The Online Multiplayer Gamecube Game That Never Made It To The U.S.

The Nintendo Gamecube was a haven for classic games that launched across numerous global territories. However, there's a good number of games that ended up being exclusive to the region of Japan, and to this day, some of them can only be obtained by importing them over to your side of the pond.

There's one such game that garners some extra special attention due to its online multiplayer capabilities. Due to that standout feature, it joined a small class of Gamecube games that allowed players to use the world wide web in order to indulge in some competitive and/or co-op gaming. Along with the Phantasy Star Online series and LAN-enabled titles such as Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, the Japan-only Gamecube release known as Homeland was also online-enabled.

Here's a brief description of what Homeland was all about, as well as what the online multiplayer was like for this game that never made it to the States.

Homeland was originally released in 2005 in Japan by developer/publisher Chunsoft.

Its main gameplay hook for online multiplayer allowed up to 36 players to engage in traditional RPG antics. One of those players could influence the current proceedings as the gamemaster, while the remaining 35 players would explore the playing field and deal with the gamemaster's item/monster setup. The many avatars onscreen had the ability to aid each other by taking on various foes and fulfilling assorted objectives together.

As expected, Nintendo's Gamecube Broadband Adapter was required to take advantage of Homeland's unique online multiplayer suite. The Gamecube itself performed its duty as the game's main server rather than the players themselves being tied to an online central server.

Today, you can still get yourself a copy of the game and indulge in Homeland's single-player component. Copies of the game are still being sold on eBay, with prices ranging from $24 to as high as around $100.