What is it with all the PGC birthdays lately? Today, PGC’s programmer papa Justin Nation turns 28, and we’d like to propose a toast!

It’s birthday time again here on Planet GameCube and this time it’s PGC’s programming wizard / Senior Editor / super-daddy, Justin Nation! WHOOOOOOO! Why all the excitement? Simple! Justin rocks in 41 flavahs! (Take that Baskin Robbins!)

Justin has been a mainstay of the Nintendo online... Read more...

Yessir, plane has landed, and I've already raided stores and spent all my monies. Kidding. Check my first notes from the land of the rising sun!

Ahhhhhh! It's good to be back in Japan. 12 hour flights suck, unless you get a business class ticket. The food is better, the drinks are better, and you can actually recline your seats and sleep. You think I could actually sleep? Hells no.

I haven't really done a whole lot since I got here.... Read more...

Nintendo’s newest competitor seems to be preparing to raise the price of its X-tra large console by packing in games, peripherals and warranties.

LA Times ran an interesting article yesterday regarding Microsoft’s X-Box, which launches on November 8th in North America, hot on the heels of Nintendo GameCube’s November 5th launch. On top of appearing 3 days later than the GameCube, X-Box is priced $100 more than the GameCube’s $199 price, though justifies its high price tag by including a hard drive and the ability to upgrade to a DVD player.

The first ever pictures of the GameCube game packaging are revealed.

A Japanese web site, GC-Inside, has snagged the first pics of the boxes for the Japanese Nintendo GameCube games. They are DVD cases sized, but they appear to be a slipcase design. It looks as if a tray with the game would slide into that case. DVD cases will be used in the boxes for American GameCube... Read more...

The Japanese commercial for Wave Race: Blue Storm has hit the net! Check out this super cool ad! Updated! Fixed link!

Thanks to PGC reader Kyle Oraa, we’ve just got our hands on the Japanese commercial for Wave Race Blue Storm, which is set to launch on GameCube on September 14th. Pre-orders for the system have just begun in Japan, and Ninendo is beginning to build the hype which should escalate to a frenzy during its SpaceWorld show next week.

It's a question as old as time...well... as old as 1991.

After 10 years of fighting between Sega and Nintendo, the two are friends. Sega's Sonic Team, Amusement Vision and others are now developing for Nintendo systems. Rumors have even appeared concerning Sonic in Super Smash Bros. Melee. But the talented folks at VGDC (you can find a link to the movie... Read more...

Not only is Billy going to Spaceworld, he is on the plane RIGHT NOW!

I just got a call from our Venerable Leader Billy Berghammer. He is currently sitting in Business Class on a 747 enroute to Tokyo, Japan.

It was touch and go there for a bit. Billy was flying standby, and luckily there was one seat available for him on the flight.

Billy's going to update as soon as he gets to his hotel.

Ed Boon hints at a MK game for Game Boy Advance...

GameSpot has discovered something at MK co-creator Ed Boon's website that may indicate a GBA Mortal Kombat game being in the works. Apparently Boon asks visitors to his site about which Mortal Kombat game they'd like to see come to GBA, and which characters should be included. Certainly not an official confirmation, but this does bring MK for GBA into the "Maybe" category.

Planet GameCube is headed back to Japan! So...who's all going, when do we leave, and what's the gameplan? Read on!

Ohayo!

Spaceworld begins Thursday, and we're gearing up for the big show. Justin Wood, and myself will be kickin' it live from Japan this year. We'll also have a couple new staff members in tow to help us report live from the Makuhari Messe. We'd like to welcome Kelly Starr, Joe Fletcher, and a new secret weapon that is yet to be disclosed.

The latest Famitsu chart, covering August 6th - 12th, is out.

