 in Europe, the GameCube was successful and profitable there. Nintendo launched the Wii , the home console successor to the GameCube, on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 in other regions. In February 2007, Nintendo announced that it had ceased first-party support for the GameCube and that the console had been discontinued, as it was shifting its manufacturing and development efforts towards
10720-444: The U.S. market. The NES helped to revive the console market and gave Nintendo dominance during the late 1980s. Sega took advantage of the newfound U.S. growth to market its Sega Genesis against the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in the early 1990s in the so-called "console wars" and emphasized the notion of " bits " as a major selling point for consumers. The consumer adoption of optical discs with larger storage capacity in
10880-471: The US and contacting major US publishers. Hochberg was previously the vice president of American arcade manufacturer Centuri . The Famicom was eventually released in North America and Europe under the name Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). My goal at Rare was to bring products that you wouldn't see for six to eight years and make it available as soon as possible. — Tim Stamper, founder of Rare. With
11040-522: The US. Nintendo predicted 50 million GameCube units by 2005, but only sold 22 million GameCube units worldwide during its lifespan, placing it slightly behind the Xbox 's 24 million, though it did manage to outsell the Xbox in Japan, and well behind the PlayStation 2's 155 million. Ars Technica articles from 2006 showed and a 2020 book show that Nintendo had officially sold 24 million GameCube consoles worldwide, and one article from Seeking Alpha shows that
11200-477: The Wii and Nintendo DS . GameCube controllers, game discs, and certain accessories continued to be supported via the Wii's backward compatibility, although this feature was removed in later iterations of the Wii console. The final game officially released on the GameCube was Madden NFL 08 , on August 14, 2007. Several games originally developed for the GameCube were either reworked for a Wii release, such as Super Paper Mario , or released on both consoles, such as
11360-402: The Wii launch game The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess . GameCube controllers continued to be supported via backward compatibility on Nintendo's next consoles, the Wii U , and Nintendo Switch , with the GameCube controller adapter in 2014's Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 2018's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate . Howard Cheng, technical director of Nintendo technology development, said
11520-580: The ZX Spectrum in the following year. The Famicom's manufacturer, Nintendo , claimed that it was impossible to reverse engineer the console. Using the information the Ultimate Play the Game team acquired from Rare, the team prepared several tech demos and showed them to the Nintendo executive Minoru Arakawa in Kyoto . Impressed with their efforts, Nintendo decided to grant the Ultimate Play
11680-474: The ability to connect and interface with a particular handheld game system, which certain games can leverage to provide alternate control schemes, second screen gameplay elements, exclusive unlockable content or the ability to transfer certain game data. The first commercial video game console was the Magnavox Odyssey , developed by a team led by Ralph H. Baer and released commercially in 1972. It
11840-409: The acquisition. In August 2003, Rare and Microsoft entered an agreement with THQ for THQ to publish Rare's games for the Game Boy Advance , including Sabre Wulf , a game based on an Ultimate character; Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge , initially intended as a Game Boy Color game and It's Mr. Pants! , a puzzle game originally developed as Donkey Kong: Coconut Crackers . January 2005 saw
12000-506: The acquisition. He noted that Rare employees were attempting to "recreate the glory years", but their skills had become outdated and were no longer "applicable in today's market". Duncan insisted that there were still a lot of talented people working at Rare, and they will have a "bright future". Unlike other software developers, Rare acquired a reputation for secrecy; the approach to their office buildings, in Manor Park near Twycross ,
12160-407: The analog sticks in parallel, they are staggered by swapping the positions of the directional pad (d-pad) and left analog stick. The GameCube controller features a total of eight buttons, two analog sticks, a d-pad, and a rumble motor. The primary analog stick is on the left with the d-pad located below and closer to the center. On the right are four buttons: a large, green "A" button in the center,
12320-602: The biggest third-party GameCube developers was Sega , which had quit the console hardware market to become a third-party game developer after the failure of the Dreamcast . It partnered with long-time rival Nintendo, and with Microsoft and Sony, to recuperate profits lost from the Dreamcast. Sega was a successful third-party developer since the early 2000s, mostly those for the family market, such as Super Monkey Ball , Phantasy Star Online , Sonic Adventure , Sonic Adventure 2: Battle , and Sonic Heroes . Nintendo's GameCube did not put heavy focus on online games earlier in
