'One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh' wrote Hemmingway. Although one doubts if that was his specific intention, he could have been talking about games consoles. Machines come, they dazzle and then they fade as an apprentice takes the stage, and our old best friend is left hugging the curtains, watching from the darkness. Before we all run off and trample over each other to grab our own little slice of the next generation � which I suppose is technically the current generation � it would be worth our while pausing, and evaluating where we've come from. The Gamecube passes now into the realms of the retro: what is its legacy? What has it achieved?

To understand the aims Nintendo had with the Gamecube, we have to remember what it was like during the Nintendo 64's lifespan. It was a time of sparkling gaming diamonds, and multiple contributions to the halls of fame, but a difficult time for Nintendo and its fans. The company saw itself cast down from the plateaus of console gaming within a short time, unable to compete with the seemingly omnipotent Playstation, and unable to adapt to the new gaming sensibility Sony's console was bringing to fruition. Publishers flocked to Sony in massive numbers, helping the console grab the mainstream imagination and keep it locked off from Nintendo, and insuring periods of software stagnation and drought on the N64. Nintendo had never fallen so far, so fast.

With the Gamecube they were, then, almost starting from square one again. They needed a console that would embody Nintendo values, but at the same time appeal to the average consumer that had dismissed Nintendo entirely. They needed high quality titles, but also a significant increase in support from third-parties and high-profile IPs. Most importantly, they needed to regain the gaming populous, alienated by clunky cartridges and cardboard boxes. The cogs of gaming were shifting at a rapid pace, especially with Microsoft's unforeseen and healthy entry in the race, and Nintendo would need to be quick on their feet to catch up. It was not, it must be acknowledged, a simple task. Running a race with a crutch never is. Many of us, however, were relatively confident in Nintendo's ability to address their problems with vigour and imagination, and pushed forward with mistakes learned. Whether this confidence was realistic or not, it was a hope not wholly lived up to by the publisher.

It's awfully easy to be condescending about the Gamecube, so I'd like to take a few moments to remember some oft-overlooked good times: seeing Resident Evil remade and repainted in the way it deserved; playing Phantasy Star Online online; Super Monkey Ball; the spectacular multiplayer of Super Smash Bros. Melee; the delightful visual and gameplay subversions of Viewtiful Joe and Killer7; the Wavebird; Metroid Prime leaving the doubters red faced; bongo beating with Donkey Kong, and Miyamoto's garden fantasies. It has not been a fruitless time: on the contrary, we've seen a lot of fun games, at least one inspired hardware leap, and more than a few surprises. The disappointments, though, weigh heavily too.

Although the annals of history are prone to generalisation, there will be some validity in the inevitable summaries of the Gamecube as a failed experiment, as the little console that tried its darn hardest, but just couldn't quite make it, like a ten year old trying to drink with his teenage brothers. The reason for this is simple: Nintendo simply had not the capacity, or the mentality, to compete with Sony. Sony had helped to significantly change the videogame landscape, in the type of aesthetics presented and in the public perception of the medium, and Nintendo were punished for their complacency. One suspects Yamauchi's imperialism was ill-equipped for this new battle.

Nintendo in their own way reached for the mass market, but couldn't understand how to balance this and the desires of the hardcore crowd. The end result is a record full of compromises and paradoxes. Nintendo sought the support of the most powerful Japanese publishers, and managed to get a number on board commendably, but didn't know how to attract the long tail of third parties that surprising classics tend to emerge from. The large Japanese publishers contributed to the console, but their games always seemed to emphasize Nintendo's inferiority in the market: Metal Gear returned to its roots, but only in a remake of the original Solid; Square leant an iconic name but arguably squandered it with a GBA connectivity experiment that never got off the ground; Capcom hit headlines with the famous 'exclusive five', the well-known fate of which truly encapsulating the inconsistencies with third-party Gamecube support.

Yamauchi called the console the only 'games-only' console, an alternative to the entertainment hubs of the competition. This sounded great on paper, but the first-party titles that define and carry Nintendo's systems failed to achieve the status of their N64 counterparts. In many ways, Nintendo handed journalists easy metaphors in The Wind Waker and Mario Sunshine. Sunshine's evolution of the series' mechanics, in a quicker and more steamlined sense of movement, was tempered by environments that failed to excite the imagination, and the occasional condescension, and so invited the distinction of being great, but not Great. Zelda stands as the greater symbol though. Rarely can a console's general nature be pinpointed so accurately in a single game. The Wind Waker was, in aesthetics, a refreshing and distinctively Nintendo achievement. The developer tackled a sacred IP from a new angle, and after the hissyfits on message boards, came up trumps. The visual experience of The Wind Waker, a symphony of clarity, movement and boldness, is with few peers. Peel back the front, though, and the compromise inherent in the game's reaction becomes clear. Faced with a sparse release calendar, and a public that was losing interest in the console, Nintendo were forced to do the unthinkable and cut corners with their prized franchise, violently ommiting certain game sections, and extending the final act with a miserable and artificial collect-a-thon. It was a damning triumph.

Elsewhere, the support of second parties, and a campaign of franchise leasing produced satisfying, if mixed, results. Retro Studios' conversion of Metroid to three dimensions was an unqualified success, producing one of the generation's most stirring games, a rising mixture of action and intelligence. Eternal Darkness was viciously ambitious in its narrative, criminally dismissed as second class survival horror. Sega supercharged F-Zero, but Rare and Namco neutured Starfox. Unlike with the N64, there was no inspired sidekick to back up Nintendo's output. Rare, metaphorically and literally, was gone, and they were missed.

Gamecube, arguably, was a console that set out to be different. In many ways, the design was a statement of the intent. A purple cube? A handle? It was like strapping a big blooming neon sign screaming 'DIFFERENT' on the thing. But for all its aspirations, it wasn't that different a console as its competitors. It flirted with some neat ideas, but few got reached beyond novelty, for different reasons. Phantasy Star Online was thrilling while it lasted, but Nintendo lacked the creative vision to develop the online function, and the underused handheld connectivity was simply before its (wireless) time. First-party titles aside, most of the games we felt were defining the console � Resident Evil, Viewtiful Joe, Super Monkey Ball � ended up on other formats.

That's the crucial deficiency with the Gamecube: the lack of an overarching vision, and truly defining titles. As a games console it was commendable, and at times delightfully surprising and fresh, but as a statement of a philosophy it's half-hearted and fuzzy. How will we define it in retrospective? It's the Nintendo console that leaped and stumbled, finally hobbling on to the finish line. Make of that what you will, but that didn't stop us cheering from the rafters.

Conor Smyth
[email protected]

And in case you missed it first time round, don't forget to check out our send off Video Feature for the Gamecube.