Edge recently interviewed various members of European developers, asking what they thought of Nintendo's newest console. Thanks to Cloudchaser Nintendo we have a reprint of their comments.

I think it will be a very interesting generation. Historically we have not had three plausible competitors for very long. Sony is certainly well established now, and has some excellent titles at long last. It is fashionable at the moment for developers to criticise the performance fo PS2, but this is not very different to the GameCube. The extra price of the Xbox, ugliness of the box, and fewer attractive titles (Halo notwithstanding), I think will be major factors in how the machine does. I would expect it to come third in the 'race', despite a doubtless huge Microsoft ad spend. So my money is on Sony holding its top position for a long while yet at least, with the biggest threat being GameCube. The Xbox is the better spec machine but then, so was the N64 last time around and it did not win through.

- David Braben, managing director, Frontier Developments

The GameCube controllers are heavenly, the PS2 controllers are fine, but the Xbox controllers - they look like cheap toy spaceships and feel - well, shit (lumpy shit at that). The only controllers I can remember disliking more are the angled western Saturn one and the Jaguar one. But looks and feel aren't as important as association and product. Microsoft - I don't know. I can't think of a time when Xbox ever appealed to me in preference to PS2 or GameCube. There are plenty of players who want to associate with the cool and contemporary - and that's Sony - and there are the younger at heart (and those who control them) after something safe and fun - and that's Nintendo.

- Gary Penn, product architect, Denki

From GameCube's initial performance in the USA, it seems that having a point of difference in your product is what really counts. The console is designed to appeal to a younger audience and therefore seems to be able to define itself in the market place a little easier. For a gamer to choose between PS2 and Xbox it's likely to come down to small points in difference, whereas with GameCube I think you either want it or you don't. But therein lies Nintendo's biggest obstacle for true international domination. The growth in adult-orientated gaming has enabled Sony to sprint away from the competition and it'll take some seriously groundbreaking titles on rival fortmats for it not to dominate this market again. For GameCube to be a true long-term success, I believe it must wholly embrace the adult market without jeaopardising it's own (albeit massive) niche with titles like Mario and Pokemon.

- Glen O'Connell, communications director, Rage

While statistically it may not quite match up on paper, you can see from the visual quality of the software that the GameCube has more than enough horsepower to compete at the highest level, and with Nintendo's peerless IP's you have to expect a certain lefel of success. But following a lacklustre launch on home soil and more rumours of serious PAL delays, the big N has a potentially shaky time ahead of it next year, particularly if key titles start slipping.

- Ed Barlett, lead game designer, The Bitmap Brothers

From a development perspective the GameCube is unusual in that you can program at quite a high level. The software libraries keep you well away from the hardware, and we hope this high level of abstraction won't compromise performance too much. However it should make prototyping of games easier and quicker, and allow developers to spend more man-months on gameplay issues than technology issues. What has impressed me most so far is some of the tricks the initial software is getting up to. For example, the ghosts in Luigis's Mansion are stunning: they really look like shimmering transparent ghosts. This of course is just as much attributable to the developer's imagination as much as the power of the hardware - but I think this is the challenge of making games for the GameCube - developers must put 'creativity' before 'performance'.

- Chris Gibbs, managing director, ATD

The underperformance - in Europe, at least - of the N64 ensured that Nintendo's next hardware would have to be pretty special in order to make up grounds lost to Sony. There were huge expectations, and Nintendo really delivered: GameCube is a staggering achievement. The launch titles are strong, the controller is a triumph of design and aesthetically the GameCube just looks fun. Nintendo is bringing games full-circle, pulling the industry back from its often exaggerated seriousness. And that can only be a good thing.

- Charles Cecil, managing driector, Revolution

Though some are doubtful, many European developers seem confident in GameCube's success even before its PAL release.