JPC5443 asks, What are my chances of buying a

Cube on launch day? I won't be able to get there hours before the store opens. I'm

starting to get a little worried about not being able to get one. After hearing about how

all these preorders have been selling out so fast, I keep thinking my chances of getting

the Cube are decreasing. If its anything like the PS2 launch from last year, I pretty much

don't have any chance of getting one on launch.

Mike H. Says: It might mean a few extra trips, but

I tend to think that SOME store or stores will have a stock that lasts at least through

the first couple days. With no official pre-order programs, there will be those people

that show up as stores open, but I don't think they'll be gone completely either. 700,000

is a large stock. Only 70,000 units have been sold through pre-order programs at last

count.

Jonathan Says: Keep in mind that big department

stores probably won't be doing pre-orders of any kind, and they'll be getting some of the

largest hardware shipments for launch. You may have to compete with a lot of soccer moms,

but places like Wal-Mart and K-Mart and Target and Circuit City should have GameCubes on

the first day just sitting on the shelf, waiting for people like you. And, if somehow

they're all gone before you can get there, new shipments will be coming in every week, and

possibly within days after launch, so you should be able to get one easily before

Christmas.

Rize Says: If you can't get to the store early,

consider getting to it very early. I was able to purchase Zelda Ocarina of Time from

Wal-Mart the night before it was set to release by waiting until midnight.

Mike S Says: I'd say that if you want a good chance of

getting a Cube on launch day, go to Toys R Us. They aren't doing hardware pre-orders so

the only way to get one there is to walk in and buy one. And because of their policy of no

hardware pre-orders, Nintendo is shipping them more units than other retailers.

Jason asks, What's the difference between the

GC's "Gekko" processor and a standard, run-of-the-mill IBM PowerPC 750

processor? Does it support Altivec or provide any additional extensions/instructions that

would be particularly useful for video games or multimedia?

Mike H. Says: There are a number of IBM PPC CPUs

in the 7xx class. The Gekko CPU in the GameCube is from the same IBM PowerPC line also

found in Apple's G3 line of computers (iMac and iBook).

However, Gekko is a pretty highly-optimized version built for game performance. It doesn't

feature Altivec, though, as that is a Motorola Power PC spec found in the Apple G4 line.

Specific details of optimizations that ARE found in the Gekko are rather scarce.

Jonathan Says: Here comes my favorite qualifier! "Well, I'm no techie,

but..."

Whee, that was fun. Anyway, everything I've read about Gekko says that the most important

distinction between it and any other PowerPC or Intel chip is that it's specifically

designed to work with GameCube's graphics chip, Flipper, and all the other hardware

components in the system. Everything in GameCube has been designed to eliminate

bottlenecks, and since some other systems use off-the-shelf components, their stuff isn't

going to run as smoothly or get the same kind of performance, despite more impressive

specs. What that boils down to is that GameCube (and therefore, Gekko) are more powerful

in practice than they look on paper, which is the opposite of how systems usually behave.

OniLink asks, What version of PSO is coming to the Cube, the original or ver. 2? Most

gaming news providers believe that is going to be the original with a brand new level,

while others (like IGN) say that is going to be ver. 2 with three additional levels and

new character classes. Damn, I'm confused... please clarify.

TYP Says: I may be wrong, but I believe PSO for

GameCube will be what is known as v2 on the Dreamcast, but it will be called Phantasy Star

Online (no v2). I agree: it's very confusing.

Dragona Says: PSO Version 2 is what is being

released for GameCube. However, it's not a mere port of the Dreamcast title. There are

three entirely new classes along with new areas.

The three new classes are:

HUcaseal: This is female Android hunter. Like other androids, expect her to

have very high ATP/HP and no MP/MST.

FOmar: A male Human Force. A counterpart to the FOmarl, we don't know about

his abilities just yet.

RAmarl: Female Human Ranger. Again, she will probably be much like the

Ramar.

In addition to these new classes PSOv2 for GameCube will feature all new areas, exclusive

to the GC version. Only one has been shown so far and appears to be a jungle/swamp based

area with unique enemies and a gigantic Boss.

Take it from this PSO-junkie, the GC incarnation will definitely be worth the price of

admission.