12480-405: The blockbuster Grand Theft Auto series and several key first-person shooters , skipped the GameCube entirely in favor of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. However, many gaming journalists and analysts noted that Nintendo's primary focus on younger audiences, and its family-friendly image, was the biggest advantage and disadvantage at a time when video games were aimed at more mature audiences. Nintendo
12640-589: The cartridge of the SNES system, a process known as "Advanced Computer Modelling". Their progress with the 3D graphics on the SGI systems impressed Nintendo, and in 1994, Nintendo bought a 25% stake in the company that gradually increased to 49%, making Rare a second-party developer for Nintendo. Rare maintained autonomous operations, green-lighting and designing projects without significant involvement from Nintendo. During this period, Rare started selling their games under
12800-488: The challenges, needs, and problems they face. First among these is the rising cost of development. The GameCube can see high performance without too much trouble; it isn't a quirky design, but a very clean one. It was important we didn't require jumping through hoops for high performance to be achieved. On top of that, it is rich in features, and we worked to include a dream group of technical features that developers requested. Greg Buchner, ArtX's Vice President Initiating
12960-530: The cheaper, higher-capacity optical discs on PlayStation. With the GameCube, Nintendo intended to reverse the trend as evidenced by the number of third-party games available at launch. The new optical disc format increased game storage capacity significantly and reduced production costs. Successful exclusives include Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader from Factor 5 , Resident Evil 4 from Capcom , and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes from Konami . Sega discontinued its Dreamcast console to become
13120-547: The company as it was more sophisticated than the Spectrum, it had a worldwide market, and its cartridges had no load times. As a result, Rare was established in 1985. Its main goal was to reverse-engineer the console and investigate the codes for Famicom's games to learn more about the console's programming. With successful results, the company decided to sell the Ultimate brand to U.S. Gold , and ceased game development for
13280-576: The company had achieved considerable success with third-party developer support on the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super NES . Competition from the Sega Genesis and Sony PlayStation in the 1990s changed the market's landscape and reduced Nintendo's ability to obtain exclusive, third-party support on the Nintendo 64. The Nintendo 64 Game Pak cartridge format increased the cost to manufacture software, as opposed to
13440-492: The company's games for Microsoft sold poorly and Microsoft decided to restructure the studio at the end of the decade. In March 2010, Rare opened a new facility at Fazeley Studios in Digbeth , Birmingham . Later that year, Microsoft confirmed that Scott Henson, a developer who had worked on the hardware and software designs of the Xbox 360 console and Kinect for Xbox 360, replaced Mark Betteridge as studio manager and announced
13600-531: The company's games on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. In June 2003, Acclaim Entertainment CEO Rod Cousens said that the company would no longer support the GameCube, and criticized it as a system "that don't deliver profits". Acclaim would later rescind his claims, by saying the company would elevate support for the system. This decision was made unclear after the company filed for bankruptcy in August 2004. In September 2003, Eidos Interactive announced to end support for
13760-479: The company's goal was to select a "simple RISC architecture" to help speed the development of games by making it easier on software developers. IGN reported that the system was "designed from the get-go to attract third-party developers by offering more power at a cheaper price. Nintendo's design document for the console specifies that cost is of utmost importance, followed by space." Hardware partner ArtX's Vice President Greg Buchner stated that their guiding thought on
13920-674: The company's studio director. That year saw the release of Jetpac Refuelled , a remake of Jetpac for Xbox Live Arcade . Rare unveiled work on Xbox Live avatars , Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise (the next game in the Viva Piñata series), and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts in 2008. Made by the core team that developed the first Banjo-Kazooie , Nuts & Bolts received significant criticism from players due to its focus on vehicle construction rather than traditional platforming. Though generally receiving positive reviews,
14080-480: The complete design of the system logic and graphics processor, codenamed " Flipper )," for Nintendo's sixth-generation video game console . The console went through a series of codenames, including N2000, Star Cube, and Nintendo Advance. On May 12, 1999, Nintendo publicly announced the console during a press conference, giving it the codename "Dolphin" and positioning it as the successor to the Nintendo 64. This announcement also revealed strategic partnerships with IBM for
14240-468: The completion of this deal with the release of Banjo-Pilot , known as Diddy Kong Pilot before the Microsoft acquisition. In 2003, Rare released their first Microsoft game, Grabbed by the Ghoulies , a humorous action-adventure game set in a haunted mansion full of supernatural creatures. Originally intended as a free-roaming game, it was significantly streamlined in design and concept to attract
