Though plenty of attention this week is on the PlayStation 4's launch last Friday, and the Xbox One arriving on the next, at the midpoint—today—is a rather significant date in video gaming history: Three Nintendo systems all released in North America on Nov. 18.


The Wii U, of course, is most recent, launching last year to kick off the next console generation. But it also shares a birthday, on this continent, with the GameCube and the Game Boy Color.

The GameBoy Color was, as its name implies, the first color handheld made by Nintendo, and also the first handheld to be backward compatible, which to this day is a bedrock feature of Nintendo's portable line of hardware.


The GameCube was Nintendo's workhorse of the early 2000s, when consoles were graduating to online play and deepening their offerings of mature titles, neither of which were hallmarks of the GameCube. The uncertainty Nintendo faced in the console market with the GameCube gave rise to its bold moves with the Wii in 2006 and the DS in 2004, both lines becoming enormous sellers.

Nov. 18 was a Wednesday in 1998, and on a Sunday in 2001 and last year. It's not inconceivable that someone bought all three on their launch day. Was that someone you? We welcome your thoughts on these three very different platforms, what they represented in their time and mean today, and to you, personally.

Game Boy Color

Launch Date: Nov. 18, 1998.

Decommissioned: 2003.

Notable Titles: Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver; The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX; The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons.


GameCube

Launch Date: Nov. 18, 2001.

Decommissioned: 2007.

Notable Titles: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker; Metroid Prime; Super Smash Bros. Melee; Viewtiful Joe; Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door; Resident Evil 4.


Wii U

Launch Date: Nov. 18, 2012; currently in production.

Notable Titles: Rayman Legends; Pikmin 3; The Wonderful 101, ZombiU, Nintendo Land, New Super Mario Bros. U.

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