DF Retro: GameCube HDMI - The Best Video Quality Possible From Nintendo's Classic Console

[@emuboy85]

The most ambitious crossover event in history.

[@Foas]

smash aint got nothin on this

[@AgsmaJustAgsma]

See also: DF Retro's DKC episode.

[@shaolinagent]

2 of the best gaming channels around for sure

[@MyReksio]

+Andrea Campanella: Top 10 anime crossovers XD

[@StarlinkNova]

It's great to see the Gamecube receiving love lately in the hdmi scene. It's a good system.

[@justdev8965]

It's not a good system. It's the best system! Sure the beast consoles nowadays are better hardware, but a gaming console is only as good as its software! And the cube's software screams quality!

[@TKsh1]

"Just use emulator lol" I love emulators and all, but having the console and physical games is much better.

[@robbystrange4772]

Yeah or a middle ground of having the physical console and loading games off of a SD card or hdd. Best decision I ever made with my Xbox and wii.

[@piranhaplantX]

@@robbystrange4772 yeah, flash carts are the perfect middle ground if you're not a hardcore collector, but don't want to spend a $1000+ dollars to get a beefy library of games. This is especially good for games that require certain peripherals that don't quite work or feel the same as trying to use on an emulator.

[@justdev8965]

I have zero love for emulators! Never!

[@CelsiusPC]

pfff, fuck that. i don’t want to drop hundred of dollars for aging original hardware that i *will* have to service myself eventually with risk of permanent damage. Dolphin has come a long way in terms of emulation accuracy, i really like the enhancements i could do on my own hardware.

[@thesidneychan]

John Linneman has come to the point where I'll tune in and listen while I'm driving to work no matter what the topic is.

[@gc3k]

It's not the same thing, but in the 2000s I connected my Dreamcast to a VGA box, to a DVI converter for my HDTV. Glorious image quality

[@justdev8965]

Or you could have gone straight VGA into a Plasma TV. Somehow all Plasma TVs had a VGA in, with no adapters at all, native input!

[@jamesr5827]

The Gamecube was an underrated console in it's heyday for sure, but I feel like as it grows older, people's love for it is just getting stronger. It's certainly the little home console that could :)

[@jorge69696]

You just described nostalgia.

[@jamesr5827]

@@jorge69696 I suppose I did, however it's not exactly a Gameboy or N64 scenario where the console was hugely successful during it's generation. The Gamecube famously flopped in comparison to it's competition. I imagine the Wii U is also going to get loads of love in the years to come, and we all know how that went down!

[@SavagePatch115]

I miss my gamecube :( Mario kart Luigi's mansion Mario party I had a great library and it was given to my cousin

[@colbytnt]

You’re right, just now getting GameCube games. And boy are they expensive!

[@TheMonkeyButte]

Mark kinda sounds like Woody from toy story

[@jmi_music]

TheMonkeyButte I came here to say the same thing. I close my eyes and I could swear it’s woody haha

[@WiiFitGOTY]

Glad I'm not the only one to hear Tom Hanks.

[@isturbo1984]

He's a lost toy... :*(

[@videogameobsession]

Maybe he just has a snake in his boot.

[@MinisterSandman]

reach for the skyyyyyyyyyyyyy

[@shaneneyome]

My wife thought I was watching a Tom Hanks interview hahahah

[@BLHish]

I was looking for a comment like this lol.

[@shaneneyome]

@@BLHish he sounds a lot like Tom Hanks lol

[@agamaz5650]

DF Retro F-Zero GX please you showed the game multiple times in the video

[@fireaza]

Holy shit! Forget that GCHD Mk2 thing! I wanna know more about this Carby thing! More compact, the HDMI connector isn't sticking out at a weird angle, it has a proper connector AND it costs less than $100?? That's what I'm talking about!

[@ghettosteeve]

fireaza I’m pretty sure since it doesn’t connect to the AV port as well, you have to plug in another cable for sound

[@revistinha1]

I'm not saying it happens with the Carby , but I heard that some of the adapters that don't have that second connection or aren't wide enough were frying Gamecubes by causing to short if the adapter wasn't connected 100% straight

[@ibelongtohalo]

Video and sound both come from the Carby.

[@1fightdragons]

@@ghettosteeve You don't have to, audio comes from both ports.