14400-470: The console's hardware design was to target the developers rather than the players, and to "look into a crystal ball" and discern "what's going to allow the Miyamoto-sans of the world to develop the best games". We thought about the developers as our main customers. In particular, for GameCube, we spent three years working with Nintendo of America and with all sorts of developers, trying to understand
14560-682: The console's life. Only eight GameCube games support network connectivity, five with Internet support and three with local area network (LAN) support. The only Internet capable games released in western territories are three role-playing games (RPGs) in Sega 's Phantasy Star series: Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II , Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Plus , and Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution . The official servers were decommissioned in 2007, but players can still connect to fan maintained private servers . Japan received two additional games with Internet capabilities,
14720-714: The console's popularity by creating new franchises, such as Pikmin and Animal Crossing , and renewing some that had skipped the Nintendo 64, such as with Metroid Prime . Longer standing franchises include the critically acclaimed The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Super Mario Sunshine , and the GameCube's best-selling game, Super Smash Bros. Melee , at 7 million copies worldwide. Other Nintendo games are successors to Nintendo 64 games, such as F-Zero GX ; Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour ; Mario Kart: Double Dash ; Mario Party 4 , 5 , 6 , and 7 ; Mario Power Tennis ; and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door . Though committed to its software library, Nintendo
14880-518: The creation of Dolphin's PowerPC-based CPU, codenamed "Gekko," and with Panasonic (Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.) for the development of its DVD drive and other Dolphin-based devices. Following this announcement, Nintendo began providing development kits to game developers, including Rare and Retro Studios . In April 2000, ArtX was acquired by ATI , whereupon the Flipper graphics processor design had already been mostly completed by ArtX and
15040-562: The customization options that personal computer components have, and most consoles include customized components to maximize space and reduce power consumption to provide the best performance for game playing, while lowering costs with reduced storage and memory configurations. Home video game consoles typically can play a multitude of games, offered either as game cartridges (or ROM cartridges), on optical media like CD-ROM or DVD, or obtained by digital distribution . Early consoles, also considered dedicated consoles, had games that were fixed in
15200-581: The development of a sequel, Kinect Sports: Season Two . In March 2011, Scott Henson announced that Craig Duncan, who had worked on Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing and the Colin McRae Rally series, was hired as senior studio director. Simon Woodroffe, who had worked at several studios (including Adventure Soft , Midway Games , Ubisoft , and Sega ), became the studio's creative director in April 2012. A Rare property, Killer Instinct ,
15360-511: The dominant console type of the era, though not all consoles of those eras are of the same type. Some eras are referred to based on how many bits a major console could process. The "128-bit era" ( sixth generation ) was the final era in which this practice was widespread. This list only counts the first iteration of each console's hardware, because several systems have had slim, enhanced or other hardware revisions, but they are not individually listed here. The list also includes unreleased systems. If
15520-480: The electronic circuitry of the hardware. Some facets may be controlled by switching external controls on the console but the games could not be changed themselves. Most home consoles require a separate game controller, and may support multiple controllers for multiplayer games. Some console games can only be played with special, unconventional game controllers, such as light guns for rail shooters and guitar controllers for music games . Some consoles also possess
15680-942: The feature never reached production. 3D televisions were not widespread, and it was deemed that compatible displays and crystals for the add-on accessories would be too cost-prohibitive for the consumer. Two audio Easter eggs can be invoked when the power is activated with the "Z" button on the Player 1 controller held down, or with four controllers connected and holding down the "Z" buttons. The GameCube features two memory card ports for saving game data . Nintendo released three memory card options: Memory Card 59 in gray (512 KB), Memory Card 251 in black (2 MB), and Memory Card 1019 in white (8 MB). These are often advertised in megabits instead: 4 Mb, 16 Mb, and 64 Mb, respectively. Memory cards with larger capacities were released by third-party manufacturers. Nintendo learned from its experiences—both positive and negative—with
15840-519: The first commercial unit, the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972. Historically these consoles have been grouped into generations lasting each about six years based on common technical specifications. As of 2024, there have been nine console generations, with the current leading manufacturers being Sony , Microsoft , and Nintendo , colloquially known as the "Big 3." Past console manufacturers have included Atari , Fairchild , Mattel , Coleco , Sega , NEC , 3DO , Fujitsu and SNK . A home video game console
