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How I Got My GameCube - A Remembrance of a System Launch 

Aaron's Story

by Aaron Kaluszka - November 18, 2011, 7:41 pm EST

This GameCube had quite a story to tell before it ever came into Aaron's possession.

Up until the DS (and with the exception of the original Game Boy), I never got Nintendo systems at launch due to cost. In fact, I didn't even get a Nintendo 64 until 2001, so a GameCube wasn't in the plans.

My dorm was the go-to room for Super Smash Bros. playing. I had bought four controllers, and had a giant inflatable couch (which literally took up 1/3 of the room) and a 21" monitor (huge at the time). After the GameCube launch, one of my friends dropped off a GameCube to let me borrow for the weekend. Some people hated the new version of Smash Bros., as they were used to the slower floaty gameplay of the original. Either way, a GameCube at $200 wasn't under consideration.

Then, a friend let me know that her family had a GameCube that they would sell me for $70. Why so cheap?

It had rolled down the interstate.

Apparently, they took the purple system on a trip, and at a gas station stop, they had to pull it out and accidentally left it on the roof of their vehicle. They got up to at least 30 MPH before it rolled off and began an intimate relationship with asphalt. They went back and retrieved it, but it would not power on, so they bought a new one.

They had the damaged GameCube looked at, and found that during the trauma, an internal cable had come loose. Once plugged back in, the system worked flawlessly. The exterior was badly scratched on all ten corners (cube corners and lid corners), a testament to its unfortunate excursion, but also the build quality Nintendo hardware.

I bought four controllers and Super Smash Bros. Melee, and the Smash Bros. tournaments continued. Eventually, I ended up with a second black GameCube, which I got in a bundle deal with Phantasy Star Online, so I sold the scarred unit to a co-worker for $50.

The GameCube could withstand some serious abuse. I feel confident in saying that I could never have procured my Wii in this fashion.

Talkback

StrawHousePigNovember 19, 2011

*wewt* OGCN represent! 8)

I too lament the lack of the spice 'Cube. I went for purple (was it really called indigo?) but would have given it away and bought the orange one in a second. I'm on my second 'Cube, the first having been stolen. This one is a goner though since controller port 1 is dead. :(

Like most folks I picked up things to use with it before it was launched. I went in well after opening, like mid-day, and they still had plenty. Rogue Leader was king with me. Monkey Ball was great too.

The GCN reminds me of the internet and the IGN boards. I had gotten a new TiBook and was a newb on the gaming forums at that time too, but it was all tied together and was great fun. I've "known" Mr. Bivens since about then, too, from the IGN I-Board. A real good guy, he is. I remember them all fondly. Well, most of them...  :-X ;)

NWR_pap64Pedro Hernandez, Contributing WriterNovember 19, 2011

Wait, IGN forums? Dude, I used to be a regular on the IGN forums back in 2001! I used to be on the SSB boards mostly, but I was totally around for that! :D

Those were some really awesome times! Basically, it got me started with talking about gaming online, which provided an awesome outlet that was (and still can be) hard to have in the "real world." I remember StrawHouse being a real bastard, and I didn't much care for him. :-p (j/k of course!) Pedro, what was your username back then?


Right now, I own four GameCubes - Jet Black (launch, baby! Still kicking'!), Indigo, Tales of Symphonia Mint Green Edition (complete with GB Player), and the Panasonic Q. I NEED all of the variations, such as the Red Gundam version (Char Zak II or some stuff), Spice Orange, and maybe some of the other limited edition ones if I can find.

NintendadNovember 19, 2011

I live in a small town compared to most and figured I'd have no problem getting a GameCube on launch day. I planned to drive to Walmart at 11:45pm, wait 15 mins and walk out with a new system. I wasn't about to wait in line for hours. So the day before I went to Walmart and bought an extra controller, memory card, Luigi's Mansion and Waverace. While there I checked with the worker who told me they would have 28 GameCubes, plenty I figured.


So that evening I was waiting till late to drive back to Walmart, about a 30 minute drive. At around 10:00 I got online to kill some time. There I saw the reports of massive lines already forming in the bigger cities, and even some smaller ones. I started to get nervous and called Walmart to check the situation. You can imagine my despair when the worker told me there was already a big line. I then asked if they were already all spoken for. He went to check for what seemed an eternity, then came back and told me 21 of the 28 were already taken. I couldn't believe it. I jumped in my car and made the long drive as quick as I could. All I remember is there were deer all over the place but I wasn't slowing down. When I got there and walked back to the game section, my throat was dry and I was expecting the worst. However, I made it in time and became number 23. Happy, but then it dawned on my I'd probably be stuck with the purple GameCube. I really didn't like it and wanted black. However, it seemed most people ahead of me were choosing purple so I even go the black GameCube I wanted. I drove home much more slowly and content. I didn't even play it when I got home, but went to bed and played the next morning.


