Soundwave on 01 December 2012
Releasing a year earlier would've helped the GameCube a lot I think. Probably not enough to "beat" the PS2, but it would've likely been a strong no.2.
I don't think the Wii U is a comparable to that though, the GameCube was a monstrous advance beyond the N64/PSX, the Wii U is not as compared to the 360/PS3.