[@MilkerMurphy]

EON is basically robbery and it's super cringeworthy they contacted a mean-ass melee player to do advertisement for them. @revistinha1 The first plug&play device that a person created could short systems. Extremely stupid mistake by the creator but his later models improved the connector. That's basically the whole story right there, shows you to be cautious with untested products.

[@ShallowDepression]

When are you going to review Soulja Boy's console?

[@GglSux]

No offence, but are You serious ?? And if not which one of them are You referring to ?? Regardless, since they all are just rebranded "Alibaba toys" with a hefty markup I don't see them being ""reviewed"" here. Best regards.

[@odinsplaygrounds]

They won't. They don't give attention to mentally challenged people with an internet connection and alibaba account.

[@ShallowDepression]

@@GglSux Wooooooooshh 🛩️

[@Cruptile]

@@ShallowDepression no, madlad

[@SuperFRS]

I love that John's using a official PS4 pack-in earbud.

[@LegacyLoot]

Lol what I noticed too. Apparently they have a small fanbase I never knew about.

[@BDreGaming]

I use it occasionally to yell at people on rocket league

[@sjake333]

I primarily use a Wii U with Nintendont as this offers a way to play so many different consoles over HDMI and we even have GamePad support now, but it’s great to see replacements for these official solutions as these will become increasingly invaluable over the years.

[@DANNYonPC]

I like the box its in

[@patchesmcadams1587]

Yea that was a good marketing move.

[@MAO7891]

Love seeing 2 of my favorite channels together!

[@neonfatum]

Pretty stoked about this. I've been wanting a component video solution for my Gamecube for a while. Also gotta rep Baten Kaitos running in the background there, beautiful game.

[@anmdragon36]

I can’t believe I just heard the words “beautiful 480p” on digital foundry

[@GeminiJay654]

Some of my favorite people on the tube! Long live the GC!

[@VulturePilot]

The GameCube is one of Nintendo’s best consoles. Such an excellent library

[@zacharystevens6193]

I agree, along with the Super Nintendo and Nintendo Switch.

[@eponymous7910]

Game Boy Advance is in that conversation too

[@justdev8965]

Aaah just say it. It's the best, not one* of the best. What Nintendo machine has games as good as the cube does? I detest modern game design. Yes I'd rather play Viewtiul Joe, Sphynx and the Cursed Mummy, Vex, Starfox Assault, and i bet you any young kid in the world would love to play Starfox Adventures more than any Lego crap on PS5/Xbox series x. This open world boredom of today's uninspired design, paired with a million patches and micro-transaction rip offs....it is just mindless.

[@ShindlerReal]

I think buying a used Wii is still cheaper.

[@lolcat]

Along with one of those HDMI cables like the hyperlink

[@MilkerMurphy]

Wii video output isn't that clean actually and you can't use a gameboy player.

[@dolbyprologicii]

@@MilkerMurphy if you want to play gameboy...you can use an emulator

[@assburgerdidnothingwrong9385]

@@dolbyprologicii The same thing can be said about the game cube...

[@guybrush3000]

I got Wii component cables for $8

[@NowOnAFM]

Informative video. Massive respect for having Baten Kaitos playing in the background during the discussion. One of the most unique and artistic games I've ever played.

[@bozscaggzz7475]

God I love My Life In Gaming. Those guys are the best channel on KZbin. Each video is a masterpiece that would fit right into a service like Hulu or Netflix and you would never know it was free to watch.

[@frankchau]

Bozscaggz Z they have their videos on Amazon

[@VuffyPulva]

I'd be curious to see how this would work with those upscaling mCables.

[@StandingUpForBetter]

Great video. I love the idea of forcing games into a cleaner 480P mode. Right now I Gamecube via my Wii and component cables. It works for space since I can play Wii games and my vast collection of VC and WiiWare games on one system. I love how all this will help more people be able to appreciate the Gamecube and what it could do visually. What I would really love to see is a plug in solution like this for the N64. I have an S-video cable to HDMI upscaler and it works very well on modern TVs but it would be nice to see an all in one HDMI solution specifically geared to the N64 that does not require you to mod the system.

[@JesusGranado]

Baten Kaitos in the background, such a lovely game *_* Is favourite game ever!

