Game on for Nintendo

Just what the world needs: another games machine. Last Friday, Nintendo's GameCube joined the fun, elbowing for TV time with Microsoft's recently launched Xbox and Sony's Play Station 2. There were the obligatory price shenanigans - Microsoft sliced £100 off the Xbox, while Nintendo discounted to £130 - and the predicted (and predictable) first week sell-out.

So can you live without a GameCube? It's aimed at families with children and is about as powerful as the PS2, but, unlike its rivals, it can't play DVD movies, and there are no plans to adapt it for internet gaming. It's the only console which has Nintendo's family-friendly games, though, bizarrely, it also has exclusive rights to one of the goriest, zombie-fest Resident Evil. And it's the only console that you can plug into a Game Boy Advance to let you play mini (though limited) versions of GameCube games while on the move - although this feature hasn't yet been fully exploited.

We assembled a panel of users, aged from nine to 40, to find out how the GameCube matches up.

Website: nintendogamecubeeurope.com
Price: £130.
Features: Small; no DVD player; no internet connector.
Games: cost £45.
"The small design is great," said Anna Williams, 40, probably mindful of sitting-room clutter. "Plus the option of four controllers means no one misses a go. And the games are really child-friendly." Her kids, James, 10, and Alice, nine, agreed, raving over the vivid colours and cartoon characters of fighting game, Super Smash Bros Melee, and surreal racing game, Super Monkey Ball. But would the Cube appeal to teenagers?
"The graphics are really good, and the controller is simple," said Hannah Saad, 16, "but the games are much too complex." Sarah White, 18, and Richard Lewis, 15, disagreed. All the games are the same, they said. Even the more adult-oriented Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader got short shrift for "being boring" and for its simplistic controls.