The Nintendo GameCube Appreciation and Collecting Thread.

Is there any interest in Gamecube-era retail memorabilia? I used to work in retail around 2000-2003 and saved some Nintendo promotional material from the period. I'm cleaning out my parents' house and trying to get rid of some stuff. I have an ebay auction right now to sell some over-sized display boxes for Super Smash Bros, Pikmin and Viewtiful Joe. There's also some other random stuff from the StarFox Adventures and Metroid Prime launches that I'll probably be getting rid of soon.

Is it gauche to pimp one's own ebay auctions on GAF?
 
Oh god my d-terminal cable works and is awesome! It definitely looks better than my Wii connected directly to my tv by component.... But I assume my xrgb mini is doing a better job upscaling the signal than the tv would.
 
Mercutio said:
Oh god my d-terminal cable works and is awesome! It definitely looks better than my Wii connected directly to my tv by component.... But I assume my xrgb mini is doing a better job upscaling the signal than the tv would.
Click to expand...
Probably since I don't think TVs upscale well for certain things.
 
Mercutio said:
It's crazy that Nintendo even made cables for it. It seems like they genuinely didn't want anyone to use them, I think they only sold online in the USA?

Then that port was just GONE.
Click to expand...

That's my favorite stupid Nintendo logic decision ever, I think. When they removed the port, they actually did a press release stating that they were removing it because "less than one percent" of owners were using it. Actually, that little tidbit of logic is still on their site:
http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/nintendogamecube/component_faq.jsp

I wish I could slap someone over there. No shit, idiots! The cable was never sold in stores! I wonder what percent of any other accessory - controllers, regular AV cables, memory cards, etc - were sold from their online store at the time. I'm guessing "less than one percent" is probably the answer to that question.
 
Pulled the trigger on Fire Emblem and Cubivore. I think Gotcha Force is the other one I want that's way up there, besides maybe the Plus version of PSO.
 
I bought an Indigo colored Gamecube at the swapmeet for $5. I usually just check to see if has all the covers in the bottom and it has the digital port.

When I got home I discovered I had bought a Japanese version of the system.

1B1D5513-2A31-4B74-8E87-D589723E1E94_zps8hcnp2ob.jpg


2C3D765F-A64F-413B-9E05-69360C15C518_zpsxzdjvrpb.jpg
Click to expand...

It's a good thing I picked this up weeks before for $5. Was afraid I would never have an easy way to play this copy.
D95FAC6B-4075-40ED-8795-7D90BBD2B3A3_zpsqxwy3aq0.jpg
Click to expand...

Now I need to find a Spice Gamecube.

94825689-8150-4975-B80F-07679FA9E5CB_zpsaq1ntxvh.jpg
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I need to read this thread again to see if any Japanese only titles were mentioned.
 
If you're looking for a recommendation, and like puzzle games, I'd suggest Nintendo Puzzle Collection. It's a Japan-exclusive compilation of Panel de Pon (my favorite puzzle game ever), Dr. Mario, and Yoshi's Cookie. It has some good GBA connectivity features as well.
 
Jamix012 said:
I was just looking at the list of games that support it and was wondering if people had experience using the GBA link with any of the following games:
- Road Trip: The Arcade Edition
- Mega Man X: Command Mission
- The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
- Any Harry Potter game
- Anything else of real interest really
Click to expand...

Didn't realize Mega Man X: Command Mission supported it. I wonder what it does.

I remember a few of the Splinter Cells supported it, turned your GBA into a map in one game I think, while Chaos Theory turns it into a deployable camera, which was pretty cool.

Another great use was in Phantasy Star Online where you could download mini-games to it, including a GBA mini-port of NiGHTS!
 
So I spent a few hours last night trying out as many games in Progressive Scan as possible.

Thoughts:

The color reproduction from the Gamecube is the clearest advantage over the Wii's GC Progressive output. There's a vibrancy to the Cube output that is lovely, and in comparison the Wii tends to wash things out a little bit.

I'm not sure if it's related to the contrast (which is better on the Cube) but aliasing seems less pronounced on the Gamecube in Progressive.

Even games that don't do 480p look absolutely wonderful.

It's a lot easier to just hold down B when you boot a system instead of using multiple controllers with a Wii to get into GC mode, then wait and hold down B when it boots.

I'm super happy with my Gamecube setup now. It may not be a massive improvement over the Wii's output, and I think most people won't care at all, but I'm completely pleased with my $50 cable investment. For $100? I dunno, I think I'd still like it, but I'm probably happier because I got a pretty good deal.

