2003, the company slated the game for a March release in Japan, but retracted the exclusivity announcement. At a press conference prior to the 2003 Electronic Entertainment Expo, however, Capcom reaffirmed that P.N.03 would be available only for the GameCube. In the end, P.N.03 was the only Capcom Five title to remain exclusive to the system. P.N.03 was the first of the Capcom Five to be released. Before the game's debut in Japan, Capcom distributed playable demos to stores and released screenshots to the media. Upon the game's release, Capcom shipped 25,000 copies to Japanese retailers. Under 11,000 units were sold, which made the game Japan's 26th best-selling title during the last week of March 2003. These low sales failed to help Capcom meet its yearly sales goals. The North American localization was announced in July 2003. Few aspects of the game were changed for the North American market. Capcom advertised a free T-shirt as a pre-order incentive in North America. Promotional sunglasses modeled after Vanessa's were also released. Reception and legacy P.N.03 failed commercially and received positive to mixed reviews, with scores of 64% and 63 on review aggregate websites GameRankings and Metacritic, respectively. Several critics predicted P.N.03s cult status and lack of mainstream accessibility at its release and afterwards, and it has been listed in several articles as being an "overlooked" or "hidden" gem that "[deserves] another chance". It has been called a "cult classic" and "future classic" that could "easily confused with a 3D action title" and leave gamers "confused or disappointed" with its "initially awkward" controls, but requires "perseverance". Daniel Etherington from BBC Technology News said that P.N.03 "probably will not have mass-market appeal despite its quality" as "a hectic shoot-em-up with a fiddly control system, appearing only on GameCube...but there is the definite possibility of cult appeal". Dave Halverson of Play (US magazine) gave P.N.03 an A- and praised it as "old-school...fun and length through mastery and addiction" and "a work of art from beginning to end". GameSpy'''s Ben Turner called P.N.03 "Aliens crossed with Dirty Dancing"; Bryn Williams called the environments "slick" and "crisp" and Vanessa a "cool...sexy space vixen", and said the game is a "stylish and challenging...shooter dressed in 3D that takes its cue from classic high-scoring shmups". Keza MacDonald from Eurogamer called P.N.03 a "balletic and difficult, and quite old-fashioned...3D transposition of the traditional 2D vertical shooter", citing its "clean, minimalist