My first GC

:shrug:
I just got my first ever gamecube last night. It's a black DOL-001 (USA) model and cause I have pretty much no experience with them I thought this would be an acceptable place to ask for some advice. Now I've done some slight searching and it looks like I'd have to modchip the thing to play backups. Not a big deal right now I guess *shrugs* wondering which one is preferred but mainly I'm curious about what i can do to this new toy of mine. I'm not sure if certain model #s have different avenues as far as modding and the likes but I'm open to any suggestions or tips, etc.

Just to mention I do have some exp. with modding and making pedals/ electronics n such. Also I know of mmmonkeys page or w/e... idk if i wanna do a region mod but i do have some nice buttons i could use also it looks like xeno gc is one of the preferred chips...maybe i could do a region mod and someday when i can afford the chip (only $2.20 in paypal) i could attach the switch to that instead?


and heres the "new" gamecube before i opened it up and cleaned the nastys. (replaced the gamebits with good ol phillips)

Ok I'm shusing the fug up now, thanks for your time, I'll be googling around for stuff and check back I guess.

 

Check the marketplace, not sure if there's any left but assembler was selling some XenoGC's.

 

yeah he was asking for like $12 (thats with shipping, which is a good deal) but all i gots is 2.20 in my paypal XD ...I'm a poor southsider lol, thanks for the input though.

I have alot of junk around so i might throw another fan in it and make the disc eye not click when it tracks back in....bout it for now XD ...maybe i should just trade it for something lol.

*btw i got the gc for free he hasnt brought the controllers and games by yet though.

 

The chip should take care of region issues. Not sure why you'd run an extra fan, it's not like Cubes have a problem with overheating.

 

meh yeah, Mainly for fun and I have the junk heap in my garage to pick through XD
plus I'm a fan of ambient sounds.... ;P

 

A minor note, but if you wanted to use backups but didn't want to buy mini-DVDRs, you can buy replacement shells for the console that are large enough to accept a full-size DVDR. Of course, mini-DVDs are cooler

If you were only interesting in region free, you can buy bootdiscs that handle that kind of thing, but it sounds like you're handy with a soldering iron.

Quick question for others here. Can the Xeno GC modchip force games into 480p like the Qoob modchips can?

 

the qoob can do that? This is now relevant to my interests.

 

I've noticed the custom cases and thought that was cool, I kinda felt like keeping the original feel but was curious about wether the gamecube could even play/handle dvd movies and music from cds....would the modchips be able to handle such media? speaking of which from what I've seen the xeno doesn't force 480p to my knowledge. (might be wrong I'm new to the cube)
Also the bootdiscs might be an option but I do like soldering stuffs and I wanted to mod it that way...(more fun)

-btw added the fan and it adds nice ambient sound over the disc sounds also more airflow obviously....i used kneaded rubber for the disc eye clicking and on the fan placement. >_> *shrugs* jus cheap and quick

w/e...

 

It definately can. It didn't work on all games mind you, some would just show a black screen, but it worked on enough games to make it worthwhile. At the time, I didn't have a Component-capable TV, so it was a great way increase the amount of games I could play games on my VGA monitor using a transcoder.

 

Soldering in a GameCube modchip isn't for someone with just a modicum of soldering experience. Suckers are easily to screw up and easy to fix if you've got years of experience.

No offense intended, just a warning as people tend to mentally overstate their abilities until they're looking at a dead console with an iron in their hand.

 

warning unterstood, I actually took apart the entire gamecube just to see the spots where these modchips would go. The xeno looks about the size of a penny and the spots are about the tip of a paper clip which can be intimidating for most. My starts were rough to say the least, first project was an octave fuzz pedal...ages ago and went badly..managed to save those vintage transistors though...

anyway good practice came from sitting with scrap motherboards and TV sets, taking them apart and attaching random stuff to them. Eventually you get quick enough to slap something on and smoke at the same time. XD It became a force of habit... something about mgs and the ciggs steady the hand...

p.s. anyone have a suggestion for power LED color? I'm thinking red or green...have tons of them. then again I'm starting to consider just trading or selling the cube for something more me...*shrugs*

 

I just soldered a Xeno yesterday, if you position it right it is easy to solder it. Do it by hot gluing a corner (do not ask your wife to hold it steady = receipt for disaster).

If I would do it again I would hot glue it in a corner and add cables.

 

haha thanks for the tip XD ive never used hotglue much honestly...have this habit of sticking stuff with kneded eraser lol
also I think I'd wanna go with the xeno just cause its simple and all I need is booting, nothing fancy.

 

LOL, sounds like you took the concept of a "third hand tool" a bit too literally.

For the Xenos I line the sucker up taking my merry time and tack a larger section down. If you've done this a few dozen times like I have you get it down but I'd suggest hot glue for sure. Not a bad idea.

 

No kidding. I got mine for free and spent hours playing wrestling games and sunshine on it. The portability made it cool when I was going from my grans to my mums house.

 

I sent you a PM. Check your inbox.

 

Same here though I've yet to get the games and controllers from the guy who gave it to me so we'll see about the love...I heard sunshine wasnt that great? I still play 64 from time to time though ~_~ ...wrestling.. not so much? idk maybe if its got mankind or something ...hope to see some good games when they finally come by u_u....btw was prime any good? or w/e metroids there were?

 

Sunshine is a lot better in retrospect I think. Many people were disappointed that it wasn't quite the sequel to Mario 64 that they were hoping for, and not quite as groundbreaking either. But I played it quite recently and thought it was really charming.

 

I thought Mario was a plumber, not an environmentalist.