It's such a stupid shame that Nintendo made a system that is capable of such incredible output, and then removed the option for customers... especially at a time when gamers were increasingly adopting Hi-Def or higher quality display devices.
 
JDeluis said:
I bought an Indigo colored Gamecube at the swapmeet for $5. I usually just check to see if has all the covers in the bottom and it has the digital port.

When I got home I discovered I had bought a Japanese version of the system.



It's a good thing I picked this up weeks before for $5. Was afraid I would never have an easy way to play this copy.


Now I need to find a Spice Gamecube.



I need to read this thread again to see if any Japanese only titles were mentioned.
Click to expand...

Now just pick up a dirt cheap color matching JPN Gameboy Player and you're all set. Amazon JP is even still selling them new in box.
 
Mercutio said:
So I spent a few hours last night trying out as many games in Progressive Scan as possible.

Thoughts:

The color reproduction from the Gamecube is the clearest advantage over the Wii's GC Progressive output. There's a vibrancy to the Cube output that is lovely, and in comparison the Wii tends to wash things out a little bit.

I'm not sure if it's related to the contrast (which is better on the Cube) but aliasing seems less pronounced on the Gamecube in Progressive.

Even games that don't do 480p look absolutely wonderful.

It's a lot easier to just hold down B when you boot a system instead of using multiple controllers with a Wii to get into GC mode, then wait and hold down B when it boots.

I'm super happy with my Gamecube setup now. It may not be a massive improvement over the Wii's output, and I think most people won't care at all, but I'm completely pleased with my $50 cable investment. For $100? I dunno, I think I'd still like it, but I'm probably happier because I got a pretty good deal.

It's such a stupid shame that Nintendo made a system that is capable of such incredible output, and then removed the option for customers... especially at a time when gamers were increasingly adopting Hi-Def or higher quality display devices.
Click to expand...

I think you'd like what swiss can do now that you have comp cables. Its the app I use to force 480p on games that didn't have the option. Seriously, you should see RE2 on 480p cube. In general, many games display a more dramatic difference in 480p than just going from s-vid to component alone.
 
Jamix012 said:
That's pretty cool. Thanks for answering.

I was just looking at the list of games that support it and was wondering if people had experience using the GBA link with any of the following games:
- Road Trip: The Arcade Edition
- Mega Man X: Command Mission
- The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
- Any Harry Potter game
- Anything else of real interest really
Click to expand...

Slermy said:
Didn't realize Mega Man X: Command Mission supported it. I wonder what it does.
Click to expand...

MMX: Command Mission was the only game I used the link cable with. Nothing special though, just acted as a radar to find hidden items.
 
Mercutio said:
So I spent a few hours last night trying out as many games in Progressive Scan as possible.

Thoughts:

The color reproduction from the Gamecube is the clearest advantage over the Wii's GC Progressive output. There's a vibrancy to the Cube output that is lovely, and in comparison the Wii tends to wash things out a little bit.

I'm not sure if it's related to the contrast (which is better on the Cube) but aliasing seems less pronounced on the Gamecube in Progressive.

Even games that don't do 480p look absolutely wonderful.

It's a lot easier to just hold down B when you boot a system instead of using multiple controllers with a Wii to get into GC mode, then wait and hold down B when it boots.

I'm super happy with my Gamecube setup now. It may not be a massive improvement over the Wii's output, and I think most people won't care at all, but I'm completely pleased with my $50 cable investment. For $100? I dunno, I think I'd still like it, but I'm probably happier because I got a pretty good deal.

It's such a stupid shame that Nintendo made a system that is capable of such incredible output, and then removed the option for customers... especially at a time when gamers were increasingly adopting Hi-Def or higher quality display devices.
Click to expand...

A couple of things to note

You shouldn't need to hold down B every time. Once you've tried to activate 480p once, it should always ask on the boot of a game that supports it. This is true for the BC Wii too, so honestly, it's not much of an improvement in ease of use.

How does it look through XRGB (I think you said you had one)? I'm kind of curious if there is any difference between Component and D terminal. In theory, there shouldn't be, but I still wonder.

Regarding the point about HD coming into fruition around that time, I don't agree. I wasn't super in the loop or anything, but I do remember even around the time of the PS3 launch that people were saying that HD wasn't necessary yet. I didn't get an HD TV myself till considerably after my 'cube had been stacked away, and that was definitely earlier than most of my friends did. Even Halo 3 for the 360 was optimised for non-widescreen sets. When the 'cube lost it's component output in around 2004? It was probably the right move from Nintendo.
 
televator said:
I think you'd like what swiss can do now that you have comp cables. Its the app I use to force 480p on games that didn't have the option. Seriously, you should see RE2 on 480p cube. In general, many games display a more dramatic difference in 480p than just going from s-vid to component alone.
Click to expand...

