These smaller discs contained a mere 1.5 GB of storage, in comparison to the full-sized DVDs used on the PS2 and Xbox, which held 8.5 GB. The GameCube used small, proprietary discs similar to miniDVDs, which designers hoped would limited copyright infringement through CD burning, and also reduce the cost of games. It also supported connectivity to Nintendo's newest handheld, the Game Boy Advance.Īlthough the GameCube possessed superior graphics to its main rival, the PlayStation 2, it lacked the ability to play DVDs, one of the PS2's main selling points.
The GameCube represented a number of firsts for Nintendo, becoming its first console to use optical discs instead of cartridges for its games, and its first console to allow online gaming. It competed primarily against Sony's PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox. Released in 2001, the GameCube is Nintendo's fourth home console video game system.
