Want to know what's going on with the new PGC? Read on to see what we're doing to make it happen.
In March of 1999, a gentleman by the name of Billy Berghammer decided to start a website called PlanetN2000. It was devoted to bringing people every bit of news and information he could about Nintendo's Dolphin and Atlantis projects. With time, Atlantis became Game Boy Advance, Dolphin became GameCube, and PlanetN2000 became Planet GameCube. Since our site's first name change, we have grown into the largest independent Nintendo news and information website on the Internet. Everyone that has been on staff over the years has put great effort into the site, and for that, I thank them, as does everyone who is on the staff now. We wouldn't have got here without them.
We're very proud of what we've accomplished in these past five years, but much like how Dolphin became GameCube, Revolution became Wii. We were left with the inevitable question: What were we going to rename the site? Even before the Revolution name was announced, we were set on a moniker that was not tied to any specific platform. We quietly applauded this decision when Nintendo revealed the Wii name to a dumbfounded Nintendo community the week before this year's E3. In the weeks after the show, we toiled over finding a name that best fits who we are and what we do. After the dust settled, we decided on a new name. And that new name is...
...not going to be revealed today. As much as I would like to spill the beans now, unfortunately there are still a few legal issues that need to be cleared up before we can do so. Changing our name isn't as simple as flicking a switch—believe me, I wish it were—but we are doing our best to get it done as quickly as possible. Likely, we won't reveal the new name until we're ready to reveal the new site that goes with it. Yes sir, we're currently building a sexy new Nintendo site to complement a sexy new Nintendo console. Thanks to the hard work of our own Michael Cole, Ryan Jones and Brendan Gallagher, we are on track for a November 19 site re-launch. It's nice that things worked out in this way, both so that we'll start fresh with Nintendo's fresh start, and that we'll finally be done with the site at a time when the GameCube is finally done as a console.
And done as PGC Director is Jonathan Metts. Jonny poured his heart and soul into Planet GameCube during the "Purple PGC" era, but his heart was set on going to school. As it stands, Jonny is currently studying to be Doctor Jonny. You can imagine that such a task would take a considerable amount of his time. The directorship was an all-encompassing position, including site management, public relations and editing, and he just didn't have the time to do all three. Luckily for us, Jonny still wants to be a part of the Wii revolution, and will be staying on as our Reviews Editor. The other two pieces of the PGC Triforce have been distributed and jammed into the palms of two other staffers: Evan Burchfield, Oregon resident and the sometimes-host of Radio Free Nintendo, has been dubbed the new position of PR Coordinator. And I, Steven Rodriguez, your (former) News Editor and (still) Mailbag Poobah, am now the Director of Planet GameCube. A few other people and positions on the staff will be further shaken up when we launch the new PGC.
We've been operating behind the scenes in this way for a few months now, but we wanted to go ahead and announce this here and now for a few reasons. First of all, we're long overdue with a public status report on the new site. It has been in the works for a very long time now; some of our long-time readers might have noticed the handy-dandy search feature we added a few months ago. That was a part of a database overhaul that was done in anticipation of a redesign, as were other badly needed changes such as more powerful sorting in the games list, and a more robust game profile page. We just didn't have a concrete idea of when it would all get done until recently. Second, we want to assure all of our readers that we're not going the way of the GameCube. We're not going to fade away into obscurity with the console that carried us over the past five years. We're here to stay, and we want everyone to know that although our name will change, and although our look will change, our staff, our philosophy, and our passion to bring you the best Nintendo coverage on the Internet will never change. Never.
To prove this last point, I personally invite you to tune into Planet GameCube tomorrow evening, when we'll be pleased to present to you details about the Wii game everyone's been waiting for: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Much like how I would love to tell you all there is to know about the new PGC, I am absolutely dying to tell anyone I can about the Zelda Wii experience. But I can't yet. I will say that after playing the game for a few days, I've been having trouble getting to sleep. Come November 19, you may never want to sleep again. After all, you're going to need to be refreshing your Wii browser constantly to be among the first see the new PGC. I hope you'll be able to pull yourself away from Zelda long enough to do so!
. 
