Discuss it in Talkback!

We’ve survived 3 full years. In website years that’s like 107. I personally want to congratulate the unbelievably selfless, hardworking staff of Planet GameCube. If it weren’t for you, there’s no way we would be where we are today. We’re not just a staff, we’re a family. A damn good family if I say so myself. I have never worked a job where the staff is so tightly knit. I wouldn’t want to be working with anyone else. From the bottom of my heart…I love you all. Thank you for your tireless dedication and hard work.

To our Webmasters and Programmers: My long lost twin brother Justin Nation coded this sucker from the ground up, and it makes life easier for all of us. This baby’s got a backend that is dead sexy, and Justin made it all happen. Thanks for dealing with my typical daily tweaks. Rick is currently on clean up duty, and is doing a fantastic job. Rick Powers (POWAR-UPS) and the illustrious Justin Nation, you guys are code gods. If it weren’t for you two, I’d still be ghetto-rigging this site in Front Page. What a load of BS that program is. But what two awesome coders we are blessed with. Thank you both for keeping me sane.

PGC Senior Staff: Max, you saved my ass many of times, for many many reasons…and you kick ass. You have a heart of gold, and passion that most porn stars don’t have. Thank you for keeping me sane. To Jonathan Metts…thanz fer cleeeeninl up uor Spleeing miztak es, and making us look good. You are too SEXIE for your shirt. Thanks for keeping me sane. Ricky, thanks for keeping the forums stoopid free. Justin, you slack off. A child and a wife are no excuse for slacking! Hey, Tammy! WE LOVE YOU! For the love of Christ, let Justin come to E3!

Alright…it’s getting a little too sappy now…so we’ll get to the rest of this hoo-ha…..

Planet GameCube is technically only a year old, but this entire Planet experience began March 7, 1999…as the N2000HQ. So we are officially 3 years old. I don’t think I could have imagined we would be where we are now. We were the first ever GameCube (Project Dolphin) / Game Boy Advance (Project Atlantis) fan site on the Internet, and we’re still going strong.

“Fan Site.” I really used to hate that term because I think PGC is much more than just a fan site. We’re a real business just like the major sites. We have bills to pay, as well as taxes. One of the major differences from the “big dogs” is that we can’t afford to pay our employees. Our staff works 24-7, 365 days a year for little compensation. We don’t take vacations, or holidays off….and press events are times where we have news flowing like there’s no tomorrow….it’s not an excuse for pathetic updates. We do this for the love of the games. If that is what a “Fan Site” is, I’ll proudly wear that badge of honor.

It’s just strange thinking this Planet entity has been up and running for 3 years. As for most of the staff on Planet GameCube, it’s a part of us. This is what we do. There’s many times staffers put PGC before other things like jobs, dates, school, and even game time. Ok, maybe not dates, but we’re human. To put it lightly, many of us have sacrificed a lot to get where we are now.

This year was our toughest year yet. Year #3 should have been called, “The Year of the Bandwidth.” Ain’t that the truth. I knew what bandwidth was before this year, but I didn’t know how deadly it truly can be. Then again, we took down an entire ISP (our old host) during Spaceworld 2000. Completely. But this year, there were a couple times that we were faced with some pretty difficult challenges and tough decisions. But, as a team, we survived.

It may have been a difficult year, but I have to admit, it was definitely the most rewarding. We’ve survived our first real E3 as a staff, Spaceworld 2001, and tackled the Game Boy Advance Launch as well as globally covered the GameCube Launches live both in Japan and the US. Amidst all of this, we even unleashed a design overhaul without a glitch. There’s about a million things I haven’t mentioned, but to put it lightly, it was a very successful year for Planet GameCube.

There’s been a lot of you who are reading this now that have been following us since the early days of PlanetN2000 (or even earlier…the N2000HQ) and have seen all the changes and improvements we’ve gone through. From our first ever exclusives, to the point where we’ve broken news that’s forced all of the major websites to update on the weekend, we’ve come a long way. And it ain’t over yet folks.

As we start our fourth year online, we’re faced with just as many challenges. Bandwidth is still an issue, more now this year than last. Our traffic has almost quadrupled in size, which sucks more bandwidth than you can imagine. One of our biggest support teams is you…the readers. Last year we were in some serious financial trouble, and almost closed. We’re getting to that same point again right now. So if we make a few changes on the site, please bear with us. We’re not planning on charging anyone for our coverage, so don’t freak out. We just want to stay alive. Donations and advertising are our only hope of survival, and without that support, things could get ugly. So please, continue to support PGC, and you’ll keep getting the Nintendo coverage you love. We need your support.

Okay, it’s time for more Kleenex sappiness…

Not only would I like to thank all of our staff members, but I’d also like to thank Nintendo (WORLD WIDE BABY! WE LOVE YOU ALL!), PR firms everywhere, and the publishers and developers of the games we love. Thank you for recognizing that Planet GameCube is more than just a “fan site”. We’re very grateful for you taking the time answering our numerous e-mails, phone calls, and on-the-spot interviews at press events.

To our families and friends, thanks for not thinking we’re nuts. I mean, we know we’re nuts, but thanks for supporting us by not reminding us about our mental conditions.

On that note, I’d like to thank my Mom and Dad. In the beginning, they totally doubted me, and thought that I was just wasting my time trying to make this work. They could give a rat’s ass about Video Games still, but currently, I don’t know of any bigger fans, or supporters of Planet GameCube than my parents. My Mother and Father barely understand e-mail, and couldn’t open an attachment to save their lives…but they sure know how to access this website. How the hell else can they keep track of me?

Outside of that, we can’t forget the readers. You people rule. You’re the reason we do this. Thank you for your constant support. You are what fuels us, and keeps us going. We hope you have enjoyed the last 3 years of our unparalleled coverage of Nintendo. Thank you all for everything.

Well I think that’s about all I can say without making the majority of you barf on your keyboards. The strippers and the band just got here, so there’s cake and Mountain Dew to be consumed. Keep an eye on us all day long because we’ve got plenty of cool birthday updates coming your way! Just because it’s our birthday doesn’t mean we’re gonna take a break.

On behalf of the staff here at Planet GameCube, thanks for making us what we are today…one of the best Nintendo sites on the Internet.

Word.

B

Billy Berghammer

Director / Founder :: Planet GameCube.com