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The Nintendo GameCube Appreciation and Collecting Thread.

Morfeo

The Chuck Norris of Peace
Hi GamecubeGAF,
i just ordered a copy of starfox assault and an extra copy of starfox adventures.

never played both... anyone play Starfox Adventures and any impressions of it?

I think Assault is underrated, have some really great levels, including the opening one as already was stated above. Adventures is a very mediocre Zelda-clone, well behind other clones like Beyond Good and Evil and Okami. And yeah, the flying levels in this game is a complete joke. Still, its enjoyable enough, and the graphics was great for the time.
 
Star Fox Adventures is pretty decent, yes. Graphics are amazing @60fps. Story could be better and music is good. Gameplay is unsurprising but enjoyable nonetheless; a bit like zelda indeed. Arwing levels are dissapointing though (could have left out entirely).

Starfox Assault I do not remember much of it so take that as you will. What I do remember is the first level being absolutely amazing, but after that the games takes a nosedive. Amazing soundtrack though.

I think Assault is underrated, have some really great levels, including the opening one as already was stated above. Adventures is a very mediocre Zelda-clone, well behind other clones like Beyond Good and Evil and Okami. And yeah, the flying levels in this game is a complete joke. Still, its enjoyable enough, and the graphics was great for the time.

thanks all for your opinions, the only starfox i played was on N64, i'm really looking forward to trying them both.

i'll post some pics and my impressions once they come in a week.
 

D.Lo

Member
Cross posted from the general retro thread:

latest

 

Morfeo

The Chuck Norris of Peace
thanks all for your opinions, the only starfox i played was on N64, i'm really looking forward to trying them both.

i'll post some pics and my impressions once they come in a week.

Looking forward to that David. You should definitely play the original, while the graphics are primitive, I think they have a very unique charm, together with the awesome music and very solid gameplay. It is also interesting to play just to experience the huge impact it had back in the day as a true 3d game on the Snes.
 
Looking forward to that David. You should definitely play the original, while the graphics are primitive, I think they have a very unique charm, together with the awesome music and very solid gameplay. It is also interesting to play just to experience the huge impact it had back in the day as a true 3d game on the Snes.

i brought starfox CIB earlier this year for SNES, i don't recall if i played or beat it on the SNES as a kid (i probably didn't but i remember all the FX chip hoopla so i might've tried it.) i'm still rockin starfox64 on 3ds, it's so awesome. sorta got me to buy the gamecube releases.
 

tesla246

Member
Yes, certainly try the original; I think it is the best in the franchise. Music is amazing, gibberish "voice-acting" is perfect. This is the only game I have ever played where I would not want a higher framerate, as crazy as that sounds, I know. There just is something satisfying, after playing the original countless times, to know/feel you have got that enemy already shooting a few frames before it actually enters your rectangle, knowing it will hit.
The game is pretty much perfect old school arcade fun; different paths for endles replayability, high scores in levels, bosses are fantastic, enemy design and difficulty is spot on and gameplay/controls feel just right. One of my favourite's on the snes.
 
Guys, I'm feeling a bit bummed out. Indulge me for a moment, will you?

Several years ago I started building a small but decent collection of Gamecube games after I managed to score a cheap NTSC/US Gamecube. These are usually expensive and/or hard to find in my country where Playstations reign supreme. Even bought a GB Player to go along with it. All was great! However after a while money became tight and time became scarce because of the birth of my daughter. I shelved my games and gamecube away. That was about 7-8 years ago.

Recently I brought my GC out of storage because I suddenly had a hankering to play some GBA games on my TV. The disc would not boot up. Ok, no problem. Just clean the lens with some isopropyl alcohol right? Still won't boot. Ok, still no problem. I actually have a SD Gecko and I softmodded my GC years ago to mess around with emulators. I installed GBI on that, switched out the outdated SDLOADER with Swiss (Wow!) and tried to boot it using my Action Replay. Still won't boot. Started to suspect something was up with the lens. I tried all my other GC games. None of them would boot.

So I bought security bits, waited for them to arrive and when they finally did, I opened the case and adjusted the pot a little. Success! The discs started to boot. Only for a day! Tried adjusting the pot again but was very nervous, cos my multimeter was telling me I was close to zero ohm resistance. Didn't work. The laser was fried.

