Upgrading a £5 Nintendo GameCube with GC Loader | Tech Nibble

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I spent a whopping £5 on this Nintendo GameCube, was it worth it? Let's find out and see if we can make it part of #TheCave exhibition for people to enjoy
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[@iXien]

What an elegant solution. And without any soldering! Lot of people left their Gamecube to play their games on Wii with a simple RGBHDMI adapter but I find the Gamecube so beautiful, I can't do this outrage to it, this great console that has been with me since 2003. As I have only my own Gamecube and a lot of original games on mini-DVDs, I can't bring myself to remove the drive. So I opted for a solution without even having to open the console. I use an Action Replay with a Max memory card and a microSD that contains Swiss. The second microSD drive connected on the serial port under the console contains a 256GB card full of Gamecube games and even NES and SNES emulators with there ROMS. My serial adapter is angled in order to access the microSD card without having to constantly remove my Gameboy Player. It works so well. Congratulations for this elegant recycling of such a legendary console 😍.

[@theomacer3094]

As soon as Mark said "other titles" I was already thinking of Eternal Darkness. That game was such a blast. Definitely wouldn't mind seeing that one get a remaster release.

[@mikerichards6065]

Anyone know who owns the rights to 'Eternal Darkness'? Silicon Knights, who wrote the original, imploded after losing a $4 million case brought by Epic for infringing the Unreal Engine on an X-Box game - but I don't know where the intellectual property ended up.

[@FintanMoloney]

I'm glad he mentioned that game as I have been meaning to try it out for a long time. Going to give it a shot over Emulation this weekend. I have heard great things about how crazy it is.

[@mattsword41]

love my gamecube - bought it second hand when at university before could afford a xbox 360. Whilst the wii(u) plays the games arguably better, the charm of the little box, no IR sensor needed and no big funny expensive gamepad is a win. Plus the GBA add on of course! Got a horrible feeling the drive in mine is starting to fade though so this video for me is very timely!

[@fasih_rehman]

I got a GC on launch, still have my GC and it works. But in 2022 the best GC console is actually a Wii. Hacked Wii lets you run all the GC games from USB hard disk!

[@myretronation]

Wii’s video quality can’t compare to using a GCVideo device

[@stephenpalmer9375]

As long as you have an original Wii with the Gamecube Controller ports :) And you still have to faff around with the Wiimote and a sensor bar to get into Nintendont (or whatever you use)

[@Flabbyfinn64ecrazylazy]

@@stephenpalmer9375 you can also get your wii to load directly into apps, I get mine to load into USB loader !

[@AcornElectron]

Filthy pirates 😉

[@Shadowdreamcast]

@@myretronation doesn’t the Wii also have component cables? (Edit: nvm literally forgot GC has Digital video port)

[@bobbus_74]

The Gamecube was overlooked by many unfortunately. I bought one for my son when it came out and we had a ton of fun with it, It's a great machine and even better with SD card loading,

[@ScottTumilty]

I absolutely loved Eternal Darkness. Can freely admit to getting caught out by the part where it pretends to delete all your saved data.

[@MD_Slaine]

My data actually was deleted by a house mate who just ripped out my memory card. And I was just on the final boss. I have just changed the battery in my gamecube and bought a crt for another blast. 20 years later. I just said just four times. Five Times.

[@andrewclegg9501]

Best generation of consoles ever. Dreamcast, ps2, xbox and gamecube, all different beasts, unlike now. Got all 4, 2 of them from new.

[@devilmyarse]

The latest version of Swiss has been rewritten and those bandwidth issues are mostly removed now. I’ve not had any issues running games from my SD2SP adaptor via my modchipped GC. The FMV intro of Mario Kart Double Dash is one such games that has a problem with the older version of Swiss via the SD2SP.

[@bobbus_74]

same here. With the latest version of Swiss and using an SD2SP adaptor it runs games beautifully.

[@FreshLikePack]

I used vimms lair for my N64 collection. Where’s the best GameCube spot for ROMs?