16000-399: The first generation, which have games built in and do not use any form of physical media. Consoles have been redesigned from time to time to improve their market appeal. Redesigned models are not listed on their own. The list omits the more than 900 home video game consoles known to have been released in the first generation of video game consoles , those that were generally game consoles for
16160-514: The first nine months of 2003 to reduce surplus units. Sales rebounded slightly after a price drop to US$ 99.99 on September 24, 2003 and the release of The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition bundle. A demo disc, the GameCube Preview Disc , was also released in a bundle in 2003. Beginning with this period, GameCube sales continued to be steady, particularly in Japan, but the GameCube remained in third place in worldwide sales during
16320-600: The first three days of its sale, out of an initial shipment of 450,000 units. During its launch weekend, $ 100 million worth of GameCube products were sold in North America. The console was sold out in several stores, faster than initial sales of both of its competitors, the Xbox and the PlayStation 2. Nintendo reported that the most popular launch game is Luigi's Mansion , with more sales at its launch than Super Mario 64 had. Other popular games include Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader and Wave Race: Blue Storm . By early December 2001, 600,000 units had been sold in
16480-439: The game was named Perfect Dark . Hollis left Rare for Nintendo 14 months after the start of Perfect Dark ' s development. Around the same time, numerous employees left the company and formed new studios. With major project leads departing, a new team took over its development and diminished the role of lighting in the game, making it a more straightforward first-person shooter. The game's troubled development did not affect
16640-472: The game was streamlined into what Microsoft executive Don Mattrick hoped would be the Kinect equivalent of Wii Sports . According to a former Rare employee, the team was worried about the game during its development because of Kinect's limitations. Its reviews were average, but it was a commercial success, selling three million units by May 2011. Rare and BigPark , another Microsoft studio, collaborated on
16800-556: The greatest and most influential games of all time , though some fans and former employees have been critical of the company's output under Microsoft. Rare evolved from the company Ultimate Play the Game , which was founded in Ashby-de-la-Zouch , Leicestershire by former arcade game developers Tim and Chris Stamper . After multiple critically and commercially successful releases including Jetpac , Atic Atac , Sabre Wulf , and Knight Lore , Ultimate Play The Game
16960-443: The logo, and in "Jet Black". One year later, Nintendo released a "Platinum" limited-edition GameCube, which uses a silver color scheme for both the console and controller. A "Spice" orange-colored console was eventually released only in Japan, though that scheme is only on controllers released in other countries. Nintendo developed stereoscopic 3D technology for the GameCube, supported by one launch game, Luigi's Mansion . However,
17120-460: The marketplace. There have been nine generations of consoles since the 1970s, with a new generation appearing about every five years. There are more than 1000 home video game consoles known to exist, the vast majority of which were released during the first generation: only 103 home video game consoles were released between the second and current generation, 15 were canceled. This list is divided into console generations which are named based on
17280-476: The mid 2000s, GameCube hardware sales remained far behind its direct competitor the PlayStation 2, and slightly behind the Xbox, though there were brief periods when the console would outsell both. The console's family-friendly appeal and lack of support from certain third-party developers skewed the GameCube toward a younger market, which was a minority of the gaming population during the sixth-generation. Many third-party games popular with teenagers or adults, such as
17440-481: The mid-1995 led many console manufactures to move away from cartridges to CD-ROMs and later to DVDs and other formats, with Sony's PlayStation line introducing even more features that gave it an advantage in the market; the PlayStation 2 , released in 2000, remains the best-selling console to date with over 155 million units sold. Microsoft, fearing that the PlayStation 2 was threatening the competitive edge of
17600-460: The money went towards Gears of War , which is going to sell millions anyway. It was a bit of like, "What about the other franchise?" I think we got left in the wake somewhat. — Software engineer James Thomas, on the marketing campaign for Viva Piñata . In 2006, the company released Viva Piñata , a game involving gardening . Incorporating elements of several franchises including The Sims , Animal Crossing , and Harvest Moon , it
17760-578: The most technologically advanced developer in the UK, and situated them high in the international market. Their priority also changed at that time, as the team decided to focus on quality instead of quantity. Rare, using the SGI systems, created a boxing game demo and presented it to Nintendo. As the SNES at that time could not render all of the SGI graphics at once, Rare used the SGI graphics to produce 3D models and graphics, before pre-rendering these graphics onto
