Nintendo Cube Club 2002

Written by Matt Swider on January 02, 2003

Nintendo Cube Club 2002: At this stylin' nightclub, Nintendo really knew how to hook up the potterЕby displaying its GBA/GCN connection with Harry Potter: and the Chamber of Secrets.

Nintendo traveled to various locations throughout the country to once again hold its Cube Club event that gained some initial success last year when this promotional tour premiered alongside the GameCube console. Spanning fifteen cities in five weeks, each show creates an impact on its attendance ranging from current Nintendo consumers to potential product buyers. Within the large kiosk filled room, gamers were given the chance to experience more than twenty-five titles from the lineup of Nintendo and various third party publishers. Unlike last year, a minimal amount of Game Boy Advance stations were setup since Nintendo didn't intend to run a separate tour for the handheld unit as it did with the Advance Team Tour during the summer of 2001. While the mix of GameCube and Game Boy Advance kiosks weren't exactly balanced, the showcasing of portable games was a surprising and welcome addition to Nintendo Cube Club 2002.

Although we were one of the few websites to offer complete coverage of the Cube Club event in 2001, the trend has caught on this year as several other members from the gaming industry were in attendance along with a handful of celebrities in it for the fun, excitement, and of course, publicity. From New York City to San Francisco Bay, we made the way to once again cover Cube Club for 2002 in full and experience all the games that we could get our hands on. Upon our arrival, we set our sights on various kiosks in order to give each game a test run. Since the tour was nearly over at that time, the majority titles within the extensive GameCube lineup had just become recent releases.

Games like Metroid Prime, Medal of Honor: Frontline, Resident Evil 0, James Bond 007: Nightfire, and Super Monkey Ball 2 seemed to attract the most players out of released bunch. However, it was the two long-awaited Nintendo follow-ups, which weren't in stores at the point and won't be until later this year, garnering the most users and onlookers at the same time. This refers to none of than The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Talker and 1080° Avalanche. There may not have been anything new to be found in the Zelda demo since it was originally exposed during E3, but for a majority of the players, it remained their first chance with the game and likely not their last experience come thirteenth of March. The 1080° Avalanche demo remained just as popular in being only second to The Wind Talker in terms of popularity.

Since it was our first opportunity to sample the gameplay within this second edition of 1080°, we couldn't help but give everyone else some quick impressions of the demo along with our updated views on timeless Legend of Zelda display:

1080° Avalanche:

When sitting down with the first playable demo of 1080° Avalanche, the initial thing you must realize is that this is an early build of the game. There's a good chance that you've heard about 1080° White Storm for several months now, but the truth is that this follow-up to 1080° Snowboarding was being tossed from team to team at Nintendo before finally settling at NST Studios. The other thing to keep in mind is that it's not SSX Tricky, but rather a more realistic snowboarding game that still falls into the extreme sports genre. Many of the key features within the Cube Club demo remain absent, which only heightens our anticipation of a final product. Among them are the supposedly brilliant avalanches that should sport some stunning visual effects in addition to representing the name of the game. Several alternative routes were reportedly blocked off in the Cube Club demo leaving the two-level test run limited to cruising down the slalom at top speed. I still have fond memories of taking the shortcuts to outrun the other boarders in 1080° Snowboarding and expect a healthy amount of branching pathways in this game as well.

At this point, the present trick system feels light without a great deal of stress being placed on revolutions and so forth. Instead, the game takes on a unique system of balancing and grinding that will seem confusing to the uneducated. Then again, the original also had somewhat of a learning curve when attempting to land properly. To accurately land in Avalanche, players are required to tap the left shoulder button upon impact. Timing this is crucial to retain a perfect balance and to ensure that only the board meets the ground and not the boarder. Narrowly pulling off 1080° spins in the half-pipe and performing multiple moves from the extensive tricklist was always a highlight during game of 1080° Snowboarding. Although the entire ticklist in this follow-up couldn't be seen, many of the finer gameplay aspects have already been translated onto the GameCube along with the clever mix of new mechanics.

The draw distance found in the demo is especially noteworthy considering a handful of other games within this genre can't seem to pull off the same quality as a finished product. On top of that, the game runs at a smooth 30FPS even with two-players on the slopes. When 1080° Snowboarding first released, the snow trail left behind by the board was a technical feat to behold for its time. Likewise, Avalanche features enhanced snow and wind effects including the rippling of each rider's clothes. With subtle extras are already intact, 1080 Avalanche appears to be an impressive looking game on the eyes. Though some of the fundamental elements such as using shortcuts and creating avalanches need to be added and other areas of the game could be tweaked, NTS Studios has a couple of months to do just that. Until then, we'll anxiously await for another demo to be shown and the final product to hit stores this coming April.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

With the exception of 1080, Zelda was the only other game on the show floor that had yet to be released in the US. Although that is somewhat disappointing in the sheer quantity of new games yet to be released, it did not disappoint with what it presented. In fact, it surpassed all expectations in this journalist and left me with a great deal of satisfaction and hurtful anticipation when you look at its release date three long months away. However, despite the long wait, I couldn't help but wish I could take the demo disk right out of the sweet Platinum Cube nestled safely from my grubby little hands and my needful thoughts under that thick piece of plastic taunting me with sheer delight.

