Why Do We Love the GAMECUBE Controller? #nintendo #gamecube

foreign [Music] [Music] thing I love about video games is witnessing their evolution seeing them go from the equivalent of something you play in class on the calculator these giant pieces of art that you can actually still play in class but not on the calculator anymore it's something that blows me away but you know what my favorite part is actually seeing the evolution through Hardware Designs something I like to do in my free time is look at and study consoles and their variations from throughout the years and one of my favorite things to look at is our connection to the virtual world which is the controller there's just something so magical at the first time you unbox and hook up a console finally getting your hands on that day one pad to start playing heck sometimes the controller is your first experience with the console as in the case of Nintendo for some reason releasing the 64 Controller before the actual 64. how about the block control how long it feels like a month or two I mean it was ridiculous it was weird well at least in some regions they really knew they had a winner with that bad boy huh we've gone from controllers looking like TV remotes to musical instruments to even our bodies being the controller but hey thanks for moving past that with Microsoft but there's one controller that forever stands out from the rest to everyone that's played with it I'm not sure why I'm teasing with the Duke you already title it's the GameCube controller this little sequel to Nintendo's m-shaped piece of alien Tech is one of the most universally praised and well-loved controllers of all time and for the longest I wonder why to find the answer to that I want to venture back to its Beginnings Nintendo Japan two decades ago [Music] the year is 1998 and Nintendo is coming off of what it and many others consider its first True commercial failure the Nintendo 64. while the 64 sold well enough that reportedly 30 million plus worldwide the 200 unit is expected to be in higher demand than the Cabbage Patch doll was a few years ago if you're coming to the store to get your hand on one of these you'll likely end up with one of these and they're not guaranteeing you can get one before the holidays there's no match for the monster created in Sony's original PlayStation for a myriad of reasons mustache man your worst nightmare has arrived I got a little surprise let's get to find the answer to their problems and hopefully that classic Nintendo success along the way should give me a model and the rest of the team went to the drawing board to learn from their past to create the future their console originated in 2000 then the star cube and then the Nintendo Advance was finally underway after partnering up with Ardex small graphical hardware company with just around 20 Engineers attached to it as always the gaming world was caught up in ninten Mania but will be left doing nothing but guessing on Nintendo's N64 successor that is until it was officially announced that this in-development console would be called named project dolphin because we all love a weird code name right Scorpio along with the soon to be GameCube Nintendo literally had its hands full with a new design for the controller to go along with it look into the future as always Nintendo hit the ground running early with aspirations of jumping into the world of motion controls years before the Wii was even a thought Nintendo even patented and developed prototypes early sensory in his past during the gamecubus development funnily enough part of the reason we know about this comes from Nintendo's now third party x-rival Sega when it's then vice president of development Greg Thomas was asked about a new generation of gaming he responded but I heard Whispers of his sensory controller coming from the Big Ten though stating what does word mean is Dolphin sensory controllers because there's an example of someone thinking about something different while different it was despite archive patents showcasing we like controls for the GameCube it wasn't something anyone had to worry about as of now as Nintendo broke away from that idea and decided to go with something more simple yet still different Nintendo had a different problem to solve before it jumped into the world of motion and it had to do with the hands of players it wanted to be in control of this new cube-shaped vision [Music] in a 1999 interview at Classic IGN Miyamoto spoke on the issues Nintendo was looking to fix going from the N64 to the GameCube and one was hand sizes the major problem is that the Japanese user says that the N64 controller is too big and the Americans that says its appropriate size mean model sent to the interviewer funny side note following his answer me and model asked the interviewer what do they think of the controller to which they responded that they and other dads felt it needed more buttons mid Moto laughed and said maybe to add a keyboard imagine that right what a crazy idea anyways the GameCube controller was obviously a key piece of the developmental puzzle for the 2000s console and me and model even admits that the game King controller is a controller he spent the longest time on designing in fact the final design for the GameCube controller is like the fourth or fifth controller design Nintendo actually landed on during that same Round Table Miyamoto revealed the mission for the GameCube controller one that may not have been fully realized but many consider its success our Target user for his controller is not very specific it's very general Miyamoto stated as even a beginner who's never sets a controller can use it your grandmother can use it or even children with small hands can use it I think it's already been three years or so since I started working on this controller design the GameCube controller went through many designs one which even completely removed that little d-pad many of us consider so useless but one of the big changes is one that involved changing one of the big innovation Nintendo themselves brought to the gaming world and that is the face button replacement we see on the right side of every controller pulse NES this involved changing the shapes and sizes of the buttons in order to make their uses immediately obvious to any player a small red beats to show that is typically attached to a secondary yet more Dynamic buttons the gray kidney beam shaped X and Y to show that they were used for more intuitive controls and a welcoming Big Green Egg to conveyance importance of every game This brilliant design choice will be the basis for the GameCube controller a controller to make itself immediately and completely evident and self-explanatory to any and every player interested in the little console everything was carefully planned to fit naturally in your hand exactly where it should be like something out of a Cronenberg movie and yet another IGN interview GameCube technical director Jim Merrick States when you guys get your hands on it you'll see it feels really good there's two systems of the button centered around each thumb