The Nintendo GameCube is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64. As a sixth-generation console, the GameCube primarily competed with Sony's PlayStation 2, Sega's Dreamcast and Microsoft's Xbox.
The Wii is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, following the GameCube, and is a seventh-generation console alongside Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3.
The WaveBird Wireless Controller is a radio frequency-based wireless controller manufactured by Nintendo for use with the GameCube home video game console. Its name is a reference to Dolphin, the GameCube's codename during development. The WaveBird was available for purchase separately as well as in bundles with either Metroid Prime or Mario Party 4, which were exclusive to Kmart in the US.
Nintendo optical discs are physical media used to distribute video games on three of Nintendo's consoles that followed the Nintendo 64. These are the GameCube Game Disc, Wii Optical Disc, and Wii U Optical Disc. The physical size of a GameCube Game Disc is that of a miniDVD; Wii Optical Discs are based on DVD format, and Wii U Optical Discs are based on Blu-ray format. To maintain backward compatibility between generations of game consoles, GameCube discs are compatible with the first model of the Wii, and Wii Optical Discs are compatible with the Wii U. A burst cutting area is located at the inner ring of the disc surface. All official discs and their formats were manufactured and developed by Panasonic.
The Wii Remote, informally referred to with the portmanteau Wiimote, is the primary game controller for Nintendo's Wii home video game console. An essential capability of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via motion sensing, gesture recognition, and pointing using an accelerometer and optical sensor technology. It is expandable by adding attachments. The attachment bundled with the Wii console is the Nunchuk, which complements the Wii Remote by providing functions similar to those in gamepad controllers. Some other attachments include the Classic Controller, Wii Zapper, and the Wii Wheel, which was originally released with the racing game, Mario Kart Wii.
The Classic Controller is a game controller produced by Nintendo for the Wii home video game console. While it later featured some compatibility with the Wii U console, the controller was ultimately succeeded by the Wii U Pro Controller. In April 2014, Nintendo discontinued production of both the Classic Controller and Classic Controller Pro.
The GameCube controller is the standard game controller for the GameCube home video game console, manufactured by Nintendo and launched in 2001. As the successor to the Nintendo 64 controller, it is the progression of Nintendo's controller design in numerous ways. The contentious M-shaped design of its predecessor was replaced with a more conventional handlebar style controller shape; a second analog stick was added, replacing the C buttons with a C stick and the X and Y face buttons, last seen on the Super Nintendo controller, were reintroduced; the shoulder buttons were changed to hybrid analog triggers. A wireless variant of the GameCube controller known as the WaveBird was released in 2002.
The Japanese multinational consumer electronics company Nintendo has developed seven home video game consoles and multiple portable consoles for use with external media, as well as dedicated consoles and other hardware for their consoles. As of September 30, 2021, in addition to Nintendo Switch, Nintendo has sold over 863.07 million hardware units.
The Wii U is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4.
