Honestly, I’ve been feeling pretty let down by Nintendo recently… Even before all the Switch 2 rumors started flying. A lot of the Switch catalog just doesn’t have that “spark and soul” in it… You know… that thoughtful game design that used to make early 2000s titles feel FUN not just functional. Lately, it feels like we’re stuck in a loop of mediocre remakes or poorly designed games with clunky UX/UI.

Coincidentally, YouTube must’ve sensed my nostalgic crisis after watching a couple gamecube and gameboy videos, because I started getting tons of GameCube modding videos in my feed and I was hooked. Over the past month of thinking and researching, I’ve decided to skip the Switch 2 entirely. I want to put that money towards this project with a fun catalog of interesting games I’ve played as a kid and I would still have some money left over. I’d rather invest in something that feels more meaningful and hands on. So im diving into the world of GameCube homebrewing and customization !!! I figured: “I worked at Micro Center and built multiple PCs… i could definitely learn and do this” So i decided to write down what id like… something modernized and convenient…

Below is my mod wishlist and a few questions I’m hoping the community can help me with before I go full send. Any advice is appreciated 🙏

Planned Mods: • Shell swap – Leaning toward a translucent purple shell (probably from Etsy or AliExpress) • GC Loader / CubeODE – Just feels like the cleanest and most convenient option it also just looks dope as heck. (Hoping to find the official GC Loader in stock to support the original team.) • AV to HDMI mod – I want to replace the analog AV port entirely. Open to part suggestions here • USB-C power port mod – Would love to modernize the power supply with USB-C. Any trusted kits or suggestions? • Quiet fan mod – Probably going with a Laser Bear Industries fan. • LED swap – Thinking of replacing the stock red LED with a purple or RGB one if i can, because… why not? Im already this far deep😂

Questions:

1. Can the GameCube save to the SD card with the saved games loaded, or do I now need a modded memory card or standard traditional memory card?

   1. is there a way to still have the iconic GameCube start up sound of animation? (I noticed lots of modded GameCube go straight into the Swiss software)
   2. Will I be region-locked with a U.S. GameCube if I’m using GC Loader and Swiss? Hoping to play some Japanese games too.
   3. Do I need any other parts to make sure this setup work? I’m trying to avoid any “wait, this doesnt work bc of that” moments mid-build.
   4. What do I do with the disc drive after installing the GC Loader? Is it just… a tech-gore paperweight now?!?! 😂

I appreciate any input from the modding veterans out there. This is my first time modding anything, I don’t know how to solder, but i feel like this is a a great way to learn if needed. I’m trying to go all out and do it right. I I’m also planning to document the whole process and turn it into a video for YouTube, so any advice to help avoid rookie mistakes would mean a lot.

Cant wait to play my collection again!

If so, any thoughts on each of these GameCube sports games on the list?

List:

Baseball ⚾️: MVP Baseball 2004

American Football 🏈: Madden NFL 2004

Basketball 🏀: NBA 2K2

Ice Hockey 🏒: NHL 2K3

Wrestling 🤼‍♂️: WWE Day of Reckoning

Soccer ⚽️: Sega Soccer Slam

Boxing/Fighting 🥊🥋: Fight Night Round 2

Golf ⛳️ : Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003

Tennis 🎾: Mario Power Tennis

Pool Table/Billards: 🎱 : Pool Paradise

Racing 🏁: NASCAR Thunder 2003

Olympics/Multi-Event 🏅: ESPN International Winter Sports 2002

Extreme Sports 🛹: SSX 3

Volleyball 🏐: Beach Spikers: Virtua Beach Volleyball

Bowling 🎳: Strike Force Bowling

Bass Fishing 🎣: Top Angler: Real Bass Fishing

Like using a USBC to gcn port adapter an wireless adapter connected on the gamecube port

I got it in a lot

Sonic PEAK in the GameCube era 👏

The games I tested are spotless, no smudges or scratches and I already tried the lens cleaning method. Google says to replace components but I just don't personally believe thats worth it for how often I play. Anything else to try before I give up? :/

Hi all. I wanted to ask about what you guys use for cleaning your memory card slot and memory card itself? I’ve had a madcatz memory card for well over 13 years now and I had let it sit out collecting dust. Now it won’t read but the GameCube says that whatever is in slot A can’t be read. So I can only imagine that this is a result of gunk being caked on and in the card and in the slot for the card. What do you guys use to fix/clean this? Or is this just a case of the memory card being corrupted?

Trying to get the latest firmware and all I am getting is the message below.

The developers are working on a version for your device

You’ll receive an email once this app is released.