17920-406: The most well-known GameCube games for mature audiences is Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem , which underperformed financially, but garnered critical acclaim and is now regarded as a cult classic. The GameCube is Nintendo's first home console with a system menu , activated by powering on without a valid game disc or by holding down the A button while one is loaded. Early in Nintendo's history,
18080-429: The other games we're developing in the company, so it's really a group of games enthusiasts all working together to produce the best games they can – that's Rare. Though normally secretive, Rare allowed several exclusive tours of its studio by fansites Rarenet in 1999, Rare-Extreme in 2004 and again in 2009, as well as by the website Eurogamer in 2006. In 2010, Rare declined an offer by fansite MundoRare to film
18240-540: The overall button orientation, addresses " Nintendo thumb " pain. In 2002, Nintendo introduced the WaveBird Wireless Controller , the first wireless gamepad developed by a first-party console manufacturer. The RF -based wireless controller is similar in design to the standard controller. It communicates with the GameCube with a wireless receiver dongle. Powered by two AA batteries, it lacks vibration. The GameCube uses GameCube Game Discs , and
18400-422: The overall change "positive", saying that Microsoft's capital could help Rare develop their projects. Former Rare employee Gavin Price said that some Microsoft executives, such as Phil Spencer , were supportive of the developer. Grant Kirkhope , a former composer at Rare, strongly criticised Microsoft following the acquisition. Former Xbox executive Peter Moore voiced his disappointment with Rare's works after
18560-403: The personal computer, entered the console space with its Xbox line in 2001. Internet connectivity had become commonplace by the mid-2000s, and nearly all home consoles supported digital distribution and online service offerings by the 2010s. With Sony and Microsoft's dominance in hardware capabilities, most other major manufacturers have since dropped out of the hardware business, but maintain
18720-481: The price of the GameCube in their stores to £78.99, which was more than £50 cheaper than Nintendo's SRP for the console at the time. However, in October of that year, they did eventually restock their supply of consoles after a price drop was ordered which caused the console sales to outpace the PlayStation 2 for a week. With sales sagging and millions of unsold consoles in stock, Nintendo halted GameCube production for
18880-431: The progress of Rare's other teams. When Perfect Dark was still in development, Rare released two other games, Jet Force Gemini and Donkey Kong 64 . In 1999, Nintendo signed an agreement with Disney , and assigned Rare to develop several racing and adventure games featuring Mickey Mouse . The project later became Mickey's Speedway USA and Mickey's Racing Adventure . Perfect Dark eventually resurfaced and it
19040-491: The rising popularity of the personal computer and the economic recession of the early 1980s, led to the video game crash of 1983 in the U.S. market. Nintendo , which had released its Family Computer console in Japan that year, took several cautionary steps to limit game production to only licensed games, and was able to introduce it, rebranded as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985 into
19200-504: The same time, these first-party games, and second-party and third-party games, elevated the GameCube. Sales of many cross-platform games—such as sports franchises released by Electronic Arts —were far below their PlayStation 2 and Xbox counterparts, eventually prompting some developers to scale back or completely cease support for the GameCube. Exceptions include Sega 's family friendly Sonic Adventure 2 and Super Monkey Ball , which reportedly yielded more sales on GameCube than most of
19360-534: The second generation and led to a second boom in the video game industry in the United States and around the globe. During this time, Atari Inc. had been sold to Warner Communications , and several programmers left the company and founded Activision , becoming the first third-party developer. Activision's success led to a rush of new developers creating games without any publishing controls for these systems. The market became flooded with games, and combined with
19520-470: The sequel to the first Perfect Dark ; Black Widow , an open world game that tasks players to control an eight-legged robot; Sundown , which featured a horde-like survival mode; The Fast and the Furriest , a mascot racer; Tailwind , an action game featuring helicopters ; Urchin , a Fable -style game which began development after the completion of Live & Reloaded ; Ordinary Joe ; Savannah ,
19680-403: The sixth-generation era because of weaker sales performance elsewhere, though its fortunes would change for the better in America and Europe. Iwata forecasted to investors that the company would sell 50 million GameCube units worldwide by March 2005, but by the end of 2006, it had only sold 21.74 million—fewer than half. However, it had the highest attach rate of any Nintendo console at 9.59 and