One thing I do remember is the kid with his mom in front of me throwing a fit. He got his GameCube but had forgot about the memory card. He ran back to pick one up but discovered they were sold out. That must have sucked.

NWR_pap64Pedro Hernandez, Contributing WriterNovember 19, 2011

My username back in the day was pappel64, Danny.

Xero!November 19, 2011

I was a late adopter all throughout my gaming life up to after the GCN generation. That being said, I spent most of that gen only managing to play the Gamecube when my school had near-vacation arcades and when my friends invited me over. I would then go home to continue playing my trusty N64.


The time eventually came for me to get my own Gamecube because one night I nearly screamed when I heard about this: "Get the Gamecube system and Mario Kart Double Dash for just $99.99". I could NOT pass this up and so I kept talking to my mom about how cheap the system was now.


So one travelling Aunt and $100 bucks from my Xmas job's income later and I somehow forgot what I was expecting. Probably because it took so long for my Aunt to get back and I was perhaps focused on my job. However, that boxing day was the best EVER cause my mom gently woke me up with the Gamecube bundle in her hands. I never woke up so happy in my life and I don't think I ever did since that day. :D

purevalNovember 19, 2011

I wanted a Gamecube at launch but did not have the extra cash to spend due to my wedding and my parents decided I was too old for games so I did not get one at Christmas. About a year after the system launched I came home from work and my wife told me she had something in the trunk of her car and asked me to bring it in. I went to get it (expecting something REALLY heavy) and much to my surprise there was a Gamecube waiting for me. Unfortunately she did not get me a game so we ran out to the local Blockbuster to grab a game. The only game that was interesting to me that I could afford at the time was Legends of Wrestling.

UncleBobRichard Cook, Guest ContributorNovember 19, 2011

Good times, good times...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v180/TheUncleBob/gcrec.jpg

SundoulosNovember 20, 2011

I never had much of a problem getting one.  I think I bought one for myself at launch, one for my dad as a Christmas gift (as a proxy for my mom) a few weeks later, and one for my sister's wedding gift also a few weeks later.

ThePermNovember 20, 2011

I woke up early in the morning, walked into the wal-mart and bought it. There was no line, and no other people buying it. I got luigis mansion with it, and when Smash Bros came out I rented it for like 2 weeks straight before I bought it.

SourdoughNovember 22, 2011

I myself had just started college up in Fairbanks, AK (if you think Anchorage is bad, try going to Interior Alaska in the middle of January... two weeks of -50 is ugly...), hanging out with some friends and talking about the "Micro$oft whore" who lived down the hall from us who was so damn proud of his new X-box.  For some reason we thought it'd be funny for all of us to go out and get Gamecubes and just walk into his room with them in our hands, so one of the guys, Nick, started calling around and asking if anyone wanted to go out in the morning and buy one.  Imagine our surprise when he found out from one of the guys that K-Mart was open 24/7 and they had started selling the 'Cubes at midnight!  So we all piled into Nick's car and putted off in -20 at 1:30 am to get our consoles.

The astonishing thing was that, according to the sales clerk, this store had received 150 consoles,  and there was quite a stack of them left when we got there (probably close to 80 or so)!  We each chose a black version of the machine and a game of some sort.  There wasn't much in the way of software to choose from at the time, and I ended up getting that year's edition of Madden.  And we all did indeed walk into the "Micro$oft whore's" room to show off our 'Cubes... though it didn't turn out to be as funny as we initially thought it'd be...

Despite my console dying on me six or seven months afterwards and having to get a replacement console from the local Nintendo service center, I've never regretted the purchase.

Why in Cthulhu's name would you move to Fairbanks?!

SourdoughNovember 25, 2011

Why in Cthulhu's name would you move to Fairbanks?!

nickmitchNovember 25, 2011

I remember having saved up birthday/other gift money and allowance to buy one. One of parents drove me to Toys 'R' Us and waiting in the car while I walked in excitedly. There was a huge stack of them behind the register in all the colors. The games were in a cardboard display, IIRC.

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