Topic: The Official GameCube Thread

@Ryu_Niiyama What type of external drive will you be using? I'm asking just in case, because if it's a non-self-powered portable drive, you'll need to get a USB Y cable.

@ThanosReXXX It’s self powered. I’m good on that front. This is my 3rd wiiu (all work fine) so I know about that requirement.

@Ryu_Niiyama Good that you added that they all work fine: otherwise, people might wonder how one gets to a third console of the same type...

I hope the videos and links I posted earlier are of use to you. If I need to clarify and/or elaborate on any of it, be sure to let me know.

@ThanosReXXX Oh haha, Deluxe black 32GB bought day one cuz NEW NINTENDO SYSTEM! That is my main system and I don't want to hack it because my NNID is tied to it. If I got banned I'd cry for like a week. Deluxe White 32GB JPN system because Region Locking will not deter me from playing Taiko no tatsujin (plus that meant I could natively play my jpn wii games meaning I retired my hacked wii for the most part.) and the differences in JPN VC. Also my JPN NNID is on that one so I can't get banned for hacking.

This third one is a Zelda edition (which I never bought because I was annoyed that Nintendo didn't decorate the actual system...and I didn't realize that sales would tank so badly since I love my wiiu. So It passed me by) but I don't mind putting a burner account on it for hacking the system so I can rip all my games to it. I'll likely see if I can redownload the VC games I have on the legal systems somehow without buying them a second time. It would be nice to have them on one system.

Technically this is the fourth system I've bought since I gave one to one of my besties as a present. His wife had just had their first child so money was tight. And I wanted to play mario kart lol.

@Ryu_Niiyama Ah, I see. What do you mean by "did not decorate the actual system", though? Only the GamePad or something? I do remember something about a Zelda edition, but I never actually saw one in real life. I only have the black one, Mario Kart 8 Edition.

Anyway, seeing as nearly any and all online and/or official update activity on the Wii U has grinded to a deafening halt, chances of Nintendo banning you are actually zero to none. Especially as long as you don't hack/install any actual Wii U games. Most people I know simply use the hack for soft-modding the virtual Wii part, to be able to install and play Wii and GameCube backups, and that's a separate entity all of its own, not tied in any way to your Wii U interface/OS, because once in Wii mode, the Wii U part is obviously not accessible. It's basically a dual boot system, in that regard.

But of course, at the end of the day, you must always do what feels right for you, regardless of other opinions and sometimes even regardless of any actual facts or proof, whenever available, but I'm pretty sure that you're definitely already the person that makes up her own mind anyways, so you'll probably be alright with whatever you decide...

So, what kind of GameCube games will you be playing/installing, other than the Lost Kingdoms games?

@ThanosReXXX yeah only the game pad got the golden scrollwork and the wingcrest. Nothing on the actual console itself.

I think I have a respectable GCN collection but honestly I have been wanting to play viewtiful joe, baten kaitos and soul calibur II (I have the hd version on xbox one but it doesn’t feel right without Link) for a bit. Of course the plan is to dump my entire collection.

I used to have all my game systems hooked up at one time when I lived in a bigger place so I could bounce from game to game. My current situation prohibits that, so it will be nice to have a one stop shop as it were.

@Ryu_Niiyama Ah, good games, all of them. And do you already own them, or are these also on your "to buy" list?

I definitely get the whole (how to/wanting to) keep all my consoles connected thing. Luckily, my apartment is of a big enough size that I can have both a big and a small screen in there, as well as a computer desk for a third screen on my PC. On the small TV (Non HD Sharp Aquos LCD), I have the GameCube and Dreamcast connected, and on my main TV (Full HD Panasonic Viera plasma screen) I have the Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One S and Nintendo Switch connected, all through an HDMI switcher/hub.

EDIT:
And that HDMI switch still has one input left for the next console I'll buy, which will be the Xbox Series X, so for now, I'm still future proof as well.

@ThanosReXXX They are mine. My GCN physical collection is pretty much where I want it. I worked for gamestop (trying to get through college) during the last legs of the GCN’s lifetime so I took advantage of the employee discount. If I don’t have a GCN game at this point I either don’t want it or never heard of it. (Now would be a good time to track down doshin the giant though...ugh I am so broke this month. Way too many new games. )

@Ryu_Niiyama Haha, yeah. Don't get me started. I told myself I wouldn't buckle during all the Black Friday events, but guess what? I caved like a little boy, and bought a lot of digital games, both for the Switch and the Xbox One S. Oh, well. I've got a month to recuperate and prepare myself for the probably not so cozy holidays...

