Nintendo certainly can't produce a system all by itself & has partnered with several new allies to help make the GameCube the system that it is.
Who are Nintendo's new Allies?
In designing their new console, Nintendo has aligned itself with several companies to ensure their success.
From the outset of the design, a collective group of outside help was sought by Nintendo to optimize every facet of the console’s design. Nintendo are working with some of the some of the best companies from their respective fields.
Why is Nintendo making such partnerships? Why doesn't Nintendo develop its next system itself?
Although Nintendo is involved with every aspect of the NGC system's design, by forging partnerships with the companies it has, Nintendo guarantees quality at every level of its new console. Thanks to these partnerships, the NGC's hardware will work together smoothly, games will be incredibly easy to develop and gamers will see and play things they had never dreamed of. Along with all that, Nintendo should not have any trouble meeting any production schedules, as IBM Gekko Chips and Matsushita Opitical Disk NGC DVDs will be manufactured by their respective companies, both of which are verterns of mass-production.
The Major Players
When NOA Chairman Howard Lincoln dropped the “Dolphin” bomb at Nintendo’s pre-E3 press conference in 1999, many were caught off guard. Lincoln revealed the identities of Nintendo’s next-gen partners, which was perhaps the most surprising news of all. Details on each company & their role w/ “Project: Dolphin” took precedence over any real system specifics.
Since then, more and more partners were announced for the system that we now know as GameCube. Now, the list of Nintendo’s current allies is lengthy and impressive and reads like an elite society of technological giants. The GameCube system will benefit tremendously from Nintendo’s partnerships with these unusual suspects:
Numerical Design Ltd.
Is that Everybody?
The above list covers all publicly known partners of Nintendo to date. It is quite possible new alliances will be formed but none that will have major impact on the NGC; the most important stuff has already been designated.
There’s one more, though it’s more of a “rumored” ally… Prior to Spaceworld, there was a rumor that Apple Computers would be providing the “Dolphin” development kits. The sordid details of this nonsense are documented in the now rotten Apple rumor section of the FAQ.
What About Alliances with Software Developers?
1st, 2nd and 3rd parties are all in possession of finalized development kits and a variety of revolutionary development tools.
As far as making friends & alliances with 3rd-party developers, Nintendo have certainly made many changes since the days of the flawed N64 strategy and all major 3rd-parties reportedly have kits and projects in the works.
For a case-by-case run down on all major parties, check out our Company Profiles.