I'd like to give it a shot, but is there a way to run it without physically modifying my system to play full size discs?

Jamix012 said:
A couple of things to note

You shouldn't need to hold down B every time. Once you've tried to activate 480p once, it should always ask on the boot of a game that supports it. This is true for the BC Wii too, so honestly, it's not much of an improvement in ease of use.

How does it look through XRGB (I think you said you had one)? I'm kind of curious if there is any difference between Component and D terminal. In theory, there shouldn't be, but I still wonder.

Regarding the point about HD coming into fruition around that time, I don't agree. I wasn't super in the loop or anything, but I do remember even around the time of the PS3 launch that people were saying that HD wasn't necessary yet. I didn't get an HD TV myself till considerably after my 'cube had been stacked away, and that was definitely earlier than most of my friends did. Even Halo 3 for the 360 was optimised for non-widescreen sets. When the 'cube lost it's component output in around 2004? It was probably the right move from Nintendo.
Click to expand...

I noticed that on subsequent boots of games, that's a great feature. I wonder where it's storing the information in the console? The progressive boot info, I mean.

Yeah, I'm running the system through the D-Terminal on the XRGB Mini. It looks fantastic; a dramatic improvement over the washed out and aliased / blurred Wii Component output directly to my TV. To make it a fair fight, I'd have to get an adapter to connect my Wii to the XRGB's D-Terminal as well. As it stands, there's no comparison between the Wii on my TV's Component inputs and the XRGB through D-Terminal.

You're probably right about HD, but it's still a shame that Nintendo decided to approach the whole situation the way that they did.
 
Mercutio said:
Yup! Some Japanese display devices have D-Terminal instead of Component, since it's a more compact version of the same thing, I guess. My XRGB Mini has it, which is how I'm going to hook this badboy up.

Also, WHOA. That is some news! YEARS later.
Click to expand...

Oh my god, I cannot express my jealousy. I never even thought about how nice a GameCube might look through a Framemeister. I really wish I could justify the expense for one of those, the results look utterly gorgeous.
 
NinjaCatfish said:
Oh my god, I cannot express my jealousy. I never even thought about how nice a GameCube might look through a Framemeister. I really wish I could justify the expense for one of those, the results look utterly gorgeous.
Click to expand...

I actually had one last year just for the Saturn, and couldn't justify it at all. I actually sold it to Quan, the guy who makes the Neo Geo Omega MVS systems. Then I got crazy in to retro system collecting, and it's kind of an essential hub for everything I play now.

My next move is to get a rotating TV wall mount, so I can play shooters as they were meant to be played.
 
Mercutio said:
I actually had one last year just for the Saturn, and couldn't justify it at all. I actually sold it to Quan, the guy who makes the Neo Geo Omega MVS systems. Then I got crazy in to retro system collecting, and it's kind of an essential hub for everything I play now.

My next move is to get a rotating TV wall mount, so I can play shooters as they were meant to be played.
Click to expand...

I envy you.
I've fallen out of retro collecting a little as of late, haven't the finances to support the habit like I used to. I did pick up a CRT with component input, so that's probably about as good as it's gonna get for me.
 
sixteen-bit said:
If you're looking for a recommendation, and like puzzle games, I'd suggest Nintendo Puzzle Collection. It's a Japan-exclusive compilation of Panel de Pon (my favorite puzzle game ever), Dr. Mario, and Yoshi's Cookie. It has some good GBA connectivity features as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Great suggestion.

SheepyGuy said:
Now just pick up a dirt cheap color matching JPN Gameboy Player and you're all set. Amazon JP is even still selling them new in box.
Click to expand...

Tempting. Indigo colored player comes out to around $57 which is pretty pricey. Platinum being the cheapest at $27.

Are Japan Gameboy players region specific or will they work with US Gamecube as well?
 
JDeluis said:
Tempting. Indigo colored player comes out to around $57 which is pretty pricey. Platinum being the cheapest at $27.

Are Japan Gameboy players region specific or will they work with US Gamecube as well?
Click to expand...

The Game Boy Player hardware itself work with any region Gamecube, but you will need a start-up disc from the same region as your Gamecube.
 