[@robbert4550]

Excellent video as always John

[@mashakos1]

I'm still playing Gamecube games today... on Dolphin :)

[@icy1007]

mashakos - illegally, yes.

[@TheSbock]

Dolphin is not illegal at all.

[@hickey1292]

@@icy1007 Only illegal if they don't own the games. The emulator itself is 100% legal. And on Dolphin you can increase the internal resolution of the games up to a maximum of 4k (and add texture packs), meaning they can look much better than they originally did.

[@AirshBornely]

Found the typical "just use Dolphin" comment. I like Dolphin too, but I get more enjoyment playing GC the best they can look off the real hardware. Plus, good luck playing a game like F-Zero GX on Dolphin. That's a trainwreck and you're better off playing that on real hardware.

[@ucitymetalhead]

@@AirshBornely or any of the rogue squadron games you need a gaming pc to play those games.

[@dookie_12]

DF Retro and My Life in Gaming crossovers are always welcome!

[@totalprocall6894]

About time mylifeingaming got more exposure...great channel.

[@pablocordoba5244]

ohh...i remember when i put component cables on my ps2...my brain explode!!

[@AirshBornely]

This was me playing Shadow of the Colossus in 480p and this was only a few years ago. It's amazing going from the OG SotC in the best it could look on a real PS2 to the PS4 remake.

[@masterquake7]

I had component cables on my PS2, but they ended up being a bit defective. Every time I cast Ultima on FFX, my screen would go black for a few seconds.

[@userk2876]

@@masterquake7 i think the spell was just too powerful for the cables to handle

[@zebular]

Mark/Try is good people! We had My Life In Gaming at our 2nd game convention, super nice guys!

[@puma0085]

Great Video John as always. HDMI on the Gamecube is indeed awesome. Can't say anything about the adapters though because I got the Internal HDMI and a NTSC Gamecube to have more Games with 480p support. This action was a bit premature because I didn't know back then that there were solutions as the swiss where you can force most Pal Games to 480p lol but I still do not regret it . Having 2 Gamecubes now, my original umodded Pal Gamecube and the a modded US System.

[@ChoppaChunna]

Sooo will we be getting a Baten Kaitos retro episode?

[@NaveedKhan-bs1sc]

John linemann as dlc for smash bros ultimate who's with me

[@KrazyKupo]

Very nice, got the ol' purple box under my desk. Now the tricky, finding a company that ships to the UK at a reasonable price.

[@RichardCraig]

DF Retro x My Life in Gaming?! Sooooo happy!!!

[@winlover37]

DF Retro episodes are the only new videos I click on right away.

[@METR0lD]

Glad I have the official component cable. I bought it directly from Nintendo back in like 2003 when I bought my first HD TV.

[@nuclearbeeberman]

gamecube is so highly underrated... so many awesome games :). also fast loading times and back in the days pretty good graphics... still one of my biggest collection (ngc games)

[@justdev8965]

I agree with you 1,001 %

[@TheDesecrator]

The best thing about the GCHD imo is how simple it is to upscale with the Mclassic and 4k Gamer Pro. You don't need some crazy OSCC machine, you just daisy-chain the two upscalers, plug them in GCHD and you got Gamecube in 4K.

[@rexthesheep]

What the comments on this video sound like: "Why would I use this when I can play GC at 480p on my Wii with increased blur? Why would I buy a PS4 Pro when the base PS4 is cheaper? Why would I buy Resident Evil 4 PC 2014 when the awful PC 2007 port is still technically a video game?"

[@N64xKING]

Because people are dumb as heck

[@Clay3613]

PS4 Pro runs and looks better.

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

sheepytina Christ man calm down. No one in their right mind would say the last comment. But seriously though, the first two are both perfectly reasonable comments. Think about it, 12 quid for a GameCube compatible Wii, plus like 20 quid for component cables, vs 100+ quid for a GC HDMI solution alone, plus even more for the GameCube itself. To someone like me, who doesn’t have loads of money, but wants to play old games, a used Wii is a perfect option. MyLifeinGaming actually did a really good comparison between GameCube component cables and a Wii with component cables, and while the difference was noticeable, for most people the difference wouldn’t be worth the extra cost. Especially for someone like me, who is on the verge of being legally blind without glasses, and still can’t see great with them, the difference is completely unnoticeable from more than a meter away. And then, I’m sitting 4 feet away from a 21-inch TV, so the difference is literally invisible to me. Honestly my setup would probably make you sick, in using 576i50 on a Sony Trinitron CRT. And the setup works great for me, the picture is brilliant, and while I do want to upgrade to 480p someday, the one I have is more than good enough. And the PS4 Pro thing? Most people don’t have 4K TVs. And often, 4K games run at a lower framerate. For the majority of people, a base PS4 is a better option. I don’t own one, but if I ever buy a PS4 it probably will be a base model.