I didn't give up. I looked up how I could replace the lens. Discovered cheap laser units on eBay but most people didn't recommend them as they were cheaply made China clones that would break easily. Some people suggested buying another Gamecube. Not an option because importing another US unit would cost a bomb for me.

Then I discovered I could buy Japanese Gamecubes for cheap. This was not on my radar because of the region lock plus the language barrier. But I had discovered that the drive units were interchangeable. So I bought a cheap working Japanese Gamecube off of eBay and when it finally arrived... goddammit, the seller didn't even bother packaging it properly. Just placed it where it could rattle around in its flimsy box! The Gamecube had noticable damage on its case. I didn't really care about the case because I just needed the drive but I was concerned the small plastic bits would affect the lens. I demanded a refund and while the seller was slow and seemed reluctant, he finally gave in.

Anyway, I took the drive out of the Japanese Gamecube and put it in my US one. Booted a game. Didn't work at first but after adjusting the pot a bit, it finally booted up all my discs! I could not play all my games again! I thought that was a happy ending... until on Saturday when I started playing Skies of Arcadia...

About an hour into the game, the drive started to make those loud clicking noises, like when it's failing to read the disc. And sure enough eventually it spat out a Disc Read Error. ARGHHH. I wasn't sure if it was my disc that was the problem, so I tried it out on my Wii, which played it with seemingly no problems. So it was just my Gamecube then. Ok, back to adjusting the pot. But now, no matter how much I adjust it I can't get Skies of Arcadia to work properly. Too little resistance and no discs will load. Too much, and the same thing happens.

I'm at my wit's end! I'm seriously tired and annoyed with my Gamecube. I love the little thing to pieces but this DRE thing is making me want to throw it against the wall sometimes!!

Anyway, just wanted to rant. I'm not sure what my next step is but I think I need to take a step back for now and enjoy a retro console that uses carts instead. Like my lovely TwinFami.
 

DonMigs85

Member
My first indigo GameCube had a nasty, clicky DRE-prone drive as well. I think Smash Bros. was what wore it out fast.
Second Platinum Cube was a DOL-101 unit, but in the 4 years I had it the drive always ran smoothly. No DREs at all.
 
Hmm. Maybe I should start hunting for a cheap JP DOL-101 so I can harvest the drive. Nobody really loves the 101s anyway right?

It's that, or start hunting for mini DVDrs or something. I have a XenoGC but I never got round to installing it because I didn't feel the need to. Now I'm thinking maybe I should try burning a copy of Skies of Arcadia and see where that gets me, but tbh, backup copies rub me the wrong way, even if I do own the original discs.
 

Impotaku

Member
YAY, my double disk gamecube protectors turned up today from Dan at retroprotection. They feel & fit just as great as the singles do, finally all but the annoyingly shaped pokemon channel are now protected although i could just bust out 2 single protectors for that game but it would leave the slipcase unprotected, i'll need to find a solution for that one.

These were the final ones waiting to be armoured up.

This is the reason i wanted all my gamecube covers protected, pretty much all my games are in this condition. Wanted them to stay like that.

Now protected against shelf wear and snag/bending damage to those super fragile slip covers.
 

alf717

Member
Awesome set of games there Impotaku. I remember way back I wanted to grab the Japanese box collection of Biohazard titles. It was pricey at $300+ and for me when I found it I decided to pass. I did however get an NPDP-GBOX in today. So I can add this to my GC collection. Doesn't have all I was expecting like the hdd but it is a very neat piece of Game Cube history to me. I never thought I'd see the day I would own something like it but my interest for dev hardware was always high when I saw all the neat stuff some people owned over at the Assembler games forums.
 
^Impotaku, nice collection!


Yes, certainly try the original; I think it is the best in the franchise. Music is amazing, gibberish "voice-acting" is perfect. This is the only game I have ever played where I would not want a higher framerate, as crazy as that sounds, I know. There just is something satisfying, after playing the original countless times, to know/feel you have got that enemy already shooting a few frames before it actually enters your rectangle, knowing it will hit.
The game is pretty much perfect old school arcade fun; different paths for endles replayability, high scores in levels, bosses are fantastic, enemy design and difficulty is spot on and gameplay/controls feel just right. One of my favourite's on the snes.