Jonathan Says: With its added features, the

GameCube version will basically be like PSO Version 3... and in order to

simplify things, I think Sega is just gonna call it Phantasy Star Online, plain and

simple, since it doesn't have to be distinguished from any other versions of the game on

GameCube.

Adam asks, What ever happened to the Ninja Gaiden

series? I enjoyed that fully and was wondering why they never brought it to the N64, or if

there are any plans to bring it to the Cube.

Dragona Says: There is a next-gen Ninja Gaiden in

the works! Tecmo is keeping the title tentatively known as " Ninja Gaiden Kunai"

a closely kept secret. It's been rumored for months to be running on Xbox hardware, but no

one knows for sure.

A few months back Tecmo's home site asked readers what system they'd prefer the series

went to. Whether by fate, fortune or possibly a bit of mischief, the GameCube won by a

landslide...

But as it is, Tecmo is keeping its mouth shut.

Jonathan Says: I expect the new Ninja Gaiden to be

multi-platform, including GameCube. Tecmo is well aware of the franchise's following

amongst old-school Nintendo fans, many of whom now have families and are still Nintendo

fans.

And while we're on the subject, expect Tecmo's Dead or Alive 3 to eventually come to PS2

and/or GameCube in some slightly altered form. Remember how DOA2 was exclusive to

Dreamcast? Slap in a few extra costumes, add "Hardcore" to the name, and you've

got a PS2 game! They'll probably do it again.

Andres Says: "Knowing that [Dead or Alive

3] is so technologically advanced that it can only be properly done on Xbox is a pretty

satisfying feeling." ~ Official XBOX Magazine 'Special Edition'

Yeah, I'll bet it does feel nice and warm in the midst of all that steaming BS. :P

Sal asks, What is the relationship between Intelligent Systems and Nintendo? Are they a

Nintendo second party?

Max Says: Yes, they are

responsible for Metroid. They also can take credit for the Wars series and the Fire Emblem

series, which have been running since the Famicom days.

Dragona Says: Intelligent Systems is

Nintendo. They're as much 1st Party as EAD is. Originally, the team was known as

"R&D1" and was run by Gumpei Yokoi. Miyamoto-sensei's team was

"R&D3". The teams were merely renamed some time ago.

In fact, IS's primary responsibility is to write the programming software for Nintendo's

consoles. They make the software tools for 3rd parties. In their "spare time"

they've created some of the greatest Nintendo franchises, including Metroid, Panel de Pon

(known as Tetris Attack in English territories), Console WARS and my all-time favorite:

Fire Emblem, which has sadly never seen an English release.

Hopefully with the run-away hit of Advance WARS, NOA will pick up Fire Emblem VI: Fuuin

no Ken and finally introduce Nintendo fans to another excellent game series.

Jonathan Says: Perhaps it's time for a quick

lesson in first- and second-parties, no?

First-party developers are actually internal teams within the hardware manufacturer. Thus,

Intelligent Systems, EAD, and America's NST are all considered first-party developers.

Likewise with Sonic Team, AM2, Amusement Vision, etc. for Sega, although their

relationship with the parent company has been kinda weird the past couple of years. On

PS2, you have 989 Studios and I think a few others in Japan that I'm not familiar with.

Second-party developers are usually existing companies that develop a strong relationship

with a hardware manufacturer; eventually, the hardware company will invest heavily in the

developer, thus providing financial stability and (usually) ensuring exclusivity of that

developer's games. Examples would be Rare, Left Field, and Silicon Knights for Nintendo. I

think Retro Studios is also considered second-party, even though it was literally created

with Nintendo's money right off the bat. Sega has Visual Concepts (not sure how that

relationship stands with Sega out of the hardware biz...), Sony has Psygnosis last time I

heard (humorously, Psygnosis once exploited a contract loophole with Sony and released

WipeOut for the Nintendo 64), and I think Bungie would be considered a Microsoft

second-party.

Sorry for being long-winded. :) By the way, you should check out our Companies section for

a lot more info on Intelligent Systems and other developers you may be interested in. One

of these days we're gonna go through and spend some time updating that section, but it's

still a great resource even now.

