Billy calls in from the Minneapolis Cube Club with info on the Darth Vader secret level in Rogue Leader ...

Billy took time to call and let us all know that he's seen the Darth Vader secret level of Rogue Leader first hand at the Minneapolis Cube Club.

It's pretty much like the Death Star Trench Run ... except from the other end. You're flying in Darth's Tie Advanced prototype, with control over wingmen.

Panasonic announced today that there are no plans to release its DVD player/GameCube hybrid in North America.

It has long been suspected that the GameCube/DVD hybrid, now known as “Q,” was a Japan-only product. These suspicions were confirmed today in a statement made by a Panasonic spokesperson, reports Reuters.

``It's simply a Japan device. ... Right now there are absolutely no plans for U.S. marketing,'' said Kurt Praschak, a Panasonic spokesman

Cube kiosks are hitting more stores across North America and we’ve got pictures!

Since breaking word that GameCube kiosks are finally beginning to appear, we’ve received several more kiosk-encounters from readers. Almost everyone who wrote in remarked how great it is to finally be able to play the GameCube. Thanks to Blinky's "R" Us for the pictures!

The craziest, most dedicated GameCube fans have shown just how far they’ll go to win a GameCube… And the winners have been selected.

Nintendo’s GameCube launch contest “What would YOU do for a Nintendo GameCube” has come to a close, with the five finalists all completing their wacky act of Nintendo devotion to walk away with a Nintendo GameCube early. Grand prize winner was Corey Olcsvary, who shaved his head, wore a leaf,... Read more...

We're putting the final touches on the PGC Spaceworld/Launch video, and we wanted to give you a little taste of what we’ve cooked up...

Just as our E3 video will be reaching your hands, we’re taking the wraps off our new Japan video. There are no price details, and we aren’t taking pre-orders. This time we’re not announcing jack until the video is complete, and ready to ship. We’ve learned a lot from our production woes of the E3 video, and we’re doing things a lot differently this time around.

There are more than one commercial for Super Smash Bros Melee in Japan. Check them all out! Update: Links fixed!

It appears that Nintendo has made four commercials for Super Smash Bros Melee (or Super Smash Bros DX as it's called over there) in Japan. Well, it's really kind of just 2 commercials. But each one has a 15 and a 30 second version. Japanese Nintendo site N-Styles has put them all up. Since we can't link directly to their article, here are the links to the four commercials. They are in .zip format so you will need WinZip to open them.

The Eternal Darkness Films site has been updated with a trailer to get your blood pumping.

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem is one of the most highly anticipated games on the GameCube. The Eternal Darkness Films website now has a teaser trailer up for you to watch. It doesn't contain any gameplay. It looks more like a commercial for a game, than a movie showing it off. The commercial... Read more...

More Mailbag goodness is on its way, so get your last minute questions in to mailbag@planetgamecube.com!

More Mailbag goodness is on its way, so get your last minute questions in to mailbag@planetgamecube.com!

The Japanese commercial for Super Smash Bros. Melee is online and PGC has it!

The Japanese commercial for Super Smash Brothers Melee has just surfaced and we’ve provided it here for your viewing pleasure. Highlights of the commercial are a glimpse at the Star Fox level which shows the Great Fox flying towards the screen and the first-ever look at Shiek transforming into... Read more...

C|Net conducts an interview with Tom Byron of LucasArts ...

There's a great piece (for traditional media) about GameCube and it's "system seller", Rogue Leader.

They specifically address the technology that adds movie footage along with real-time rendered graphics. They also show their different GameCube units ... the Purple retail unit, the Teal "debug" unit, and a heretofore unseen RED GameCube that has the drive removed and a cartidge-like system in place.

Mega Man Battle Network and Street Fighter II have arrived on Game Boy Advance.

Two of Capcom’s biggest franchises have finally arrived for the Game Boy Advance in the form of Mega Man Battle Network and Street Fighter II Turbo Revival. Mega Man is an all-new take on the classic title while SFII is a handheld version of one of the biggest fighting games of all time. Capcom issued this release yesterday:

TDK has made a demo available for Lady Sia that you can download & try on your PC.

Lady Sia was recently released for the GBA by TDK. The game is a 2D platformer featuring a female protagonist that fights against beast-men and possesses the ability to occasionally transform into a giant sasquatch.

The demo is 3.55 MB and completely free.

Lady Sia is no cheap date though. If you want the full deal you’ll have to buy the game on your GBA. This is a great opportunity to see if you’d want to.

Starting November 18th, Red Octane will be renting NGC games online.

Red Octane, a company that rents console games online has just announced that it will be renting every single GameCube launch title on November 18th. All GameCube games will be available online for the standard seven-day rental price of $6.95. Members of the RedOctane's G2 Program will have unlimited access to GameCube games for a monthly fee of $16.95.

Nintendo has ratings in on some of the GameCube launch titles, and they're quite a surprise!

The Gamecube preview CD-ROM isn't the only surprise in issue 150 of Nintendo Power this month. Another surprise lies in the ratings given by Nintendo Power to some of the GameCube launch titles.

Rogue Leader, widely considered to be the GameCube's "killer app" due to the lack of a Mario title at launch, was given a 5 star rating (nearly perfect, since two reviewers gave it 4.5 stars, and the score rounds up).

The popular Spyro the Dragon games are branching out, and the first GBA game based on the series has just shipped.

Spyro the Dragon first appeared in a 3D platforming game on PlayStation, and has since won the hearts of millions of fans around the world. Now Universal Interactive is taking Spyro to new heights -- and new systems. The first non-PSX Spyro game is an isometric platforming adventure on Game Boy Advance, and it should be on store shelves by the end of this week. Here's what UI had to say about the occasion:

Take a look at what Canadians are getting instead of CubeClubs.

Since I was in Toronto on business the past weekend, I decided to make a detour to the neighboring city of Newmarket, about an hour and a half drive's away. So I ended up in the Upper Canada Mall, thanks to my |337 map reading |