[@Skellotronix]

@@FreshLikePack Vimm's

[@hjalfi]

I bought mine for Wind Waker, which is still my favourite of the Zelda series, and the cartoony style (much criticised at the time) has aged much more gracefully than many other games. I also had Metroid Prime, and mostly liked it, but eventually gave up because I was sick of replaying big chunks of game every time I died.

[@alastairward2774]

Loved those two games as well, Mario Kart DD too for the multiplayer larks.

[@ApemanMonkey]

Wind Waker on a trinitron crt looks amazing. And that's coming from someone who had hoped for a 'realistic' style Zelda game when Wind Waker came out (because of that Nintendo demo...they really shot themselves in the foot).

[@mehmeh5471]

There really is no point paying massive sums of money for the over priced speculators games now. Kind of hope the whole market crashes as a result of these innovations

[@mirabilis]

You would think so, but probably not

[@craigdavidson5613]

Well, I had a similar thing happen to me. I was at my local Tender Center, when right where we parked, I found a Nintendo Wii console abandoned outside one of the store's gates. I picked it up and inquired into it with the staff. They said I could have it for free. It had no cords, cables or controllers, but I did test it out at home, and it worked perfectly. It even had a copy of Super Smash Bros Brawl inside, so that was an added bonus!

[@justinhelget853]

really cannot go without playing Skies of Arcadia legends. that game is just a masterpiece.

[@fluffycritter]

Oh dang, that's one of the first models with the digital A/V out. £5 is an amazing deal for even a later cost-reduced one, but getting one with the ability to run over HDMI is just *amazing*.

[@kaitlyn__L]

I kinda regret trading-in my purple one with a digital out >.>

[@fluffycritter]

@@kaitlyn__L Oh gosh yes those are the best ones

[@LeeCorne]

I'd never noticed before but the front panel on the GameCube looks like two smiley robot faces. Once you've seen it, you can't unsee it!

[@Fuartianer]

When you said "Things are failing" my heart stops for a beat... nice video. looking forward to see more!

[@RetroGamesBoy78]

lol. Me too!

[@Astfgl]

Nice work! Earlier this week I installed an xStation ODE into my old original PS1 and while it was one of the most nerve-wracking things I've ever done to one of my consoles, boy is it satisfying when you get it working! My entire collection of games and more on a single SD card without any CD reading reliability problems, it's great.

[@Rockythefishman]

I really have a soft spot for the cube. I currently own six of them in different colours. The spice orange is my favourite such a cool colour

[@philcarter9738]

I still have my launch GC that I pre-ordered, such a cracking console with so many fantastic games. Have happy memories of me and my mate 100%'ing Double Dash and totally agree with Mark about Eternal Darkness a superb game that caught me out several times with its shenanigans, like fly's crawling across the screen 😁

[@sergeleon1163]

Whenever i see a GameCube I always have to think of Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, such a brilliant game.

[@Kholaslittlespot1]

great game

[@kingklump]

I can honestly picture Mark crying when he had to take the shielding back off, lol.

[@SamMcDonald83]

5:30 I guess with the handle, they figured people would be carrying it around so had to 'bolt' everything down as it were....

[@Pickchore]

Nice. Kept my platinum GC And started buying games again. Always wanted to play Zelda Twilight Princess and found a copy for £5 the other day.

[@Friddee]

Great video! Only thing i was thinking is that i would have changed the Thermal Pads when you're already inside the machine. If it's going to be running for a long time i doesn't hurt to replace them.

[@JakeBirkett]

I got a GC a couple of years after my PS2. Those Star Wars games were really great at the time. Also Viewtiful Joe, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Resident Evil 4!!, Super Monkey Ball (used to get drunk and play the Monkey Target party game with friends), SSX Tricky, Metroid Prime(s), Luigi's Mansion, the list goes on! So many really solid games.

[@RetroGamesBoy78]

I actually bought my GameCube for a pretty good price (i think) £70 during the summer of 2003. I initially forgot to take it home with me. It was five minutes into the journey home, i reached into the back of the car to retrieve my newly acquired machine and it wasn't there. Then it dawned on me, IVE LEFT IT ON THE FLOOR OF THE CAR PARK! Drove back, as quick as we could, eventually finding where we had parked, there it was, still in the black bin bag the seller gave me to carry it, and thankfully still in one piece! Still have it to this day, although tbf, i have kept every console ive ever purchased since 1996, oh except for my original PS1, which i sold to buy a motorbike!

