Nintendo Software at E3
After the announcement that Nintendo would unveil the GameCube software on May 16 at 10 AM, it got lots of people excited, especially Nintendo fans.. Most of you are probably trying to figure out what kind of games are going to be unveiled. I have put a list together that could be very close to the official software. Just keep in mind that this list is not official or real in any way, just kind of a guess, but these guesses are from the knowledge I have of Nintendo and 2nd parties and 3rd parties and so forth and so on.
Hockey
3rd party, probably EA sports
Online play: yes
We all know that EA Sports (I hope we all know) is probably the leading sports games developer. That’s just in my experience. Now of course a gaming console needs sports games to survive, and hockey is among the most preferred. It would really help the GameCube if it had a hockey game from EA Sports, and imagine the graphics on this game! I expect an NHL 2002 or NHL 2003 for the GameCube. But what happened with NHL 2000 and 2001 on the N64? Maybe EA sports quit making games for the N64, so is there a chance for it on the GameCube?
Baseball
3rd party, probably EA sports
online play: Yes
Just like hockey, a baseball game would be another sports game. I doubt a Triple play 2002 or 2003 from EA sports though, as the last triple play to appear on a Nintendo console was Triple play ‘99 on the N64.
Super Mario 128
1st party, Nintendo
online play: no
No Nintendo console can survive without a Mario game, it just can’t. Mario is one of the most successful plumbers in history. Nintendo originally planned a Mario 64 2, but that game just got forgotten about by most people and was cancelled or something. I don’t’ have all the info on it. In news I’ve read about Mario 64 2, Luigi is playable, so perhaps Mario 64 2 is actually Mario 128?
Mario Kart 128
1st party, Nintendo
online play: yes
I’ve written a preview on this game, it can be found in the preview section. If you take a look back in time, Super Mario kart on the Super Nes was a huge success, and I can say the same about Mario Kart 64, except it just didn’t succeed as much as the original. But Mario Kart 64 did have a huge success, and Nintendo may want to have another very successful game. With the amount of RAM in the GameCube, you’ll be able to have sound in a 3 player game or 4 player game and the game will probably not slow down at all. More arenas for battle( which is one of the best features in Mario Kart where you can battle your friends by knocking out all their balloons on their kart with shells and weapons) have got to be added. Maybe they’ll have the classic arenas in there too. More race tracks too. Let’s hope for bigger kart sizes too. More characters would be great too. The online play would be a great addition to the game. I mean, you can race against your friends without them even being in your house, or you can even play against people you don’t know on Nintendo servers or something. Imagine the possibilities.
Zelda 128
2nd party, EAD
We’ve seen movie clips (I haven’t) of Zelda 128 from last year’s Spaceworld 2000 show, and we must admit, they are amazing. Even for those of you who haven’t seen it, what do you think of the pictures? They look incredible.. This game is a definite for the GameCube.
Perfect Dark 2
2nd party, Rare
The success of Perfect Dark on the N64 was just too much for Rare to not develop a 2nd PD game. The Graphics were brilliant on the N64, imagine the GameCube. And since the N64 uses a cartridge format, the games are a lot less smaller. With the GameCube’s disk, there is more than 35 times the space of a N64 cart. So expect better graphics, more FMV, stronger A.I. and a lot more.
Super Smash bros. 2
2nd party, HAL
Anyone that’s played Super Smash Bros. will realize why a sequel is deserving. Nintendo has already pointed out to hints of a sequel, and I hope to see it on May 16. Let’s hope for more characters and arenas and challenges and more.
Sonic the Hedgehog
3rd party, SEGA
After Sega has decided to quit developing gaming consoles (Dreamcast) they announced they were either going to be a 2nd party developer or a 3rd party developer. They have taken the route of 3rd party, so there will be Sega games on the PS2 and XBOX and hopefully GameCube. A lot more games from Sega could come to the GameCube, like Virtua Fighter (a successful 3-D fighter) but the chances of that happening are more slim than Sonic. Alright, that’s just a short list, but it’s what you could expect at E3 and the day before E3. We all know Pokémon will most definitely be a title, but we won’t get into that right now.