The Nintendo Difference (Nintendo Press Conference E3 2001)

Occasionally strange but completely addictive, Nintendo's Animal Crossing for the GameCube is not so much a game as a simulation of life on a small town. Players begin the game by setting out to live life on their own in a colorful town, where they are greeted by a seemingly endless supply of things to do and characters to meet. Time passes in Animal Crossing in real-time, as the month, day, season, and time of day matches that of the player's. Holiday seasons come and go in Animal Crossing, just as they would in the real world. Experience the freedom to fish, decorate your house, go bug catching, garden, write letters, and even play original Nintendo NES games in this imaginative, and addictive game.

One night, a mischievous ghost traps a sleepwalking Mickey Mouse in a magical mirror. Returning to his bed won't be easy, though, because Mickey must first recover the broken mirror pieces that have been strewn about the house by the prankish poltergeist. Just as in a Mickey cartoon, you will have to outwit enemies and pull gags. You will also be able to uncover special souvenirs, such as Pluto's collar or Minnie's bow, which are all displayed in Mickey's room at the end of the game.

Donkey Kong Racing is another canceled game, this one focusing on Donkey Kong instead of Diddy Kong. It would feature new Animal Friends such as a gigantic Rambi and a purple Enguarde. It was seen at E3 2001. After the buyout of Rare, the game was soon reworked into Sabreman Stampede for the Xbox 360 but, this iteration of the installment was also canceled.

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem is a psychological horror action adventure, released in 2002 by Nintendo for the Gamecube. It tells the stories of twelve characters that span across the world and two millennia who have to deal with ancient forces of evil which have been trying to manifest themselves in our world. Chapters take place in Ancient Rome, Persia, the Middle East, and modern-day Rhode Island. Throughout the game, the protagonists will have access to several weapons appropriate for their era, from bastard sword & gladius to flintlock pistol and shotgun. The game features an involved Magic system, which allows different spells to be created through the combination of runes. These spells can attack enemies, dispel illusions, and heal both the body and items. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem also has a unique feature called Sanity. If an enemy sees a character, their Sanity meter drops. When Sanity gets low, hallucinations begin to plague the character. Walls bleed, voices whisper from nowhere, the camera gets disoriented. Sanity can be restored by dealing a finishing move on a dying enemy, or with spells or some items.

The unreleased version of Kameo: Elements of Power for the N64, Nintendo GameCube, and later the Xbox.

Luigi steps out from the shadow of his brother Mario and into the gloomy shadows of a very haunted house in this, his first-ever starring role. When Luigi learns that he's the proud new owner of a creepy old mansion, he's thrilled. Of course, his feelings immediately shift when his brother, the storied Mario, disappears from the house. Now, you'll have to help Luigi track his brother down, making your way through expansive 3D levels. Each stage is packed with ghosts and ghouls to put you on edge; and you'll be armed with a flashlight and a vacuum cleaner to help you capture your foes. Armed with a flashlight and a customized vacuum cleaner, Luigi must rid the mansion of Boos and ghouls -- and find his missing brother to boot!

The Mushroom Kingdom just got a whole lot more hectic as Mario and friends double up for furious kart racing. This time around, each kart holds two racers that can switch places at any time, so choose from a huge cast of favorites and pair them up any way you see fit. The character in front handles the driving duties, while the character in the rear doles out damage with six normal items and eight special items that only specific characters can use. Get ready for some intense multiplayer mayhem with your favorite characters, including Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Peach, Bowser, and Koopa.

A 3D exploration-focused metroidvania with first-person shooting mechanics and the first 3D entry in the Metroid series, Metroid Prime follows Samus Aran after the events of Metroid (1986) as she boards a Space Pirate frigate, then chases her escaping archrival Ridley into the intricately structured Tallon IV, a planet full of deadly wildlife and former home to the advanced and ancient Chozo race.

Pikmin is a whole new breed of gameplay from Nintendo. The quirky, life-under-the-microscope title delivers a unique experience like few before it with a blend of real-time strategy, adventure, and puzzle elements. Taking advantage of the GameCube's graphics power, Pikmin sports lush texture work that brings to life a microscopic fantasy world. Players control Captain Olimar, a lovable little astronaut, who crash landed on a planet inhabited by even more lovable little plant creatures known as Pikmin. Olimar can command these creatures RTS-style, assign them tasks, make them attack foes, and gather resources. The ultimate task is to rebuild Olimar's space ship before a 30-day time window elapses.

Raven Blade was a role-playing title from Retro Studios that was in development for the Nintendo GameCube, and one of the first four games put into development when the studio was initially founded. Development on the game had begun in 1999, simply under the name "RPG". While a trailer for the game was shown at E3 2001, the developers faced many issues in creating the game, and in July 2001 it was officially announced that Raven Blade had been cancelled so that the studio could focus on Metroid Prime.

Star Fox Adventures takes place in a vast 3-D world full of strange scenery, brain-teasing puzzles and intense action. Learn the secrets of a mystical staff to fend off enemies and cast a variety of spells. Plus the intuitive, enemy-locking target system allows you to battle foes without skipping a beat. And you'll need to build clever strategies to defeat the huge boss enemies.

In Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader you get the chance to jump into the cockpit of an X-wing and join Luke Skywalker and the Star Wars galaxy's most daring pilots as they return to face off against the Empire. As in the original hit game for N64, you'll relive favorite Star Wars battles including the perilous Death Star trench run, a daring space attack on a Star Destroyer and the legendary battle on the ice planet Hoth. Rogue Leader features stunning, movie like visuals and immerses players in an intense action-arcade experience. Aerial conflict takes place in a variety of craft such as the legendary X-wing, A-wing, and B-wing. For the first time, the game also features on-foot ground combat in missions directly based on or inspired by the original movie trilogy.

A crossover platform fighting game featuring characters from Nintendo franchises including Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Pokémon, and Fire Emblem. Unlike traditional fighters, the goal is to knock opponents off the stage rather than deplete a health bar. Damage accumulates as a percentage, increasing the distance a character is launched when hit. Players use simple one-button inputs combined with joystick directions to execute moves. The game supports up to four players simultaneously and includes various single-player modes alongside its multiplayer focus. Its fast-paced, aggressive gameplay fostered a long-running competitive esports scene that persisted well beyond the game's original lifespan.