[@WhatAboutZoidberg]

I loved modding my Gamecube and with the new component cables it looks amazing too. I know you can mod the wii but the UI is terrible and I hate having to use the Wii motes for anything but gaming. I installed a Xeno GC mod chip with the Sd2SP and it was a super cheap way to get 95% of your setup. Plus added super crisp GBA output and its a fantastic setup.

[@Caddy666]

get a wii u.

[@doingitsidesways]

using a wii mote can be avoided, if you use bootmii you can use a gc controller to boot into the homebrew launcher which is also gc controller compatible

[@ajslim79]

more maintenance vlogs are welcome

[@Even-Steven]

5£, you can't beat that, well worth it. Eternal Darkness was amazing.

[@stephenelliott7071]

I'm a huge fan of Team RMC refurbishments, good work guys.

[@Peter1986C]

I had a black Gamecube in my teens. I remember having Metroid Prime (but not the "Echoes" sequel as it demanded a different video cable and a 60Hz TV); Tony Hawk PS 3 & Underground, Tales of Symphonia (JRPG goodness on 2 disks), some Need for Speed titles and even a port of Hitman: Silent Assasin (that ran supprisingly well, although some levels differed from the PC version to be able to do that).

[@kaitlyn__L]

I used the standard bundled composite (with the bundled SCART adapter) cable with Echoes. Think it was just a TV compatibility issue rather than a cable one

[@Peter1986C]

@@kaitlyn__L Maybe I just misremembered, but I thought that Nintendo was pushing hard into buying another at the time. Then again, we are talking about a time nearly two decades ago so I might be wrong. I do know that the 15" CRT TV that I had at the time was maxing out at 50Hz.

[@Ironlord2015]

Great work there!! I still have my GC from back in the day, and it still works beautifully! I power it up now and again to play some oldies (even though I could just play them on my original Wii, but that's not as fun is it?). The Metroid games are pretty ace, and there's some very cool Star Wars games worth playing for sure. Mario Sunshine was lovely, but I deffo preferred the Super Mario Galaxy games on the Wii! The Need For Speed games are excellent too!! Overall I think the GC is a great console, and of course takes up very little room!!

[@aeiouxs]

The GC is a delightful piece of design packaging too, with those little modular flaps and slots on the underside, and toylike colours. Plenty great titles for you to enjoy, such as Rogue Squadron II, Monkeyball, etc... - a bit of a forgotten console sadly. Also had one of the first wireless controllers (the Wavebirds) so it has its place in history. Great video as always!

[@NeonEUC]

Any chance of doing an RMC tour around England with a few other youtubers like Mark, the retro hour group, nostalgia need? Etc...pretty sure a lot of us will put our hands in our pocket to pay for venues and such

[@benspiers6147]

Thanks for yet another exquisite video. After watching I started levitating. My mum had to scrape me off the ceiling.

[@robertjones3223]

Good timing I just started the process of preventive maintenance on my Gamecube and was wondering about do I do some updates at the same time, now I have RMC and Mark fixes stuff to explain some options :)

[@fredsmith1970]

My son had a gamecube when he was younger - it was a brilliant console. 🙂

[@Ladefuss]

The combination of Mark and Neil works really well

[@lmcshera]

Is the thumbnail a cheeky reference to that famous Gamecube with $2,440 etc. inside?

[@MonsterMatt095]

It really is a fun little machine, bought one many moons ago now from a car boot sale, can't have paid more than a tenner for it, complete with 2 pads and all the wires. Sadly I don't have a ton of games for it and with the current GC market prices I won't be buying anymore anytime soon! It's not a console I've played much of to be honest, I really should look to putting more hours into it.