the primary analog stick sits really easily where your thumb very naturally falls on the left side the a button is intuitive because it's right where your thumb would naturally be and then it's a simple archdown to either side of the analog or d-pad all signs pointed to the game controller being the next level in gaming Innovation inclusivity and fun Factor bit mid model will soon see the fruits of his labor rot at least in his own eyes [Music] at the end of it all despite all the hard work and planning mid model ended up turning on his years of work calling the GameCube controller an underwhelming product and stating that he believes his focus on the controller in this outcome ended up being the reason that no new players jumped to the GameCube not even the fact that it was possible to play Mario Party on the Canon with a wireless wave birth condition of the controller could save the GameCube from miyamoto's bad side so years later why is it so loved by gamers some even going as far as to call it the best controller of all time which has resulted in Nintendo re-releasing controller multiple times in the following gaming generation the answer lies both in the amazing designs philosophies that Miyamoto speaks of and the mistakes he's ashamed of if you take a step to the pass with the old 2000's IGN reactions to the first Hands-On moments with the controller you'll find that their reaction is the same as many others the GameCube controller is a comfortable controller on all ends it melts in your hands it's just as comfortable and plush as it looks time and time again all reports stated not to Justice Fisher Price looking controller by its cover until you get your hands on it Mido and the team's hard work wasn't for nothing though as he said the controller is literally built to be the perfect fit for both the hands and the mind it's easy to find out what it does and how it works simply by tilting controller for example it's extra obvious that the A and B the most dynamic buttons on the controller are used to attack and Smash Brothers Melee with the kidney shaped X and Y being the jump are something that casual players will see is more intuitive but I wouldn't I just use tap jump instead of those they may think well if you use the buttons instead you have more specified control over your jumps both in length and height which is why they're so important in competitive smash on all ends this controller is just a completely perfect port go into the GameCube world yet only those who have witnessed it in that regard will truly understand but the issue is that it's only that a GameCube controller for gamecuba enjoyers and that's what me and model realized when it was time to get working on the Nintendo Wii there's a question actually at the early round table for the GameCube that sort of culminates the issues with the GameCube controller if you think about it in a broader sense do you feel that the GameCube controller will be good for all types of games like fighting games and music rhythm games or when Nintendo produces special controller for special games I think that Mr tazuku would like to add more but when designing the GameCube controller I thought that was very versatile for many types of games me and Moto answered the media itself is far less costly than ROM cartridges so if you'd like to we could have pack-in sets including GameCube software and a dedicated controller that's the kind of thoughts that we can think about now that we have cheaper material media for the GameCube so of course we are always listening to the creators opinions and for the Nintendo GameCube controller design we have asked for opinions from a number of different software developers Nintendo executive director Takashi tazuka added I think that the current design of the game key controller has incorporated most of these game ideas so for the time being only with this game controller most games can be played on GameCube of course if they still want to make something very very different from what we have perceived from the beginning they'll have to come up with a separate controller while it doesn't necessarily mean this this exchange sort of says yeah the GameCube controller is literally perfect but only when it's used for GameCube specified games while the question and response pertain to different extremes it definitely can be used in the case of more than just fighting games in Rhythm games it's an issue that Nintendo has dealt with throughout all time post Super Nintendo where its hardware and design decisions hurt his developmental relationships with third-party devs Call of Duty Street Fighter Etc there's so many games and genres that struggle to be played with the GameCube controller and that's because they aren't designed with a game keep in mind but the gaming World At Large this is what put an ugly blemish on the reputation of what could be the greatest control of all time we're at fitting for anything beyond the gamecube's library of titles that's not even to mention the obvious flaws of it the ugly little d-pad that sometimes use a c-stick the flimsy lover hate triggers and its tendency to somewhat break under pressure as seen with competitive smash these are all things that Nintendo has shifted away from post GameCube to adapt to better and more wider audience friendly designs which are largely shared throughout the gaming industry of course with their little twists here and there and a few missteps [Music] while the GameCube controller isn't truly the perfect controller it still lives on a level beyond that of the others while the Duke and the original DualShock designs have been completely left behind in favor for upgraded and more comfortable controllers fans continuously beg for the return of the GameCube controller for certain titles resulting in Nintendo regulations to get multiple times and third-party creators constantly pumping out the bootlegs as well I'm sure there are a few of you watching that literally refuse to play any smash game or GameCube games in general without using the game key controller myself included and that's because those titles are weather Perfection and comfort of it really shines despite its flaws and its Perfection being limited to certain GameCube titles only the Nintendo GameCube controller's perception is a true sign of how amazing it is even more than any concert controller out there its Legacy is one that seems to have no ending in sight and I doubt we're even close to ever seeing the end of it in the world of gaming I want to end this video with a quote from Nintendo's parent Kaplan I will say and I don't want this to sound arrogant on behalf of Nintendo but I think they were the only company in really me and motto that understands the control in the game are one big fluid thing thank you so much as always for watching please like And subscribe for more content have a good afternoon evening or night [Music]

Channel: D's Records

Views: 728

Keywords: nintendo, gamecube, gaming, retro games, super mario, super mario sunshine

Id: 6Cg25uhRGNE

Length: 12min 57sec (777 seconds)

Published: Fri May 19 2023