Collectible Consoles - The GameCube's Development (Part I)

Because I am feeling extra generous this week, I am getting started on the GameCube blogs. I may not post another until I am done with the PS3 blogs, but since that is pretty soon I wanted to give some background to the GameCube. This blog is only going to cover the development process and the unveiling at the Nintendo Press Conference in Japan in 2000 and in North America during E3 2001. The reason I am going over this stuff is because, honestly, I have a lot of nostalgia attached to these events. I remember when it was called the "Dolphin" and "GameStar" and everyone was speculating about what it would look like. Fun times those. So let's jump right in!

In 1998 a company called ArtX, composed mainly of former Silicon Graphics Inc. employees, partnered with Nintendo to develop the graphics processor, which was codenamed "Flipper" at the time. During this time the GameCube was going by an early name of "N2000". In May of 1999 Nintendo formed an alliance with IBM to create the processor, codenamed "Gekko". Also during this time they released a statement that they were changing the name of the system, for the time being, to "Project Dolphin". The plan during that time was for the console to run off of DVDs, but they never confirmed that it would in the long run. As a side note, ATI acquired ArtX in 2000, but I could find no major changes to the project as ArtX had done most of the work already.

In August of 2000, during a Nintendo Press Conference in Japan, they unveiled the GameCube and the GameBoy Advance. I could not find any pictures from this conference and one article said the official unveiling would be at the 2001 E3. I assume they were not allowed to take pictures. They were however allowed to describe what it looked like and were told the final name of the console for the first time. Although the rumor mill about it still being called the "GameStar" was still going around. I will try to find some old gaming magazines that called talked about this for next time.

GameCubes being shown off at E3 2001

During E3 2001, Nintendo revealed the titles that would be available at launch, which was September 14 2001. They were: Pikmin, Luigi's Mansion, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Stars Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II, Raven Blade, Wave Race Blue Storm, NBA Courtside 2002, Disney's Mickey (working title), Donkey Kong Racing, Animal Forest, Metroid Prime, Mamokia, Eternal Darkness, Kameo: Elements of Power, Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet, and Zelda (working title). Notice the lack of a proper Mario game, which was a first for a Nintendo launch. I will go through these one by one as most did not release at launch. In addition, I am going through these because I have found no other site that has done so.

Pikmin: released about a month after lanuch.
Luigi's Mansion: This did release alongside the console.
Super Smash Bros. Melee: Well...this series never releases a game on time. November 2001 for this title.
Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader: This also didn't release until the end of November.
Raven Blade: This game was sadly canceled by July 2001 so that the team could focus on Metroid Prime.
Wave Race Blue Storm: This game released on time for the launch.
NBA Courtside 2002: This actually didn't get released until January of 2002.
Disney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse: Although the article only mentioned a working title, finding the game was pretty easy as this was pretty much the only title with Mickey in the name. It did not release until mid 2002.
Donkey Kong Racing: Although it was announced at E3 2001, no gameplay was shown. In the end the game was canceled.
Animal Forest/Crossing: In Japan Animal Crossing is called Doubutsu no Mori (Animal Forest), which is why it was called this during the first Japanese press release. They changed the name for American and European audiences. The first Animal Crossing game was actually a Japan exclusive for the Nintendo 64 and was released in July 2001. The GameCube version, however, did not make the launch. It wasn't released until December.
Metroid Prime: Even with the extra effort, this didn't release until November 17.
Mamokia: I could not find a THING on this game. I am assuming it got canceled early in development.
Eternal Darkness: This didn't release until June of 2002. Play it. Do it. It is amazing.
Kameo: Elements of Power: This ended up with an Xbox 360 release in 2005, but never got a GameCube release. Rare Ltd. was going through some financial problems during this time, which is also most likely why Donkey Kong Racing was canceled.
Star Fox Adventures: I will just go ahead and say this one made launch, at least in Japan and North America. It was only a week or so late.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: This sadly wasn't released until December of 2002.

Shigeru Miyamoto during E3 2001 - Look how happy he is! :)

So yeah...the launch lineup was not spectacular. However, the system itself is. I personally love it. I will be going over a little bit more of its history next time and will cover early models.
Thanks for reading!

Sources: 
http://www.ign.com/articles/2001/10/30/ati-discusses-gamecube-graphics
http://www.zdnet.com/article/nintendo-tweaks-gamecubes-specs/
http://www.ign.com/articles/1999/05/05/say-hello-to-project-dolphin
http://www.ign.com/articles/2000/02/17/ati-snags-dolphin-graphics-chip-designer
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendos-gamecube-unveiled/1100-2619269/
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/090731qa/index.html
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/e3-2001-nintendo-unleashes-gamecube-software-a-new-miyamoto-game-and-more/1100-2761390/
http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/05/10/nintendos-history-at-e3-2001?page=2
PICTURES:
http://www.gamesradar.com/e3-the-good-stuff/?page=7
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/guide/1782/gamecube-faq-the-nintendo-gamecube
https://en.wikipedia.org (for release dates. I double checked, but didn't want to put all here. Email me if you want all the sources for release dates.)