[@FintanMoloney]

Slightly off topic but for sure this Summer I'm going to take a few days and pop over from Ireland for a look at the cave. After watching all the videos of it being put together will be great to see the finished project. Its in a part of the UK I've not been to yet so a few days around there should be a good one :D

[@caviar_dreamz]

Odama is worth checking out, I highly recommended it for the novelty of the gameplay. Odama is a pinball RTS that's set in feudal japan and you can control your armies through commands using a microphone accessory. It sounds really strange, but I actually had a lot of fun playing it.

[@Kholaslittlespot1]

It sounds bonkers. Awesome.

[@caviar_dreamz]

@@Kholaslittlespot1 It really is, but it somehow works. Odama is a good example of the GameCube's exclusive library. Mic's and the game are cheap so it's worth checking out just for the novelty.

[@enthusiasticgamer88]

Nice I have a GCVideo internal mod and am waiting to be able to order a GC Loader and Blade GC so I can get the ultimate GC setup. Looking forward to putting it all together!

[@elizabethanderson2968]

Ahhh! The works in progress ... a process of refinement and plenty of cups of tea?

[@nitt3rz]

A maintenance series/video would be sound really cool.

[@Billy2600]

Aw yeah F-Zero GX. Still waiting on that sequel, Nintendo/Sega.

[@stephenpalmer9375]

if you have a Wii and can mod it.. the Arcade version of F-Zero is playable (as well as the first two Mario Kart Arcade games - which are quite different.. but still Mario Kart :)

[@bombjack1984]

Seeing those Nintendo/Sega logos together on the game's intro blew my mind.

[@HuntersMoon78]

I paid £5 for my pearl white GameCube, it works perfect too.

[@wearwolf2500]

I'm always surprised by the size of the GameCube. It somehow grows in my memory.

[@silverian]

Great way to fix Gamecube! It's always nice to know other options!

[@ellinorengstrom5226]

Nice to see that you are branching out with other types of content. This is much appreciated. Keep up the good work!

[@jamescameron1861]

Really underrated console with some great games. I used mine until it broke. Might have to get another one after watching this...

[@JamesEdwards780]

Maintenance & Mods = Great Content!!!

[@JenniferinIllinois]

Welcome to 'Mark Unscrews Stuff'. LOL!!!!

[@bombjack1984]

Worth mentioning that a soft-modded Wii running Nintendont can play GameCube games at higher frame rates than the original machine, and is much cheaper and easier to mod. You don't even need to use the Wii controller if you boot straight into a USB loader. My Wii is now essentially a dedicated overclocked GameCube.

[@andrewireland3976]

Got to be any of the Super Monkey Ball games. Still got my game cube. It's still got game.

[@40percentyt]

A game I loved playing on my gamecube was Zelda: Four Swords Adventures. I had the gameboy and link cable to play it properly, and it is an absolute blast if you can get more than one player (and sets of gameboys and link cables) for it

[@Daz555Daz]

I have to say I enjoyed this video a lot. I'm one of the many who has long shelved their Gamecube as I play the games on my modded Wii U.

[@ScottsGameAsylum]

Ahh Eternal Darkness! Mark has some taste!

[@megan_alnico]

Hey, looks like you have digital out on that GameCube. I think there's something called a carby you can use to get HDMI out if you wanted a bigger screen to do couch co-op stuff.

[@amirpourghoureiyan1637]

Yeah these early ones seem to work better on upscalers, I think there's a few different adapters for the digital out nowadays - I remember MetalJesusRocks covered some a while back.

[@alanwakeish]

Seeing as there are lots of screws in the GameCube, it's good that you can tap into the speedforce and unscrew them at super speed.

[@nickwallette6201]

Man, I love the Okama Game Sphere!

[@ornerycuss5804]

I'd be more than happy to support the makers of the GC Loader if they actually had products available. After watching this video I'll be ordering the clone unless by some stroke of divinity the original is actually available.

[@willrobinson7599]

Got the sd adapter mod in my gamecube ,that way u can still play physical disks as well.love playing stuff like rouge squadron.mario sunshine. Zelda to name a few

[@technretro7115]

Don't know anything about the game cube but is there a reason not to get the optical drive working first as part of a restoration then add the drive emulation for functionality? Great channel by the way 👍🏻

[@HappyCodingZX]

A couple of tips - for couch co-op play you should try out Four swords - you need gameboy advances + adapters to get most out of it - it's classic zelda but with four players. Another underrated co-op game that works in a similar way is Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles - one version of which comes with the adapters. Both games really shine with a full team, and would suit a game space where you can experience something you probably won't get chance to at home.

