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Editorials   Initial Gamecube Impressions
- By Dan Doll

If you remember, November 5 was the day we were supposed to go buy ourselves a Gamecube. A few delays later and November 5 ended up being the day that I at least got to try one.

My (not-so-) local Toys R Us had four running kiosks, one of which featured an Xbox with Oddworld, and one with our baby, the Gamecube.

The Gamecube kiosk had Luigi's Mansion installed, and the game was going through the opening cutscenes as I arrived.

Before I give impressions of my brief go with the game, I'd like to mention the hardware.

Yes, Gamecube is small, but it's not as small as I'd expected it to be. Additionally, the Xbox wasn't nearly as large as I had expected.

The GCN controller was my favorite part of the experience. The shoulder buttons were definitely nice, except for the Z-button, which was very much out of the way. To reach it you have to pull your finger out of the R-button groove and bend it forward. It's unnatural, and since the Z-button is smaller than the R-button, it's that much harder to find without paying attention to what you're doing.

One nice thing about the controller that hasn't really been mentioned is the handles. The handles don't come straight down like on the Dual-Shock pads. Instead, they have a bend behind them that follows the grip of your fingers. It's a subtle touch, but that's what makes people say things like, "The controller melts into your hands." It's those handles.

My first impression of Luigi's Mansion was that it's not particularly moody. You know it's a haunted mansion, but it doesn't really convey that feeling.

So there I am, controller in hand, trying to rush the on-screen dialogue to get into the game. Finally I'm in the mansion and ready to go.

I trotted on up the stairs, knowing that I was going to get the first key to appear. I did.

I got to it easily enough and carried on a bit before I found the scientist to get my vacuum. It was during the training mode with the scientist that I did my only real ghost busting.

After a couple ghosts I started to get the hang of it, and then I impressed myself by snagging two ghosts at the same time.

From there I went to the empty gallery and wandered around aimlessly for a few minutes before I figured out how to leave. About that time I found that a run button might have been nice...

Back in the game I headed to the first open room. There were no ghosts to be found so I had to figure a way to fish them out. Being the genius I am, I started rummaging through the cupboards and other furniture. Nothing.

This went on for a few minutes before I got the uneasy feeling that it was time to let the next person try.

Crap! I couldn't even solve the first puzzle. It's almost a disgrace to this website, especially since all the information I needed was right here!

Oh well. In a nutshell, the graphics were decent (But we're all a little spoiled in the graphics department any more, aren't we?), and the sound was too low to hear anything. The game controlled fine, but I didn't have quite enough time to master it.

An average experience, but I'll be honest: now that I know how to get through the first room, I have that addictive urge to go play it some more. Just 12 days to go...