Ah, the GameCube.
Having adored the N64 I was in a state of complete and utter hype and placed a pre-order with game quicker than you can say "Mario". My order was initially for the console pack, Luigi's Mansion and a 59 block memory card. However, a couple of weeks prior to the release, a friend of mine mentioned that LM was supposed to be reasonably short, so not really having too much knowledge about the other launch games, I added Sonic onto my pre-order.
My plans for launch day had long been set in stone; a friend of mine was staying at mine for the weekend to play through the two games I'd ordered, but first I needed to complete my acquisition so I hopped into town on the bus after school as soon as I could. There was a reasonable queue but I didn't have to wait around too long before getting my order and getting the bus back home. My mate arrived soon after and off we went. We spent all night playing Luigi's Mansion, which seemed so strawberry floating cool at the time. Wandering around a mysterious mansion, haunted by ghosts, in the dead of night.
Of the two games I probably ended up putting more hours into Sonic, trying to get the best ranks for every level. Some of those levels were utter bastards and despite being far less demanding, I very much resented the Knuckles and Rouge levels. I think I'd appreciate them a little more now.
The same friend ended up getting his own a few weeks later and between us we were able to buy most of the main games. By the close of the year, he'd picked up Sunshine and Smash Bros whilst I'd added REmake, WWE WrestleMania X8, TimeSplitters 2 and Mario Party 4 (a few of those would become multiplayer staples for years to come). Metroid Prime would round out the first year for me and become a staple in any list of my favourite games.
The second year was pretty quiet, for me. 1080 Avalanche, F-Zero GX, Double Dash were to the best of my knowledge the only games I purchased and they all came out within a period of 30 days, just before Christmas. Year three saw purchases of WWE Day of Reckoning, Donkey Konga, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Mario Power Tennis and Resident Evil 4.
A few years ago, now older and with greater disposable income, I decided to try and pick up the games I wanted that I'd missed out on for whatever reason and I eventually finished my quest last year:
The GameCube is definitely my favourite ever console, it's given me dozens of incredible memories that I'll always hold dearly.