Cube problems cleared up

Reports emerged last Friday of a serious structural flaw in the GameCube casing. Due to the deep moulding of the plastic, hairline fractures are visible on a lot of the GameCube units, often running from the buttons to the extremities of the console, and it was suggested that these fractures could get worse with age. Unconfirmed reports suggest that one such hairline fracture is visible in a Nintendo TV advert. The hairline fractures can be seen quite clearly under direct light, but are hard to detect under normal lighting conditions. The good news is, and we have this on the authority of a professional plastic worker and not a PR bunny, that these fractures make absolutely no difference to the integrity of the GameCube unit. If you dropped a brick repeatedly on the console then you might do some damage to it. But, of course, the same could be said about the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Both of this writer's GameCube consoles (one NTSC, one PAL) exhibit the problem, but the NTSC Cube has been sitting in my lounge for what is now close to nine months, and has partaken of numerous trips up and down the country, and one house move. It still functions normally, and looks identical to the PAL Cube. Nintendo declined to comment on the reports this morning, telling us only that this has absolutely no effect on the software playback. Despite their evasive attitude, there seems little reason to make a mountain out of this particular molehill. Related Feature - Europe Cubed