JDeluis said:
Tempting. Indigo colored player comes out to around $57 which is pretty pricey. Platinum being the cheapest at $27.
Click to expand...

The price has been fluctuating quite a bit. I got my spice orange one last month for just under 4000 yen and at that point the indigo one was around the same price. Now spice orange is just under 3000 yen. :\
 
sixteen-bit said:
The Game Boy Player hardware itself work with any region Gamecube, but you will need a start-up disc from the same region as your Gamecube.
Click to expand...

Thanks. In the future I might buy a new Platinum player to put on my U.S Gamecube and buy used Indigo player for my JPN Gamecube and use the disc from the Platinum player. Now I just need more disposable income and space to display everything.
 
On the topic of the Game Boy Player, does anyone know of a place to buy the North America Start Up Disc that isn't an insane price like eBay?
 
sixteen-bit said:
Black was the only option in North America. I remember being really jealous of the import ones, lol.
Click to expand...

Sad :(

We bought the purple one to match our cube, but I think you could get black here in NZ too. Maybe silver too, I don't remember so well.

That reminds me, the only thing I misplaced when I moved house was the box for our Gameboy Player, which had inside the flap we took off the cube, and for some reason the expansion pak removal tool. Miss those little guys :(
 
sixteen-bit said:
My only guess would be trying your luck with Nintendo customer support.
Click to expand...

That or the BST thread, maaaaybe.

I wouldn't count on anything from Nintendo though, they used to sell startup discs on their site but pulled them years ago, presumably because stock was either extremely low our out.

Actually the new store sucks, I had never really looked at it. Functionally it's way better but they removed all the categories and products for anything pre-DS.
 
Nintendo doesn't even carry the replacement panels for the bottom of Gamecubes. I don't think they stock anything Cube related anymore. Of course, soon you'll be able to get brand new Gamecube controllers, so that's cool.
 
teeg said:
On the topic of the Game Boy Player, does anyone know of a place to buy the North America Start Up Disc that isn't an insane price like eBay?
Click to expand...
They sell the player and disc at my local retro shop for $40. I could pick up one and ship to if you'd like.
 
31hPkjDv%2BxL.jpg
Click to expand...
Sometime in the future I may get that, it's not like those upscalers that go up to 720p/1080p, it basically outputs the video and audio in full digital HDMI with 480p still being the max res so I'm hoping it'll have a change in clarity when it comes to Gamecube games.

I hope this works out.
 
Timu said:
Sometime in the future I may get that, it's not like those upscalers that go up to 720p/1080p, it basically outputs the video and audio in full digital HDMI with 480p still being the max res so I'm hoping it'll have a change in clarity when it comes to Gamecube games.

I hope this works out.
Click to expand...
I'd like to know how this works out too. Component Wii is great for me (and it keeps with my all white console theming) but I'd like to simplify my hookups.
 
Timu said:
Sometime in the future I may get that, it's not like those upscalers that go up to 720p/1080p, it basically outputs the video and audio in full digital HDMI with 480p still being the max res so I'm hoping it'll have a change in clarity when it comes to Gamecube games.

I hope this works out.
Click to expand...

I have one of these but it does have 720p / 1080p options; does this one only output 480p? Mine really doesn't do a nice image, I'd hope this one is better.
 
Esnel Pla said:
I'd like to know how this works out too. Component Wii is great for me (and it keeps with my all white console theming) but I'd like to simplify my hookups.
Click to expand...
Same here as it make things simpler.

Mercutio said:
I have one of these but it does have 720p / 1080p options; does this one only output 480p? Mine really doesn't do a nice image, I'd hope this one is better.
Click to expand...
Yeah, this one only does from what I've seen.
 
televator said:
Of course! No mod necesary. You just put swiss on an sd card and use media launcher to run it. I think this is the easiest hack ever.
Click to expand...

Dang, might have to try finding one of those SD card media launchers, would be amazing to try forcing my dumb PAL games into 480p, then doing another comparison with 576i, 480i and 480p.

Mercutio said:
Nintendo doesn't even carry the replacement panels for the bottom of Gamecubes. I don't think they stock anything Cube related anymore. Of course, soon you'll be able to get brand new Gamecube controllers, so that's cool.
Click to expand...

You never know! I managed to get some sets of GC component cables from Nintendo Australia last year. I hear they're fresh out after a whole bunch of people realised that NAL still had them. In my case they were holding on to them as warranty replacements, but it has been so long since they needed to replace a set that they just sent it to me, $45 all up and I was chuffed.
 
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