TYP Says: I thought I'd make a slight adjustment

to Jonny's response. First party companies don't have to be "inside" the

manufacturer's building. First party developers are simply fully owned by the hardware

maker. For instance, Sonic Team is now a fully owned subsidiary (as opposed to simply part

of Sega), and its USA team made Sonic Adventure 2 for the Dreamcast. They are a first

party developer for the Dreamcast, period. Meanwhile, HAL is actually a second party that

is all but completely owned by Nintendo now, and could easily be considered

"within" Nintendo's HQ (they're just down the street or something).

There is some gray zone when a company is completely bought out, as Microsoft has done. M$

calls Oddworld a first party game, and according to my definition, it is...but since the

company existed long before it was bought out, it seems almost like a 1.5 developer ;-)

Jonathan Says: No, in the case of Munch's

Oddyssey, the game is simply being published by Microsoft. As far as I know, MS doesn't

even have a stake in Oddworld Inhabitants, the company that develops (and owns the rights

to) all Oddworld games.

spinravenlock asks, with the recent news of the Star Ocean 3 release for the PS2 and

Enix's statement about developing for the highest selling platform, does this mean that

Enix has made their decision and is developing solely for the PS2?

TYP Says: What you see is what you get. Right now,

PS2 is the highest selling system, so yes. Of course, Enix could pull a fast one on us and

port something from the PS2. If profit is to be had on GameCube by porting games, Enix

will certainly be thinking about it.

Dragona Says: Enix is a strange little company. It

and NCL are extremely close: Enix even handles the manufacturing and distribution of

Nintendo merchandise in Japan. And yet... no support announced for GC.

Well, while it might seem far-fetched to some, I'd like to point to the Capcom/Biohazard

announcement. That came literally out of the blue. At that time, many had even started

believing that Capcom had canned BH0 for GC and had taken it to another platform! And yet,

we all saw how that came out... eh?

As usual, I'm going to have to say "wait it out" and listen closely for

forthcoming announcements.

Jonathan Says: Enix is even stranger if you look

at some of the stuff they've released on PS2. None of it has sold very well either...right

now they're thriving on Dragon Quest remakes for other systems, and of course DW7 will

soon be out in the US. However, I think they are long overdue for some significant new

game announcements, and perhaps those will happen sooner than later...

Ken asks, Are you happy to have Sonic on Nintendo systems? I think it is the best

thing that ever happened in gaming history.

TYP Says: You bet I am! Throughout the years, I've

had to go over to a friends' house to play Sonic games. I've missed out on just about all

of Sonic's handheld games, so Sonic Advance is a Godsend for me! I already own SA2 on the

Dreamcast, so I probably will not buy the GameCube edition, but I urge anyone who hasn't

played it to check it out on the 'Cube! One day Nintendo will get its very own exclusive

Sonic console game....and I'll be there to buy it.

Mike H. Says: Sure, I loved a number of the Sonic

games and I think it's great to have them on the GameCube and GBA. And it's not only Sonic

games that I like.

I was a bit upset over Sega's departure from console hardware, but with their talented

development team, becoming a software house was the way to go. All the better that they

come to Nintendo platforms.

Jonathan Says: I've never been a big fan of the

Sonic games, because I think their speed takes away from the exploration that is so

important to platforming gameplay. But, I know a lot of people love the series, and at

least on a symbolic level, it is pretty amazing to see SA2Battle running on GameCube. Like

TYP though, I'm ready for Sega to run out of Dreamcast games for porting, so that they

have to start working on some original stuff for GameCube.

Mike S Says: I'm excited of the idea of Sonic on the

GameCube. But I'm not excited about Sonic Adventure 2 on the GameCube. The game wasn't as

good as Sonic Adventure 1. And I'm also waiting for Sega to run out of portable titles so

they can start working on new stuff. Hopefully Skies of Arcadia 2 for the GameCube.

Rize Says: I haven't been that big on the 3D Sonic

Adventure titles, but I used to go to a friends house to play the original Sonic games. I

was really bad at them because I wanted to play fast, but you couldn't really play fast

until you memorized the levels a little bit.

Somehow it doesn't really seem that strange to me. If Sega had made a Sonic game for SNES,

then that would be crazy. Right now though, it seems perfectly normal that Sonic should be

on the GBA and GameCube.