Gaming History is a topic of special importance to me. As much fun as it is to play games, learning about what goes into making these systems and experiences is equally fulfilling. When I learned about Travis Nicholas’s book, Project Dolphin, It was something I knew I had to check out. This unofficial history of the GameCube serves as a great way to learn more about Nintendo’s 6th generation system and its offering of games!
Aesthetics
Project Dolphin comes in a number of flavors including hardcover, paperback, or ebook. In this review, I am looking over the hardcover version. The book feels good in the hand with a solid binding and sturdy cover. The front artwork keeps things simple and straight to the point with the title and subtitle of the book being accompanied by a purple GameCube with a nice trim of the controller to showcase the iconic button layout. The back features a thought-provoking take on the GameCube system and a quote from the late Satoru Iwata. Both fit well for the content of the book.
Content
Project Dolphin includes a number of different sections clearly outlined in the book’s table of contents. We get to start out with an overview of the system’s early history and reveals. The use of Nintendo’s official press releases and quotes from interviews given throughout the years is a great touch and highlights well what was happening during the time period. I am also a fan of the book showing how the GameCube was almost a stereoscopic 3D system! The segment on the sale of Rare and the brief overview of the history between the 2 companies should also prove interesting for fans of the company who are unfamiliar with the event. Overall a great overlook on the launch of the system!
It’s the next sections of the book that might be of particular interest to collectors or general audiences: a “nearly” complete list and overview of every official GameCube system and accessory released throughout its lifetime. It is quite absurd just how many different systems ended up being released around the world and I remain quite jealous that most of them were Japanese exclusive. If you were unaware of Nintendo’s early controller prototypes that would eventually become the Wiimote, Travis did the due diligence of including it here so you can see how it got started with the GameCube!
The last main segment of Project Dolphin, and its largest, is a complete listing of every game that has ever been released for GameCube, including its one unofficial release Max Play 10. The content is sorted alphabetically for easy locating of your favorite titles and each game listing comes accompanied by a North American box shot and an in-game screenshot. Bigger titles also have a shot of the GameCube disc. Each game is given a brief description of what it is about, along with some personal notes on select games from Travis. The section is closed out with a list of unreleased games and game bundles. Crazy to think about some of the games we almost had on the little purple box that could!
The finale of Project Dolphin touches on the continuing homebrew scene for the GameCube and ways to hook one up to modern displays. Likely due to the editing timelines from when the book was actually finished to being printed, there are some modern alternatives omitted, like the Insurrection Industries Carby or Retro-Bit Prism, but you can hardly fault the book for that. The final retrospective from Travis is a great sendoff with personal takes from past and present experiences with the system!
What It Could Have Done Better
Overall I enjoy the content found within Project Dolphin and think Travis did a great job with this unofficial guide to the GameCube. When it comes to criticisms with Project Dolphin, the ones I have aren’t really content-related. Sure some of the screenshots and artwork can be washed out at times but that is hardly a deal-breaker in my book. (Pun not intended there but I think I am funny sometimes so lol.) What really let me down about my hard copy release of Project Dolphin was some quality control issues on the book print. When the book was made and bound, not all of the pages were placed properly in my copy, leading to some being folded over into themselves. When I managed to get them laying properly it results in these overhangs that can last a few pages. I eventually trimmed it myself to fix the problem. Unfortunate, but these things happen and it doesn’t take away from the content of the book.
Verdict
For fans of the GameCube or potential collectors of the system, Project Dolphin makes for an excellent addition to your library. With every game showcased along with practically every system and accessory, you are hard-pressed to find a more complete repository of GameCube information in one place. While it doesn’t include everything related to the system’s history and impact, you get the important parts and hopefully, if you enjoyed it, can look further into it. And isn’t that what a book like this is meant to do? Because in my mind, Project Dolphin does it perfectly!