[@merlinathrawes6191]

I was soldering a mod chip to my Gamecube a couple of weeks ago. I was at the kitchen table wearing glasses to see the joints and my wife came along and ran her hand along my neck. The soldering iron went straight across the board and wrecked it as well as burning my hand. ;((

[@p_mouse8676]

About 1428 Gamecube titles on 2TB Neil. I don't think there are that many GC titles, lol :D

[@bombjack1984]

653 according to Wikipedia, so a 1TB card should be enough.

[@p_mouse8676]

@@bombjack1984 haha, well there we go! :D

[@GoodwinsPlace]

All the screws. GC loader is such a great mod, but the xeno GC chip isn't a bad option either on a budget if your drive is still working. You do get the slow down on some sd2sp2 games but not that bad on a decent SD.

[@paulward2076]

Hey Neil, Have you thought of hiring a young electronics/computer fix-it geek (a Mini-Mark or Mark Mk 2?) for a few hours and few quid a week to help sort out the failing machines? Im sure budget constraints will be a barrier but I'm sure you wont be short of applicants.

[@RMCRetro]

Hey Paul, we are quickly getting a great team of volunteers for the public days and are holding a pizza evening soon to get to know them all better, who wants to do what etc and we’ll see where we go from there. You’re right, maintaining the systems is paramount

[@paulward2076]

@@RMCRetro Thats great news. I would love to help out myself but living Up North and having chronic illness there is no chance for that. Although one day i do hope to visit. Good luck and I hope you keep going from strength to strength. Have you ever thought of holding a retro gaming convention? I know its even more work but i believe you would organise a great one 🙂

[@radical_ans]

Alternate title: Mark finds himself in screw hell.

[@fattomandeibu]

Still have a Game Cube, and as a PC builder, that's a mod even I can manage. I can't hold my hand steady enough to solder, I can barely manage to get that fiddly NVMe screw in place.

[@ynotwalk7391]

i sometimes omit screws during rebuild tape em onto something for keeping

[@Tim_3100]

I have a xeno drive modchip on a full size icedcube case super rare to find now reckon my GC was valued by a games collection company at £200 as its now very valuable

[@Jokerwolf666]

RMCMC: Retro Man Cave Maintenance Corner.

[@hadesmcc]

You can polish the console's jewel to remove all the scratches. It's fairly easy to do and it'll make it look even better.

[@frankowalker4662]

That's a hell of a bargain. Nice one.

[@lemagreengreen]

"We" had a Gamecube, we bought it for lan parties - it was just in the corner and a good distraction from many hours of counterstrike and quake 3.

[@stephenpalmer9375]

As you rightly say, the GCLoader (the official one) is like rocking horse droppings. Funnily enough I have been searching for an SD based solution. There is an alternative to this - if your Mini-DVD drive actually still works. First install a Xeno GC mod chip. They cost pennies, and are probably the easiest mod chip to install - a small soldering iron tip and a steady hand. Then get a SD2SP card (again, cheap as chips) which goes into the 2nd serial port under the machine. Finally a SWISS Mini DVD (again, a few pounds). This will enable you to play a) Any region game and b) if you boot off the Swiss mini DVD it will automatically enable you to select games stored on an SD card which is in the SD2SP. So.... it's not perfect. There are some compatibility issues with some games, and not all FMV sequences work perfectly. But games work ! You of course do allude to this in the video. And for me? The Gamecube is the ultimate hidden gem console. It has a great library, a lovely design too. Next up - get Mark to do an LED update :)

[@iXien]

To avoid modifying the console, I use an Action Replay Mini DVD with a Max memory card and a microSD that contains Swiss. a second microSD drive connected on the serial connector under the console accommodates a 256GB microSD containing Gamecube games and even NES and SNES emulators. My serial adapter is angled in order to access it without having to constantly remove my Gameboy Player. It works so well. If you permit me, some PAL games need sometimes PAL/60hz display to works well. Maybe it's the problem of your videos that are not always smooth? I had the problem with Baten Kaitos and Gauntlet Dark Legacy. They are PAL but I need to load them with 60hz display to obtain smooth FMV. The speed of your SD card is also important.

