Gamecube Proprietary DVD
Gamecube uses a unique DVD format designed by Matsushita solely for Nintendo. The 8-cm disc holds 1.5GBs of data and has elaborate encryption scheme ¿ one which Matsushita and Nintendo intend to never be cracked. That's nearly 47 times the size of the Zelda: The Ocarina of Time cartridge. Many would be quick to heckle Nintendo for not choosing a normal DVD format that would house 4.7GBs of data. It is true that Nintendo's choice in media is quite a bit smaller than the PS2's, for instance, but the truth is that developers don't realistically need that much space. The Gamecube uses S3TC texture compression and MuSyx for interactive sound, which eliminates some of the need for filling up the DVDs with uncompressed data. As well, the discs shouldn't be prohibitively expensive, so using 2 discs shouldn't pose a huge problem.
The good news is that Nintendo didn't just get these tiny discs made to be stylish and protect themselves from piracy. The discs actually stream data faster than normal DVDs, so we'll see some reduction in load time because of it. Given enough skill with managing the RAM, smart developers shouldn't have too much trouble reducing the loading.
Digicard
This memory card is designed exclusively for Gamecube, you won't see it used elsewhere. Nintendo didn't reveal much about it, but it includes 4Mbits (about .5MB) flash memory. How quickly it writes is unknown, but Nintendo promises it is highly efficient for playing games. Again, the competition offers a much higher-density memory card, but chances are the Digicard will cost less and perform more efficiently. The Digicard is thought to be made by Macronix, the company who currently supplies Nintendo with it's ROM memory for the N64.
SD-Digicard Adapter
Here is one aspect of Gamecube that was speculated on, but never thought to be true. The system will have an optional Digicard adapter so users can utilize a 64MB San Disk memory card. The card will be used so you can download media from the Internet, digital cameras, as well as game data. The latter one being the most important. You'll be able to save a ton of game data on these 64MB cards (which will eventually be 128MB), so if you buy one you won't even have to consider buying another for a great deal of time. Although, depending on how you use the cards to download media from the Internet it will vary. But, it gets better. These 64MB cards can also be used for writing and rewriting game data. This means that the Gamecube will potentially have games that utilize rewritability. Nintendo tried to prove this technique successful with the 64DD, but fell very short of delivering any high-quality products. Most of this was due to the fact that Nintendo itself didn't really support the 64DD with many major games. The one game (series) that did take some advantage of the 64DD's capabilities was probably the ill-fated add-on's best ¿ the Mario Artist series. By using the rewritable aspects of 64DD you could create your own vehicles, characters, or even textures. The title was more of a "software application" than a game. Just imagine the possibilities if this was applied to your average gameplay. Players could enjoy seeing their games change over time with things like growing trees, decaying bodies, or even seeing the bullet holes in one of your character's outfits from a battle fought years before. With Nintendo's imagination, the possibilities are endless.
Digital Video Cable
Gamecube not only supports the general analog audio/video outputs, but also has a digital video cable. The digital video cable will be used to output progressive scan video to a HDTV if you can afford one. This offers video clarity beyond compare. If you think the Gamecube software you've seen will look good on your normal TV you won't believe your eyes when gazing at a HDTV.
Expansion Ports
Fortunately for us, the Gamecube has two serial ports as well as one "speed port". The use of these ports is completely unknown at this point, but Nintendo is leaving nothing to chance. If they, later, want to sell an add-on hard drive, among other things, that's their prerogative. The "speed port" is actually a high-speed parallel port, but its use is rather mysterious at this point. It could be used for transferring data from a video camera or digital camera, or it may be there "just in case". Nintendo likes to keep its options open, and that's just what it has done.
Despite all these wonderful technological advancements, Nintendo's Gamecube philosophy revolves around games -- not future expansion, not trendy hardware, and not to ensure it will act as some complete digital entertainment hub. What Nintendo has done is utilized the powerful nature of their technology to form a perfect blend of innovation and technology, thus ensuring plenty of options for game creation. The Gamecube design not only encompasses the design of a well-rounded gaming console, but it also leaves the doors open to the future.
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