P.S.

Added an edit to my previous comment, in case you missed it.

@ThanosReXXX Nice set up. My goal is to have two tvs set up (my current tv has all the legacy ports) as I will get either a 4k or 8k once I move. Kinda like how Sakurai-san did in the smash direct he filmed from his house. Which one I get depends on the housing market. I’ve been eyeing a CRT (sony trinitron) that I might get for my retro systems. Not sure yet. The minis make that less of a requirement now.

Hmm now I want to play Capcom vs SNK 2...

@Ryu_Niiyama CRT screen, huh? I don't know how much of a purist you are, and what the budget is and of course regardless of your budget your willingness to spend a certain amount of money on items, but ideally, you'll want to be eyeing a PVM or BVM instead of a regular CRT screen, if you want to get the most out of your legacy/retro consoles:

As for Doshin the Giant: currently they're out of stock, but you might want to keep tabs on eStarLand. Another good source with pretty decent prices, besides LukieGames, for GameCube and/or other retro games and systems in the USA. Here's the link to the Doshin page:
https://www.estarland.com/product-description/GameCube/Doshin...
You can select to be notified whenever it's available again. I suppose the only other source is eBay, but who knows what you're gonna pay if you get it from there. Possibly even more than the two Lost Kingdoms games combined...

Alternatively, you could also get Freeloader, and then buy the PAL version instead, which is a bit more easy to get a hold of.

EDIT:
On a side note: it just dawned on me that since you're going to mod/hack the Wii U, that the region of GameCube games doesn't matter anymore anyway, so there's that as well. You could simply look for an ISO file online, and slap that on a hard drive, as shown in that Nintendont video tutorial that I posted earlier...

@Ryu_Niiyama
Wait a few months to get new games. A lot of them drop in price within 6 months of release.

@Don Erm... Look at the title of the thread: we're talking about GameCube games in here. Nothing new about them...

@ThanosReXXX yeah I know about the pvm and bvm but I’m not sure if I want to drop that kind of cash on a small screen. This eye of mine is getting older not younger. I at least want to stay within the sony trinitron line since even the consumer grade versions would be good. I don’t have to have the very best...I had a middle class childhood so I played games on a 20 inch magnavox tv for most of my child hood. I had a 13 inch tv that I had intended to keep for retro but my mom threw it out. Sigh. I was originally gonna do the framemeister and all that but I feel a good quality CRT and an upgrade in cables is good enough.

Doshin in japanese is pretty cheap and that would be the version i would buy. I only buy NTSC and NTSC-J games. If I have a european region game it is because Amazon sent me the wrong version . I really hate that. They do that with the xbox one all the time.

I assume they are, but can anyone tell me if GameCube memory cards are region locked?

@Heavyarms55 not region locked but you should only use the same region saves on one memory card or it gets corrupted. Best to have separate cards for different regions

@Heavyarms55
My Gamecube memory card is 3rd party with 2043 blocks and still working fine since i bought on year 2017.

@Anti-Matter Thanks, but that's not what I meant.

@1UP_MARIO Thanks, good to know!

Anyone know exactly how the region formatting of memory cards works?

I have PAL GameCubes and a couple of JAP GameCubes. If I insert my PAL memory card into my JAP GameCube, will it immediately format the memory card as soon as I power on the GameCube? If not, when does the formatting occur?

Reason I ask is because I have a Free Loader disc for playing my PAL games on my JAP GameCubes, and am also considering a XenoGC mod. Can I load my PAL saves on a JAP console if using Free Loader/XenoGC?

I've been meaning to test this myself but am a bit short on memory cards currently.

Your Japan GameCube would be setup to use the Japan BIOS. When it checks the Memory Card, it makes sure it been setup to save Japan games (all memory cards are the same, it's the GameCube that sets the region when setting up). If this is not the case, you will be asked to format the Memory Card.

Using a Freeloader/XenoGC will only disable the region check. The BIOS will still be Japanese. You can add a switch to select to use the japan or USA BIOS: https://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.php?title=Region_Switch

The good news is USA/PAL games can be saved on the same Memory Card, so as long as it's in USA BIOS mode, the PAL game will work fine.