So Long, Dolphin, and Thanks for all the Fish

This year, E3 belonged to the Wii. The 360 had a strong presence, and the PS3 was, um… there, but it’s hard to deny that it was Nintendo who captured the spotlight. Though with all eyes on the next generation of consoles, it’s easy for the current batch to get lost in all the excitement. Enter (or more appropriately, exit) the Gamecube, one such neglected console.

Without a single unit on display in Nintendo’s booth, and with the upcoming Wii capable of emulating the Gamecube through hardware, Nintendo’s aptly-named purple prism looks to be in its last throes of life. The one game that was supposed to herald the end of the Gamecube’s era of relevance, Twilight Princess, has since been adopted by its successor to much fanfare from Nintendo. What else is left to look forward to?

Sure, Nintendo has confirmed that Super Paper Mario does, in fact, exist, much the same as air exists in a vacuum. With nothing but a scant ten screenshots to go on (even lacking its own page on Nintendo.com), all we can infer about this game is that it stars Mario, and that he is quite possibly (though this is not confirmed) made out of paper. As for the rest of the Gamecube’s 2006 lineup, I sincerely hope that I am not the only person on the planet who was disturbed by the absence of any and all news pertaining to Kirby GCN.

What’s left for Gamecube owners now? In short, nothing, and that’s exactly the way Nintendo would have it. It’s clear now that the way of the future is Wii, for better or worse. In memoriam, let us not forget the Gamecube’s myriad innovations, such as wireless first-party controllers, handheld to console connectivity, and, er… a handle. As we lay you to rest, we are consoled by the fact that your controllers will always live on in our memories, so long as we continue to lay the smackdown upon our foes in Smash Bros. Godspeed, gentle porpoise, and thanks for all the fish.