I also think the original is the best, so yeah, looking forward to hear your impressions David!

hey tesla, Morfeo and gamecubeGAFers,

my starfox games came in and a pic to SNES fox, i'll definitely start playing snes starfox and gamecube assault. i'm pretty busy and at times wiped out when i get out of work but i will try to play them tonight!

 

Koppai

Member
So I couldn't find my GameCube cables and hooked up my Wii instead and played Skies of Arcadia on my 4K TV, looked pretty good on it actually.
 
ok, so i tried Star Fox Assault tonight and got to middle of second mission.

first impression right after booting up was: Peppy is on the ship while a got a new girl wingmate. second, the voices are different from Starfox 64.

once i got on the ground, it was ok controlling fox but the landmaster was a bit awkward to control. i let krystal get shot up because i couldn't look up w/ the landmaster in time. i shut it off and going to try it again tomorrow.

it's good so far but i hope to config the controller. (i was using the default settings)
i'm playing it on Bronze but hope to up the difficulty once i get used to the controls.
 

Glowsquid

Member
once i got on the ground, it was ok controlling fox but the landmaster was a bit awkward to control. i let krystal get shot up because i couldn't look up w/ the landmaster in time. i shut it off and going to try it again tomorrow.

That's one of the two major problem with the game (the other being how your arsenal in the tps sections quickly gets cluttered by situational weapons completely useless for SP). The default controller config is fine for pedestrian controls, minus the awkwardness of jump being mapped to Y, but sucks for the Landmaster, and conversely the third controller config where you run with the R trigger sucks for on-foot but is perfect for the Landmaster. Of course you can't assign them separately or customize them to any significant degree.
 
That's one of the two major problem with the game (the other being how your arsenal in the tps sections quickly gets cluttered by situational weapons completely useless for SP). The default controller config is fine for pedestrian controls, minus the awkwardness of jump being mapped to Y, but sucks for the Landmaster, and conversely the third controller config where you run with the R trigger sucks for on-foot but is perfect for the Landmaster. Of course you can't assign them separately or customize them to any significant degree.

oh you can't assign them separately? Boo....

i guess i'm going to have learn some awkward controls.
 

MattyH

Member
ok this is gonna sound weird but has anyone ever come across a gamecube that doesn't reset theres one for sale locally and its pristine apart from the reset doesn't work
 

Peltz

Member
ok this is gonna sound weird but has anyone ever come across a gamecube that doesn't reset theres one for sale locally and its pristine apart from the reset doesn't work

No, but oddly, I have both a SNES and a Genesis that cannot reset. I guess I just got lucky?
 
I decided to just get a 2nd hand Wii and use that to play Gamecube games. Works great.

Use the wavebird for all the gameplay. Wanted a gamecube, but felt the Wii was the better buy.
 
I decided to just get a 2nd hand Wii and use that to play Gamecube games. Works great.

Use the wavebird for all the gameplay. Wanted a gamecube, but felt the Wii was the better buy.

Congrats. Nothing wrong with that. Unless you're looking to use a Game Boy Player, there's not much difference. Get the component cable if you can!
 
Congrats. Nothing wrong with that. Unless you're looking to use a Game Boy Player, there's not much difference. Get the component cable if you can!

I definitely have the component cable. I just figured the hardware was the same overall and getting support for the Wii was easier and cheaper.

FZero GX solution.
 
congrats MattyH on getting a nice gamecube system. glad you got the rest button resolved.


hey all, this came in the mail yesterday, i never played it for some reason, i loved the snes version to death. this is perfect bc i just picked up GC waverace bluestorm last week. weird that i never picked up any of the games i loved on snes, N64 on gamecube till now. all i remember on gamecube was resident evil 0,1, 4 and eternal darkness but i'm glad to finally grab F-zero.

 

Morfeo

The Chuck Norris of Peace
F-Zero GX is such an awesome game, I think you will have a great time playing it for the first time!
 
So I decided to look up component cables for my GC so I can play on a HDTV. Huge mistake. Goddamn at those prices. I could buy a bunch of games for what they sell for.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
HDMI mod is cheaper and likely better than component cables. That will probably also apply to the eventual plug-and-play version too.
 
Hdmi mods? I don't know, I don't mess with my hardware no matter what. I think I just might find a third party av/component cable for the GameCube.

There is none at the moment. The official cable has a chip in it to convert from digital to analog component, and until recently it hasn't been replicated. The "HDMI mod" is an FPGA re-implementation of that chip that can also spit out HDMI-compliant digital video, without converting to analog at all. You can also do a component-mod that allows analog output.