Here is the latest Famitsu chart:

Everybody's Golf 3 - PS2 - 74,057 / (452,004)

Comic Party - DC - 69,374

Golden Sun - GBA - 48,958 / (178,271)

Derby Stallion 64 - N64 - 48,493

Mario Kart Advance - GBA - 47,209 / (438,799)

From TV Animation: Let's Dash out Pirates - PS - 41,428 / (142,430)

A few new tidbits on the current state of Metroid Prime and its upcoming appearence at SpaceWorld have emerged.

Although Retro Studios has had a mess of trouble, canned projects and several layoffs for once we can report some good news, by way of GameSpot on its work on the highly anticipated Metroid Prime. Although it won’t be playable at SpaceWorld, GameSpot has heard directly from Retro who reports the game’s first level has been completed and is being evaluated by Nintendo.

You may have caught the rumors and hints, but it's about to be official: Namco's soul burns for GameCube in a big way!

IGNCube has just been able to confirm that Soul Calibur 2 will be coming to GameCube, which means it’s probably safe for us to also say, BOO-YEAH it is! According to our sources this is very true and if you’ve been following PGC, we’ve been hinting at this for awhile too… In fact, buzz concerning... Read more...

Rick tells everyone EXACTLY how Sonic Team made the "mystery screenshot" ...

Sonic really opened up a can of worms. Everyone is dissecting that "Mystery Screenshot" as if it were a legit game and not the creation of a web developer that needed art.

Folks, don't take the screenshot at face value. Yes, the mystery game is likely to be Sonic (since anything else would... Read more...

Lego lets the world know game plans thru its new toy line. Updated!

One of our readers, SwiminDawg, wrote in to let us know he’d stumbled across a game announcement for Cube after a bout of toy shopping. Check it out:

Wazzup PGC? Hey, I just bought a Lego Bionicle at Toys R Us today. Inside the tube were Legos and a mini-CD. After installing the DC on... Read more...

Rick's back from the 2001 Today Show Toy Test. Impressions of Super Monkey Ball, Wave Race and Rogue Leader inside!

It's not easy being one of the world's premiere Nintendo journalists. I had to drive through the worst traffic in the nation in order to get to the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, home of the 1962 World's Fair, and the host to the Annual "Toy Test."

With your paid admission to the Science... Read more...

GameCube just for kids? Not quite says Amusement Vision president Toshihiro Nagoshi!

Sega’s Amusement Vision division seems pretty happy to be working on a Nintendo system. AV’s president, Toshihiro Nagoshi’s personal enthusiasm has been well documented, but with SpaceWorld approaching he couldn’t help but further explain his support for the Cube:

“I think just about... Read more...

Sometimes you have to do things that nobody particularly likes but just gotta happen. This is one of those times...

In light of the bandwidth/processor hog that the site has become and with SpaceWorld right around the corner we've decided to get rid of our hosted Forums and set up shop in freebie-world. Granted, some people may like the newer digs but most likely people will be disappointed. Well, that's how dat cookie it a crumbles unfortunately... and better the cookie than the site.

Someone is selling a GameCube controller on Ebay! You won't be able to use it though.

Want a limited edition GameCube controller right now? Why is it limited edition you ask? Well for two reasons....

1. It's not the final version of the GameCube controller. It's more like the version we played at E3. I would almost say, exactly alike.

2. The cord is cut.

IGNCube gets more information about Metroid's Heads-Up Display, including a pretty cool looking mock-up ...

The news about Retro Studios "Metroid" has been very quiet lately ... too quiet, amongst all the hullaballo surrounding the company. However, Metroid still appears to be ontrack, as IGNCube has managed to wriggle a few details from within the company about the first-person view.

According to... Read more...

IGN Cube has a scan from Famitsu that reveals all.

As Space World draws near, Famitsu is churning out more and more Nintendo information. According to Famitsu's sources, it appears that the GameCube-GBA link cable has been altered. It now features a thick base at the GBA end that snaps into the GBA accessory holes. Though IGN suggests this has to do with stability, Nintendo has not revealed the reasoning behind the change yet.