The Nintendo GameCube is a game console that looks like a medium-sized cube. Despite the fact that the console was released in 2001 and is considered obsolete today, many games created for GameCube are still the most popular in the history of video games.
In May 1999, at E3, the Nintendo Dolphin was officially announced. Almost no specifics were given, but they threatened that the new console would be more powerful than the PS2 and that games for the Dolphin would be prettier. Nintendo also announced its collaboration with IBM, working on a processor called Gekko. Eventually, the Dolphin release was pushed back to 2001. And already at the Nintendo Space World 2000, they announced the renaming of the console to the Nintendo GameCube.
GameCube was officially released in Japan and North America in 2001. The countries of Europe received the console in 2002. Unlike its ancestors, the GameCube console used optical discs. Thanks to them, game developers were able to push their limits and start working with more memory.
This console turned the world of gaming upside down and led to some of our favorite games.
The GameCube belonged to the sixth generation of consoles and was a direct competitor to the PlayStation 2. The GameCube, with much more powerful features, such as a 485 megahertz processor (versus the 295 megahertz of the PS2), lost out to its competitor. After all, the PlayStation 2 sold 155 million units, while the GameCube sold just 22 million units.
Initially, at the start of sales, the GameCube was sold in a very simple package. The box contained the console, controller, power supply, instructions, and a cable to connect to the TV. Later, the GameCube was sold as a bundle with the Game Boy Player. The GameCube console came in two models, the DOL-001 and the DOL-101.
Unlike all their competitors, the creators of GameCube were determined to do only one thing – create a quality product. This game console opened the door to cool animation and a huge number of new games.
Many years have passed, and everything has changed. Now gamers know how to generate a nickname for the game and play for free online. Except that GameCube games are still just as popular.
What is GameCube?
GameCube is the name of the legendary video-game console from Nintendo, which was officially released in 2001. GameCube is considered to be the console, which turned the video-gaming world upside-down, opening new horizons for the industry.
In terms of visual identity, the Nintendo GameCube logo hasn’t been changed since the day of the console’s official release, in 2001. Although, for the beta version of the console, the company was using another version of the badge, representing its original name, Nintendo Dolphin.
The first logo for the innovative video-gaming console, which Nintendo has been working on during the 1990s, was based on the “trial” name, Nintendo Dolphin. It was a light purple-to-blue drawing of a dolphin, placed vertically in profile, facing to the left, and overlapped by a horizontally-stretched white banner with rounded sides. The banner was enclosed into a thick red frame and had heavy red “Nintendo” lettering on it, set in the corporate typeface of the company.
After the official release and the rename of the console in 2001, the company came up with a new logo, which still looks super cool and progressive nowadays. The Nintendo GameCube badge is composed of a graphical part and lettering in a custom geometric font, balancing the shape of the emblem. The graphical part depicts a stylized letter “G” with its tail ending in the middle of the improvised hexagon with a cube. The letter was set in a glossy gradient purple color palette, while the lettering, set on its right, was plain black.
The heavily extended lettering from the primary GameCube logo is set in a custom sans-serif typeface with futuristic shapes of the uppercase characters. The closest fonts to the one, used in this insignia, are, probably, Walktimes Regular, or Venus Rising Bold, with some significant modifications of the contours.
As for the color palette of the GameCube visual identity, it is based on light gradient shades of metallic purple, which stands for imagination and creativity, while its metallic gloss adds a touch of innovation and progressiveness, and plain black, represents professionalism and stability.