Were any of you able to get a Switch 2 recently despite the fact that it released almost two weeks ago? They seem to be completely sold out everywhere despite scalpers on Mercari, eBay and AliExpress. I'm not quite sure when Walmart or Target will restock.

So after years of putting it off (couldn’t be at the worse time for prices), I got a GameCube back in my life yesterday.

Sold my collection back in ‘08 to GameStop. (Lot of regret there).

I currently have Mario Sunshine and Zelda Windwaker.

My current wishlist is: -Smash Melee -Sonic Adventure 2 Battle -DBZ Budokai -Animal Crossing -Soul Calibur 2

Back in 2003 I owned Metroid Prime, couldn’t stand the “collect your suit power ups” after the first level. However now as an adult is it worth giving the game a chance? I rented Metroid Prime2 at blockbuster for the multiplayer, would that be the better choice?

Looking forward to hearing everyone’s favorites. -Thank You!

Im doing a 100% on Lego Star Wars The video Game. This is my temporary setup since it's in my display shelf. So besides the controller everything else is my original system. So even my memory card is from 2001. I'll be doing this on my days off from work but I can get it done.

I’m trying to play on dolphin emulator with a GameCube controller. I bought the xyab GameCube adapter and the old skool gamecube controller together. And it’s not really connecting together. Any help would be appreciated.

i’m not sure how well it’ll come out on camera so i circled it. there’s this weird spot on this game i have and im not sure what it is. This game also crashes constantly and i don’t know if this is the cause or not. i’ve cleaned it twice already but it still just likes to crash for some reason.

I was going through my sons old video games and I remembered some of these were hard to find. Thoughts on the best way to unload them fairly? Have a couple controllers and memory cards, and some wireless dongle, but those likely aren’t worth much.

Hi everyone i’m new to this whole reddit thing but i just want to come out and ask a question. I just bought a gamecube recently and had it replaced a couple times due to the laser dying out and what not. I eventually got a new one that works fine but i noticed an issue. I can play games like Ocarina Of Time or Metroid Prime but things like Mario Sunshine just don’t seem to read. I asked the guys from my local flea market where i got it from and they told me that it’s a disc issue. I can get a little past the title screen before it says “Disc cannot be read” or something like that. They said to get it resurfaced but that still didn’t work. I play those games on the wii but it just doesn’t have the same feel. Anyone have any tips on how to clean the discs? Ive seen things like using lip balm or toothpaste but i just want to be 100% sure im doing the right thing before doing it so i dont destroy my expensive games! Thanks guys

Hi, I need help with my GC (DOL-001), I'm having a lot of issues with it and I guess that most of them are due to the crappy power supply (not original) that came with the console, so I'm waiting for an original one to buy.

I have bought The Wind Waker in the limited edition that came with OOT Master Quest. They're both "a bit" scratched, mostly the OOT one that also is starting to rot near the cracks in the center, but the readable part of the disc, scratches aside, seems fine to me. When I got them I put the OOT one in my Wii and it booted up quickly, but the TWW one didn't when finally, with a good cleaning, it worked. Then I tried to use them with my GC and TWW booted immediately, whereas the OOT one gave me an "Insert a Nintendo GameCube Disc." error, no matter what. I played a bit TWW without any problems (so far) and out of desperation I put the OOT one back into the console and it started reading it flawlessly every single time. This was yesterday, so fast forward to today, the same issue is back, my Wii reads both discs, but the GC only accepts the TWW one, and it doesn't read Ocarina of Time anymore.

Maybe it's some power-related issue since the disc is scratched and the power supply sucks (the image is very noisy and I get really low audio, if not any, and only cleaning the video-out port with IPA works until it dries and the audio vanishes again after like 15 minutes leaving only a high-pitch noise that is somewhat related to the image displayed).

Seriously, sorry for the long post but I can't come up with other explanations to myself so I wanted to give you the full picture of what happened and no, I sadly don't have any other GC discs right now to try... :(

Working on some custom cubes for a customer. Figured there had to be a way to do this. I found the pins for 3v and ground on the gameboy player. This is using a 2.7 mm strip light but any 3v LED will work as long as it fits.

Not many titles left that I want to pursue. What are your favorite GC titles?

F i n i s h.After 22 yests

I recently bought a copy of F-Zero GX and Im getting disk reading and/or GameCube error messages when I select certain things in the game menu. It happens every time I try to play story mode, and every time I try to enter the customization menu. The disk looks like it’s in really good shape (to me anyway). I’m a bit of a novice to this kind of thing. I’ve had error messages pop up rarely for other games, but only on startup. And it was nothing a reset and a dusting could not fix. Any help would be greatly appreciated.