[@Wheeljack2k]

Any recommendations for PAL Cube owners? We only had PAL50 and PAL60 as options (if at all) but no progressive mode.

[@FistingGuru]

Get the homebrew software "swiss". You can use it to force 480p output, or you can use it to run NTSC ISO's from an SD card, if you don't mind piracy.

[@madfinntech]

@@FistingGuru This, or just use RGB.

[@DeathToJihad]

There are hardware mods available.

[@Armataan]

The answer is Swiss. Then force ntsc.

[@WickedlNl]

First time I see someone use PS4 earphones bundled with the console :D

[@Dhlamedia]

My Life in Gaming and DF Retro uploaded similar videos on the very same day. Quite ambitious.

[@kristopherlyt]

I’m rather interested in getting this, i’m from the UK and I have a Original PAL Gamecube with a digital and analog av slots. I currently have to rely on an analog av so the image is really blurry on my 4K TV. I wanted to get this for Metroid Prime as I hate the motion controls in the Wii Trilogy that I have on my Wii U. What I wanted to know was is it worth the price for a PAL Gamecube since PAL consoles lack Progressive Scan? How does it look without Progressive Scan?

[@BrazileoTotalBrazil]

I had so much fun with the Gamecube, especially with Timeplsitters 2 & 3, speaking of which, a DF Retro episode about the Timesplitters series would be awesome. I never played the Xbox and PlayStation versions, but I'd love some serious and objectif DF comparison. It's such a shame that Free Radical died with the disappointing Haze, the TS games and Second Sight were awesome. These guys had lots of talent.

[@MulkaMan]

480p is really a great step up from the blurry 480i I soldered in the pluto board with gcvideo 2.4a into my gamecube earlier this year. I feel this is much better than all these external solutions. Also I can control the gcvideo menu with the gamecube controller. With all these dongles you have to use a remote control.

[@frombauer]

DF Retro & My Life in Gaming? Never clicked a like button so fast.

[@LordDeimosIV]

At 1:17 one of my favorite games ever Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean :)

[@eastcoasteric]

Happy seeing MLIG on here! Their channel needs WAY more love than it currently gets, as they're insanely detailed with their content and it's equally produced well. Go sub to them now!

[@rbdriftin]

My Life In Gaming is the best retro gaming KZbin channel around. Been watching them for years and loving them but only now do I found out that Try's real name is Mark. WUT?!

[@UltraHealthyVideoGameNerd]

Will the Gameboy player also work through the Mark II?

[@martin4458]

I have the GameCube official component cable. You can also play on a Wii that is connected with a Wii official component cable and get 480p.

[@quite1enough]

Baten Kaitos :D

[@truthseeker1995]

Ha! you guys put the Torvus bog theme in the background! Honestly Metroid Prime 2 was pretty sweet, if a pain in the ass at times.

[@iCach0]

Great video! Would've loved to see RetroRGB as a guest appearance too.

[@dannonyogurt98]

Edit: Nevermind, mylifeingaming did this and their video is already out! I really wish you guys would do a head to head of GameCube games on GameCube vs Wii with each systems respective HDMI adapter and component cables. In theory the best picture would be the GCHD since there is no DAC in the mix. But I'd also like to see how well WiiU back compat mod works.

[@slimDaTa]

Shoutout to Baten Kaitos playing in the background! Great game, very underrated

[@umeng2002]

Back in 2006 or so, I imported an official Gamecube Component cable that was hacked into VGA... seeing Gamecube on my computer's CRT blew my mind. super crisp and clear... jaggy because of the low resolution, but it was awesome back then.

