The weekly roundup of everything Gamecube.

Welcome, everybody, to the first C-E weekly digest of 2004. I hope you all had a very happy Christmas- gaming-wise, I myself was the delighted recipient of the fabulous Viewtiful Joe, as well as the dirt-cheap Logitech steering wheel (which is wonderful with F-Zero but awful with Mario Kart). Anyway, the season of mince pies and turkey (as well as the dreaded relatives) is but a memory by now- and it's time to look forward. 2004 is a year full of promise- very big announcements aplenty over the next few months can be guaranteed. C-E will be there all the way to cover it all as ever. But, before we can get to all of that, there are a few loose ends to tie up from the back end of 2003...

And there's quite a few pieces of newsworthy items to report. Perhaps most significant is the revelation, by Nintendo's head in Japan, Satoru Iwata, that the N5 (which, for the two of you out there who don't know, is the unofficial codename given by journalists to the GameCube's successor) will indeed be backwards compatible. Which is very interesting, and very gratifying indeed. In an interview with Famitsu, the head of Nintendo Satoru Iwata has stated the N5 will have backwards compatibility. Here are some choice words of wisdom from Iwata-San:

"It will be able to use the games already created in the previous generation. And it is something that will work. Side performances and graphics, one reached today a kind of limit with a quality which is already close to realism and it will be difficult to still much better do. The role of Nintendo is thus to study other ways in order to improve the experience of the player."

He refers, again, to Nintendo's battle against graphical enhancement being the sole reason for upgrading a console. We know nothing at present, but frankly I've got a strong feeling Nintendo have got something rather special under wraps- something unconventional. We'll have to wait and see�

Great news, if true- Konami and Silicon Knights' potentially superb Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes collaboration is going to hit European shores earlier than previously expected. According to Nintendo of Europe's site (which is incidentally about to be relaunched soon) the game is set to be released on March 1st, as opposed to the end of that month. Excellent.

Yet more bonus disk tomfoolery next. Ninty have let it be known that anyone in America who pre-orders Pokémon Colosseum from February 9th will get a bonus disc. The disc will contain a preview of Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon: Jirachi Wish Maker (the new Pokémon movie) and the ability to attain the Pokémon Jirachi. You can transfer Jirachi to your Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire games via GC/GBA link-up. Pokémon Colosseum will hit American shops on March 22nd, and over here not too much later. Another one for the must-have list, then (if, like me, you're a Pokémon fan).

While on the subject of free bonuses, Ubi Soft have announced a brilliant promotion in the U.S to help spur sales of the company's superb Prince of Persia. If you purchase PoP, you'll receive a copy of Splinter Cell for free- an excellent deal in anybody's book. "But we live in a PAL region, and Prince of Persia is coming out here soon anyway" I hear you cry. Well, perhaps not. There are strong and very disturbing rumours afoot that both Prince of Persia and Beyond Good & Evil have been canned for GC and Xbox, due to poor sales on the PS2 host platform. Disastrous, if true. I'm in the process of writing an article at the moment, which refers to this sorry situation. It'll be up on C-E to mark our relaunch. But more on that later.

Meanwhile, Nintendo of Europe have revealed to us more ways how we can get our hands on the new Zelda bonus disk. All the details can be found right here. Incidentally, I myself managed to get the disk via the Stars Catalogue, but there's no sign of it in the post yet- has anybody received it yet? Comments below, please.

It's been something of a bumper Christmas on Cube-Europe- there are a host of new articles and features for your reading enjoyment- from Xbox Live critiques to Nintendo of Europe interviews (as well as a look around Ninty's German headquarters) courtesy of our commander-in-chief Tim, Christmas memories, regular staff roundtables, and others. But the biggie, of course, is that relaunch. Being a staffer, I've seen the new layout, and it's safe to say that you won't be disappointed. Our web designers have brought C-E kicking and screaming into the 21st century, and you won't know how you survived on the old layout at all. And it's coming your way on January 7th. That's Wednesday coming!

Finally, all emails with your questions, comments, complaints, or anything else you want to get off your chest can be directed to my email address at [email protected].

Well, we'll leave it there. Here's to 2004!

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