19840-402: The slogan, "Born to Play", and game ads feature a rotating cube animation that morphs into a GameCube logo and end with a voice whispering, "GameCube". On May 21, 2001, the console's launch price of US$ 199 was announced, $ 100 lower than that of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox . Nintendo spent $ 76 million marketing the GameCube. In September 2020, leaked documents included Nintendo's plans for
20000-434: The smaller Nintendo 64 cartridge. Rare then developed Blast Corps for the Nintendo 64 . The game sold one million copies, which was considered disappointing by Rare. At that time, Rare was split into several teams, working on different projects. A large-scaled platformer was set to be released afterwards but was delayed. As a result, Rare changed their schedule and released their smaller projects first. The first project
20160-426: The studio's head, he intended to change the culture of the studio. Rare's office was completely remodeled so as to facilitate idea sharing between team members. The studio also adopted a more open attitude to its community, with the studio inviting fans to take part in the development project of their latest game Sea of Thieves . Around 1997, a number of Rare employees left to establish separate companies. The first
20320-536: The team considerable creative freedom, although they would intervene if a product was technically flawed or under-performing. Some employees noted that working for Rare in its early days could be difficult, with staff members allowed 30 minutes for lunch and possibly working more than 60 hours a week. Nintendo worked closely with Rare, and their relationship was described as a "creative partnership" by Viva Piñata designer Justin Cook. According to Hansen in 2010, innovation
20480-521: The third instalment of the Jetpac series, Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warship . Rare eventually acquired Zippo Games and renamed them to Rare Manchester. According to Ste Pickford, a Rare team member through the late 80s and the early 90s, Rare just "wanted to make as many games as they could in their 'window of opportunity'". The huge library of games made large profits, but none became
20640-399: The time of acquisition, said that the company attempted to preserve Rare's culture so its staff could continue feeling that they worked for Rare rather than Microsoft. Rare employees differed about working conditions after the Microsoft acquisition. According to Star Fox Adventures lead engineer Phil Tossell, conditions became more stressful after an "imperceptible" start, and the culture of
20800-413: The trigger is depressed, it emits an increasing analog signal. Once fully depressed, the trigger "clicks" with a digital signal that a game can use for a separate function. There is also a purple, digital button on the right side marked "Z". The A button has a uniquely prominent size and placement, having been the primary action button in past Nintendo controller designs. The rubberized analog stick, within
20960-466: The two companies began clashing. Tossell said that Microsoft gradually imposed a corporate structure on Rare, including more performance reviews and meetings, to which some Rare members found difficulty in adapting. Some admitted that early changes, such as permitting team members to discuss projects they were not working on and allowing staff members to use the Internet or listen to music during work hours, were beneficial to team morale. Betteridge called
21120-540: The unlimited budget, Rare could work a large variety of different games. The first project Rare worked on was Slalom , a downhill skiing game. The company then worked with various gaming publishers that included Tradewest , Acclaim Entertainment , Electronic Arts , Sega , Mindscape , and Gametek to produce over 60 games for the NES and several additional Game Boy conversions. They helped in creating new and original intellectual properties , including R.C. Pro-Am ,
21280-598: Was GoldenEye 007 , a game based on the James Bond film GoldenEye . The project was led by Martin Hollis and development was conducted by an inexperienced team. Inspired by Sega 's Virtua Cop , Goldeneye 007 had originally been an on-rails shooter before the team decided to expand the gameplay and turn it into a free-roaming first-person shooter . New elements, such as stealth , headshot mechanics and reloading , were introduced. A split-screen multiplayer
21440-587: Was revived in 2013. The company had a supporting role in its development, assisting lead developer Double Helix Games . Another Rare mascot, Conker, was also featured in another Microsoft game, Project Spark as episodic downloadable content . Known as Conker's Big Reunion , it was cancelled in 2015. Are they gonna go: Rare is back? And what my answer would be is, Rare has never gone away. We've just changed and made different types of games. — Craig Duncan, head of Rare on their "next project" in 2014. Rare released Kinect Sports Rivals in 2014. The game
21600-402: Was Eighth Wonder, underwritten by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, which did not produce any games before it closed. After Martin Hollis left Rare, he joined Nintendo before founding his own company Zoonami , releasing Zendoku , Go! Puzzle and Bonsai Barber . Several Perfect Dark team members, including David Doak and Steve Ellis, founded Free Radical Design and created
21760-511: Was a commercial success; in January 2020, Microsoft declared it the most successful IP it released in the eighth generation , with more than 10 million players. The game was also released on the PlayStation 5 , marking it as Rare's first product on a PlayStation console. Since 2018, Rare has been working with Dlala Studios on a Battletoads revival for the Xbox One and Windows, which
