First-Ever GameCube Model Revealed In New Photos

Summary

• The GameCube may be close to two decades old, but for the first time, the first-ever GameCube has been photographed for the public.
• Consolevariants, a team dedicated to cataloging every console available, has made it its mission to track down the "Project Dolphin" console, which had been photographed only twice previously.
• After a long wait, the team was able to take a handful of photographs of the console for its database and to share with the world.
• In a surprising twist, the console is not what you might think it is.

Nintendo's GameCube may have been released 23 years ago, and it may have received its final video game 16 years ago, but the first-ever GameCube has just made its way online today.

OK, let's pause to add some background. The group at Consolevariations, a databse dedicated to catalogging every variation of every console ever made, has been chasing down the first-ever physical GameCube console for a long time. Codenamed "Project Dolphin," this console had previously only been photographed twice, according to the team.

However, Consolevariants were finally able to see the console in person, as well as photograph it for its database and to share with the world. Based off the images shared, the wait was well worth it.

The Nintendo GameCube Was Design Perfection

Remembering the aesthetic brilliance of Nintendo's bold, cube-shaped console, 20 years later.

In The End, It's Actually Just A Box

The team at Consolevariants was only permitted to take a handful of photographs, which can be found here, but what was allowed is certainly interesting. First off, the controller ports at the front end of the console are upside down compared to what was finalized and released to the public.

Elsewhere, the top of the console, which is where games are inserted, features a "Nintendo Dolphin" logo. That's because the console was originally codenamed "Dolphin" before eventually becoming what we know and love as the GameCube. Of course, the console is in its signature blue/purple glory, which remains a fan favorite to this day.

That said, in a surprising twist, there are no ports on the console. Because as it turns out, the "Project Dolphin" console is a physical wooden system and non-functional. According to Consolevariants, the "console was made of wood with a plastic feeling/texture."

As a final note, the front port where the controllers would plug in was completely removable. That's where the wires and motherboard would connect, but the team was not allowed to photograph that aspect of the console.

Either way, it's an incredible piece of gaming history that can now be properly cataloged for future preservation. Perhaps the most interesting part of it all, besides its actual existence, is the fact that it's wooden. In the end, the lunchbox console was an actual box. Gaming is simply the best, isn't it?

I Live For Nintendo Showing Off New Zelda Mechanics

With Echoes of Wisdom and Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo is selling Zelda games on the mechanics.