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"Ten years ago today - May 3, 2002 - saw the release of the Nintendo GameCube in stores across Europe, almost six months after the US and eight months after its debut in Japan. While it wasn&amp;#039;t as well received by fans and critics compared to Nintendo&amp;#039;s other systems, such as the NES, SNES and Nintendo 64, it was an unique console that generated a number of surprising releases.   Nintendo let its hair down and experimented with familiar franchises; Super Mario Sunshine and Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker took new approaches to platforming and visual styles respectively, Metroid went first person with the incredible Metroid Prime series and Donkey Kong had a musical twist with the bongo-slapping Donkey Konga.      It also established Super Smash Bros. and Super Monkey Ball as must-have franchises, brought Animal Crossing to the West, and introduced a number of new and much-loved properties including Pikmin and Eternal Darkness.      While its lack of hardware innovations were glaring, the shift to optical discs was an essential one for Nintendo, while its connectivity with the Game Boy Advance could be regarded as a precursor to the Wii U. And who can forget that it came with its own carrying handle, eh?      Despite lagging behind in sales and popularity with the PS2 and Xbox, it had the last laugh when it became fully backwards compatible through the ground-breaking Wii, making it the easiest of the bunch to revisit and enjoy today. &amp;gt; Retro Corner: Super Game Boy What are your fond memories of the GameCube? Share them in the comments below! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/news/a379766/gamecube-celebrates-its-10th-birthday-in-europe/>