21920-510: Was a critical success, with critics praising the game's highly advanced visuals and artstyle. Donkey Kong Country sold over nine million copies worldwide, making it the third best-selling game in the SNES library . The game received several Game of the Year honours and was followed by two sequels, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! , as well as several handheld spin-offs such as
22080-464: Was a game featuring a young boy named Edison and pirates. The protagonist was then replaced by a bear known as Banjo, and Rare expanded the role of Kazooie the bird . The two characters were inspired by characters from Walt Disney Animation Studios films and Rare hoped that they could appeal to a younger audience. Banjo-Kazooie was released in June 1998 to critical acclaim. A sequel, Banjo-Tooie ,
22240-432: Was acclaimed as innovative. The game's commercial performance was a disappointment, however, and some Rare team members questioned Microsoft Studios' large marketing budget for Gears of War and its relative neglect of Viva Piñata . On 2 January 2007, Rare founders Chris and Tim Stamper left the company to "pursue other opportunities". Former lead designer Gregg Mayles became Rare's creative director and Mark Betteridge
22400-479: Was added to the game by the end of its development. GoldenEye 007 was the first console first-person shooter developed by Rare and it was released two years after the release of the film. The game received critical praise and received numerous awards. Goldeneye 007 remained one of the best-selling games for two years, and sold more than eight million units worldwide. Rare then developed Diddy Kong Racing , their first self-published game. Originally intended as
22560-425: Was announced as the GameCube at a press conference in Japan on August 25, 2000, abbreviated as both "NGC" and "GC" in Japan and "GCN" in Europe and North America. Nintendo unveiled its software lineup for the console at E3 2001 , focusing on fifteen launch games, including Luigi's Mansion and Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader . Several games originally scheduled to launch with the console were delayed. It
22720-605: Was creating "key" DS games. Only two were ever released, with the first one being Diddy Kong Racing DS , a remake of the Nintendo 64 title Diddy Kong Racing which was released in February 2007, and the second being Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise , a life simulation game , released in September 2008. Both games support the Nintendo DS Rumble Pak . Rare released Conker: Live & Reloaded ,
22880-571: Was eventually released in 2020. Rare would also reconnect with Nintendo in 2019 through the addition of Banjo & Kazooie as playable characters in the crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch as well as re-releases of their games on Nintendo Switch Online . At the X019 event in November 2019, Rare announced it was developing Everwild , an action-adventure game for Windows and Xbox Series X/S . As of January 2020, Rare had more than 200 employees, after growing at
23040-432: Was intended for a mature audience, and features violence , profanity and scatological humour . The game received positive reviews from critics, but was a commercial failure as the game was released at the end of the Nintendo 64's life cycle and was not actively promoted by Nintendo due to its crude content. After the completion of Diddy Kong Racing , another team was working on a new game known as Dinosaur Planet for
23200-437: Was monitored by cameras. The company was internally divided into different barns where employees worked exclusively on their group's game. According to Tim Stamper, Rare has a different philosophy. We don't really have much contact with other game development companies and we just do things the way they've evolved. We try to employ people who are great games players and games enthusiasts and they're really interested in seeing
23360-515: Was not overtly influenced by ATI. In total, ArtX cofounder Greg Buchner recalled that their portion of the console's hardware design timeline had arced from inception in 1998 to completion in 2000. Of the ArtX acquisition, an ATI spokesperson said, "ATI now becomes a major supplier to the game console market via Nintendo. The Dolphin platform is reputed to be king of the hill in terms of graphics and video performance with 128-bit architecture." The console
23520-467: Was one of the biggest UK-based video game development companies. The ZX Spectrum home computer , the platform the company usually developed games for, was only popular in the UK, and they believed that working on that platform would not be beneficial to the company's growth as they considered it a "dead end". Meanwhile, the company inspected an imported console from Japan, the Famicom , and believed that it would be an ideal future platform of choice for
23680-465: Was originally intended for GameCube before its redesign as an Xbox 360 game. Rare removed several features to meet the game's release deadline in 2005. Kameo: Elements of Power was also intended for the GameCube. A new intellectual property , in it the player character shape-shifts to solve puzzles. Although both received generally positive reviews from critics and sold more than a million copies, they were considered disappointments. Yet, so much of
