What was wrong with the Gamecube?

[Aussie2B]

1) The first set of memory cards were really small - you didn't have enough space on a card to save a Madden franchise, for example, until larger cards came out later.

Was there a delay between the release of the system and the black memory card? I remember my fiance and I got our GameCube within a few months of launch, and we decided to skip straight to the larger capacity card. If there was a delay, it must've been pretty short.