Of the three, Nintendo is easily the most well known in the market. They've
been dealing with video games since 1985 when they single-handedly saved video
games from a long downfall. They currently have three systems on the market, two
of them portable.
Their home console is the Gamecube, a sleek, small, and powerful system that
came out mere days after the Xbox. It's the only system on the market that
doesn't play anything but games so if you expect your game systems to do more,
the Gamecube is not what you want. What it does however, it does well. Its games
cover a wide range of age groups, from the kid-friendly Super Mario Sunshine to
the brutal (yet outstanding) Resident Evil 4. You'll do just fine here.
The Gamecube controller is the strangest on the market. At first glance, it
seems as if the buttons were all placed randomly. Once into a game, you almost
forget you're holding it. It really is a brilliant design for most games and its
size means the kids will have no trouble holding on.
No matter how good the controller is, it doesn't really matter if online play
is something you're looking for. Nintendo's online support for the system is
minimal and there is nothing in the works to correct this.
Their older portable is the Game Boy Advance. This is almost a strictly 2-D
system, offering up some great classics, that everyone should play, and numerous
original titles that make the system worth owning (like Astro Boy: The Omega
Factor). It's very kid friendly and re-released in a new incarnation, the Game
Boy Advance SP. Software wise, there's no difference between this and the
original model. It still plays all the original Game Boy games too. The
difference is the lighted screen, which is far better than the murky, old dark
one. It even features a flip-down screen so nothing is scratched or damaged.
Currently, you can find these selling for about $79, a bargain considering that
many of the games sell for about $10 range.