Great days when I had a GameCube. My first game was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Then Luigi's Mansion. Other than that, I mostly rented games from Movie Gallery. Such good times they were. Got a game almost every weekend because of my dad's job. Times change though, and I can only look forward to Christmas and my birthday now...

The Gamecube is the only videogame system I bought on day one.  I bought the GBA during the "launch period" but that was day three or four.  I pre-ordered the Cube specifically and looked forward to picking it up the morning of November 18.

One of my friends has his birthday on November 17.  See where this is going?  For his birthday he had as all go out to Pemberton.  Pemberton is in the middle of fuck all nowhere.  It's like a fair drive outside of Whistler which is already quite far from the Vancouver area.  We stayed overnight in Whistler to go to Pemberton early the next morning - the morning I wanted to pick up my Gamecube.  Why were we in Pemberton?  To launch model rockets.  It's a hobby of my friend's that I do not share with him in any way shape or form.  It was like a model rocket "meet" of sorts with tons of people from a model rockets forum attending and was held in a farmer's field in the snow.  So I spend several hours in the cold snow bored out of my mind when I should have been playing Rogue Leader.

I had to send my Dad to pick up the Gamecube and he came through in flying colours, buying the extra controller and memory card I asked him to pick up without screwing it up.  There was some enjoyment in coming home to find the system waiting for me on my bed.

The timing of the model rocket meet was such that my friend could not postpone the trip.  He did also pay for our hotel room and dinner so it was not a financial burden on us at all.  And the birthday boy should get to do what we wants on his birthday but this should be within reasonable limits.  This trip was only enjoyable to him and it ruined a big moment I had been waiting over a year for (and will never get again).  Deep down I know the reason he made this his "birthday party" and involved his friends who had no interest in model rockets was because he didn't, and still doesn't, have a driver's licence.  Inviting us on this weekend trip with him was the only way he would get to go.  He also never told me about the model rockets until after we were there.  He had originally just told me we were "going to spend the night in Whistler".  He withheld certain details on purpose because he knew if I knew the whole story I wouldn't go.

Man, I'm STILL pissed about this!  :@

A good moment from ten years ago was when me and a different friend (one who was also on the ill-fated model rocket trip) went to a mall that had a Nintendo demo thing with Nintendo reps and such showing off the Gamecube prior to release.  THAT was cool.  I just had a blast playing Rogue Leader for the first time!  That's the good Gamecube launch memory!

I bought mine from Toys R Us on launch day with no preorder and no drama.  I miss those days.

Didn't Gamecube come out in September in Japan?

Yes, but this is a primarily US site in terms of viewers (though Europe and Australia have their fair share too).

I got my GameCube on launch day from Target, got up at 4AM and went over with my dad. Very orderly release, about 15 minutes before they opened an employee came out and handed numbered tickets to those of us in line. I got a Jet (black) GameCube, an extra controller, Memory Card 59, and 3 games (Luigi's Mansion, Madden NFL 2002, and Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader).

One of my best friends I had since the second grade was working at Toys R Us at the time and I asked him if he could set one aside for me and I'd come in and pay for it. He told me he'd pay for it, one game and a memory pack if I gave him the money so I did. I had him get the Gamecube, a memory pack, and Rogue Squadron II. Man I loved this system, (I thought the small discs were really cool too). I will always have very fond memories or the Nintendo Gamecube.