N.G.C. - Nintendo Gamer Coalition

The Dolphin

Ah, nostalgia. In this section, I will display the earliest data on the GameCube, when it was first referred to as N200X, then Project: Dolphin, then Star Cube, then finally, GameCube. Enjoy this little history lesson.

Rumors began appearing about N200X probably in about late 1998. Details were very sketchy, but we knew a successor to the N64 was in the works, and it wasn't the 64DD. The first games announced for the N200X came in about 1999 when Shadowman 2 and The Matrix were revealed. The developers at thr time were unknown, although it was likely the games would be developed by Acclaim or Konami. Rumors then began floating about that Squaresoft would be jumping back in bed with Nintendo, and also that all the games planned for the 64DD would be jumping to N200X instead. By the end of the year, rumors arose saying that the N200X, now called Project: Dolphin, would use DVD-RAM.

The preceding are mockup images by an unknown author who decided his "drawings" were indeed the true plans of what the Dolphin really looed like. His claims are obviously false as the system is WAY too small and too much resembles a CD player.

The following are images from the Japanese gaming magazine, Famitsu, in the July issue of 1999. For the longest time, these were the most dependable images and generally accepted plans for the Dolphin. It is pretty safe to say that Famitsu generated these illustrations on their own just to help get people on the ball wil Project: Dolphin. The following images are show the Dolphin at several angles, as well as a image mockup of the supposed controller.

Pages of the magazine with details of the components, all in Japanese.

The controller...note the extra lights on the right and left, also the LCD screen in the middle. There are also two spheres in the

By the second quarter of 2000, rumors quickly emerged claiming IBM improving their "Gekko" chip, also codenamed "the Dolphin", to work up into the gigahertz range for the Dolphin. The chip would most likely improve the system in general, much more than what was said at E3 2000, where they said they Dolphin's speed would be somewhere from 400 to 1000 MHz. It would not be until August at SpaceWorld when Nintendo would finally spill the beans on Project Dolphin.

Here, there is another image that is supposedly the Dolphin...although it looks way too much like the N64, so you can eliminate this as a fake.

A Dolphin which looks way too much like an N64.

Although at first glance it looks like a farce(which it is), it is interesting to see the type of images that are found in the internet. The first one is supposedly the console and the second the chipset of the Dolphin.

The Dolphin? No way! Too small and thin, like the PS2.

These are some interesting images I have seen in some places. The first one obviously is the impression of an artist of as should be the Dolphin, it is more interesting is that included is a drive of 200 mbs that accompanies all DVD, perhaps something along the lines of a hard drive. It is believed that they should include it instead of releasing it as a peripheral. The second thing, is "supposedly" Mario Kart for the Dolphin.

A DVD player photoshopped to look like a console. Tsk, tsk.

Rumors soon began appearing that the Dolphin would be able to go online. This got a lot of gamers' attention as Sega's recently released Dreamcast's online capabilities were remarkable, allowing for a lot of creativity, for both developers and gamers. Those rumors were soon to be confirmed NOT true when Nintendo themselves stated that they would not be equipping the Dolphin with a 56K modem like Sega did with the Dreamcast, nor a ISDN connection or a cable modem. The reason for this is because they are a lot more expensive(though quicker) than a conventional modem, which permits play super quick. If Nintendo would in some form release this type of accessory, they would have thousands of users that would pay a lot of money for that kind of thing, as Nintendo's franchises such as Mario or Zelda online would eclipse that of anything Sony or Sega could dish out.

It would not be until April 2002 when Nintendo would even release a rough outline of their online plans.