[@icefox1983]

It's time for an episode on Conker's Bad Fur Day! It's the technical pinnacle on the N64, the game was remade on xbox, then published again on xbox one, there are various emulators to play the game. Will be interesting to revisit them all.

[@Macho_Fantastico]

I never owned a GameCube, but I still think it's one of the best console designs ever.

[@ThoughTMusic]

Marc earned my sub today.

[@Speedkingfox0007]

The official component cable was awesome

[@sangbeta2043]

I have the Nintendo component cable, but I wonder if the GCVideo would have less lag. The TV would have to scale it, but there is no AD conversion necessary.

[@mepm]

Should work great with the mCable?

[@Wegwerfaccount2]

Your suspicion is correct: If I were to add 480p-to-960p-doubling to GCVideo, the resulting pixel clock would be 108MHz (4 times 27MHz for doubling both horizontally and vertically), which requites a TMDS data rate of 1080Mbit/second. The Spartan 3A is specced for a maximum throughput of 640 or 700 Mbit/second, depending on the speed grade. It would be possible with a -4 grade Spartan 6 which happens to max out at exactly 1080Mbit/second or by redesigning the project to use an external transmitter chip, which was left out of the original design to keep costs as low as possible. (oh, and stability is overrated ;) )

[@panimala]

Now this is esoteric.

[@iPlaySEGA]

I still play my GC games on my Wii.

[@bobdeclor528]

1:39 Why is he wearing a headset?

[@dvdmike007]

DfRetro X My life in gaming!!

[@TheRacePig]

I just bought a PS2 myself and my 4k TV doesn't have a component input, so I have to find a way to get HDMI out of it, it's a real pain. These older pre-HDMI consoles can be difficult to emulate well so they're still worth keeping around, but the lack of HDMI can be a real hassle.

[@madfinntech]

There's only one perfect solution: CRT.

[@TheRacePig]

@@madfinntech I'd love to find an old PVM or something but they're so hard to find in Australia, or they're stupidly expensive.

[@symphony137]

I definitely recommend an OSSC! I have a Sony 4K TV and it looks awesome, especially Line4x mode for 480i content and Line2x for 480p. It gives you an even crisper 960p picture. But keep in mind that not all TVs support these modes. In that case you can just use passthrough mode. I use an RGB cable btw, because the PS2's component video encoder tends to be a bit more noisy compared to RGB, but component is also fine and maybe you won't even notice any difference.. I've read it can also depend on your PS2 model.

[@TheRacePig]

@@symphony137 The OSSC is a bit out of my price range at the moment, that'll be a "some day" sort of purchase when I've managed to get myself some more older consoles. Probably not worth it just for a PS2 at the moment.

[@Clay3613]

Why not just use a backwards compatible PS3?

[@rgb1996]

Is that a ps4 bundled in mono earphone John is wearing?

[@4kgamingtrailers994]

What kind of tv or beamer are you using John??

[@jamesgarlick4573]

Reading the description, didn't the XBOX 360 come out before the PS3? I was never an XBOX fan so idk what the model 1 XBOX 360 had with it output wise (it could have added HDMI after the PS3 release)

[@stephenpatterson8056]

Oh my GOD, I can't believe those component cables go for so much!! I had a set back in the day. And Yeah I remember even then they were harder than average to get. I had to order them online. But I MAYBE paid about $30 or $40 for them? Man, just another one of those hindsight being 20/20 moments...

[@VariantAEC]

PS2 has optical audio out and component output via proprietary connectivity (just like GC)... Isn't that as close to digital as it got back in the day (2002)?

[@madfinntech]

The best picture from GameCube is on good CRT with component cables and progressive scan. Even RGB in PAL landia is better than you don't remember. Because I'm pretty sure you used composite video back then. EDIT: Let me clarify. I have for years tried to make these old consoles to look the best they can on modern TVs but recently like a year or so I went back to CRT and I was blown away! Especially the resolution switching these systems do mid-game a lot makes the experience so much better on CRT, as it was intended. Just use something better than composite. S-Video at least RGB/Component recommended depending on the system and/or your region. I can see this being useful if you just want to connect to a modern TV or are in need of those official GameCube component cables, then this might save you some and give little extra options.