[@UltraZippyYT]

Burnout 2 was my go-to game on the GC. I have a set of Donkey Kong bongos somewhere to 🤣

[@worldofretrogameplay6963]

I loved the Gamecube!

[@Evercade_Effect]

Well done and thanks for preserving video games for all to enjoy.

[@coryengel]

I love it when people look exclusively at my left ear when they talk to me. None of this “look me in the eyes” business!

[@londongaz2]

Cool mod. I will dig out my old Cube and see if it still works.

[@RobA500]

Had a Gamecube from the start and think its a wonderful little machine, also got a gameboy player that sits under it. I enjoyed both Super Mario Sunshine & Eternal Darkness. The sanity mechanism in the latter was great at one point it had me walk though several rooms before plonking me right back where I started having staggered about with all sorts of strange things going on, needless to say the sanity meter was rock bottom at that point.

[@AcornElectron]

So it, I might mod one of mine seeing how straightforward it is.

[@leftoutjonny]

Retro Gamer magazine brought me here!

[@johnknight9150]

Is this going to be the start of a Hoovie's Garage style series, but with computers instead of cars?

[@fensoxx]

You guys are great… but I wish the channel had more in depth hardware dives like this (but deeper like they used to be). It seems to be more museum and less old tech exploration like it used to be 😞

[@sonyericssoner]

I scored a Gamecube for 40€ with wireless controller, gameboy player+CD(CIB) and few games at flea market 2 yrs ago. Needed to play PRO poker face for the seller not to see my extreme happines

[@PMcDFPV]

looks like you also have a DOL-001 model so you can do the HDMI mod on it, or if there is some lucky viewer out there who has the composite cables and would send them in.... you could also have the best native or modded display :D

[@Caddy666]

also the digital out edition, so you can spend an exorbitant amount on digital hdmi mod....

[@TheTurnipKing]

That particular generation was interesting because - early on at least - there wasn't actually much to pick between the three. They shared most of the same third party titles. Later on support for the Cube dropped off so you'd find that sometimes you don't get a second o third title in a franchise. Burnout is a particular example. Also Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance.

[@MrJakeTucker]

Neil - I got a PS2 at launch in the UK. I vaguely remember having to pick it up about a month before Xmas. I did have a N64 for Goldeneye and Perfect Dark and I'd read that Timesplitters was from a bunch of ex Rare devs so I got that and SSX.

[@bingbollard]

Recently did my Dreamcast, will have to save for this as well, I still have my opening day metroid prime cube 😁

[@syrus3k]

I had ikaruga on my GC.. best schmup I ever played... Magic

[@zaxchannel2834]

If you can get another it would be cool to mess around with the few LAN capable games as well as GBA connectivity

[@TransCanadaPhil]

I have my GameCube that I originally bought in 2002, still hooked up on my basement TV. It works fine but to be honest if I'm in the mood to play either GameCube or Wii I just prefer loading up the Dolphin emulator on my Laptop. This is one of those cases where the emulator is quite a superior experience over the original hardware. Games can be rendered in HD resolutions with new texture packs so they look far better than the original console could ever do.

[@fenikso]

With all the ports of Dreamcast games to the GC, it really felt like the successor to both the DC and N64. Play Skies of Arcadia on GC sometime, it's the best version of that game (I'm overdue for a replay myself).

[@paulboardman01]

now you can use a pi pico and still have the drive in place

[@RMCRetro]

Very much looking forward to trying that mod out

[@RetroShowCaseGr]

Great video! We'll give it a try mate! Thanks! ;)

[@RetroGameCoders]

I was *given* my GC when a colleague moved on from it and upgraded, unfortunately I have lost most of the games in my moves so will be getting one of those SD conversions asap 🥳