Sometime next year a modding site (http://badassconsoles.com/) intends to sell a fully-external no-mod version of this that acts just like the official component cables, so you might want to wait for that.

Edit: or just use a Wii.
 

Purdy

Member
HDMI mod is cheaper and likely better than component cables. That will probably also apply to the eventual plug-and-play version too.

There is none at the moment. The official cable has a chip in it to convert from digital to analog component, and until recently it hasn't been replicated. The "HDMI mod" is an FPGA re-implementation of that chip that can also spit out HDMI-compliant digital video, without converting to analog at all. You can also do a component-mod that allows analog output.

Sometime next year a modding site (http://badassconsoles.com/) intends to sell a fully-external no-mod version of this that acts just like the official component cables, so you might want to wait for that.

Edit: or just use a Wii.

That is encouraging, would probably start then.
 

tesla246

Member
update i grabbed the GC it just needed cleaning up 5 min job and done
Very nice. I thought it would be an easy fix, but what was the cause, if I may ask?

congrats MattyH on getting a nice gamecube system. glad you got the rest button resolved.


hey all, this came in the mail yesterday, i never played it for some reason, i loved the snes version to death. this is perfect bc i just picked up GC waverace bluestorm last week. weird that i never picked up any of the games i loved on snes, N64 on gamecube till now. all i remember on gamecube was resident evil 0,1, 4 and eternal darkness but i'm glad to finally grab F-zero.

You'll be in for a treat. Coincidentally, I just played it again a few days ago on the good old trinitron crt via RGB. Was "floored" by the image quality, contrast, sharpness, responsiveness and just overall "punchy" picture. Amazing. If they ever deice to make a successor; please do not forget the story mode and how it portrayes C. Falcon like the badass he is. Not like other M please ;)

Also, I have painted the 13 cubes a few weeks ago in the weekend. But I am still waiting on 1 to paint before I will show them to you guys. However, I have gotten a brand new mint in box platinum gamecube which I can showe:

And back in the box!

Now all that is left is the purple one, as far as standard colours go of course ;)
 

deadfolk

Member
Is there a market for GC games without cases?

I have a bunch of the discs in a little box they clip nicely into, but no console (or room for one) any more.
 

PAULINK

I microwave steaks.
Is there a market for GC games without cases?

I have a bunch of the discs in a little box they clip nicely into, but no console (or room for one) any more.

ebay, though expect to get a few bucks less. Personally I hate loose copies but there is definitely a demand.
 

deadfolk

Member
Not really. You're best off giving those away to Gaffers. :p

:p

ebay, though expect to get a few bucks less. Personally I hate loose copies but there is definitely a demand.

I hear nothing but horror stories from people trying to sell stuff on ebay these days. When I clear them out of the loft, I might just try the B/S/T thread to see if I get any takers.

Thanks!
 
F-Zero GX is such an awesome game, I think you will have a great time playing it for the first time!

Very nice. I thought it would be an easy fix, but what was the cause, if I may ask?



You'll be in for a treat. Coincidentally, I just played it again a few days ago on the good old trinitron crt via RGB. Was "floored" by the image quality, contrast, sharpness, responsiveness and just overall "punchy" picture. Amazing. If they ever deice to make a successor; please do not forget the story mode and how it portrayes C. Falcon like the badass he is. Not like other M please ;)

i just starting playing and F-zero GX is freaking awesome. i tried both story mode and a bit of grand prix. wow, it's pretty challenging compared to the snes. the sense of speed is incredible.
 

Galdelico

Member
i just starting playing and F-zero GX is freaking awesome. i tried both story mode and a bit of grand prix. wow, it's pretty challenging compared to the snes. the sense of speed is incredible.

There are tracks where you feel like the joypad is literally gonna fly out of your hands. That game is just beautiful, and it boggles my mind we still have to see a sequel today.
 
i just starting playing and F-zero GX is freaking awesome. i tried both story mode and a bit of grand prix. wow, it's pretty challenging compared to the snes. the sense of speed is incredible.
My friends and I cycled between this and Burnout 2 a lot during my first year of uni. Whenever we'd return to Burnout 2 after playing F-Zero, Burnout would feel really slow. Would have to avoid F-Zero for a while to get Burnout to feel fast again.
 
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