[@preyfan]

Yeah I think I'll get myself a RGB cable. Will look good enough on my CRT :)

[@Poever]

CRTs with progressive scan are really hard to find

[@beefcurtainz69]

Poever and when u do find one there is lag added when playing in 480P....

[@AlphaladZXA]

@@Poever yeah goodwill ends up trashing them after a month so they constantly pass me by

[@preyfan]

@@beefcurtainz69 PAL CRTs are lag-free however

[@markmps212]

This was a good video but damn it, when are we going to get a video on the OSSC!? I know you've got one DF, it's been mentioned it a few times now. :-)

[@MrThirdWheel]

is this the answer to the Smash Mekee competitive scene? Will they not have to carry around huge CRTs anymore?

[@Lloydo111]

Much love for baten kaitos man! One of the best rpgs, and its visually stunning to this day! Especially the backgrounds

[@maplestoryfriesyum]

Would this work with the later Gamecube models that didn't have the digital AV out port?

[@brandogg]

This is the second best way to play GameCube games over HDMI. The actual best way is a Wii U with Nintendont installed.

[@GenesHand]

From what game is the video playing on the tv in the back?

[@Gunblade_man]

Great solution all around it seems. I am one of the few and the proud that has gotten the official component cable before it got too expensive though, so I'm good.

[@JackFrost-1856]

What's the game on the TV in the background during the first minute? :0

[@CaveyMoth]

This reminds me of the old days of struggling to get Sonic Adventure to run on GameCube in progressive scan mode. Fun times... Then I got it for PC.

[@bimmerslidinby]

That Metroid Prime soundtrack takes me back!

[@CaptainKielbasa]

Did you say a GameCube component cable is a few hundred dollars? I definitely have one as I always hooked my older consoles with the best possible connection. I can't believe I am sitting on a mini gold mine.

[@noeuro]

Now, does this improve the UK/PAL region SCART option, which seems to me outputs a clean 480i to a PAL TV via RGB. And btw, that cable should cost maybe £10 or less.

[@spookylemon4947]

John Daniel All the development that goes into would make it impossible to produce for £10.

[@Houl777]

Hmmm..... Is is so hard to add additional cord for those adapters and not to fix them in GameCube the most worse way?

[@HeyDeniow]

I've got the official GameCube component cables and the image is pretty good. But now seeing this eon mark II it makes me wonder if it worths buying one of these. What do yous guys think? Would it be an upgrade? I live in Brazil and I would have to import but have no idea if they ship worldwilde.

[@phanboyiv]

TBH I'd sell the GC component cables and get one of these + a cheap Wii component cables.

[@SgtHamster]

The edges on red colours, is that not 4.2.2 colour compression ?

[@AwesomeGames56]

Those adapters are dangerous in that if they get shifted slightly in the system while it’s on you can fry the whole thing.

[@NoToeLong]

I believe that issue is only with older models, with the new adapters fixing the issue.

[@DNFHistory]

NoToeLong the new model hasn't been out long enough to make that conclusion

[@Swan-may]

You're thinking of the gcvideo plug and play, a competitior

[@DeathToJihad]

@@Swan-may, And only the first revision, at that.

[@kevboard]

OR, you softmod a Wii U... :) on which you can play GC games on the gamepad or on your TV with GC controllers via the GC adapter or the Pro Controller or Classic Controller

[@HunterTinsley]

Aside from wanting to use the original hardware, is there _any_ reason to use these instead of Dolphin?

[@clayjack9969]

If you don’t have a good PC, but an old GameCube collection. I know you don’t need a great PC to run dolphin but I doubt you can get a PC for 150 bucks that can run it.

[@stephenflanagan5560]

Excellent content guys!! Will the MK-II work on a PAL uk system??? Thanks

[@Shozuki]

Looking forward to the video on MLIG. Of course enjoyed this too - I only use my retro consoles on a BVM screen, if this or any other solution helps that to look even better sign me up!

[@daamazinfatb0y752]

Can we get a comparison with Gamecube's Official Component Cable vs RGB Scart Cable?

[@DewyLPGames]

If somebody know which Game is it at 3:04 😬. I dont know it, i want to see gameplay from this.

[@Bristecom]

Woah, I didn't realize those component cables were so expensive! I'm glad I bought the official Nintendo component cables for it back in the day! Although I'm not ready to sell them yet. :P