While the game industry continues to wait for the official unveiling of Nintendo’s next game platform, code-named NX, another Nintendo system is now 15-years-old. The Nintendo Gamecube launched in Japan on September 14, 2001, and featured several long-running Nintendo franchises and new IPs. Games like Pikmin, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Animal Crossing, Tales of Symphonia, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and Metroid Prime are just a fraction of the system’s stellar library. The system is also home to several franchise entries that were considered somewhat controversial due to how they shakeup franchise mechanics, including Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Kart: Double Dash and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

The system also featured two of Nintendo’s most unusual peripherals: the Gamecube/Game Boy Advance Link Cable and Game Boy Player. The Link Cable allowed players with both systems and compatible software to unlock extra features and new content, similar to amiibo today. The Game Boy Player allowed Gamecube owners to play almost every piece of software released on the original Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance on the big screen. Both were meant to help connect Nintendo’s console and handheld systems. It’s interesting to look back on them in light of rumors that the NX is a handheld/console hybrid.

Have any memories of Nintendo’s little purple lunchbox? What’s your favorite Gamecube game? Let us know in the comments below.

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