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GameCube Wins “Best of Show” E3 Award!

by Max Lake - June 19, 2001, 4:21 am EDT
Source: E3 Critic Awards

Nintendo GameCube has won the coveted “Best of Show” in the E3 Critics Awards. The results have just been announced & Nintendo has received awards in many categories! W-O-R-D!

Earlier today we did a story on the E3 Critics Awards and Nintendo being nominated in several categories. Well, the results are in and Nintendo has received many accolades. I can’t help but reprint this stuff (with credit of course!); after all, these awards reflect opinions across both game & mainstream media. Plus, E3 “Best of Show” awards could possibly be the equivalent of Oscars or something for the game industry. Save that the Oscar Awards grade finished products, not works in progress… But it’s still pretty big – and exactly the news longtime Nintendo fans have wanted to hear in terms of GameCube: Nintendo stole the show.

Anyway, here’s a recap of the awards Nintendo received:

”Best of Show” - Nintendo GAMECUBE

(Nintendo)

If you were at E3, you probably experienced the crush that was Nintendo's booth. If not, suffice it to say that breathing and moving were purely impossible as ten thousand people tried to fight their way through the crowd to catch thirty-second glimpses of the GAMECUBE, Nintendo's little purple wonder. Countless hoards were seen sprinting through the expo every morning when the floor opened to get one more look at Nintendo's latest -- and, perhaps, greatest.

-- Aaron Loeb, Chairman, Game Critics Awards

(Runner-up: Star Wars Galaxies for PC)

Best Console Hardware -Nintendo GAMECUBE

(Nintendo)

The Little Console That Could. Nintendo's zero-hype strategy towards the GAMECUBE launch at E3 paid off handsomely. Most who saw the purple Kleenex box-sized successor to the N64 were unexpectedly impressed. Much of the GAMECUBE can be defined by what it is NOT. The console is not a DVD player. Nor will it be able to download MP3s out of the box. This is a streamlined game machine, pure and simple. Though nominally underpowered compared to its rivals, the GAMECUBE is surprisingly nimble, thanks to a lightning-fast MoSys memory architecture. So games such as WaveRace and Luigi's Mansion stack up gamely to anything seen so far on the Xbox or PlayStation 2. And at $199.95, the GAMECUBE is coming in at one-third the price of its beefier competitors. As a added bonus, the GAMECUBE is compatible with the GameBoy Advance, which can be used as an extra controller.

-- Alex Pham, Technology Reporter, Los Angeles Times

(Runner up: X-Box by Microsoft)

Best Action Game - Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron 2

(Factor 5/LucasArts for GAMECUBE)

Sure it's the same old Star Wars from 20 years ago. You get a chance to blow up the Death Star or fight the battle on Hoth. What's new about that? Well, this time around, you finally get to do it in style, with the kind of graphics that rival those seen in the original trilogy. Fast framerates, a ton of space combat, and to top it all off, it's from the same team that did the original Rogue Squadron -- LucasArts knows how to stay on target.

-- Dean Takahashi, Senior Writer, Red Herring

(Runner-up: Medal of Honor Allied Assault - 2015 Inc./Electronic Arts for PC)

Best Fighting Game Super Smash Bros. Melee

(Nintendo for GAMECUBE)

Only Nintendo has been able to wrest fighting games from the dark niches of convoluted arcane gaming and deliver a fighting game that everyone can enjoy. Super Smash Bros. Melee, with its glossy three-dimensional characters and flashy interactive battle environments, splashes Nintendo’s signature characters on screen and twists them into a dazzling specular melee that pays tribute to Nintendo’s ability to provide gaming fun for players of all ages and abilities. Super Smash Bros. Melee is going to be a kaleidoscope of flashy, four-player fun come November.

-- Jules Grant, Executive Editor, Electric Playground

(Runner-up: Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium - Capcom for PS2)

Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game – Pikmin

(Nintendo for GAMECUBE)

The folks at Nintendo call this "ants and plants." While this sounds about as exciting as a grass-growing sim, even hard-core gamers couldn't wait to get their hands on this oddball game after creator Shigeru Miyamoto demonstrated it at the Nintendo press conference. Was it just the Miyamoto Magic, or does this game really have legs? While opinions differ about "Pikmin," all agreed that this was one of the most curious and inventive offerings at E3.

-- Alex Pham, Technology Reporter, Los Angeles Times

(Sonic Team’s Chu Chu Rocket for GBA got the Runner-up in this category.)

Other items of interest…

“Best sports” went to Activision’s Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 (THPS3) with EA’s NBA Street as the Runner Up. Although it isn’t noted in the awards, both games have been confirmed for GameCube. THPS3 is coming to X-Box & GBA too.

“Best Original Game” went to EA’s Majestic for the PC with the Nintendo’s Pikmin getting the Runner-up. “Best Console Game” went to Metal Gear Solid 2 for the PS2 with the Runner-up going to Rogue Leader.

Although X-Box was the Runner-up for “Best New Hardware” it won no awards. Nor did any X-Box games. Project Gotham Racing (Bizarre Creations/Microsoft for Microsoft Xbox) got Runner-up for “Best Racing” to Gran Turismo 3 tho’. Then again, only one GBA game (Chu Chu Rocket) got an honorable mention and the GBA, though nominated for "best hardware," was nowhere to be found. (It's still quite a winner though!)

Interestingly enough, there was no award issued for “Special Commendation for Graphics” this year.

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