Despite all my lovely description, I want to talk a bit about how the game played. Although it's fairly obvious by now that I loved it, that still can't keep me from spraying just a few more words forth about this incredible title. First off, the demo shown at the Cube Club was the very same demo from E3 that so many of us have seen media and videos from long ago, but it was no less exhilarating. The visuals, although obviously unfinished, still astonished me with every slash, with every step, with everyЕ well, it was superb in every sense of the word with fluidity that can only be compared to the most fluid 2D sprites ever created, yet the game shined on in glorious 3D that has no rival in its realm. Its artistic style draws from the core elements of Link to the Past while incorporating the brilliant 3D camera system of Ocarina of Time meshing brilliantly into a symphony of movement and light. It was known from its first unveiling at Spaceworld awhile ago that the graphics would be heavily contested and wouldn't go well over with audiences, but for the most part, they succeed in every possible way at a rock solid 60FPS.

The game plays a lot like Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask so fans of those games will feel right at home with these controls despite the slightly different button layout constantly present on the screen since it changes with new items acquired and assigned to different buttons much like the Zelda games preceding it. What would a Zelda game be without a few new surprises though and Wind Waker has them in spades. For starters, the world map has been replaced with an ocean that is incredibly vast stretching across the world and Link travels it with a sail boat from one island to the next and dungeons are encompassed on many of these islands accounting for over 40 hours of full gameplay length. It's obvious from the start that this world is massive and the things you do in the game will change the face of it forever.

With such an old demo, it's hard to really give any new information on the game that has not already been covered in our lengthy preview, but rest assured, the game is excellent, wonderful, and whimsical just like all the other Zeldas released on past Nintendo systems.

The Cube Club hosted in New York had the same type of nightclub atmosphere as last year and it was even setup in the same building, 60 Spring Street. While the club theme was still intact, minor changes and improvements made way for a much more appealing visit. The entire time video game clips played on a gigantic flat screen television above the Cube Club DJ, recognizable music tracks streamed through the room and accompanied everyone as they played through their favorite games. Though certain songs from artists Britney Spears seemed odd choices when taking into account the tastes of the common gamer, the music selected rid the tour of Сnothing but techno jams' which were played relentlessly the year before.

Dozens of new games were on display and the additional Panasonic HDTV's allowed better access for the masses. Off to the side were two vastly larger HDTV sets were four players sit down to participate in games like Mario Party 4 and also experience the WaveBird Wireless controller at the same time. This was probably the best way to show off the WaveBird without having people walk off with it all the time or ruin the effect by somehow chaining it to the console. While the eight people with controllers in hand had the most fun, it wasn't hard to spot the enjoyable expressions of those who got a kick out of classic Nintendo characters run around onscreen and perform some of the most outrageous Mario Party challenges.

Regardless of the name Cube Club, Nintendo sported a couple of the best Game Boy Advance titles to release this past year. The lineup of GameCube titles greatly outweighed those taken on by the mere seven Game Boy Advance kiosks, but Nintendo's trio of Metroid Fusion, The Legends of Zelda, Super Mario 3: Yoshi's Island were available to those adoring fans always on the go. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for the handheld was also linked to its adjacent GameCube counterpart to show off the connection between the two systems. Also hooked up to the Game Boy Advance was single e-reader card device located at the main desk. Its presence was no more prominent than what is normally seen at a local game store, but everyone at the show received a free e-reader card to start off a collection of classic Nintendo games.

For players who became weary or were forced to bow out due to sudden defeat, Snapple provided several different drinks free of charge. Among the different types of Tea and juice were a couple new flavors, all helping fresh our skills and get back into the game. Alongside each booth was a beverage holder where drinks could be placed while taking on the adjoining game. Even though this might not sound all that impressive, the novel idea went a long way. Now, if only Snapple could have created a senor to remind me to reclaim my drink upon hopping from one game to the next.

Aside from playing games, Nintendo Cube Club 2002 featured a very high-tech lounge area. Impatient parents no longer occupied the bland couch and collection of chairs, as was the case last year. Instead, Panasonic supplied what was dubbed the УListening LoungeФ with a number of cool gadgets, which included the latest in its line of MP3 players. This allowed individuals to sit down and listen to music from various artists while others without headphones on could gather and watch movies. One sofa was set in front of portable DVD players running movies like Shrek and Meet the Parents while the other side faced a big screen television playing Fast and the Furious the entire night.