23840-463: Was profitable, even more than Xbox with higher sales rates. Many games that debuted on the GameCube, including the Pikmin series, Chibi-Robo! , Metroid Prime , and Luigi's Mansion became popular and profitable Nintendo franchises or subseries. Home video game console A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as
24000-520: Was released in 2000 to critical acclaim. The game sold approximately 2 million copies. Conker the Squirrel also had his own game, originally named Conker's Quest . It was later renamed Twelve Tales: Conker 64 ; however, the new game was criticised for being too family-friendly and too similar to Banjo-Kazooie . As a result, the team renamed the game Conker's Bad Fur Day and it was re-revealed in 2000. Conker's Bad Fur Day , unlike Banjo-Kazooie ,
24160-417: Was released in 2000. It was a critical success and it outsold the first game, selling 3 million copies. Upon the completion of Banjo-Kazooie ' s development, Hollis immediately began another project. Originally set to be a tie-in for Tomorrow Never Dies , Rare was significantly outbid by another publisher, forcing Rare to develop a new concept with new characters. With a major emphasis on lighting,
24320-508: Was released in 2018. Several former Rare employees have formed their own companies, such as Free Radical Design , best known for producing the TimeSplitters series, and Playtonic Games , best known for Yooka-Laylee (2017). Rare is widely acknowledged in the video game industry and has received numerous accolades from critics and journalists. Rare is also known as a secretive and seclusive studio. Several Rare games, such as Donkey Kong Country and GoldenEye 007 , have been cited as among
24480-516: Was released on 11 April 2017 with mixed reviews. According to Rare composer Robin Beanland , the year 2015 would be significant for the company. At E3 2015 , a new compilation game, Rare Replay celebrating the studio's 30th anniversary, was introduced; it was released in August. The compilation's thirty titles only included games to which Rare owned the intellectual property. Because of this, Rare's operations director Drew Quakenbush noted it
24640-723: Was scheduled to launch two months later in North America on November 5, 2001, but the date was pushed back in an effort to increase the number of available units. The console eventually launched in North America on November 18, 2001, with over 700,000 units shipped to the region. Other regions followed suit the following year beginning with Europe in the second quarter of 2002. On April 22, 2002, veteran third-party Nintendo console developer Factor 5 announced its 3D audio software development kit titled MusyX. In collaboration with Dolby Laboratories , MusyX provides motion-based surround sound encoded as Dolby Pro Logic II . Throughout
24800-497: Was shortly followed by the release of the home version of Pong by Atari Inc. in 1975 based on the arcade game. A number of clones of both systems rushed to fill the nascent home console market and the video game industry suffered a small recession in 1977 due to this. The Fairchild Channel F , released in 1976, was the first console to use game cartridges , which was then used by the Atari VCS and several other consoles of
24960-496: Was still criticized for not releasing enough launch window games and by the release of Luigi's Mansion instead of a 3D Mario game. Nintendo had struggled with its family-friendly image during the late 1990s and most of the 2000s. However, during this period, it released more video games for a mature audience with mostly successful results. While the video game industry was focusing on more mature audiences and online connections, Nintendo regained older players who had gravitated to
25120-428: Was succeeded by the Wii in late 2006. In 1997, graphics hardware design company ArtX was launched with twenty engineers who had previously worked at SGI. ArtX was led by Wei Yen , who had been SGI's head of Nintendo Operations and of Project Reality, which from 1993 to 1996 had scaled down SGI's supercomputer design to become the Nintendo 64 . In May 1998, ArtX entered into a partnership with Nintendo to undertake
25280-460: Was successful with games aimed at a more mature audience. As of June 2003, the GameCube had a 13% market share, tying with the Xbox in sales but far below the 60% of the PlayStation 2. However, despite slow sales and tough competition, Nintendo's position improved by 2003 and 2004. The American market share for the GameCube had gone up from 19% to 37% in one year alone due to price cuts and high-quality games. One article stated that by early 2004,
25440-453: Was the reason GoldenEye 007 's absence from the compilation. Rare Replay became the most pre-ordered game shown at E3 that year and received critical acclaim upon launch. A new game, Sea of Thieves , a multiplayer adventure game marketed as "The Best Game That Rare Has Ever Made", was introduced at E3 that year. It was delayed at the following year's conference and was released on 20 March 2018. The game received mixed reviews, but
25600-511: Was worked on by 150 staff members and a new game engine was developed for it. The game was a commercial failure and following Microsoft's announcement that Kinect would no longer be a priority, about 15 Rare employees were laid off. On 10 February 2015, a group of former Rare employees announced the formation of a new studio, Playtonic Games , and planned a "spiritual successor" to the Banjo-Kazooie franchise titled Yooka-Laylee , which
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