DestinyLeah
Ladies and gentlefolk. Bois and squirrels. It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Not content to simply reheat the library of games available on consoles older than any of its front-line employees, Nintendo has announced a fresh retro offering. Taking a small step forward in time, they’re bringing together the Switch and GameCube, letting younger players and staff relive the glory of the early 2000s.
Those of us with prescription lenses and Metamucil remember the glory of the aughts, with regular Resident Evil and Silent Hill releases. We even had movies to match- and later influence- the games. Indie wonders were in fine form, as well, with cult classic Eternal Darkness releasing as a GameCube exclusive. Some unpopular Resident Evil fans even say that the GameCube re-release of the first game in that series is its best version. Sure, we had the Xbox and PlayStation and their flashy little private party lights of death. We had mall arcades with exclusive games. We could travel to other countries without stripping naked and unpacking the entire contents of our bag to be individually scanned by the TSA. What we really wanted, though, was to pack up the little box with drink notches on top and its teensy disks and freak out together at our friends’ homes. Horror is better when you associate the creepiness that lingers behind it with someone else’s house. The GameCube delivered on that with its incredibly portable platform and fantastic horror offerings.
Now, with GameCube/Switch compatibility, you young whippersnappers can experience it yourself. Nintendo is re-releasing the classic Cube with a new notch. This one will span the front of the machine, fitting your Switch nicely for docked play. While downloads of all the GameCube classics will be available to anyone who buys the unit, the real treat is in playing Switch-native games. Players will be able to enjoy all of their favorite modern games in standard definition with stereo sound. While docked, the Switch will be able to download updates through the new ethernet port on the machine, capped at dial-up speeds for an authentic retro experience. True fans of the low-fi look get an even better treat; the system retains its original connection cables and ports and includes unattached HDMI converters if you order the Portland Collector’s Edition. For ten percent off of that version, use our reader-exclusive code ‘InB4ItWas C001’.
